From the fall of France
in June of 1940 until the German invasion of the Soviet Union
in June 1941, Canada was Britain’s largest ally in the war
with Germany. With the hurried evacuation of the British Expeditionary
Force from Dunkirk, the British were forced to leave behind their
military equipment and weapons. This left a Canadian division
in Britain as one of the few equipped and intact units in place
to defend the country.
At the same time, a secure location was needed to train the pilots
and aircrews that would defend Britain. This placed a huge burden
on Canada as it sought to raise as many troops as possible and
move them across the Atlantic.
With the entry of the Soviet Union and the United States into
the war the emphasis moved from raising troops to defend Britain
to creating an army to participate in the planned invasion of
Europe.
This part of the exhibit illustrates Ontario’s participation
in the recruitment of a Canadian army.
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image (109K)
Special review day at Ontario Agricultural
College [ca. 1940]
Black and white negative
Reference Code: RG 16-276-10
Archives of Ontario, I0017212
At its height in 1944 more than 750,000 Canadians were serving
in the armed forces.
Of these, 481,000 served in the army, 206,000 in the air force
and 75,000 in the navy. All this from a total population of 11
million in the whole of Canada.
Conn Smythe, the president
of Maple Leaf Gardens, served as an officer during the Second
World War and loaned the use of his facility as an enlistment
centre.
Other sports celebrities lent themselves to promotional
activities in favour of enlistment, such as the Toronto Telegram’s
Sports writer Ted Reeve. The 30th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery
in the Canadian Army, led by Conn Smythe, was unofficially called
the Sportsmens' Battery.
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a larger image (103K)
Military - World War II -
Enlisting at Maple Leaf Gardens (1939-1941)
Photographer unknown
Black and white print
Conn Smythe fonds
Reference Code: F 223-1-1-12
Archives of Ontario, I0016694
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Military - World War II - Enlisting at Maple Leaf Gardens (1939-1941)
Black and white print
Conn Smythe fonds
Reference Code: F 223-1-1-12
Archives of Ontario, I0016695
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a larger image (105K)
Soldiers in mess hall, [ca. 1940]
Herbert Nott fonds
Black and white negative
Reference Code: C 109-2-0-18
Archives of Ontario, I0008962
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Military - World War II - 30th L.A.A. (Sportsmen) Battery - Enlistment March (October 1941),
Conn Smythe fonds
Black and white print
Reference Code: F 223-1-1-13
Archives of Ontario, I0016698
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Military - World War II - Enlisting at Maple Leaf Gardens (1939-1941),
Conn Smythe fonds
Black and white print
Reference Code: F 223-1-1-12
Archives of Ontario, I0016697
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to see a larger image (103K)
Military - World War II - Enlisting at Maple Leaf Gardens (1939-1941),
Black and white print
Conn Smythe fonds
Reference Code: F 223-1-1-12
Archives of Ontario, I0016696
Like the industrial workforce, the participation of women in
the armed forces increased exponentially over the course of the
war. In 1939 140 women were in uniform. By 1944 this had risen
to nearly 36,000.
During the First World War most women served as nurses, with
few enlisting in other branches of the armed forces. In the Second
World War, women assumed many of the non-combat roles previously
filled by men including serving as pilots, drivers and clerks
in Canada and Great Britain.
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[Pte. Helen Mary Elizabeth Smith],
Member of the Canadian Women's Army Corps (C.W.A.C.) getting into a military vehicle,
Trinity Barracks, Toronto, Ontario. [ca. 1945]
Gordon W. Powley fonds
Black and White negative
Reference Code: C 5-1-0-80-3
Archives of Ontario, I0011205
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Military personnel in an army vehicle. [ca. 1945]
Gordon W. Powley fonds
Black and white negative
Reference Code: C 5-1-0-61-8
Archives of Ontario, I0011108
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Female miltary personnel working in an office [on an army train?],
Peterborough, Ontario. [ca. 1945]
Gordon W. Powley fonds
Black and white negative
Reference Code: C 5-1-0-61-2
Archives of Ontario, I0011103
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a larger image (260K)
Members of the Canadian Women's Army Corps
(C.W.A.C.) reading magazines in a lounge in
the Trinity Barracks, [ca. 1945]
Gordon W. Powley fonds
Black and White negative
Reference Code: C 5-1-0-80-7
Archives of Ontario, I0011208
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Women in military uniform, [ca. 1945]
Gordon W. Powley fonds
Black and white negative
Reference Code: C 5-1-0-65-1
Archives of Ontario, I0011126