The recruitment was aided in Canada by Billy Bishop, an Air Marshal and VC winner. Indeed, after war was declared and the US remained neutral President Roosevelt said 'Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or conscience.'Īlthough Americans fighting in the war for another country was a violation of its Neutrality Act the government could not physically stop anyone from volunteering to join the RCAF, RAF or any other fighting force.
A country that declared itself to be neutral does not fight for either side, but it can be involved in other ways (US lend lease for example) and it can not stop individuals volunteering to fight for another.
Portugal for example was neutral, but traded with both Germany and the allies during the war, having sent 10,000 men to fight in France under the British flag at the start of the war, Switzerland frequently shot down allied aircraft, often to appease the Germans, while Sweden sent volunteers to fight alongside the allies and in the German Army while sending iron ore to Germany for weapons production. The rules of Neutrality were frequently broken as and when it suited. The RAF had volunteers from Germany (yes Germany!), Switzerland, USA, Luxembourg and Sweden amongst other countries. Declaring themselves neutral, such as Switzerland, meant they favoured neither side, and thus interred servicemen from both sides equally. Citizens of neutral countries fighting in a war is not the same as servicemen from other countries being detained in a neutral country.
Not sure where you are getting your info from but much of it is quite wide of the mark!įor a start, the last war concerned almost every country whether they decided to fight or not, the countries concerned having many and varied reasons for remaining neutral (for example, Switzerland wanted to protect its banking interests from being plundered by the Germans).
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