2RHPZ
04-18-2005, 11:33 AM
Conscripted often a forgotten component of WWII
By ROSS MAROWITS
MONTREAL (CP) - In the glory of victory, some Canadian soldiers are often a forgotten component of the Second World War.
Denigrated with the label of Zombie, those who refused to volunteer for overseas service were often ridiculed for their stand. Yet 60 years ago many conscripted men paid the ultimate sacrifice in the waning days of the war as they filled in for killed and wounded infantrymen.
"The conscripted made it possible for the Canadians to go into the fighting in April 1945 at full strength," said Prof. Terry Copp, a military historian at Wilfrid Laurier University's Centre for Military and Strategic Disarmament Studies.
"They made an important contribution in the last stages of the war."
Nearly 13,000 conscripts eventually left Canada late in the war, but only 2,463 soldiers reached units in the field before the end of the fighting. An estimated 69 conscripts died in battle.
For many, their path to war began five years earlier when the National Resources Mobilization Act was enacted to give the federal government emergency power to mobilize men and material for the defence of Canada.
Sensitive to the opposition to conscription in Quebec, Prime Minister Mackenzie King had promised in 1939 that it would not be employed for overseas service. But as pressure mounted from English Canada to mobilize forces, his government passed a law requiring registration for domestic defence.
Thousands of men from across the country were sent to training camps in the British Columbia interior and Atlantic Canada. In November 1944 they were shipped overseas when efforts to quickly train volunteer replacements for officers killed and injured in action failed.
...more... (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/04/17/pf-1001212.html)
By ROSS MAROWITS
MONTREAL (CP) - In the glory of victory, some Canadian soldiers are often a forgotten component of the Second World War.
Denigrated with the label of Zombie, those who refused to volunteer for overseas service were often ridiculed for their stand. Yet 60 years ago many conscripted men paid the ultimate sacrifice in the waning days of the war as they filled in for killed and wounded infantrymen.
"The conscripted made it possible for the Canadians to go into the fighting in April 1945 at full strength," said Prof. Terry Copp, a military historian at Wilfrid Laurier University's Centre for Military and Strategic Disarmament Studies.
"They made an important contribution in the last stages of the war."
Nearly 13,000 conscripts eventually left Canada late in the war, but only 2,463 soldiers reached units in the field before the end of the fighting. An estimated 69 conscripts died in battle.
For many, their path to war began five years earlier when the National Resources Mobilization Act was enacted to give the federal government emergency power to mobilize men and material for the defence of Canada.
Sensitive to the opposition to conscription in Quebec, Prime Minister Mackenzie King had promised in 1939 that it would not be employed for overseas service. But as pressure mounted from English Canada to mobilize forces, his government passed a law requiring registration for domestic defence.
Thousands of men from across the country were sent to training camps in the British Columbia interior and Atlantic Canada. In November 1944 they were shipped overseas when efforts to quickly train volunteer replacements for officers killed and injured in action failed.
...more... (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/04/17/pf-1001212.html)