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Canada joined the second world war on September 10, 1939 after Parliament voted to follow Great Britain. This was after the September 3 declaration of war by Britain and the German Torpedoing of the SS Athenia (1922), upon which 200 Canadians and New Brunswickers died. 4,000 men in the province were called up almost immediately, and fourteen army units were organized by the end of the month. This was in addition to the Carleton and York Regiment already active and commanded separately, and who would be a part of the first Canadian deployment arriving at Scotland December 17 of that year.

The Italy campaign of 1943 was the first major action Canadian forces would see, featuring the Carleton and York Regiments. The fight continued here through D-Day until they departed in 1945 for the front in North-West Europe. Other Canadian forces did participate in D-Day and took control of Juno Beach. Included in this invasion was the New Brunswick North Shore Regiment.

As the British army experienced shortages of officers, Canadian officers were loaned to them and trained at the Sussex Military Camp. The Camp Commandant was Brigadier Milton Fowler Gregg, a future prominent man in both Canadian and world politics. Another prominent New Brunswicker was Lieutenant Commander Bruce S. Wright who served in the RCN and helped form the Frogmen of Burma.

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, a training program for ally pilots, was established and Moncton became home to one such center December 1940. Locations in Chatham and Pennfield Ridge followed. The province would become home to training bases, airstrips, and factories producing war supplies. These facilities included a military typing school in Saint John and supply depot in Moncton. While relatively unindustrialized and rural before the war, New Brunswick became home to 34 plants on military contracts from which the province received over $78 million, while other production centers contributed to all areas of the war effort.

Marine warfare and control of waterways were a prevalent concern for the Maritimes nation as ships were lost to German forces as close to home as the St. Lawrence river. The Battle of the Atlantic would lead to relative safety in the Atlantic only after 1943, a relief to the merchant shipmen of the Canadian and American coasts.

As the war continued, Canadian and other commonwealth troops became important fresh forces for the tired European Allies. Desperation for men drove Prime Minister King, who originally promised no conscription, to offer up a 1942 vote asking the provinces if they would release the government of said promise. New Brunswick voted 69.1% yes. A majority consented, but the policy would not be implemented until 1944, at which point many of the men conscripted never participated in the conflict.

All in all New Brunswick sustained 1808 fatalities between the Army, RCAF, and RCN.