60 Years ago today

As I contemplate the meaning of V-E Day, some thoughts.

Sixty years ago today, Grand -Admiral Karl Doenitz, interim leader of the remains of Nazi Germany, surrendered to the Allies, marking the end of hostilities in Europe. It was declared by Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, that the next day, May 8th, would be celebrated as Victory in Europe, or VE, day. Amongst the armies was one not often heard of today, the First Canadian Army, which accepted the surrender of Nazi forces in the Netherlands and north-western Germany.
While the war continued in the Pacific, the Canadian government began the process of demobilizing a massive part of the Canadian forces in Europe. The ground forces included two corps, five divisions, two of them armoured, and independent armoured brigades. The Royal Canadian Air Forces (RCAF) in Europe included #6 Bomber Group, part of the Commonwealth's Bomber Command, and numerous squadrons of fighter and ground attack aircraft, all state of the art for their time (at the end of the war, the fourth largest air force in the world). The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) included four-hundred warships and auxiliary vessels, more than today's United States Navy, amongst them aircraft carriers, cruisers, powerful Tribal class as well as other destroyers, and literally hundreds of frigates, corvettes, and other escort vessels (the third largest navy in the world, at wars end).
The war wasn't over in the Pacific, and so the government of the day made the decision to allow for the demobilization of any personnel conscripted during the previous years, and make the force to be sent to the Pacific theatre an all-volunteer force. But this force would still be huge by modern standards. Some reports indicate the plan was for a Commonwealth force, under the codename Tiger, to include Canadian, British, Australian, New Zealander, and Indian forces. The air contingents biggest part was to be Canadian, while Canada's ground contingent would amount to an armoured corps. The RCN contribution was to be sixty vessels, essentially the most modern and powerful part of the navy, including two or more fleet aircraft-carriers, two or more cruisers, twenty-plus destroyers, and the balance consisting of escort frigates and support ships. My grandfather was to be part of it, except they found out he was underage before he shipped out, and by then the nuclear bomb had melted the delusional hopes of Japan's leadership, ending the war all together. My other grandfather came home, after almost six years in Europe, in 1945.
As we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of VE Day tomorrow, let us not forget the magnitude of the effort, and sacrifice, of Canadians during the Second World War. As powerful as our British, American and Russian allies were, Canada, a nation of 11 million people, was at wars end, the fourth greatest military power in the world.

To our veterans, and to those who didn't return, thank you.

And to my fellow Canadians today, we must always strive to live up to the gift they have given to us.

Happy 60th V-E Day.

Sincerely,

James P