Spain may have declared itself non-belligerent, but Franco sympathized with the Axis and offered them substantial aid.
Likewise, before Pearl Harbor, the US may have been officially “neutral” but we were giving the British a ton of aid.
Worse yet, it wasn’t entirely out of the question for Germany to attempt to strike across the Atlantic, especially after declaring war on the US.
I’ll second the call for more study. You’ve demonstrated some significant factual errors and a simple reading of the history might be able to resolve some of that.
Yeah, Canada had been in it since '39 alongside Britain and her Commonwealth Realms. Although it was her first declaration of war since being granted autonomy over her affairs.
Canada’s manpower was not something Allied planners could afford to turn away. Of the Commonwealth realms I think I’m correct that only India had a larger army, and they were busy fighting the Japanese (as well as trying to hold India itself together, but that’s a different story).
The six wounds being inflicted by another Canadian (true story). Doohan made it through the entire day of fighting against the Germans without injury and then was accidentally shot after sunset by a Canadian sentry.
There was also a joint Canadian-American commando unit formed during the war, the 1st Special Service Force.
Oh, if you want to get down to it Saving Private Ryan is full of inaccuracies. The plot itself is simply absurd; trying to find a single paratrooper would have been a fool’s errand. The average drop error was two miles. The final battle couldn’t be fought against ordinary German soldiers, being Hollywood they had to be SS soldiers. The first SS formation to reach the American sector was the reconnaissance battalion of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen on June 11th. The Germans had to have a tank, and being Hollywood a German tank has to be a Tiger. There were no Tigers on the American sector of Normandy in the entire month of June; they were all deployed to the British/Canadian sector. Tigers were not organic to panzer divisions; they were exclusively used in independent heavy panzer battalions and companies. So if the fact that there were no Tigers present is to be ignored, it stretches credulity that the crew of one of the SS’s crack heavy panzer battalions made the novice error of leading with a tank down a city street. Then there’s that P-51 making a direct hit on its first pass on a tank in a town… it’s Hollywood. It’s going to be full of inaccuracies.
You may have gone to a lousy school or had a lousy teacher, but don’t blame it on the country. A lot of us went to US schools and knew an awful lot about WWII by the time we graduated from high school.
In regards the OP, let us not forget the fabulous things the British had done with colonial forces during WW1, not the least of which would be Gallipoli and Beaumont Hamel. You’d have to be an idjit to let them be in charge again.
Nope. Canada’s Army was about the size of the Australian Army and actually slightly smaller in terms of troops committed. Even the Canadian First Army was a mostly British formation, in terms of troops.
Canada’s most important contribution was that of its Navy in the Atlantic. I think it’s fair to say that the Canadians did more than most for victory in that theatre.
Indian Army had 4 Divisions in Italy at the time. Initially the plan had been for two of them (8th and 10th) to form an Indian Corps in NW Europe, but Alexander managed to convince Churchill otherwise.
Gallipoli helped least two countries, Austraila and New Zealand, forge a national identity. It’s fundamental to their identity but lets not get carried away. Together they suffered less than 20% of Allied casualties. Plenty of nations were contributig there and elsewhere.
Worth noting, by D-Day and Dieppe aside, most Canadians who volunteered at the outbreak in late 1939 had been waiting 4 1/2 years for action. They totally deserved D-Day.
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it’s Hollywood. It’s going to be full of inaccuracies.
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Hey, I’m happy enough that the Tiger they run into is an actual Tiger or at least very Tiger-looking tank rather than a stock M-48 Patton or somesuch (as in the movie Patton, ironically enough) :).
Admit it - it’s the little bits of trivia that sticks in our brains not the real information. Five years from now, the only thing you’ll remember from this thread about Canada’s role in World War II will be “Scotty got shot by friendly fire.”
