War In The Pacific

 The Canadian military effort put its emphasis in the war in Europe and the Battle of the Atlantic. Yet there were Canadians committed to battle in the Pacific. One of them, Hampton Gray, was seconded to the British Navy as a pilot, and won the Victoria Cross flying a Corsair, attacking a Japanese destroyer and sinking it, at the cost of his own life. He is one of a series of people from Canadian military history honoured in a series of statues and busts near the War Memorial called The Valiants. It's been quite awhile since I've photographed any of them.

Athull Brown piloted bombers in southeast Asia, going after Japanese supply and transportation lines.

Leonard Birchall was called the Savior of Ceylon. He spotted a Japanese fleet heading for Ceylon (today Sri Lanka), and was able to radio the information to base before getting shot down.

A curious artifact, but fitting for the region. This was used to treat snake bites.

The environment in southeast Asia was as much a challenge as anything else.

A Canadian military transport went down in dense jungle during the war and was lost for decades. It was eventually found, and its crew buried with honours. Items from the wreck are found here.

Panels here include Canadian ships being sent into the Pacific theatre, as well as the surrender of Japan.

It was the detonation of two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki that brought the Japanese to surrender. A roof tile, briefly exposed to the atomic blast at Hiroshima, is in this display case.

I tend to finish the World War Two era with events earlier than that of VJ Day. The war in Europe came to an end in May 1945, and for many Canadian soldiers, their last task was the liberation of the Netherlands.

The country had suffered enormously under occupation by Nazi Germany. Allied forces had liberated parts of the country by the end of 1944, but most of it remained under occupation. That last winter was the hardest of the war for the Dutch people.

Canadian soldiers drove forward into the country as part of the momentum of the Allies against the Germans. They liberated the Dutch, who welcomed them as heroes.

This is the pen used by Canadian General Charles Foulkes, who oversaw the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands on the 5th of May, 1945.