According to my genealogy software, there are 66 people in my current family tree who were alive when Canada declared war on Germany on September 9, 1939, including all four of my grandparents.
By the time the last battle in continental Europe ended on May 20, 1945, the number of ancestors alive was up to 70, even though 45,400 Canadians died in the war, including my mother’s father and my father’s uncle.
Our family wasn’t alone. According to demographer David Foot, 2.2 million people were born in Canada during the war, just ahead of the baby boom that began two years later. My mother and father were among the people born during the war time era.
I never realized how clear demographic trends become while doing genealogy.
