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Originally posted by servicepub
You are right, of course. Nobody with more than a single brain cell can ever deny Britain's leadership role in the Second World War - both politically and militarily.
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Quite so, but I was also thinking of the Aussies, Kiwis, Poles, Free French, South Africans, Indians, Nepalese (handy chaps these. . . .) et all who lent a very welcome hand.
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However, to step up onto my soap-box podium, many people don't recognize Canada's contribution to the war effort. From a pre-war Permanent Force of 5,000 we raised 5 overseas divisions and 2 independant armoured brigades as well as 3 home divisions. We boasted the third-largest air force of the war and the fourth largest navy. Canada took one of the five beaches on D-Day and met or exceeded all of its D-Day +1 objectives. Canadians could be found in every theatre of the war. In addition to our own forces large numbers of Canadians could be found in the uniforms of the RN and RAF.
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Not lost on me, but I know where you are coming from. It is irksome at least that popularist history in some quarters would have the Commonwealth and British forces just sitting around Caen for two weeks whilst the real war went on elsewhere. For instance.
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Canadian industry supplied arms and other stores to every Allied nation including Russia, China, the US, UK, Australia, NZ, RSA, etc.... From no arms industry in 1939 at all we managed to supply everything from bullets to small arms, artillery, tanks, optics, chemicals and more. We built over 3,000 ships, 7,000 aircraft and almost a million motorized vehicles. Canada trained most of the post-1941 aircrew and was termed, by President Roosevelt, the "Aerodrome of democracy".
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In fact more CMPs than jeeps, which has a salutory effect on people getting a tad out of line.
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I don't wish to belittle the contributions, or sacrifices, made by other Allied nations, but Canada - due to its unusual position of being considered British by the US and of being American by the Brits, is often overlooked in modern story-telling. Perhaps we should have been more forthright at war's end and insisted on a position in the occupation Army - we certainly had more claim to it than the French - but that was not then, or now, our way.
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Quite so, and I remain hopeful in the thought that more people than you might imagine recognise the true Canadian contribution, however, I am minded with the large quantity of "documentary" programmes we see here on the various flavours of Discovery and indeed Nat. Geo., that it is very difficult or impossible to separate the Commonwealth troops from British in the old films, whereas other major combatants are immediately recognisable.
I guess we all have our cross to bear.
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I know that this group, more than any other, knows fully well exactly what Canada accomplished in the 1939-1945 unpleasantness. Lest we forget
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There can be absolutely no doubt about that.
Not a problem to me, fill your boots.
R.