At 7:00am on February 19, 1942, an air raid siren filled the air over Winnipeg, Canada.
Before long, the city was subjected to a large-scale Nazi attack.
As the enemy drew closer to Winnipeg's downtown streets,
3,500 Canadian soldiers, reservists, and volunteers defended the city.
However, the Canadians ultimately succumbed to the Nazi invaders at around 9:30am.
The city was then renamed Himmlerstadt after high-ranking Nazi officer and head of the SS
Henrich Himmler, while local teachers, priests, and politicians were arrested and taken into
internment camps. Also, books were incinerated on the front steps of Carnegie Library,
and Nazi-approved music and speeches echoed on every home radio.
Even the Canadian currency was replaced by Reichsmarks.
However, there was nothing real about the distressing invasion.
In reality, the raid was an elaborate ploy aimed to show the citizens of Manitoba what
life would be like under an oppressive Nazi regime, instilling a sense of fear in them
and thus bolstering donations to the Canadian war effort…
Allied Canada
Canada joined World War 2 in September of 1939, and three years later,
the country was on a total war footing.
Over in the European theater, Canadian soldiers were beginning to arrive in England
and readying themselves for a potential German invasion.
Meanwhile, Canadian fighter pilots roamed the islands up in the skies,
hoping to fend off any approaching German raiders. And the Navy and Merchant Marines protected
the seas from U-boats in the battle for the Atlantic, providing vital support for the Allies.
With thousands of men enlisting into the Canadian armed forces, local industrial
production and manufacturing mostly turned to the production of weapons, artillery,
ships, aircraft, armored vehicles, medical supplies, uniforms, and other wartime equipment.
The small nation only had a population of just over 11 and a half million,
so the government mobilized and restructured the nation's resources to pay for such an effort.
Several kinds of war bonds and war savings methods were also issued, including Victory bonds
and loans sold to individuals and corporations to allow for the ever-increasing war spending.
While the victory bonds were massively successful during the first years of the war,
the government was running out of ways to convince the population to collaborate by the end of 1941.
As such, several events were planned to encourage the population to buy bonds
and continue the war effort. One of them was a colossal fake invasion.
Faking An Invasion
The war seemed distant for the Canadians in Winnipeg,
the capital and largest city of the Manitoba province in southeastern Canada
bordering Minnesota and North Dakota. So to encourage the acquisition of war bonds,
the Winnipeg government began brainstorming a large and unique event for early 1942.
While the initial plans called for an event to light Beacon Fires of Freedom all across Canada,
entrepreneur John Draper Perrin, chairman of the National War Finance Committee,
had another more daring idea.
Perrin believed that bringing the war to people's homes through a staged invasion
could ignite a change of perspective within the public, giving the Manitoban residents a
close look at what life would be like if the Axis power took over their freedom,
thus scaring them into buying bonds and loans. The plan was soon approved.
Operation If Day, or ‘Si un jour’ in French, called for a large-scale
fake Nazi invasion. It would be the most significant military maneuver in
the city's history and only the second Victory Loan campaign of World War 2.
The operation was planned for February 16, 1942, with other events continuing until March. The
fundraising target was set at 45 million dollars, including 24.5 million from Winnipeg citizens.
To make the invasion seem as accurate as possible, the organizers considered even
the smallest details, including renting German Army uniforms complete with belts,
badges, boots, and helmets from a Hollywood supplier.
Meanwhile, the campaign was publicized on local radio
and in newspapers days before the event to inform the citizens about the mock invasion.
And to prevent a rush of citizens to emergency shelters,
residents of neighboring northern Minnesota were also warned about the event,
as radio broadcasts dramatizing the event would be received in that area.
Still, the feigned Third Reich invasion would surprise more than one.
The Setup
On February 19, 1942, If Day began with Nazi patrols arriving in the city just before 5:30am.
Fifteen minutes later, Nazi soldiers stormed a radio announcer's cabin,
detained him and his microphone, and commandeered city-wide broadcasts.
On Winnipeg’s west side, the Nazi troops, commanded by Erich von Neurenberg,
began to assemble for a staged attack.
The faux Nazi troops, wearing the rented uniforms and sporting saber scars on their faces,
were members of the Young Men's Section of the Winnipeg Board of Trade.
About 3,500 actual Canadian Army members,
representing all of the city's units, conformed to the defense forces.
Commanded by Colonels E. A. Pridham and D. S. McKay, the troops were part of the Queen's Own
Cameron Highlanders of Canada, the Fifth Field Regiment, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles,
the Winnipeg Grenadiers, and a small number of reserve and civilian groups.
The troops then massed at Fort Osborne Barracks and the Minto and Macgregor armories,
forming a perimeter around the industrial and downtown areas of Winnipeg,
approximately three miles from City Hall, retreating to a two-mile perimeter later on.
At 7:00am, air-raid sirens sounded all over Winnipeg,
followed by a blackout preparing for the incoming invasion.
If Day was about to begin.
Nazis In Manitoba
As an aerial blitzkrieg with mock bombings commenced,
the fake Nazi troops started their simulated attack on the city.
Nine troop formations held three positions each during the tightly scripted invasion sequence,
directed via telephone and flash-lamp signals from
a headquarters office set inside the Chamber of Commerce building.
The defensive pattern employed by the Canadian troops was similar
to a technique used in World War 2 to conduct soldiers to the front.
Light tanks were set up at the nearby road and rail junctions as the fighting intensified,
while 30 anti-aircraft vehicles continued to fire blanks at fighter planes in the skies,
assisted by anti-aircraft gunners on several buildings.
Dressing stations set up in strategic locations across the city treated mock casualties. Still,
the invasion resulted in two actual injuries: a soldier with an ankle
sprain and a woman who hurt her thumb preparing toast during the blackout.
As the firefight and troop movements continued, the volunteers also simulated
the destruction of major city bridges using actual dynamite, causing quite a spectacle.
As planned, the defending forces were no match for the Nazis,
and the opposing forces quickly began to close in.
By 9:30am, Winnipeg's defenders withdrew to a downtown muster point,
effectively surrendering the city to the Nazi powers.
Himmlerstadt
As the Union Flag at Lower Fort Garry was replaced with the swastika,
Winnipeg was renamed Himmlerstadt.
Erich von Neurenberg, the commanding officer of the Nazi troops, was installed as a provincial
leader, with George Waight as second in command, acting as the local Gestapo chief.
Both men stated that their purpose was to assist the Führer in his plans to colonize Canada.
The fake Nazis then began a widespread harassment campaign, sending armed troops
throughout the city, including a tank placed on the main downtown street.
Meanwhile, top government officials and well-known citizens were taken to an internment camp,
including politician Premier John Bracken and his entire cabinet, detained at a caucus meeting.
Other detainees included Mayor John Queen, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba Roland Fairbairn
McWilliams, and Wilhelm de Morgenstierne, the Norwegian ambassador to the United States,
who was visiting Winnipeg at the time of the exercise.
One of the captured council members escaped but was recaptured, followed by an intensive search.
The local currency was also replaced with fake German Reichsmarks,
marking the only propaganda notes that Canada created during the conflict.
Life Under The Third Reich
Upon taking office, Von Neurenberg issued a long decree, printed and posted throughout the city.
Rules under German-occupied Winnipeg included a curfew, a ban on religion,
no civilian gatherings of more than eight people at one place, forced bond sale, and others.
The decree ended with a list of punishments that would be
inflicted upon any civilians who broke the law.
Surrounding areas were also affected by the invasion,
as the Nazi soldiers confronted anyone they encountered along the way.
In addition, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired the ‘Swastika’ over Canada,
a program broadcasted on the radio throughout the province,
along with military music and extracts of Hitler's speeches.
At the local elementary schools, the principal was replaced with a Nazi educator,
who would dedicate all school hours to the teachings of the Third Reich.
High-school students learned actual lessons about the rise of World War 2 throughout the city.
For even more realism, The Winnipeg Tribune was renamed Das Winnipegger Lügenblatt,
a satirical Nazi publication featuring heavily censored columns and a front
page written in German. Another newspaper article of the day included an official
Nazi government joke that all readers were ordered to laugh at or face imprisonment.
Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Free Press featured a front-page story about the invasion,
writing a detailed description of the devastation caused by the Nazis' arrival in the city.
As the day continued, a book-burning event was hosted in front of the Public
library, with the selected works being either damaged or outdated.
Nazi soldiers continued to act out around the city, stealing food from factory workers,
coats from the police station, and even looting private homes.
At 5:30pm, the If Day event ended with the release of the captured prisoners, a speech from the
city's politicians, and a parade with banners encouraging the citizens to buy victory bonds.
Record-Breaking Results
As the volunteers removed the fake decrees, Nazi flag, and other memorabilia the following day,
the Manitoba province returned to normalcy, and the citizens were free once again.
While fictional, the If Day exercise instilled real fear in the Manitobans, who experienced
what their province would go through under the Third Reich occupation firsthand.
In a later interview, Norwegian ambassador de Morgenstierne recalled his experiences with If Day
and recalled that his natal country allowed him to confirm the occupation of Winnipeg
as a real glimpse into the behavior and actions occurring at the time in German-ridden Europe.
According to George Hoffman, who played a fake Nazi, the deception was very convincing for many,
explaining: [QUOTE] "A lot of people were very uneasy and quite intimidated about this thing.
Maybe it made them think that it could happen
here. They didn't know how far these Nazis would go,"
With this firsthand experience, Winnipeggers finally appreciated
how crucial the fight in Europe was, even for a small Canadian province.
A giant billboard with a map of the Manitoba province was then installed at the city center.
The map was divided into 45 sections,
each representing one million dollars in sold war bonds.
As the campaign approached the expected goal, each section of the map was covered
by a Union Jack sticker, which would represent the Crown taking back the province in the end.
It was undeniable that the momentum was there.
Ultimately, instead of the planned 45 million dollars, more than 47 million
were raised by the population, amounting to almost 700 million in today's currency.
The exercise also fueled several enlistments, including the fake Nazi George Hoffman.
Two months after If Day, Hoffman and several friends enlisted with the 18th
Armored Car Regiment, which later became the 12th Manitoba Dragoons.
After embarking for Great Britain in August of 1942, Hoffman's encounters with Hitler's
troops soon went from shooting blanks in Canada to the real thing,
and the armored regiment fought in northwest Europe until the end of the war in 1945.
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