The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1941. CANADA AT WAR.

Evening Star, Issue 23968, 20 August 1941, Page 6

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1941. CANADA AT WAR.

Before the war it was suggested in some quarters that in the event of a clash in Europe, in which Britain might be a combatant, Canada would remain aloof, so far at any rate as military participation was concerned. This idea proved to he without foundation, for when the call to arms sounded Canada’s response was prompt and whole-hearted. Tho .dominion is making notable contributions to the common war effort of the Empire. Expansion at a pace unparalleled in Canadian history is the record of each of Canada’s three fighting services. At tho outbreak of war her Navy mustered only thirteen fighting ships and 3,600 officers and men. To-day 250 ships are in commission, manned by 20,000 men. The numbers are still rising. Six months hence 400 ships will fly the ensign of the Royal Canadian Navy. In the Army corresponding activity is shown. During the last war Canada raised and maintained five divisions. That number has already been exceeded in the present struggle. At this moment 100,000 Canadians are manning the coasts of Britain at strategic points to resist an invasion attempt should one be made. The vast stretches of Canada provide great opportunities for civil aviation, and when war broke out the dominion had the nucleus, of a very strong force, which has been developed in a remarkable way, and it is now more than twelve times as large as it was at tho outbreak of war.

More arresting even than this is the development of the British Commonwealth’s air training plan. This great thrqe-year scheme, which originated in Canada in 1939, is well on the way towards its goal of training each year 50,000 men. To this Empire undertaking Canadians are contributing 80 per cent, of the young men now being schooled, and 63 per cent, of the cost of the scheme. In industry the results are as notable as in the fighting services. During the last quarter of a century Canadian industrialists have shown much enterprise, and aided by the dominion’s water power and other natural resources the output of manufactures has reached an impressive total. Here, again, the basis was provided for rapid expansion under the urge of a great necessity. A striking .Tange of goods essential for Avar purposes is under rapid construction. These include aircraft, lorries, tanks, and explosives. As a result of the destructive attacks by the enemy on Empire shipping the most urgent 'need of all is to replace the vessels that are being sunk. With that object in vioav the shipyards of Canada are working at high pressure. The programme noAV in operation will produce cargo boats amounting to a million tons next year. In the financial sphere the record is equally impressive. The dominion is devoting nearly half of the national income to her war effort, and she has made large indirect contributions by tariff concessions on British imports and large sacrifices by financial adjustments in connection with British purchases in America. Canada’s record in this war is magnificent. It is the more noteworthy Avhen it is remembered that of her eleven million inhabitants only five and a-half millions are of AngloSaxon blood. The evil Avays of Nazism have united the people in the common cause of fighting for the freedom of the Avorld.