TAYLOR: 75th anniversary of VJ Day a source of joy, and pain, for Canadians
It can be said that the Second World War actually started on July 7, 1937, when the Imperial Japanese Army attempted to cross the Marco Polo Bridge in a dash towards Peking. Besides, storm clouds were already gathering over a Europe that was growing increasingly nervous about the racist rhetoric of Adolf Hitler and that was quite enough to be concerned about. On Nov. 16, 1941, three weeks before Pearl Harbour was attacked, 2,000 Canadian soldiers from the Winnipeg Grenadiers and Royal Rifles of Canada arrived in Hong Kong as part of the British defence force. The world entered a new era of warfare and the next day, Emperor Hirohito sued for peace on behalf of the government of Japan. After Pearl Harbour, nearly 21,000, more than half of whom were born in Canada, were forced out of their homes into internment camps in British Columbia. Story behind “The Kiss” photograph seen around the world Few places on earth were more into the celebration of VJ Day and the end of the Second World War than those who jubilantly converged on times Square in New York City. TAYLOR: Peaceful Abbey became a killing field for Canadian POWs TAYLOR: Canadian heroism in the Battle of Britain TAYLOR: Enduring bond between Canada and Holland forged in war Eisenstaedt was wounded as a German soldier in the First World War and came to America in 1935, joining Life Magazine the next year as one of its first four photographers.
