Editing Newfoundland and Labrador (section)

====Second World War====
The situation changed dramatically, after Newfoundland and Labrador, with no responsible government of its own, was automatically committed to war as a result of Britain's ultimatum to Germany in September 1939. Unlike in 1914–1918, when the Dominion government volunteered and financed a full expeditionary regiment, there would be no separate presence overseas and, by implication, no compulsory enlistment. Volunteers filled the ranks of Newfoundland units in both the Royal Artillery and the Royal Air Force, and of the largest single contingent of Newfoundlanders to go overseas, the [[Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit]]. As a result, and taking into account service in the Newfoundland Militia, and in the merchant marine, as in the First World War<ref name=":7" /> about 12,000 Newfoundlanders were at one time or another directly or indirectly involved in the war effort.<ref name=":9" />

In June 1940, following the defeat of France and the German occupation of most of Western Europe, the Commission of Government, with British approval, authorized Canadian forces to help defend Newfoundland's air bases for the duration of the war. Canada's military commitment greatly increased in 1941 when German submarines began to attack the large numbers of merchant ships in the north-west Atlantic. In addition to reinforcing the bomber squadron at [[Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador|Gander]], the Royal Canadian Air Force provided a further squadron of bombers that flew from a new airport Canada built at Torbay (the present St. John's airport). From November 1940, a new airbase at [[Gander International Airport|Gander]] became one of the so called "sally-ports of freedom" with U.S. manufactured aircraft flying in swarms to Britain.<ref name=":9" />

Already, in March 1941, United Kingdom conceded the United States, then still officially neutral, what were effectively U.S. sovereign base rights. The Americans chose properties at St. John's, where they established an army base ([[Pepperrell Air Force Base|Fort Pepperrell]]) and a dock facility; at [[Argentia|Argentia/Marquise]], where they built a naval air base and an army base ([[Naval Station Argentia|Fort McAndrew]]); and at [[Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador|Stephenville]], where they built a large airfield (Ernest Harmon Airbase). As allies after December 1941, the Americans were also accommodated at [[Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador|Torbay]], [[Goose Bay (Newfoundland and Labrador)|Goose Bay]] and Gander.<ref name=":9" />

This garrisoning of Newfoundland had profound economic, political and social consequences. Enlistment for service abroad and the base building boom at home eliminated the chronic unemployment of the previous decades. By 1942, the country not only enjoyed full employment and could spend more on health, education and housing, it was making interest-free loans of Canadian dollars to the by-then hard-pressed British. At the same time, the presence of so many Canadians and Americans, complete with entertainment and consumer goods, promoted a taste for the more affluent consumerism that had been developing throughout North America.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Second World War, 1939–1945|url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/second-world-war.php|access-date=January 25, 2022|website=heritage.nf.ca|archive-date=January 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125151704/https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/second-world-war.php|url-status=live}}</ref>