German U-boats were sinking Allied ships faster than they could be built Allied supply ships began sailing in convoys: vessels carrying vital supplies were protected by warships who escorted them The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) provided much of this protection with their small warships called corvettes

Seemed for a long time that the Allies would lose the Battle of the Atlantic Gradually the situation improved: more ships were added to the escort fleets, more sophisticated equipment was developed, crews received better training, and the British cracked the German naval code enabling them to track German subs more easily Corvettes also assisted by long-range liberator bombers that could fly far from land bases in Canada and Britain to protect most of the convoy’s route

Although initially the Royal Canadian Navy consisted of 13 ships and about 3000 sailors, by the end of the war it had expanded to include around 400 vessels and 100,000 personnel The RCN is credited with having provided almost half of the escorts across the Atlantic

Allies unprepared to launch a full invasion of Europe, but felt ready for a trial run to test new techniques and equipment They launched a series of raids across the English Channel: one was set for the French resort town of Dieppe, which was under German occupation

Canadians waiting in England were anxious to engage in war; they were given the job of capturing Dieppe Plan for August 19th, 1942 was for four pre- dawn attacks along the coast followed by one main attack in the town of Dieppe an hour later

Immediately things went wrong: one of the ships carrying Canadian soldiers to Dieppe unexpectedly met a small German convoy Two sides engaged in a brief sea battle and the noise alerted German troops on shore Because ships were delayed, Canadians ended up arriving on shore in daylight and were quickly mowed down by awaiting Germans

Communication poor between ships and land; commanders sent more reinforcements ashore believing first wave of soldiers had reached the town Troops became trapped on shores unable to advance or retreat Allied tanks left immobile on pebbled beaches because they could not get traction

Dieppe was the first major battle Canadians fought on the Western Front and it was a terrible failure 907 Canadians killed in the nine hour battle, which was more than any other day of the war

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) grew quickly after the war began and played a variety of important roles Almost 250,000 Canadians joined the RCAF during the war Canadian air crews participated in bombings in North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe, and Southeast Asia

Also participated in controversial bombings over Germany: night after night British and Canadians bombed German cities, while Americans bombed them during the day Bombing raids were aimed at destroying German industry

Casualty rate among air crew was very high Nearly 10,000 Canadian bomber crew lost their lives in the war, which was 25% of Canadians killed in WWII RCAF formed the Women’s Division (WD) in 1941 to support the war effort, but only later in the war were women allowed to fly bomber planes on flights to deliver them to Britain Women were never in combat