World War II. Canada declared war on Germany on Sept. 1, 1939. It declared war on japan attacked United States bases at Peal Harbor in Hawaii. The Canada. The Canada Army firdt saw action in December 1941, when it participated in the unsuccessful attempt to defend Hong Kong against a japanese in vasion. In August 1942, the Canadian Army suffered heavy losses in the bloody Allied assauit on the French port of Dieppe.
Canadian troops also took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 and in the battle for Italy. The third Canadian Division participated in the Allied landing at Normandy in France on june 6, 1944. The First Canadian Army. Commanded by General H.D.G. Crerar , advanced into norththern Germany and accepted the surrender of the German northern front commander on May 7, 1945. The Royal Canadian Air Force aided the Allies, and the Canadian navy helped protect Allied ships, in the Atlantic Ocean. By the end of the war, more than a million Canadian man and women had served in the armed forces. More than 90,000 had been killed or wounded.