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Pacific Command (Canadian Army)
Pacific Command was a formation of the Canadian Army created during the Second World War to strengthen and administer home defence facilities on Canada's Pacific Coast against possible Japanese attack. A second major function was to train reinforcements to be sent to the Canadian divisions in Europe. Pacific Command combined the pre-war Military District No. 11 (British Columbia and the Yukon Territory) with Military District No. 13 (Alberta and the District of Mackenzie of the Northwest Territories). The command headquarters was initially housed in Esquimalt Fortress near Victoria, but on 30 November 1942 it was moved to the Old Hotel Vancouver in downtown Vancouver. After the United States entered the war in December 1941, Canada and the U.S. coordinated their defence of the west coast of North America. Thus Pacific Command operated in close cooperation with Western Defense Command to the south and with Alaska Defense Command to the north. The troops of Pacific Command w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alaska Defense Command
The Alaska Defense Command (ADC) was a military formation of the United States Army. It was established on 4 February 1941, responsible for coordinating the defense of the Alaska Territory of the United States. The first commanding general of ADC was Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. The Air Force, Alaska Defense Command, was replaced by the Alaskan Air Force which was activated on 15 January 1942. Until 1 November 1943, Alaska Defense Command was under the jurisdiction of the Western Defense Command, headquartered at the Presidio of San Francisco. ADC was dissolved on 31 October 1943 and replaced by the Alaskan Department, still commanded by now Lieutenant General Buckner but now reporting directly back to the War Department in Washington, D.C. The Alaskan Department became United States Army Alaska on 15 December 1947. Organization Organization of the command in 1941 (just before Pearl Harbor) was as follows: * Alaska Defense Command, Fort Richardson ** United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estevan Point
Estevan Point is a lighthouse located on the headland of the same name on the Hesquiat Peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. During World War II, in 1942, the Estevan Point lighthouse was fired upon by the Japanese submarine , marking the first enemy attack on Canadian soil since the Fenian Raids of 1866 and 1871. Currently the Canadian Coast Guard still maintains Estevan Point, with the light still active as of 2022. The light emits a signal of a double flash every 15 seconds with the focal plane located at above sea level. History The Spanish explorer Juan José Pérez Hernández, originating from Mallorca, traded with the natives of the region (the Nuu-chah-nulth people) when he explored the area in 1774 and named the headland "Punta San Esteban". Four years later, James Cook's expedition arrived in the Nootka Sound and made contact with the local population. The lighthouse was established in 1909 as one in a series of buttressed lighthouses designed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friendly Fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while engaging an enemy, long range ranging errors or inaccuracy. Accidental fire not intended to attack enemy/hostile targets, and deliberate firing on one's own troops for disciplinary reasons, is not called friendly fire,Regan, Geoffrey (2002) ''Backfire: a history of friendly fire from ancient warfare to the present day'', Robson Books and neither is unintentional harm to civilian or neutral targets, which is sometimes referred to as collateral damage. Training accidents and bloodless incidents also do not qualify as friendly fire in terms of casualty reporting. Use of the term "friendly" in a military context for allied personnel started during the First World War, often when shells fell short of the targeted enemy. The term ''friendly fire'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiska
Kiska ( ale, Qisxa, russian: Кыска) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is required to visit it. The island has no permanent population. History European Discovery (1741) In 1741 while returning from his second voyage at sea during the Great Northern Expedition, Danish-born Russian explorer Vitus Bering made the first European discovery of most of the Aleutian Islands, including Kiska. Georg Wilhelm Steller, a naturalist-physician aboard Bering's ship, wrote: ''On 25 October 1741 we had very clear weather and sunshine, but even so it hailed at various times in the afternoon. We were surprised in the morning to discover a large tall island at 51° to the north of us.'' Prior to European contact, Kiska Island had been densely populated by native peoples for thousands of years. After Discovery (1741–1939) Kis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Cottage
Operation Cottage was a tactical maneuver which completed the Aleutian Islands campaign. On August 15, 1943, Allied military forces landed on Kiska Island, which had been occupied by Japanese forces since June 1942. The Japanese, however, had secretly abandoned the island two weeks earlier, and so the Allied landings were unopposed. Allied forces suffered over 313 casualties in total during the operation, due to Japanese landmines and booby traps, friendly fire incidents, and vehicle accidents. Background The Japanese under Captain Takeji Ono had landed on Kiska at approximately 01:00 on June 6, 1942, with a force of about 500 Japanese marines. Soon after arrival, they stormed an American weather station, where they killed two and captured eight United States Navy officers. The captured officers were sent to Japan as prisoners of war. Another 2,000 Japanese troops arrived, landing in Kiska Harbor. At this time, Rear-Admiral Monzo Akiyama headed the force on Kiska. In December ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal, he was the dominant politician in Canada from the early 1920s to the late 1940s. King is best known for his leadership of Canada throughout the Great Depression and the Second World War. He played a major role in laying the foundations of the Canadian welfare state and established Canada's international reputation as a middle power fully committed to world order. With a total of 21 years and 154 days in office, he remains the longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history. Born in Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener), King studied law and political economy in the 1890s and became concerned with issues of social welfare. He later obtained a PhD – the only Canadian prime minister to have done so. In 1900, he became deputy minister ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conscription Crisis Of 1944
The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service for men in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but not as politically damaging. Background Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King had been haunted by the way the Conscription Crisis of 1917 had fractured the Liberal Party between its English-Canadian and French-Canadian members. King, who experienced the split first-hand, was determined to avoid another such split. In 1922, during the Chanak Crisis, when the United Kingdom almost went to war with Turkey, King had first asserted that Canada would not automatically go to war as part of the British Empire if the United Kingdom did, saying he would consult the Canadian Parliament first and presumably declare neutrality if the House of Commons were unwilling to go to war with Turkey. Though there were several reasons for King's reluctance to go to war with T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plebiscite
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a new policy or specific law, or the referendum may be only advisory. In some countries, it is synonymous with or commonly known by other names including plebiscite, votation, popular consultation, ballot question, ballot measure, or proposition. Some definitions of 'plebiscite' suggest it is a type of vote to change the constitution or government of a country. The word, 'referendum' is often a catchall, used for both legislative referrals and initiatives. Etymology 'Referendum' is the gerundive form of the Latin verb , literally "to carry back" (from the verb , "to bear, bring, carry" plus the inseparable prefix , here meaning "back"Marchant & Charles, Cassell's Latin Dictionary, 1928, p. 469.). As a gerundive is an adjective,A gerundiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Resources Mobilization Act
The ''National Resources Mobilization Act, 1940'' (4 George VI, Chap. 13) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada passed to provide for better planning of a much greater Canadian war effort, both overseas and in military production at home. Scope Modelled on the British ''Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939'', as amended in 1940, it gave the Canadian government the power to This was the basis of all organization for Canada's war production. Preparation for military readiness In order to prepare the population for military service, provision was made under the Act for: :* compulsory national registration :* restricting men eligible for military service from obtaining civilian employment in positions considered not to be essential to the war effort, so that women, and men who had been discharged from service or who were ineligible for service, could be hired instead :* requiring men to submit to medical treatment in order to be called up for military service :* conscription E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
