Weirdest War Two: Extraordinary Tales and Unbelievable Facts from the Second World War by M. J. Trow

Author:M. J. Trow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BLKDOG Publishing
Published: 2021-07-09T16:00:00+00:00

If Day

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F

ur traders settled along the Red River in Canada before 1763 and the area was protected by the army at Fort Garry. A settlement quickly grew up around it and it became Winnipeg city in 1879, growing into a fine mini-metropolis as befits the capital of Manitoba. It has churches, schools, hospitals, lumber yards and factories, a thriving and successful icon of western knowhow and ambition.

Then, at 5.30am on 19 February 1942, all that came to an end. Air raid sirens wailed in the darkness of the morning, the radio crackled with the shocking news that the Wehrmacht were entering the town and nearly 4000 of them, helmeted and jackbooted, strutted up the streets and squares, bringing terror in their wake. The local garrison at Fort Garry fought back, but they were hopelessly outnumbered and by 9.30am the maple-leaf flag over the fort was lowered and a swastika ran up the ropes instead.

Books were dragged out of the library and burned in the street, exactly as the Nazis had done in Germany when they seized power. Posters were slapped up on walls and lamp posts telling the locals what they could and could not do. Anyone failing to obey would face harsh reprisals. In the shops Reichmarks were already replacing dollars at the payment counters.

The odd thing about all this, horrified observers noticed, was that there was no devastation. They had heard the siren, but they had not heard – or seen – aircraft. They had heard the guns, but no buildings were lacerated by shrapnel; no glass had been broken. Above all, there were newsreel cameras everywhere, recording it all for posterity.

Enter the German High Command in the form of J.D. Perrin, at the Great Winnipeg Victory home Corporation. The whole thing was a stunt using film extras and cobbled together uniforms, to be shown in cinemas across Canada exactly what to expect if Canada did not take its responsibility to the war effort seriously. An astonishing $3million was raised in war bonds.

And the day’s casualties after all the sound and fury of slaughter? A soldier sprained his ankle, and a woman burnt her hand making toast in the morning’s blackout!

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