THE "pHONY WAR"
Toronto army recruiting office August 1914
When Canadians heard of the war, many started lining up at recruitment offices to join it and were more than willing to do their part in the war. When the recruited soldiers were sent to Britain, the Allies were much unprepared, so the Canadian soldiers spent the time training. This time period, September 1939 to May 1940, became known as the “Phony War”.
The term “Phony War” was coined by an American senator, Borah. The Germans referred to the same period as “Sitzkreig”, which meant “sitting war” and the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, called it the “Twilight War” (History Learning Site, n.d.).
To say that exactly “nothing” happened is false. While the Allies were still getting prepared, Germany was in the process of capturing Poland. However, Britain did send bombing planes over Germany, but they did not drop bombs. Instead they dropped leaflets, which said how evil the German government was. Bomber Harris, who was a very famous pilot, said “My personal view is that the only thing achieved was largely to supply the continent’s requirements of toilet paper for the five long years of the war”. The people of Britain agreed with Bomber Harris and wanted to see a more aggressive approach by the Allies (History Learning Site, n.d.).
The term “Phony War” was coined by an American senator, Borah. The Germans referred to the same period as “Sitzkreig”, which meant “sitting war” and the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, called it the “Twilight War” (History Learning Site, n.d.).
To say that exactly “nothing” happened is false. While the Allies were still getting prepared, Germany was in the process of capturing Poland. However, Britain did send bombing planes over Germany, but they did not drop bombs. Instead they dropped leaflets, which said how evil the German government was. Bomber Harris, who was a very famous pilot, said “My personal view is that the only thing achieved was largely to supply the continent’s requirements of toilet paper for the five long years of the war”. The people of Britain agreed with Bomber Harris and wanted to see a more aggressive approach by the Allies (History Learning Site, n.d.).