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Hong Kong was the first place Canadians fought a land battle in the Second World War. From 8 to 25 December 1941, almost 2,000 troops from Winnipeg and Quebec City — sent to Hong Kong expecting little more than guard duty — fought bravely against the overwhelming power of an invading Japanese force. When the British colony surrendered on Christmas Day, 290 Canadians had been killed in the fighting. Another 264 would die over the next four years, amid the inhumane conditions of Japanese prisoner-of-war camps.

Hindenburg Line (Siegfried-Stellung), a system of fortified and entrenched reserve positions stretching 80 km southeast from Arras to Soissons, France, built by the Germans in the winter of 1916-17.

Billion Dollar Gift, the Canadian government's first comprehensive attempt to help finance Britain's war effort during the Second World War. Canada's war production, and its wartime prosperity, was dependent upon British orders, but Britain lacked gold and dollar reserves.

Aid to (or of) the Civil Power, the calling out of military troops by the civil authorities to help maintain or restore public order.

 During the NAPOLEONIC WARS, Britain insisted on the right to search neutral ships on the high seas for Royal Navy deserters. On 22 June 1807 HMS Leopard forcibly took 4 seamen from the American frigate Chesapeake.

The rather casual pace and attitude of the US forces provided an opportunity for the British. A local youth named Billy Green had gathered critical intelligence on the approaching US forces, including their location and disposition.

The Battle of Lundy's Lane, during the War of 1812, was fought between American troops and British regulars assisted by Canadian fencibles and militia on the sultry evening of 25 July 1814, almost within sight of Niagara Falls.

The aerial bombing of centres of civilian population in Britain early in WWII gave rise to numerous acts of the most conspicuous bravery. In response, King George VI instituted a major decoration in 1940 for which civilians and members of the armed forces are eligible.

The Battle of Queenston Heights National Historic Site commemorates a battle fought on 13 October 1812, when the British army and Canadian militia, assisted by First Nations allies, defeated an invading American army on the Niagara Escarpment overlooking the village of Queenston.

During the SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 90 officers and men of the Royal Canadian Dragoons were assigned to cover the retreat of a British infantry column under attack by several hundred Boer horsemen near Leliefontein farm, east Transvaal.

Khaki University (initially Khaki College), an educational institution set up and managed by the Canadian Army in Britain, 1917-19 and 1945-46. The program was rooted in the study groups of the Canadian YMCA and the chaplain services of the Canadian Army.

The Ministry of Overseas Military Forces was established in November 1916 to administer Canadian forces in the UK, especially in the training of reinforcements, and to act as the communications channel between the Militia Department, the British War Office, and the Canadian Corps in France.

Militia Acts provided manpower for defence. Until the 1850s, such Acts in Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick usually imposed compulsory service on males between 16 and 50 or 60, with annual or more frequent enrolment musters.

Mount Sorrel was the objective of an important battle between Canadian and German soldiers in the First World War.

As early as 1909 the Conservative Party believed that Canada should contribute "emergency" funds to help the Royal Navy maintain its superiority over the German navy. In March 1912 the RN required more "dreadnought" battleships.

The Department of National Defence was created 1 January 1923, the result of the amalgamation of the departments of Naval Services and Militia and Defence, and the Air Board.

The Department of Munitions and Supply was Canada's principal agency for co-ordinating domestic industry during WORLD WAR II.

The National War Labour Board was established in 1941 with 5 regional boards to enforce the Canadian government's program of wage stabilization in the volatile wartime economy. The first chairman was Humphrey MITCHELL, later minister of labour.

The Naval Service Act, passed by the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, established the Royal Canadian Navy on 4 May 1910. Before the Act passed, Canada did not have a navy of its own and relied on the British Royal Navy. This new defence initiative was a direct response to the naval arms race between Britain and Germany in the years before the First World War and the 1909 panic in Britain over expansion of the German navy. The Act was built on earlier, distinctively Canadian approaches to defence and its key provisions remained in force until 1950. The Naval Service Act was bitterly opposed by French Canadian nationalists, led by Henri Bourassa, who feared deeper involvement in imperial affairs.

Mutual Aid is the principal economic means by which Canada assisted its allies with food, raw materials and munitions from May 1943 until the end of WORLD WAR II. The Mutual Aid Board, chaired by C.D.