Collection
The Second World War raged from 1939 to 1945, pitting the Allies (primarily France, Great Britain, Canada, the United States and the USSR) against the Axis (Italy, Japan and Germany). It was the most devastating military conflict in history in terms of loss of life and physical destruction.
More than previous wars, the Second World War saw the mobilization of all the human and economic resources of the nations involved, disregard for the distinction between soldiers and civilians, and the dissemination of extensive propaganda. It was characterized by atrocities of an unprecedented scale against civil populations, such as the Nazi genocide of the Jews, Roma and Slavs and the use of nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Between 1939 and 1944, the Axis powers conquered and occupied most of Western Europe, along with vast territories in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. After the Axis suffered a series of defeats, including the fall of Stalingrad (today Volgograd, Russia) in 1943, the tide began to turn for the Allies, eventually leading them to victory in 1945.
In Canada, the war was a period of social, industrial and economic change. The Liberal government of William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950) initially adopted a cautious approach to the conflict, fostering the development of Canadian industry to help supply the Allied forces. To support the war effort, the government employed tactics like organizing the Victory Loans program, creating Crown corporations for special tasks and recruiting women to work in factories.
These measures were supported by propaganda campaigns conducted by the Wartime Information Board. The King government also set up detention camps to intern political dissidents, people of Japanese, Italian and German ancestry, and prisoners of war.
Under increased pressure after Germany conquered much of Europe, the Liberals mobilized an ever-expanding military force by introducing conscription in June 1940 for home defence and, after extensive debate and a national plebiscite in 1942, for overseas service as well. Over one million Canadian men and women served in the armed forces during the war, including some 44,000 who lost their lives. The Canadian Army participated in numerous campaigns, including those in Dieppe, Ortona and the Normandy Invasion, while the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy also played significant roles.
Canada emerged from the war transformed, with a stronger economy, into a world henceforth dominated by the United States and the USSR.
Sources:
"Service Files of the Second World War - War Dead, 1939-1947," Library and Archives Canada, 2019, https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/second-world-war/second-world-war-dead-1939-1947/Pages/files-second-war-dead.aspx
Stacey, C. P. and Richard Foot, "Second World War," in The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2015, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/second-world-war-wwii
Scope and Content
The Second World War Collection focusses on the experiences of Canadian soldiers and civilians during the conflict and after its conclusion. The documents primarily convey information about conditions in Canada and Great Britain.
It contains enlistment certificates, leave instructions and discharge certificates illustrating the procedures involved in mobilizing and demobilizing the Canadian Armed Forces. There are telegrams from a Canadian soldier (Winston Rose), leaflets, a poster and a London city guide for Canadian soldiers that help illustrate life at the front and Wartime Information Board activities involving information dissemination and monitoring. Ration books, Victory Loan certificates and subscription forms, an advertising blotter and a poem all contain information about war effort activities. Finally, the collection includes three supplements commemorating the Allied victory, published in 1946 in The Sphere, The Montreal Daily Herald and The London Illustrated News.
Classification Scheme
C311 Second
World War
C311/A Enlistment
C311/A1 Mobilization
C311/A2 Repatriation and
demobilization
C311/B War Communications and Life at the Front
C311/B1 Soldiers and
civilians
C311/B2 Canadian Forces
and governments
C311/B2,1 Leaflets
C311/B2,2 Poster
C311/B2,3 Guide
C311/C War Effort
C311/C1 Rationing
C311/C2 Funding
C311/C3 Moral support
C311/D Wartime Industries
C311/E Victory and Celebrations
Source of supplied title: Based on the content of the collection.
Physical condition: A copy of The Montreal Daily Herald exhibits signs of mould and has been placed in an inert plastic sleeve. Consequently, it could not be digitized.
Immediate source of acquisition: The documents comprising this collection were given to the McCord Museum by various donors, such as Nicole Charrette, Joyce McKee, François Angers, Suzanne Lapointe and the family of Harry Mayerovitch.
Language: The documents are in English and French.
Related groups of records: Several fonds preserved at the McCord Museum include documents associated with the Second World War: the Montreal Thistle Curling Club Fonds (P148), the Canadian Prisoners of War Relatives’ Association Fonds (P188), the Victoria Rifles of Canada Fonds (P190), the John Wardrop Ross Fonds (P217), the Will Family Fonds (P621), the Ryan-Kelly Family Fonds (P629), the Catharine and Edward Horton Bensley Fonds (P643), the Lawrence P. Byrne Fonds (P646), the Sifton Family Fonds (P671), the Richard Henry Stevenson Fonds (P681), the McEuen Family Fonds (P745), the Willie Eckstein Fonds (P767) and the Des Islets Family Fonds (P792). The Corley-Murchison Collection (C340) is also associated with the Second World War.
Last modified: April 28, 2020
Information about the objects in our collection is updated to reflect new research findings. If you have any information to share regarding this object, please email reference.mccord@mccord-stewart.ca.Information about rights and reproductions is available here.
This project is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Azrieli Foundation and Canadian Heritage.