Britain’s declaration of war did not automatically bring
Canada into the war, not like it was in 1914. But Britain knew Canada was going
to join the war sooner or later. The
Canadian government and people were united in support of Britain and France.
After Parliament debated the matter, Canada declared war on Germany on September
10 1939. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King promised that only volunteers
would serve overseas and there would be no conscripted soldiers being sent to
fight Germany.
Canada was unprepared to go to war. It just came out of the Great Depression and the country was still recovering. The regular army of 4500 men
and 51,000 partly-trained volunteers went to fight along with Britain and
France against Germany. The troops went to go fight over seas had little modern
equipment. The equipment was out dated and not good enough to be used in the
war to come. The Canadian air force had fewer than 20 modern combat aircraft's
while the navy’s combat potential consisted of only six destroyers, the
smallest class of ocean-going warships. Canada was going to become once again became
involved in a war. A war that changed the Canadian identity for years to come.