During the Second World War, Canadian soldiers in their hundreds of thousands descended upon the Victorian Hampshire town of Aldershot, the world-famous military town lying in the shadow of the Hog's Back ridge which once carried pilgrims to Thomas Becket's holy shrine at Canterbury.  In six years of war, the "New World" men of the Rockies, Praries and Maritime Provinces made the "Old World" Home of the British Army entirely their own. 

They landed more than a division of troops on JUNO beach in Normandy, and played a dramatic leading role in the liberation of France, Belgium, Holland and the subsequent invasion of Germany. Then, with the largest Canadian Army gathered together in history, they crossed the Rhine with their British and American Allies to destroy the last bitter resistance of the Wehrmacht. These things will never be forgotten in the Home of the British Army.

Following Great Britain's utimate refusal to tolerate the German invasion of Poland, Canada showed prompt support for the Old Country, on 10 Sptember 1939, with her decleration of war on the European aggressor, over 50,000 volunteers - the majority without any military experience to speak of - immediately joined up. They came from all backgrounds including poor agricultural communtites which had suffered in the Depression of the hungry 30's; and they were attracted to the twin prospects of regular pay and food.

The peacetime Canadian army had numbered just 4,500 regulars and less than 100,000 Non-Permanent Active Militiamen, yet three months later, the first contingent of 7,400 men of the 1st Division was setting sail for the United Kingdom. They came here on vessels such as Aquitania, Monarch of Bermuda, Dutchess of Bedford, Empress of Australia and the Empress of Britain.

The convoy left Halifax on 10 December with a strong naval escort, and arrived seven days later; with the ships steaming up the Clyde to land their troops at Greenock. Twenty-four hours later, the Canadian advance guard were detraining at railway stations in and around Aldershot to take up residence in the famous military town with it's satellite camps which had been selected to be Home of the Canadian Army Overseas.

Come Christmas 1939, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was very much in evidence on the streets of Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet, Farnham and the outlying villages. The Camp quickly grew into a sprawling complex of red and yellow brick barracks and wooden huts peppered with parade-grounds, serviced by military hospitals, schools and support facilities. The training grounds of gorse and pine were uncompromising in winter - wind lashed and frozen - and the winter of 1939-40 was more severe than most.

Weather conditions were officially described as "inclement" - bitterly cold, wet and depressing for the Canadians who were used to dry cold, but not the wet of the British winter - the coldest since 1894.  Icy winds blew into the Camp and the troops shivered in their Victorian barracks: Crimean temperatures accompanied the Crimean accommodation as water-pipes froze, small coal-fires proved inadequate,

 wooden furniture (including bus-stop seats and park benches) were broken up for fire-wood, and Canadian curses in English and French bounced off the barrack-room wall with alacrity.  As in the case of the First World War, many younger soldiers suffered sickness with the cold, and the more desperate among them took to sleeping under blankets in full battledress, in an attempt to keep warm.