NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMT u Ottawa L'Universite canadienne Canada's university FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES l^^l FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES U Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L'University canadicmie Canada's university John James Maker AUfEMDErATHESETAUTHORWTHESIS Ph.D. (History) _™_._„„„„. Department of History TAWLTE7ECaE751PAi™ A Home Away from Home : Citizenship and National Identity in the Canadian Army Overseas, 1939-1943 TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS Serge Durflinger DIRECTEUR (DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS SUPERVISOR CO-DIRECTEUR (CO-DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS CO-SUPERVISOR Michel Bock Patrick Brennan (U. of Calgary) Jeffrey Keshen Galen Perras Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies A Home Away From Home: Citizenship and National Identity in the Canadian Army Overseas, 1939-1943 John Maker A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Department of History Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © John James Maker, Ottawa, Canada, 2010 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de ('edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-69117-5 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-69117-5 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Nnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. •+• Canada ii Abstract This work examines morale in the Canadian Army overseas from 1939 to 1943. Canadian soldiers began arriving in the United Kingdom in December 1939 and were not committed to battle, with the exception of the one-day raid on Dieppe, until July 1943. Throughout most of their time in the British Isles, Canadian soldiers were kept out of combat, which presented difficult and unprecedented problems of morale and discipline. Their long-term presence in Britain, separated from their loved ones and peaceful civilian lives in Canada, exacerbated these problems. Around 500,000 Canadian soldiers spent time in Britain during the war, which represented approximately 4% of the overall Canadian population in 1939. Therefore, the experience of this large microcosm of Canada's population also serves as an indicator of the mentality of Canadians generally on the eve of the war and during the early war years. Nevertheless, historians have paid little attention to this representative cross-section of the Canadian population. The present work examines the manner in which the army tried to ameliorate morale problems, and finds that a highly developed sense of Canadian identity in the soldiers overseas necessitated the provision of specifically Canadian measures to maintain their morale. The maintenance of strong institutional and familial ties with Canada also facilitated improved morale overseas. This study examines various themes related to Canadian nationalism, identity, and citizenship in a demographically small portion of the population. It draws conclusions based on their experiences that have national pertinence and therefore provides new insight into the overall Canadian experience of the Second World War. iii Resume Cet ouvrage examine le moral dans l'armee canadienne outre-mer de 1939 a 1943. Les premiers soldats canadiens sont arrives au Royaume-Uni en decembre, 1939, et n'ont pas ete engages qu'en juillet, 1943, a l'exception du raid de Dieppe, qui ne dura qu'un jour. Durant la plupart de leur temps passe dans les iles Britanniques, les soldats canadiens n'ont pas ete appeles a se combattre, ce qui a entraine des problemes de moral et de discipline difficiles et sans precedent. Leur presence a long terme en Grande-Bretagne, loin de leurs proches et de leurs vies paisibles en tant que civils, n'a fait qu'aggraver ces problemes. Environ 500 000 soldats Canadiens representant 4% de la population totale du Canada en 1939 se sont trouves en Grande-Bretagne pendant la guerre. Pour cette raison, les experiences de cet important microcosme de la population canadienne agit egalement en tant qu'indicateur de la mentalite generate des Canadiens sur le point de la guerre et durant le premieres annees de la guerre. Quoi qu'il en soit, peu d'attention a ete portee de la part des historiens au sujet de cet echantillon representatif de la population canadienne. Le present ouvrage examine la facon dont l'armee a tente de resoudre les problemes de moral, et conclut qu'un sens d'identite canadien tres developpe a necessite la disposition de mesures particulierement canadiennes afin de maintenir le moral. Le maintien de liens familiaux et institutionnels avec le Canada a egalement servi a ameliorer le moral outre- mer. Cette etude examine de differents themes liees au nationalisme, a l'identite et a la citoyennete canadienne au sein d'une petite tranche de la population. Ses conclusions sont fondees sur leurs experiences pertinentes sur le plan national. Pour cette raison, elle permet l'acquisition de nouvelles connaissances sur l'ensemble de l'experience canadienne de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. iv Acknowledgements Many who have written doctoral dissertations remind us that such a task cannot be completed without the help, generosity, and guidance of numerous individuals. I began researching this dissertation in the summer of 2005 and its completion, in the winter of 2010, would have been impossible without the assistance of many people. Dr. Serge Durflinger, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, supervised this thesis. His patience and continued support, through many ups and downs, is very much appreciated. His keen eye for detail and professional criticism has been indispensible to the writing of this work. I am very grateful for his time, effort, and advice. He has taught me to be a more detailed and discerning historian. I am also grateful to other faculty members in the University of Ottawa's Department of History. Specifically, I thank Jeff Keshen, Galen Perras, and Rich Connors for their guidance and support. My colleagues in the Ph.D. program deserve special mention. Dr. Nicholas Clarke, Dr. Mark Bourrie, Max Dagenais, and Daniel Macfarlane have all provided sound advice. I am privileged to have shared their company. Thanks also to the administrative staff at the department of history, especially Suzanne Dalrymple and Francine Laramee. I would also like to thank my close friend and colleague Dr. Mark Humphries whose support, assistance, and friendship I could not have done without. I also shared ideas and questions with Lianne Leddy. I am grateful for the advice and guidance of Dr. Tim Cook, who met with me early in the process at his office in the Canadian War Museum and with whom I discussed many points of detail in the later stages of my research. I also extend my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Terry Copp of Wilfrid Laurier University who taught me to always seek the best evidence, to arrive at the closest approximation of the V truth, and who has given me numerous opportunities and limitless support. He gave me my first break and still gives me them today. This work could not have been written without the support of staff at Library and Archives Canada. My semi-permanent residence in the reading room there, along with my numerous and sometimes-complex requests, were always met with professionalism and promptness. In particular my thanks go to Cathryn Walter and Tim Webley. I also spent much time at the Department of National Defence's Directorate of History and Heritage. The military and civilian staff there was always welcoming and helpful. My special thanks go out to Charles Rheaume and Vanessa Pritchard. At the Canadian War Museum I thank Carol Reid, Collections Manager, Archives. Thanks also to Howard Mansfield of the Friends of the Canadian War Museum. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Canadian veterans of the Second World War. Their service and sacrifice helped build Canada into the proud and strong nation it has become; I am indebted to them personally and professionally. Finally I wish to thank my family. My parents, siblings, niece, and nephews have forgone spending time with me owing to my research schedule and I thank them for their patience and support.