The Royal Canadian Navy

Britain could not have continued without the support of its friends and Canada was a very very important friend. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) made a huge contribution. In 1939 at the start of the war they had six destroyers and five minesweepers, it was tiny. Canada embarked on a major building program, it was a painful expansion as they needed their experience out in the Atlantic and so it was so difficult to provide the manpower to train the huge numbers of new men that were needed. I do not want to get ahead of our time line and the magnificent contribution is very well documented else where. Have a look at:

• The Imperial War Museum
• Veteran's Affairs Canada

When the USA did enter the war in 1941 it is significant that this increased the work of the RCN in the Atlantic as many US ships were moved over to the Pacific.