January 30 1933 - Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.

 August 19 1934- Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.

 July 1, 1935 – The amalgamation of Windsor, Walkerville, Sandwich and East Windsor into one city under the name Windsor.

 1936 – Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland.

 November 1937 - The tenth anniversary of the Victoria Order of Nurses branch in Windsor.  Over the next 10 years at least 2 other branches are established in Essex County.  The Windsor branch was sponsored Sir Eric Geddes Chapter of the I.O.D.E.  The V.O.N. looked after in house nursing and prenatal health education.

 March 12/13 1938- Germany announces 'Anschluss' (union) with Austria.

 August 12 1938 - German military mobilizes.

 October 15 1938 - German troops occupy the Sudetenland.

 September 1938 – Canadian Legion offers its assistance with regards to defense to the Prime Minister of Canada, Mackenzie King.  This was the first concrete offer of assistance received by the government

 1939 – Queen Elizabeth and King George VI visit Windsor.

 1939 – Windsor industries number 225 with less than 20,000 workers.

 1939- British financiers inquire if the Bank of Canada would agree to receive and hold gold from Britain in the event of war

January 1939 – The Canadian Legion called for Canadians to offer their “unselfish service without any vestiage of compulsion or regimentation”.  They should serve their country because it is in danger and they are patriotic.

April 1939 – Canada and Britain agree to a peacetime agreement that pilot training would be provided in Canada for RAF and RCAF recruits.  Private Canadian clubs, among them Windsor would provide the training.

May 7, 1939 – Windsor’s last trolley made its final run.  Ford Transit buses that were made right in Windsor replaced the trolleys.

August 26, 1939 – Essex Scottish are placed on a 24-hour guard at the Windsor Armories.  This is merely a precaution against sabotage.

August 28, 1939 – In a special session the Windsor city council passes a bylaw that authorizes the issue of debentures as security for a loan of $50,000.  This money will allow them to complete the purchase of the planned municipal airport site.

August 28, 1939 – The Detroit River Properties Ltd. And the Detroit and Canada Tunnel Corporation let it be known that Ferry service between the foot of Oulette Ave and Detroit would not resume again until at least November 3^rd, 1990.  This was due to the legal contract that was written up when the land was sold to help build the tunnel.  One of the contract’s stipulations was that this land could not be used as a transportation terminal until that time.

August 28, 1939 – The Rhine frontier between France and Germany was closed at Stratsbourg.  The only people allowed to cross the bridge from Stratsbourg to Kehl were German residents of the French frontier zone and tourist returning to Germany.

August 29, 1939 – Mackenzie King says that Canada is now governed on a wartime basis.  He calls the situation “justified in the current state of emergency”.  This was actually stated on August 26^th but did not make into the paper until the 29^th.

September 1, 1939 - Colonel W. G. Haggerty, A.A. and Q. M. G. announces all militia units in Canada to be placed on and notified of active service.  This encompasses 5,000 members including the Essex Scottish.  They are recruited for permanent and nonpermanent militia.

September 2, 1939 – 53 Windsor Veterans were selected as special constables to stand a twenty-four hour guard at the nine water works and hydro stations in Windsor.  These men were to protect the vital city works from sabotage.  Six other veterans were chosen for Michigan Central Railway in protection of their property and materials.

September 3, 1939 - Britain declares war on Germany.

September 3, 1939 – Late at night a German U-boat is said to have torpedoed and sunk the Athenia.  It was carrying 434 Canadian passengers.  Four Windorites are believed to be among the dead.  Germans deny this.

September 4, 1939 – Recruitment began at 9 am.  The recruitment base was located in the Marketorium building located Erie and Ouellette Ave.   The first enrolment consisted of 688 men.  They would be part of a new unit, which was to be known as the Essex Scottish Battalion.  The present Scottish unit comprised of about 600 officers, non commissioned officers and men whom had been recruited for home service only.  The new unit would serve wherever the national government needed them to.

September 4, 1939 – A new Essex Scottish battalion is set up to accept 688 men.   Veterans also respond to the call for volunteers.

September 4, 1939 - A special Essex County Sports men battalion is announced to begin recruiting for service overseas.

September 4, 1939 – It is the first Labour Day parade in Windsor in 25 years.  It attracts 50,000 local citizens and allows them to forget the tragic events occurring in the world.

September 5, 1939 – Windsor mayor David Croll request that Windsor’s population remain calm during this tragic time.  He also tells the city’s residents that profiteering will not be tolerated.

September 5, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star reports that the number of marriages that occurred in August has increased sharply from the total of the same month just one-year prior.  The paper does not attribute this increase to the impeding war.

September 6, 1939 – Windsor gets word that all five Windsorites that were on the Athenia are alive and safe in England.

September 9, 1939 – The Border Chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E) pledge their services to the Empire’s war effort in any way possible.  An example of the help they provide is gathering up warm clothes for the England’s evacuated children.

September 10, 1939 - Canada declares war on Germany.

September 11, 1939 – R.C.A.F. recruiting base was opened in Windsor.

September 11, 1939 – A meeting held in the Windsor Public Market, 500 men attend.  They are there to hear details of the formation of No. 1 Army Filed Workshop Unit, which could be a subsidiary of the Royal Canadian Ordinance Corps.  About 500 skilled mechanics are needed as well as 85 truck drivers.  The Unit hopes to be able to recruit 100 men from the Windsor area.

September 12, 1939 – Essex Scottish quota for recruitment is raised from 688 to 836 as the number of men already enlisted nears 600.  The quota was actually originally 704 according to Colonel Pearson.  This was based on the former militia battalion’s strength of 688 and 36 additional men for brigade staff.

September 12, 1939 –The Windsor Daily Star reports eleven Jewish youth, five of them in Windsor arrive from Texas prepared to enlist in the Canadian army.

September 12, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star reports that liquor sales are increasing.  It also warns readers that prices will rise due to production being diverted for the war effort.  These price increases have yet to be put into effect and there is no clear timeline of when it will occur.  Any price increase will in fact depend upon wartime taxes imposed by the government and the increase in freight prices.

September 13, 1939 - Twenty-five Red Cross Unites are planned for Essex County under the sponsorship of the Windsor Red Cross Society. It was at this time the only help they were able to give was knitting socks for the troops and making pajamas.  The Red Cross society planned on offering a nursing class.

September 15, 1939 – Survivors of the Athenia disaster arrive in Windsor to tell their story.

September 15, 1939 – Trade Board admonishes butter hoarders to unload their stock or receive punishment.  People food stock will run out and begin buying up foodstock by the truckload.

September 15, 1939 - Windsor Police Commission along with many other civic bodies of employment adopt a resolution with assures members of their force who voluntarily enlist in the Canadian services that they will be reemployed without loss of seniority upon return from active service.

September 15, 1939 – The first military wedding occurs at All Staints’ Church.  The wedding receives full regimental colours.  The bridge and groom are serenaded by pips.  The marriage was Norma Rose Millard to Major Bruce John Stewart Macdonald of the Essex Scottish Battalion.

September 18, 1939 – Windsor Council approves changes to the city’s pensions bylaw.  This change makes it possible to set a minimum pension that city employees should receive.  It provided a $30 a month minimum for 25 years.

September 19, 1939 – The Essex Scottish Battalion sign up their last recruit.  The honour goes to Private Donald Doran.  His regimental number was 21907.  The first recruit was C.S.M. Douglas Wenddell who enlisted September 4.  His regimental number was 21000.

September 23, 1939 - The Windsor Daily Star reported that city stores were complaining for help from the federal government.  This was due to a sugar shortage in the city.  The largest store in Windsor had only 10 bags while across the river in Detroit there were thousands ready to be shipped at a fair price if the government duty was removed.

September 23, 1939 – The City of Windsor joined the nation in cultivation vacant land for wartime food production.  The city provided hundreds of vacant lots to be farmed and cultivated by local citizens.  The municipal government called on all citizens to help in the war effort by helping grow food that would be used for the Canadian as well as Great Britain’s army.

September 23, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star runs a story about improvements that have been made on Veterans grave plots.  There is a ceremony, which takes place to not only honour the dead but also to show off the improvements.  This was done that the Windsor Grove Cemetery.

September 28, 1939 – Windsor Mayor David Croll wants local companies to allow employees that enlist for service be guaranteed a job upon their return.

September 28, 1939 – The R.C.M.P announces that “all persons over the age of 16 years of German nationality or born in territories which were under the sovereignty or control of the German Rich on the 3^rd of September, 1939 who are not naturalized British subjects are by law required to report for registration at the office of the Registrar of Enemy Aliens nearest to which they reside.”  If they fail to register by October 28 then they risk an internment for the duration of the war.  The arrest and detention of enemy aliens is made through the Defense Canada regulations.  R.C.M.P officials will register in the post office building, which will be the headquarters of alien registration.

September 28, 1939 – A & P Super-market opens up on Ouellette Ave.  It is Canada’s newest and largest store of its king.  It is touted as being the “market of tomorrow”.  The store is 9,000 square feet of floor space with refrigerators for meat, butter and produce.  The store will contain foods from every corner of the world.

September 29, 1939 – Edward W. Smith stole over $4,000 from Hiram Walker & Sons but was release after pleading guilty on a suspended sentence so he could enlist in the Canadian army.  This was one of the many cases of its kind to happen through out the war years.  Soldiers were in such high demand that criminals were allowed to enlist with suspended sentences.

October 3, 1939 – The Essex Scottish are measure for new khaki uniforms which are regulation for Canadian Active Service Forces.  These new uniforms are like the British with loose fitting khaki shirts and pants.  The Essex Scottish are unsure whether they will be allowed to wear their kilt and glengerry for dress parades or it that uniform will be thrown out completely.

October 4, 1939 – Windsor’s Mayer David Croll enlists with the Essex Scottish Battalion some call for his resignation.  City Council puts through a motion granting him a leave of absence.

October 6, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star reports that interest in the Windsor Vocational night school has increased.  This is due to the fact that they offer an aviation course and men who wish to enlist are brushing up on their French.

October 7, 1939 – Ottawa sends word that Essex Scottish will be able to keep their kilt uniform.  They are not effected by the new regulations relating to battle dress for Canadian Active Service Forces.

October 8, 1939 – A Day of Prayer is announced for all of Canada.  It is touted as a day of humble prayer and intercession to Almighty God on behalf of the cause undertaken by Canada and the Allied powers.  Canadians were asked to pray for “a speed and favourable peace that shall be founded on understanding and not hatred, to the end that peace shall endure.”

October 9, 1939 – Students begin training for the Air Force in Windsor.  This was announced in the Windsor Daily Star September 20.  Windsor was to be the R.C.A.F. training center.  The number of students would only number four at the beginning but quickly increasing as the need for pilots overseas increased.

 October 10, 1939 – Five youth arrive to train at the Windsor airport to be part of R.C.A.F.  These men will be trained using a Tiger Moth biplane that was provided by the federal government.  The flying school encompasses 8 weeks of training in fundamentals, aerobatics and blind flying.  E. C. (Ted) Vassar was the instructor. Although this class is small they will continually increase with each new round of students.

October 11, 1939 – Mary Graham “Maizie” Hamilton is the first women who was granted the right to enlist as an ambulance driver in the Canadian Army Medical Corps.

October 13, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star announces the planned voluntary registration of Windsor women.  The objective was to make a list of willing women who were capable of undertaking tasks associated with war.  It also looked at these women’s capabilities and services that they could offer.  The registration would begin on October 23^rd.  The information that these women need to provided would be name, marital status, “occupation, religion, education, number of children, training in business, commercial, preparation of food, farming, canning, marketing, manufacturing or inspecting hospital supplies or in munitions and factory work; ability to drive a car; if circumstances permit them living away from home; or if they would like to obtain training in certain services.”  It would be a comprehensive list of a reserve of women who desire to help out the allied war effort.

October 16, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star reports a relief scandal concerning local resident Lee Tong, of the Canada Lunch.  It is reported that Tong was cashing the vouchers issued by the relief department to single men at considerably under face value.   He was specifically charged with “alleged to have obtained from the local department of welfare a sum of $75 or more from December 1939 to October 14 1939 by false pretences of representing to the department that he supplied meals to welfare recipients of the City of Windsor to the extent of said sum, he the well knowing said representations to be false and fraudulent”.  Tong pleaded not guilt to these charges.  It also came out that he was cashing the vouchers for cash and keeping some for himself.  The men were in fact not eating lunch at the Canada Lunch but were taking the money to either gamble or purchase alcohol.

October 18, 1939 – Windsor Mayor David Croll issues an appeal for the municipality not to hold elections.  He does this because the city is on war emergency and the election would cost the city $4000 that it could put towards the war effort instead.

October 19, 1939 – Riverside council grants the Victorian Order of Nurses $200.  This grant is in answer to their appeal for emergency funds.  If  V.O.N. did not receive this money they would not have enough fund to finish out the year and would be forced to cease services.

October 21, 1939 – It is announced that Windsor will definitely be having an election on November 24.

October 24, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star reports that the relief list and the city’s employment is at a new low.  This is attributed to the fact that the war has brought more jobs to the community.  Men enlisting in the Canadian services are also vacating jobs and therefore their jobs need to be filled.  The number of people claiming welfare is under 10,000 and was at its lowest point since 1932.

October 28, 1939 – R.C.M.P. announced that Monday September 30 they would begin to round up all German nationals that failed to register.  Only 60 people registered but city officials say there are many still out in the community.  If they do not appear before the registers the are liable to criminal prosecution with fines up to $5,000 and a five year imprisonment.

October 30, 1939 – Federal government ruled that Ford will allocate a portion of its school taxes to sepeate schools.  The Ford Motor Company said that 18% of its property assessed will go to funding for separate schools.  The school system will get $1,000,000 in Ford Motor assessed means.  This means an immediate increase of $10,000 per year in separate school revenue.  One day later Mayor Croll guarantees that the school will have the money by November 15

October 31, 1939 – Windsor’s first casualty of the war is reported.  Pilot Officer James Doan Cody was killed in an aircraft accident near Weston-on-the-Green, Oxon, England.  His death came one day before he was to be promoted to flying office in the R.A.F.  He was buried with full military honours on November 3.

November 1939 – Canadian troops begin to land in Great Britain.

November 2, 1939 – The Red Cross Border Branch Riverside War Emergency Unit opens their new headquarters in the old Hydro building at the corner of Ottawa St. and St. Mary’s Blvd.  Locals helped make the building more comfortable by donating furniture.

November 4, 1939 – The City of Windsor announces that Canadian Greyhound Lines Ltd. will erect a $200,000 bus terminal in Windsor’s downtown core.  It is to be Canada’s most modern bus terminal.  Greyhound hopes to have the construction completed and the terminal ready for operation on April 1, 1940.

November 6, 1939 – It is announced that a new moving picture theatre with a seating capacity of 750 will be built at the corner of Ottawa St. and Moy Ave.  The facility will also contain a balcony where smoking is permitted.

November 6, 1939 – Police and morality squads work together to crack down on Windsor’s disreputable nightlife.  They are trying to purify the city of “Blind Pigs” and gambling houses.  Fifteen places are charged in the first round of raids.

November 10, 1939 – Windsor City council agrees that the new airport will be called the “Windsor Airport” and not the earlier reported “Herman Airport”.

November 21, 1939 – Windsor Mayer David Croll put local fears to bed regarding Windsor Airport construction workers being recruited from Toronto.  He assured the public that the asphalt runways would be constructed from workers recruited from the Windsor area.

November 22, 1939 – After the x-ray exam twenty-one men of the Essex Scottish are discharge with no order for replacements.  These men were discharged under category “E”.  This meant that they were physically unfit for military service under the existing standards.  The twenty-one will receive good conduct and honourable discharges.  The x-ray checks against tuberculosis.

November 25, 1939 – V.O.N. and the Red Cross raise $140,000 in a record campaign to help aid in their work towards the war effort.  This amount is $20,000 more than the goal they set.

November 29, 1939 – Windsor Mayor David Croll spoke out against a temperance movement by Mitchell Hepburn’s Ontario government that would reduce the hours to beverage rooms and also exclude soldiers from drinking beer in Ontario hotels.

December 5, 1939 – Windsor elects a new city council.  The Controllers are William H. McCreery, Cyril Cooper, Arthur J. Reaume and Norman D. Eansor.  The Aldermen from Ward One were Ray Dougal and Thomas Raycraft.  The Aldemen from Ward Two were Angus W. MacMillian and John F. Martin. The Aldemen from Ward Three were E. W. Lancaster and W. Ernest Atkinson. The Aldemen from Ward four were Arthur L. Mason and E. L. Waterman. The Aldemen from Ward five were Richard H. Gluns and Robert F. Turner.

December 5, 1939 – Essex Scottish Regiment called for twenty one men to fill their ranks that were left vacant by the men that were honorably discharged after they failed to pass the medical board exams. These twenty one new recruits are to be from 19 to 30 and with a family limited to two children. The Essex Scottish was being but through extensive sectional drills such as “bayonet practice, trench digging and light automatic machine gun training.

December 5 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star reported on Walter Hnidie, Stan Kuedman and Fred Spewak who were all arrested on November 10. These men were charged by the R.C.M.P with the distribution of Communist anti-war pamphlets. They were charged under the Defense of Canada Regulations. These men were arraigned in court and plead not guilty to their charges. Hnidie denies he has any Communist connection as well as the distribution of the pamphlets. He claims that the papers he was carrying were income tax forms. The R.C.M.P. claim they saw Hnidie distributing the pamphlets and when they stopped to question him, he ran. The R.C.M.P. admit when he was caught he was carrying some income tax forms. The defense claim that it is a case of mistaken identity. The trial continues until December 11. Hnidie is a native Romanian who has lived in Canada for 15 years.

December 6, 1939 – The Christmas Cheer Club still had 500 Christmas Cheer Dolls to be distributed. The Dolls were sold for 29 cents each at a local department store. The dolls went to families where the children might not get a Christmas present except for this doll.

December 6, 1939 – The immaculate Conception Church Players put on the comedy “Meet the Dutchess” in the church hall.

December 7, 1939 – A fire, which was started by an explosion in the basement of Marlborough Photography Studio, caused heavy smoke damage to two Windsor stores on Ouellette Avenue. The fire is blamed on internal combustion, which ignited the dangerously inflammable film materials stored there.

December 7, 1939 – The Essex Scottish Regiment are placed in the 4^th Infantry Brigade of the Canadian Active Service Force.

December 8, 1939 – The Windsor Public Library Board plans to put a library in the Essex Scottish barracks. This addition to the structure will cost approximately $1000. This money is not in the Board’s budget. Therefore they commission a committee that wil study the ways and means of raising the funds.

December 9, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star reports that the preliminary work has been done for the establishment of a Royal Canadian Naval Division in Windsor. Lieutenant Jordan H. Marshall, a resident of Windsor, is the commanding officer for the district. The enlistment will not begin until Ottawa okays the plan but Marshall does not think it will take much longer. Approximately 400 men had already registered their names in hopes of joining the navy.

December 11 1939 – Walter Hnidie, Stan Kuedman, and Fred Spewak who were arrested on November 10 and arraigned on December 5 are convicted under the Defense of Canada Regulations. The court called the literature they distributed “subversives the peace and order of the country”.

December 11, 1939 – Chrysler Canada reports that the auto workers will have steady work in the winter as 2,000 men return to their jobs. These men had be laid off in the last few months. When Chrysler began production at 8 am that day the began producing twenty three cars an hour.

December 12, 1939 – Three girls who traveling around the city caroling for donations. These girls claimed to be helping the Salvation Army raise money are actually not affiliated with the Salvation Army. There were no leads as to the identities of these three 15 or 16 year old girl.

December 15, 1939 – Essex Scottish Regiment pass with flying colours the inspection by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable Albert Matthews. They are also presented with a military ambulance to be used overseas by Mrs. W.F. Herman, of the Windsor Star.

December 16, 1939 – Controller Olive Jane Whyte marries her campaign manager Norman Oliver. This followed her defeat for re-election to the Board of control.

December 16, 1939 – The Windsor Airport announced another supplementary flying field would be built for training purposed. It would be built within miles of the existing airport. This was so the men could fly out to the supplementary field leaving the main one for normal airline operation. Also on this date the first group of officers trained at the Windsor Airport graduated and left to continue their Air Force training in Trenton. A new group will begin their training January 2, 1940.

December 17, 1939 – No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) which was operated by the Windsor Flying School LTD was the third of its kind to open in Canada under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Agreement.

December 18, 1939 - Walter Hnidie, Stan Kuedman, and Fred Spewak who were arrested on November 10, arraigned on December 5, and convicted December 11 are sentenced. These men will serve at least 6 months in a reformatory. Once their have served their sentence their naturalization papers will be cancelled and they face possible deportation. Hnidie is Romanian while the other two are Russian.

December 20, 1939 – Windsor City Council passes bylaw for an extra civic holiday to follow Christmas day and be known as “Boxing Day”. It will be observed in 1939 and every year there after. Business and labour will refrain from operation on this day.

December 21, 1939 – Essex Scottish Regiment get a holiday present in the form of leave. Half of the Regiment will get a 3 day weekend pass for Christmas while the other half will receive their time off for the New Year. Also they were to receive their payments 3 times in the Month of December rather than the normal two. This would give the troops money with which to do their Christmas shopping.

December 21, 1939 – Nineteen Windsor War mothers make and send Christmas boxes overseas to cheer up the troops. The boxes are filled with Canadian sweets, socks, scarves and other articles from home.

December 21, 1939 – The Windsor Retail Merchants Association announced that a majority of Windsor’s downtown would be open on December 26^th. At least two of the city’s large chain grocery stores would be open at noon for business. The association was angry that city council did not consult them upon the decision to close all retail and industry. They believed that “Boxing Day” was a British tradition that had no place in modern Canadian society. The retailers did not want to loose money to the Detroit retailers who were going to be open on that day.

December 22, 1939 – They mayor and Board of Control vote to wipe the civic airport debt out instead of the construction of a new Ward Three sewer system. The Board of Control recommended paying $50,000 to the city, which would completely erase the debt, incurred by the purchase of the land, which the Windsor Airport is on. The Board of Control had already given the city $4,500 which had been used towards the airport purchase which was actually $54,000. The only people who were against this decision were the aldermen from Ward Three whom believed that the sewer system was more urgent than that of the airport debt.

December 22, 1939 – Y.W.C.A. arranges home for sixty-one Essex Scottish to have turkey dinner at on Christmas day. They call for help from the community as there are ninety more men who are unable to get home for the holidays. Many men from the Regiment came from the same small town just outside of Windsor. Only half of them were allowed to go home due to military regulations. Therefore this left a total of one hundred and fifty men without a place to go for the holidays.

December 23, 1939 – It is announced that a plan to take car of Windsor’s Separate School Board’s debt will be drafted by the Board itself before February 15^th. The debt exceeded $2 million. As a result of this pact the city gave $200,000 to the Separate School Board.

December 26, 1939 – The Christmas season was reported to be the highest sales in the past few years. The sales were reported to be above the amount sold the previous year. W. H. McCreery Jewelry Store reported its best sales for the Christmas season in the last 25 years and also 25% higher than last year.

December 26, 1939 – Candidate qualify for the municipal mayoral election that would be held on January 1. The election was advertised as possibly the last municipal election in Ontario until after the war. The candidate who would win the New Year’s Day election would be in office for at least two years and even possible for the duration of the war.

December 27, 1939 – The Windsor branch of the Overseas Forces Service Committee hosted the Essex Scottish Regiment for a night of entertainment. The men are treated to a one act play put on by the Windsor Theatre Guild. This festivity took place on the second floor the Essex Scottish Main Barracks.

December 28, 1939 – Wilmar Laramie was charged of counterfeiting. An operation of counterfeiting existed which was copying both Canadian and American half dollars. The money was then used at least ten Windsor restaurants during the Christmas holiday season. Laramie was arrested was the first step in an effort to stop the counterfeiting gang.

December 28, 1939 – City council approves the purchase of the airport site land. The council authorized the payment of $50,546.58 to the trustees as a return for the loan of the purchase of the municipal airport land. Very little opposition met this when it was finally passed.

December 30, 1939 – The Windsor Daily Star reports tourism will be up and heavy during the New Year holiday weekend. As many Americans crossed the border to visit family and tourist sites. Bus, trains and hotels reported to be busy or sold out. Many Americans enjoy spending the New Year in Canada. Many of the residents of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky are former a Canadians.

1940 – Early in the year a naval recruiting division is opened in Windsor.

1940 – In the spring the Veterans Home Guard of Canada was founded.  The recruits could be 50 years old or younger but physically fit.  The Veterans had an opportunity to serve their country and put it into a state of preparedness in case of an attack.

January 2, 1940 – Mayor David Croll give his inaugural mayoral address as he is reelected. In his speech he stressed the “need for strict municipal government economy that will soften for the tax payers the shock of war financing.” He linked every point in his address to the patriotic war theme.

January 2, 1940 – Windsor’s second class of student pilots begin their training for the R.C.A.F. The four young men will be taking an extended twelve-week program. The extra four weeks were added in anticipation of winter weather delays. Six different types of planes were standardized for use of airmen from all sections of the Empire.

January 4, 1940 – Mayor David Croll refuses to go along with the demands of the Windsor city council. He calls them insurgent as council calls the first of two special sessions of council. In the first meeting Croll and five other council members who support him are absent. They discuss a bylaw, which provided several important changes to rules that were put in place by Croll in 1939.

January 5, 1940 - The second special meeting of city council is held. The mayor and five council members are again not present. This meeting was called without permission from the mayor. David Croll was not recognizing these meetings calling them out of order due to the fact that he was the only one with the ability to call special sessions. The council passed the bylaw and appointed a standing committee for 1940. Croll will take no action against the anti-Croll faction until the council’s next meeting January 16. Croll said that he would then seek help from the Supreme Court of Canada to help the council recognize his authority.

January 5, 1940 – Windsor Utilities Commission planned to reduce the number of their guards when they took out sabotage insurance for its hydro and water plants. The use of the guards cost the commission $45,000 a year. The guard cut back would result in the reduction of that cost $20,000. The new cost allowed for a pay increase for the guards who were left after the cuts.

January 8, 1940 – The “sledgehammer gang” strikes again. They open and steal from their fifth strong box in a month. The gang added $800 to their total. The other safes that the gang has broken into were the Essex County Automobile club, the Coulter Coal Company, the Wholesale Fruit Store and the Windsor’s engineers office.

January 8, 1940 – Windsor Department of Transport officials began to visit 4000 homes in the Windsor area that owned a radio receiving set and had yet to purchase a 1939 license. These licenses costing $2.50 had gone on sale April 1, 1939. Records indicated 12,000 licenses were purchased while 16,000 radios were sold in the Windsor area.

January 8, 1940 – Windsor City Council anti-Croll faction ask Queen’s Park for help crack the control of Mayor David Croll. They want legitimization of their council sessions. They present Queen’s park with a copy of the bylaw and asked them for a ruling. Queen’s Park promised a ruling in a few days.

January 11, 1940 – Arthur J. Reame called a special meeting of the Board of Control. He asked for reconsideration of the blockade that was set up by the anti-Croll group of the city council. It was believed the attitudes of the two groups in council were setting up a blockade, which was distracting from city business. This threatened to turn into a starvation of Windsor’s 10,000 relief recipients. Due to the blockade it was impossible to obtain the $40,000 necessary to distribute the next installment of welfare vouchers. Therefore there was a non-payment of relief.

January 11, 1940 – The Windsor Public Library Board planned its 1940 budget at an estimated $63,307.20 of which $60,000 will come from the city’s taxes of that year.

January 12, 1940 – The Canadian Corps, Unit No. 45, opposed the cuts that were proposed by the Windsor Utilities Commission. They reported that there was enough alien agents in the area to make the threat to city’s utilities to warrant the number of guards currently available. A decrease in number would put Windsor in danger of an attack. The commission maintains that there were too many guards fired in the first place and all information pertaining to enemy aliens had been taken into consideration. Canadian Corps says the decrease may save the commission money but it will not save the city as most of the men were on relief before they the guard duty.

January 16, 1940 – Women begin their training for voluntary aid detachments of war service. This is done in conjunction with the St. John’s Ambulance Association and the Red Cross Society. These women will be schooled in home nursing and first aid.

January 16, 1940 – The Separate School Board tries to gain forty percent of the Canadian National Railway assessments in Windsor, which is totaled at $735,000. This is because they believe the citizens of Canada own the C.N.R. and as such are entitled to some of the profits. Public school board contests this.

January 17, 1940 – “Sledgehammer gang” strike again. They rob the office of the Confederation Coal and Coke Limited and add $500 to their total stolen. The gang strike their venues at varying times through out the night so far they had not cracked a safe at the same time for any of the six robberies.

January 18, 1940 – The anti-Croll faction of the city council begins its legal action in trying to establish its legality of the two sessions that were held January 4 and 5. During these sessions a bylaw was passed designed to get ride of ex-Controller George Bennett from his position as assistant market clerk. The Mayor and several other councilors dispute this bylaw, as they were not present at this session to voice their opinions.

January 19, 1940 - The “sledgehammer gang” tried to rob the Sandwich East Township Hall but are rewarded with no money as they are unable to crack the area where the money is located. The gang spent a good portion of the night trying to open the strong box. This is the 7^th attempt, which is attributed to the gang.

January 23, 1940 – A fire destroys the G. G. McKeough Limited Warehouse. It caused $200,000 in property damage and killed night watchmen William Aitchison. Six companies of firefighters answer the two-alarm fire. It took more than three hours to bring the blaze under control.

January 24, 1940 – Another two-alarm blaze occurs at the O’Neil and Bondy Shoe Store. The Damage of this fire is set at $50,000. This cost is $35,000 for the merchandise damaged by smoke, fire and water and $15,000 done in furniture and fixture damage. Smoke damage is report by the Bartlet, Macdonald and Gow and Smith Company buildings located on either side of O’Neil and Bondy. These companies were unable to estimate their damages to their stock but they believe the amount to be large.

January 24, 1940 – Mayor David Croll announces a Civic surplus of $40,940 for 1939. This was realized even with the tax rate reduced the civic staff increased and $54,000 spent on the purchase of the airport land. They met all their debt obligations and actually expenditures totaled $2,251,585.58. They will consider a strike of the tax rate but it was not dealt with until after the conclusion of the Croll and anti-Croll stalemate.

January 25, 1940 – Anti-Croll faction of Windsor council wishes to have a partial break in the stalemate to continue on with city business during the council session. They men agree in council and deal with 20 minor non-controversial issues. The selected items are ones, which were approved without prejudice of position of either group.

March 1, 1940 – The Windsor Branch of the Disabled Veterans Association held its fifth annual cabaret dance. The proceeds went to the association’s welfare work amongst disabled men and families.

May 26, 1940 – June 3 1940- Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk

June 14, 1940 - Germans enter Paris.

August 23/24 1940 - German air raids on London begin

August 25/26 1940 - First British air raid on Berlin.

September 7, 1940 - German Blitz against England begins.

September 25, 1940 – The first twenty pilot trainees graduated the EFTS after completing the program.  A majority of the recruits were from Windsor.

1940 – Late in the year the Canadian national government announces the details of a rehabilitation plan that would give grants to the returning veterans.  This was the first concrete movement by the government to help make the transition from solider to citizen upon return from combat smooth.

1941 – A government housing project is started in Windsor due to a housing shortage. By the close of the war about 3,500 housing units will have been constructed under this
plan in Windsor.

July 2, 1941 – The Canadian Federal government authorized the recruitment of women into the RCAF.  The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force was organized.  It played a supporting role and the women allowed RCAF members to be assigned to heavier and more combative duties.

October 12, 1941 – The Canadian National Government called for Total War.

November 1, 1941 – The Windsor Naval Division was commissioned as HMCS HUNTER.

December 8, 1941 - United States and Britain declare war on Japan.

1942 – Civilian automobile production ceased.  This was done so that vehicles used for wartime service could be manufactured.

1942 – Marketorium building is purchased by the Department of National Defense for naval services.  It will serve as wartime needs and be a permanent peacetime home of barracks and head quarters for the navy in Windsor.  It will be known as the H.M.C.S. Hunter.

April 1942 – The Canadian national government called a plebiscite that would release the government from it’s pledge that no Canadian would be conscripted into Canadian forces for overseas service.

August 19, 1942- Raids on Dieppe.  3,367 Canadians killed or wounded in the battle of the 5,000 Canadian combatants.  This was where Windsor’s Scottish Regiment made the memorable contribution.

September 6, 1942 – The Canadian National Government declares a national day of prayer and dedication on behalf of those who died for the cause undertaken by Canada, Britain and the British Commonwealth.

1943 – Early in the year the Civil Employment Reinstatement Act, The Post-Discharge Reestablishment Order and the Veterans Land Act are passed by the Canadian national government.

August 4, 1943 – The C.C.F. dominate provincial elections.  Three C.C.F. members of provincial parliament are elected from Essex County

May 24, 1944 – HMCS Border Cities docked at the Hiram Walker Dock and later in the day travels down river the old Windsor Central Ferry dock.  On this visit they receive gifts from local residents, wishing them well in their endeavors.

June 6, 1944 - D-Day landings. Allied Forces invade France, landing on coast of Normandy, in Operation OVERLORD.

July 1944 – C.S.M. James Thomas Coughlin (B.E.M.) was the first decorated man to return to Canada.  He was wounded at both Normandy and Dieppe.

August 25, 1944 - Liberation of Paris.

September, 1944 – Canadians finally capture Dieppe which fell without a fight.

September 17, 1944 - Operation Market Garden begins.

October 1944 – the Ministry of National Defense announced the reduction and closing of its many pilot training schools

November 15, 1944 – Number 7 Elementary Flying Training School closes.  It provided 1,674 men with a complete course introducing them to practical flying.

1945 – Public transportation was a major part of daily life in Windsor due to the high gas prices and hard to find car parts.  Mass transit in Windsor helped about 39 million people reach their destination that year.

May 7, 1945 - Unconditional surrender of all German forces to Allies.

May 8, 1945 - V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, World War II ends.

June 4, 1945 – The Progressive Conservatives dominate provincial elections. Three Progressive Conservative candidates are elected to the provincial parliament, where they will stay through the next two elections.

June 23, 1945 – Windsor welcomes the Essex Scottish Battalion home with a parade in their honour.

September 12, 1945 –Unionized workers of Local 200 walk out of Ford Canada and begin what would be a 99-day strike.

October 1945- The Air Force Club of Windsor formed by a handful of air force veterans in a meeting at St. Georges Church.

December 18, 1945 – End of Ford Canada strike.

1945 – By the end of the war Chrysler Canada had built 180,816 trucks that would be used for service on all fronts.  They also produced rocket tubes and shells, tracer, igniters, and parts for Bofor guns.

1946 – The aftermath of the war put a hiatus upon society that last several years.  This was because people were trying to reestablish their lives and rebuild their communities.

February 2, 1946 – Air Force Club became a Canadian Legion Branch #346.  It was the only all air force chapter.

1947 – In the summer a University Naval Training Division (UNTD) was set up to train men attending Assumption University.  They would be trained to the level of sub-lieutenant by the time they finished their university degree.

1947-The Rotary Club of Windsor reported that over a 125 million tons a year of shipping was traveling through the city of Windsor.  It also reported that 37,000 people were employed in industry in 275 factories.

May 12, 1948 - The Air Force Club of Windsor received an annual grant from the Department of National Defense to continue with the association’s actions within the Windsor community.

October 1949 – Royal Canadian Air Force Association charter was received for the Air Force Club of Windsor.  Therefore there was not a closer tie between the association and the service that it members had formally served.  At this time the club had about 5,000 members.

1950s – Mass transit ridership declines as people return to work and auto production starts up again.

1950 – A renewal of civil defense due to fears of the U.S.S.R. Windsor was among the first cities in Canada to initiate this type of program.

1951 – Queen Elizabeth visits Windsor as part of a cross Canada tour.

1951 – Essex County has 217,150 inhabitants, a majority of them are living in urban areas.

1951 – The Air Force Club of Windsor had about 10,000 members.

1952 – The total value of field crops produced exceeded $16,000,000.

1953 – Windsor industries number 493 with more than 43,000 workers

1954 – Windsor’s centennial celebrations occur.  Windsor received village municipal status in 1854.  Various events are planned around the city including a centennial air show sponsored by the Air Force Club of Windsor.

1954 – The Air Force Club of Windsor took over sponsorship of the Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadrons 13 and 310.  This would bring and understanding of past events to a younger generation

1953 – The average wage level in Windsor was $57.00/week.  A young male in his late teens would get only $90 to $100 a month even if they had a high school diploma.

1954 – Ford Canada moves its operation from Windsor to Oakville, leaving many people in the city unemployed. 

1956 – Since 1941 the suburban population had increased by 304% but the city population had only increased by 16 %.

Bibliography

---.  Historic Windsor Ontario Canada.  Montreal: Rotary International, 1947.

---.  Centennial Reflections: Honouring 70 years of the V.O.N. in Windsor and Essex County.  Windsor: The Page Publishing Corp., 1997.

---. The Windsor Daily Star. 1939.

Bowering, Clifford H.  Service: The Story of the Canadian Legion 1925 – 1960.  Montreal: Printing and Lithography Company Ltd., 1960.

Laforet, Paul.  A History of the Air Force Club of Windsor: 50^th Anniversary 1945-1995.  Windsor: Air Force Club of Windsor, 1995.

Morrison, Neil F. Garden Gateway to Canada: One Hundred Years of Windsor and Essex County 1854-1954.  Windsor: Herald Press Ltd., 1954.

Price, Trevor and Larry Kulisek.  Windsor 1892-1992: A Centennial Celebration an Illustrated History.  Windsor: Chamber Publications, 1992.

Wilkinson, William Arthur.  Making a Difference: The Memoirs of William Aruthur Wilkinson.  Windsor: Herald Press Ltd., 1995.

Windsor Public Library.  Windsor and Essex County Historical Scrapbooks: Volume 10a. Windsor: Windsor Public Library, 1954.

Windsor Public Library.  Windsor and Essex County Historical Scrapbooks: Volume 10b. Windsor: Windsor Public Library, 1954.

Windsor Public Library.  Windsor and Essex County Historical Scrapbooks: Volume 10e. Windsor: Windsor Public Library, 1954.