Bias

 

It's Not Fair!

by H.J. Toby

It's not fair! That's the easy - and unproductive - conclusion when the telling of the story of the World Wars is examined and we find that Canada is relegated to the footnotes or to mention in single paragraphs here and there.

The biggest English-language sources for the history of the wars have been Britain and the United States. Any Canadian library, school or municipal, will have a number of books about the wars, but a minority of them will be of Canadian origin.

There are exceptions, and there are excellent books written from the Canadian perspective out there, but the cultural thrust of most books is from the ethnocentric viewpoint of the British and the Americans.

This applies not only to historical reference books, but fiction books, motion pictures, and television programs as well. Canadians have been inundated with the images and subject matter that are important to others.

The sad truth is that the Canadian media market - whether for books or visuals - is a small one. As a result, we see what is important to other people and we tend to forget what should be important to us.

 It's perhaps an overstatement, but the American attitude often seems to be that they won the wars virtually single-handed†. The British are a little more broad-minded (probably a leftover from the Empire days) though they are inwardly-focused as well. But neither can be blamed for concentrating on their own history, and promoting the sacrifices and bravery of their own men and women. We Canadians, though, have an obligation to keep our story alive too.

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"To you from failing hands we throw the torch,
Be yours to hold it high."

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John McCrae's words, which strike such a deep chord with Canadians, and those of many nationalities, must be our watchword. "To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high," he wrote. He was talking not only about fighting for victory, he was talking about remembering.

"If ye break faith with us who die..." he said. We break faith with those who sacrificed life and limb if we don't do enough to keep the memory of their sacrifices alive.

Our successive federal (and provincial) governments have been remiss in keeping the history of the wars alive. They pay the obligatory lip service on Remembrance Day, and on some of the important "anniversaries", but there seems to have been little support for the promotion of learning about Canada's role in the world wars. In particular, the schools have seen little curriculum support. Ask any high school or junior high student about the wars, and Canada's role in them, and you risk receiving only blank stares. And that is not the fault of the students.

Ideally, Canadians would like the story of their efforts recognized in any circle, worldwide. But the place to start is to give them the prominence they deserve in our own culture, right here at home.

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† The American attitude is largely forgivable, particularly in World War Two where the huge industrial might and the massive manpower of the United States were so decisive in defeating Germany and Japan. American stories of bravery and sacrifice are so legion that they really don't have a great deal of time for examining the deeds of others.

There are however, numerous instances where authors outside of Canada, notably Americans, fail to differentiate between the British and Canadians. For example, Theodore Roscoe, in his book "Tin Cans - The WWII Combat Saga of America's Fighting Destroyers" says of one operation:

"The convoy consisted of 35 ships steaming in 8-column formation. Falling in, the American destroyers relieved the British escorts, with the exception of HMCS ALGOMA, the latter being directed to stay with the convoy as long as her fuel permitted."

The "C" in "HMCS" stands for "Canadian", a distinction lost on Roscoe, and therefore most of his readers.

In "The Sea Wolves", Wolfgang Frank, who was an officer on German Admiral Doenitz's staff writes;

"It was not until July 1941 that the number of operational U-boats exceeded the forces available at the outbreak of the war... Britain still stood alone, while the United States maintained a so-called neutrality."

Romantic and desperate as it sounds, Britain did not "stand alone" in the Battle of the Altantic. Canada and its 12 million citizens were with her. Canadian shipyards were building corvettes; Canadian Navy ships had been shepherding convoys, and fighting and sinking U-boats for almost two years by mid-1941.

The distinction of a separate nation allied with Britain escapes Frank and Roscoe, but they are by no means alone in their misconceptions.

In  "Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World", author Niall Ferguson writes: 

"If not for Canadian pilots, the Battle of Britain might have been lost. If not for Canadian sailors, the Battle of the Atlantic WOULD have been lost" 

Wartime stamps proudly proclaim the efforts of Canadian shipyards