Canada at War


Canada at War is a Canadian World War II documentary television series which aired on CBC Television in 1962.

Premise

Production of this National Film Board of Canada documentary series began in 1958, using numerous film sources such as British films available in Canada, captured German footage, newsreels and footage taken by Canadians within Canada and in various nations. The series was narrated by Budd Knapp based on writing by associate producer Donald Brittain. The composer for the series was Canadian composer Kenneth Campbell.

Scheduling

This half-hour series was broadcast Saturdays at 5:00 p.m. from 4 April to 27 June 1962. It was rebroadcast in the same day and time from 13 July to 26 October 1963, and again on Sundays at 10:00 p.m. from 24 May to 30 August 1970.

Episodes

  1. "Dusk" features the early developments of World War II from Germany's war preparations to Canada's decision to join the Allies
  2. "Blitzkrieg" Nazi expansion, Italy's decision to engage in war, the London Blitz and Canadian developments such as conscription
  3. "Year of Siege" covers the Battle of the Atlantic, Operation Barbarossa and Canadian troops The Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles leaving for Hong Kong
  4. "Days of Infamy" follows the Pearl Harbor attack and the beginning of America's war effort
  5. "Ebbtide" featured the failed Dieppe Raid and the zenith of Nazi power
  6. "Turn of the Tide" covers Allied successes of the Second Battle of El Alamein and the Guadalcanal Campaign
  7. Road to Ortona covers Allied entry into Italy and Canada's role in the Battle of Ortona
  8. "New Directions" deals with the wartime foreign policy initiatives of William Lyon Mackenzie King with the Commonwealth and with Canadian assistance with supplies to Russia
  9. "The Norman Summer" covers the Normandy landings and eventual Liberation of Paris; Canadian forces also return to Dieppe
  10. "Cinderella on the Left" covers German efforts at the Battle of the Bulge and their losses of rocket facilities
  11. "Crisis on the Hill" features further Allied successes along the Siegfried Line and in the invasion of Italy; meanwhile, Canadians protest the conscription policy
  12. "V Was For Victory" covers the final stages of World War II with the defeat of Germany and Japan, the discovery of concentration camps and the American nuclear attacks on Japan
  13. "The Clouded Dawn" covers the post-war period and the beginning of the Cold War; subjects in this final episode include the Nuremberg Trials and the defection of Soviet cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko to Canada