1940 |
December 24: Pierce Power, former leader of the Unemployed
Committee is let out of jail 2 years before his sentence ends to
fight in World War IL He dies at sea 6 months later when the ship he is serving on is torpedoed.
|
1941 |
January: The American
troop ship Edmund B. Alexander arrives
in St. John's with the first American troops. Construction of
the American naval base at Argentia begins. During the war, more
than 100,000 American troops will be stationed in Newfoundland
and Labrador. |
| |
A hospital opens in Gander.
|
| |
The land settlement at
Markland is closed by the government. |
| |
December: Japanese planes attack the American
naval base at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. The USA enters World War
II. |
1942 |
September: A German
submarine sinks ships at Bell Island in Conception Bay, killing
29 men. |
| |
October: The passenger
ferry the Caribou is torpedoed by a German submarine and sinks
in the Cabot Straits. |
| |
November: A German submarine
sinks two ships at Bell Island, killing 40. |
| |
By the end of 1942, more
than 20,000 American troops are in Newfoundland and Labrador.
|
1944 |
June 6: D-Day. Allied
troops land in France and break through German lines. This is
an important turning-point in World War II. |
| |
August 25: Allied troops
free Paris from the Germans. |
text |
1945 The population of
Bell Island is 8,171. |
| |
May: Germany surrenders.
World War II ends in Europe. |
| |
August: The Americans
drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
|