War in the Pacific: Japanese-Canadian Internment & The Atomic Bombs

Internment Camps War Measures Act: waiving of habeas corpus and right to trial, bans on political and religious groups, restrictions of free speech, confiscation of property and… POW Camps: POW camps were created; captured enemy soldiers and merchant sailors (mostly German) were kept in high-security camps (about 35000 POWs in 1944) & Internment Camps: for “enemy aliens” – just like in WWI, people classified in this way would be placed into these camps

German & Italian Internment Camps Thousands of innocent Canadians were wrongly placed in these camps 30 000 people of German and Italian descent were required to be registered and report to the RCMP every month and many were interned in one of 26 camps set up Any suspected fascist or Nazi sympathizers could be interned, and around 100 Communist Part members were as well

Japanese Internments About 22 000 people of Japanese descent were living in British Columbia before the War, and ¾ of them were born here After the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in 1942, Canada confiscated property and deprived them of rights The military and RCMP were against the internment, but as of February 24, 1942 all male Canadians of Japanese descent between the ages of 18-45 were forced into camps in the interior of B.C.

Japanese Internments 2 Days later the government told all others of Japanese descent that they had 24 hours to pack up belongings to be moved inland March 4, they were told to turn over all property and belongings to the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property as a “protective measure”…

Japanese Internments Virtually everything was auctioned off in their absence for a fraction of its worth and some of the funds were even used to run and build the internment camps… After the War, Japanese Canadians were encouraged to leave – many did Those who stayed were not allowed to return to Vancouver until 1949

War in the Pacific After Germany had surrendered on May 7th 1945, fighting continued in the Pacific against Japan (Allies had focused on taking back Europe first) Japan had occupied Burma (Myanmar), much of China, and the Philippines

War in the Pacific Once the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, the tide shifted and the American Allies began dominating combat in the Pacific July 1945, Canada had 80 000 volunteers ready to fight in Japan and 60 naval vessels But they would not be needed…

The Atomic Bombs March-August 1945 the Americans had been firebombing 58 Japanese cities including Tokyo – 84 000 people (mostly civilians) were killed in Tokyo alone Japan had not surrendered, and the new President Harry S. Truman believed the Japanese would fight to the bitter end so he cleared the use of a new weapon…the atomic bomb

The Bombs are Dropped The Enola Gay, an American B-29 bomber, dropped the first bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima at 8:16am on August 8th 1945m killing 70 000 people instantly 3 days later, it appeared as if Japan planned to keep fighting so a second bomb, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki killing another 70 000 By 1950 400 000 people had died from the bombs or the after effects August 14, 1945 Japan surrenders unconditionally and WWII is officially over

Canada’s Role in Developing the Atomic Bomb The Manhattan Project was the largest research project in existence when it began in the U.S. with a staff of more than 200 000 to work on developing atomic weapons The Canadian government cooperated with the British and American governments to ensure the Allies would develop a bomb before the Axis

Canada’s Role in Developing the Atomic Bomb All uranium refineries were in Europe and under Nazi control – one last refinery was in Port Hope Ontario – The Eldorado Refinery The uranium came mostly from Great Bear Lake in the NWT and the heavy water used for the plutonium bomb (Fat Man) was from B.C. Canadians discovered uranium 235 (the basic element of the bomb) , helped create the first chain reaction with it, and discovered how to purify it

Sahtugot’ine Suffering The Sahtugot’ine people of NWT were hired as transporters of the uranium from the mines, but they were not given proper protective gear They brought the dust back to their tents on their clothes and bodies and unwillingly contaminated their community and families This caused countless men to get cancer and die young In 1998 some of the tribe travelled to Hiroshima to apologize in the role they played