There’s no accounting for the missing

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

The Second World War set a new standard for disappearances. Unprecedented millions simply vanished during the maelstrom in Europe and the Far East, many under genocidal conquests by Japanese forces in China and Nazis on the continent.

The German penchant for detail and meticulous record-keeping answered the questions of many who suspected Jewish and other relatives had been shuttled off to concentration camps, only to die by gas or gun.

Still, millions more family members have lived out their lives never knowing what happened to loved ones who vanished without a trace between 1939 and 1945.

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The sinking of U-484

Story by Sharon Adams

Commissioned on Jan. 19, 1944, the German submarine U-484 travelled to Norway to join the German 3rd flotilla in early August under command of Korvettenkapitän Wolf-Axel Schaefer.

Its first and only patrol began on Aug. 18. The sub passed through a gap separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands and headed for the Hebrides, where it was sunk on Sept. 9. All 52 aboard perished.

Who sank the sub?

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September 9, 1939

Canada declares war on Germany.

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The day we earned seven Victoria Crosses

Story by Sharon Adams

On Sept. 2, 1918, Day 26 of the Hundred Days Offensive, the objective was to breach the Drocourt-Quéant Line, a heavily fortified German front stretching about 25 kilometres between the two towns in northern France.

Seven members of the Canadian Corps earned the Victoria Cross that day as they overran the line across a front of six kilometres and penetrated nearly 10 kilometres into enemy-held land.

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German Red Cross to continue
tracking WW II disappearances

Written by Stephen J. Thorne

For many outside the battle zones of Europe, the Second World War is a matter of textbooks and faded black-and-white photographs.

But for those whose roots lay in the paths of Adolf Hitler’s conquest, the war remains close, a tactile connection to tragedy and loss even 75 years and three generations removed from 85 million deaths and untold suffering. Siblings, children, grandchildren feel the pang of lost relatives many never knew.

In Germany, where the war began and ended, the fate of more than a million soldiers and citizens remains unknown. Many were taken prisoner by Red Army troops, never to be seen again.

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September 2, 1945

Japan signs terms of surrender on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, bringing an end to six years of war.

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