![]() The convoy system had proven its worth during the First World War. Britain-bound merchant ships of many nationalities also came to Halifax, where Bedford Basin provided a magnificent secure anchorage in which ships could be organized into convoys which then set out under the protection of Allied warships. During the First World War, 1914 to 1918, the British had sent a strong force to Halifax for protection of Atlantic shipping, and in 1939 the same thing happened. Halifax, the Atlantic base of Canada’s tiny navy, immediately became an indispensable Allied port from which to fight the Battle of the Atlantic. ![]() When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the German navy, which had prepositioned U-boats (submarines) and powerful surface warships in the Atlantic, began to attack British merchant ships. Canada’s navy and merchant marine, augmented by seamen from Newfoundland, played leading parts in the battle throughout the war. ![]() The friendly territory closest to Great Britain, Canada’s east coast and Newfoundland (which had not yet joined confederation) were in the front line of the Battle of the Atlantic. ![]() Everything had to be carried in vulnerable merchant ships that faced a gauntlet of enemy naval forces. Britain could be saved from starvation, and strengthened into the launching pad for the liberation of Europe, only by the delivery of supplies, troops, and equipment from Canada and the United States. ![]() While the ships and personnel of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) operated across the globe during the war, they are best remembered for their deeds during the Battle of the Atlantic.Īt stake was the survival of Great Britain and the liberation of western Europe from German occupation. Canada was a major participant: this country’s enormous effort in the struggle was crucial to Allied victory. The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest campaign of the Second World War and the most important. The Royal Canadian Navy and the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1945 Dispatches: Backgrounders in Canadian Military History ![]()
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