War Junk: Munitions Disposal and Postwar Reconstruction in Canada (Studies in Canadian Military History) - Hardcover

Souchen, Alex

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0774862920 ISBN 13: 9780774862929

Publisher: UBC Press, 2020

Synopsis

During the Second World War, Canadian factories produced mountains of munitions and supplies, including some 800 ships, 16,000 aircraft, 800,000 vehicles, and over 4.6 billion rounds of ammunition and artillery shells. Although they were crucial to winning the war, these assets turned into peacetime liabilities when hostilities ended in 1945.

Drawing on comprehensive archival research, Alex Souchen provides a definitive account of the disposal crisis triggered by Allied victory and shows how policymakers implemented a disposal strategy that facilitated postwar reconstruction. Canadians responded to the unprecedented divestment of public property by reusing and recycling military surpluses to improve their postwar lives.

War Junk recounts the complex political, economic, social, and environmental legacies of munitions disposal in Canada by revealing how the tools of war became integral to the making of postwar Canada.

About this title

About the Author

Alex Souchen is a historian specializing in warfare, society, and the environment in Canada, based in Kingston. He received his PhD from the University of Western Ontario and held a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies. He currently holds an Associated Medical Services Postdoctoral Fellowship at Trent University’s Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies.

Edition details

• Publisher: UBC Press
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774862920
• ISBN 13: 9780774862929
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304