Active on many fronts during the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Navy played its best-known and arguably most crucial role in helping to keep Allied shipping lanes open in the Atlantic. Meanwhile, Canadian merchant ships and merchant sailors transported vital supplies to Allied forces and populations around the world. On Canada’s home front, maritime losses – including civilian passengers – were felt across the country, while naval imagery appeared in fundraising and propaganda materials. Canadians built ships, weapons, and equipment, or were encouraged to provide support through their volunteer war, its events, and its consequences on the waters.

Jeff Noakes has been the Second World War historian at the Canadian War Museum since 2006. He is the curator responsible for historical content and questions relating to the Second World War and the William James Roué Collection at the Canadian Museum of History. His areas of research include military service and identities, maritime history and the Arctic.

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The Maple Leaf Route webinar series is a partnership between the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada, the Canadian Battlefields Foundation and the Juno Beach Centre Association.