Military History Commons^™

In Remembrance Of Doomed Youth: Private Ralph C. Crew (1893–1917), 87th Battalion, Grenadier Guards, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Thomas E. Crew

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

“The Simplest Thing Is Difficult”: The United States Army And The War Of 1812, John M. Carland

Canadian Military History

The War of 1812 occupies an uneasy place in the American memory. Despite some popular notions of victory in that conflict, serious students of military history have always known that the United States did not win it. The war was at best a draw because the nation lacked experienced officers, disciplined soldiers, a working logistical system, and a clear-cut strategic plan. For most of the war American leadership was bungling and inadequate. The performance of the Regulars was frequently far from perfect, and that of the militia even less so. Yet the nation maintained its territorial integrity, and some younger …

“Regret Deeply…” The Second World War Experiences Of Bill And Fred Tucker, Angela Fritz

Canadian Military History

Over a million Canadians wore a uniform in the fight against Hitler’s Germany. The Tucker family of Kitchener, Ontario sent two brothers, Bill and Fred, to aid in this cause. Only one returned.

“Treasures” From The Canadian War Museum’S Backlog, Dan Glenney, Eric Fernberg, Harry Martin, Philip White

Canadian Military History

In the 1970s Canadian War Museum curatorial staff decided they needed to bolster the scope of the museum’s national military collection. Consequently, they placed ads in Legion magazine and enclosed flyers in veterans’ pension cheques inviting veterans to send in military or military related items they had in their possession that they thought would be of interest to the museum. The response was overwhelming. In the end, a grand total of 24,400 objects poured in; many more than was anticipated and much too large a number for the museum’s small staff to properly register and catalogue. The only option was …

In The Heat Of Battle: Letters From The Normandy Campaign, Harold Macdonald, M.A. Macdonald

Canadian Military History

Harold S. MacDonald was an officer with the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment from June 1942 until the end of the Second World War in Europe. Throughout this period he penned a steady stream of letters to his bestfriend, his wife, Marjorie, who was then a newspaper reporter with the Saint John Evening Times-Globe. These letters, totalling 463, were carefully preserved by Marjorie and provide a continuous and absorbing account of the experiences of a front-line Canadian infantry officer in Northwest Europe during the Second World War. They begin in June 1942 with a description of the rowdy voyage …

“Johnson Forever!” Revisiting A Hero Of The Seven Years War, Mark Eaton

Canadian Military History

William Johnson moved to New York from his ancestral homeland Ireland in 1738 and soon became one of the most influential and prosperous colonists of his time. As a trader, land developer, speculator and government official, he co-operated extensively with the tribes of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. Considered a fair and honest man by these people, Johnson developed close personal and economic relationships with many of them, especially within the Mohawk tribes. So when the British and French clashed between 1744 and 1748 (King George’s War), the New York colonial government turned to Johnson.

The Achievements Of Trooper Mulloy, Jack Schecter

Canadian Military History

In the summer of 1900 Lorne Mulloy, a wounded Canadian soldier serving with the second Canadian contingent in South Africa, wrote from a military hospital in Johannesburg to his family about serious wounds to his eyes received in battle: “I have not experienced even the faintest sensation of light since that shot was fired. My left eye is totally destroyed and my right one is so badly injured that it is like a man halting between life and death undecided to advance or retreat.” Although totally blind because of these wounds Mulloy went on to obtain three university degrees, and …

Carrying Canadian Troops: The Story Of Rms Olympic As A First World War Troopship, David R. Gray

Canadian Military History

In the long adventurous life of Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Olympic, the older sister of the ill-fated RMS Titanic, the time she spent as a troopship ferrying Canadian troops during the First World War is a notable but frequently overlooked part of her career. Olympic was cheered enthusiastically by Canadian troops who sailed aboard her, respected as the “Old Reliable,” praised for services rendered to other ships, and honoured for her own success in attacking an enemy submarine. Carrying more Canadian soldiers than any other troopship, Olympic was an important part of Canada’s war effort.

Able to accommodate …

A Rideau Canal Tragedy, Gerry Purchase

Canadian Military History

On 2 July 1942, two young Canadian soldiers on duty drowned in the Rideau Canal in downtown Ottawa. Amid the major horrors of the Second World War the victims of this tragedy have been almost forgotten.

“Not Competent To Produce Tanks”: The Ram And Tank Production In Canada, 1939–1945, Graham Broad

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Toronto’S Reponse To The Outbreak Of War, 1939, Ian Miller

Canadian Military History

Canadian historians have paid little attention to the transition from peace to war in late August and early September 1939. Jonathan Vance’s award-winning Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning and the First World War (1997) does a marvelous job of surveying attitudes towards war in the wake of the Great War, but it does not expand into the start of the Second. C.P. Stacey’s official history, Six Years of War, devotes only minimal space to exploring the transition, focusing instead on the activities of Canadian servicemen and women. The dozens of militia histories written by the units after the war …

Report On The Part Played By The Winnipeg Grenadiers In The Defence Of Hong Kong, George Trist

Canadian Military History

The writer commences this report knowing full well that a report containing criticisms or accusations is bound to be read with a certain amount of skepticism particularly if it is written in opposition to an official report submitted by a much higher authority.

Two important factors have decided me to compile this report without further delay and while still a prisoner of war and subject to search at any time by the Japanese authorities (although they have not done so as yet). The first and most urgent one is the necessity for a very accurate recording of events as they …

A Trip To Remember: An Airman’S View Of D-Day, Gordon Gross

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The Homecoming: Lieutenant Donald Armitage Ross, Canadian Grenadier, Georgina H. Matthews

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

“Fairly Well Known And Need Not Be Discussed”: Colonel A.F. Duguid And The Canadian Official History Of The First World War, Wes Gustavson

Canadian Military History

In 1938, Colonel Archer Fortescue Duguid published the first and only volume of his Canadian official history of the First World War. It was eagerly anticipated as the Historical Section had been directed to compile such a history in 1921, and many veterans as well as the public were puzzled by the delay in publication. Despite this, however, reviewers were generally satisfied with the results. Writing in the Legionary, W.W. Murray declared it “a masterly work of great care and precision,” while W.B. Kerr believed that it would form the basis for all future works on the subject. It was …

The Other Side Of The Hill: Combat Intelligence In The Canadian Corps, 1914–1918, Dan Jenkins

Canadian Military History

For some, a discussion on military intelligence and the First World War is the ultimate oxymoron. They might ask: when and where did generals display any use of intelligence? That the Battle of the Somme continued beyond the first day, they might argue, demonstrates a complete lack of military intelligence, or any other type of intelligence for that matter. If there ever was a war, they might add, where donkeylike officers led lion-like soldiers to slaughter against barbed wire, machine guns, and trenches, then the Great War was it. The oft told story of how Sir Launcelot Kiggell, Sir Douglas …

Some Thoughts About Private Harold L. Green Of The Scout Platoon, First Battalion, The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, Doug Shaughnessy

Canadian Military History

Editor’s note: On 12 August the RHLI was ordered to advance towards Clair Tizon. At a small crossroads near the abandoned hamlet of Barbery, the Regiment met German resistance. As the unit moved through the wheatfields, it encountered German infantry and armour. The maelstrom that engulfed the Rileys was later described as “the most intense mortaring and shelling the unit ever witnessed.” All day long the Battalion endured German counterattacks designed to keep the Falaise pocket open. At dusk the Germans withdrew leaving the field to the Canadians. The cost of the battle was high—20 men killed and 100 wounded. …

The Military And “Mob Rule”: The Cef Riots In Calgary, February 1916, P. Whitney Lackenbauer

Canadian Military History

During the First World War, unruly and ill-disciplined Canadian soldiers, on “assorted ’patriotic’ pretexts,” damaged local property and battled with local police forces in Victoria, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Campbellton, New Brunswick, and other Canadian centres. The riots in Calgary in February 1916 involved members of Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) battalions encamped near the city. While historians have focused on the anti-German nature of the attacks, several other considerations must be examined to explain the unlawful behaviour. Although a court of inquiry into the riot failed to conclude who was responsible, the contemporary evidence suggests strongly that soldiers, rather than civilians, …

A Military Engima: The Canadian Air Service Company, 1948-1949, Bernd Horn

Canadian Military History

The Canadian Special Air Service (SAS) Company is truly a military enigma. Very few people are aware of its short-lived existence. Those who are normally have a misunderstanding of its origins and role, a misconception largely reinforced by the sparse and largely inaccurate material that has been written on the subject. For example, most believe that it was raised specifically to provide a commando capability within the Canadian Army immediately after the Second World War.

The story of the Canadian SAS Company is actually surreptitious. The army originally packaged the sub-unit as a very benevolent organization, centred on aid to …

Providing The Gift Of Life: Canadian Medical Practitioners And The Treatment Of Shock On The Battlefield, Bill Rawling

Canadian Military History

The story of Ambroise Pare’s discovery has been told often; of how, during Francis I’s campaign against Turin in 1536-37, he ran out of the oil medical practitioners used to cauterize the stumps of amputees and used an herbal remedy and ligatures instead; and of how the patients treated by the latter method did so much better than those tortured with the former. The tale has much to commend it to the popular imagination: a medical hero makes a serendipitous discovery to relieve the suffering of thousands. However, the story is an exception to a steadfast rule in warfare, for …