The Home Front As the battles raged in Europe, Africa, and Asia, Canadians at home turned to total war production. Nearly 6 million women went to work in factories and at government offices across the country. In Windsor, Ontario, the Ford Motors and Chevrolet plants were turned into tank manufacturers, and it was here that scientists discovered how to make artificial rubber. High school students were allowed to leave school early every year if they volunteered to work on a farm or in the lumber industries, and the nation was crazy about collecting tin and steel household items to contribute to the war effort. Gas shortages meant that most people had to use public transport, and the great transport companies of today were born.

Female Canadian factory workers add the finishing touches to a destroyer's anti-aircraft guns in a factory in Hamilton, Ontario. Nearly 6 million women worked for the war effort, and after the war, 2 million stayed on in the factories, starting Canada's womens equality movement.

Canada In The Skies By 1941, after England had suffered a year of devestating bombardment and Hitler had turned his attention to the invasion of the USSR, the Royal Canadian Air Force began conducting bombing missions over Germany. This air campaign would last until the last day of the war, and was often time vicious and terrifying. Up to 1,000 heavy bombers of the British and Canadian air forces would attack a German city at one time during the middle of the night, completely destroying it. This happened at Hamburg, Dresden, Berlin, and Nuremburg. resulting in the deaths of over 1 million German civilians. While the US air forces conducted precision daylight raids on German industry, fighting off determined German fighters, the Canadians had to deal with a nighttime cat-and-mouse game, where lone radar-equipped German fighters would hunt down lone Canadian bombers.  Over all, nearly 15,000 Canadians lost their lives in the skies over Europe. Because of Canada's location and industrial capacity, Canada was in charge of the Commonwealth Air Training Program, which trained 1 million aircrew from every Commonwealth country and 250,000 US aircrew. Air bases in Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Alberta, and British Columbia were built and the skies over Canada were constantly buzzing with aircraft. By the end of the war, Canada had the fourth largest air force in the world.

A Halifax bomber passes over a German town in 1942. The Halifax was later phased out of service and replaced with the largest bomber of the war, the Lancaster. 85% of which were produced in Canada for the British, Canadian, and Australian air forces. As well as conducting bomber operations, Canada had a sizeable force of fighters, mainly Spitfires, and Canadian fighter pilots were responsible for the destruction of 2,287 German warplanes.

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