Military History Commons^™

The Calgary Tanks At Dieppe, Hugh G. Henry

Canadian Military History

Since 1942 the Dieppe Raid has been the subject of much controversy and debate concerning its political and military background, aims, plans, execution and supposed “lessons learned.” Although historians have documented their arguments well, they have not examined accurately or in any detail the operations of The Calgary Regiment (Tank), 14 Canadian Army Tank Regiment (14 CATR), Canadian Armoured Corps. Some misunderstandings and myths concerning the tanks and men, their performance and conditions affecting their actions, must be dispelled. At this point it is worth noting that not only was 14 CATR the first Canadian armoured unit ever to go …

Hmcs Prince Robert: The Career Of An Armed Merchant Cruiser, C.R. Shelley

Canadian Military History

HMCS Prince Robert was one of three identical ships used as armed merchant cruisers (AMCs) by the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. On the eve of war, Canada had but six modern destroyers, with no prospect of additional ships for some time. To fill the desperate need for escorts, the Naval Service clutched at Prince Robert and her two sister liners as an expedient in a time of crisis; yet, by war’s end she would be one of the most sophisticated ships of the RCN. Much like the citizen sailors who mannered her, she signed up …

The Liberation Of Leesten, Henk Dykman

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

“Where Are Our Liberators?”: The Canadian Liberation Of West Brabant, 1944, Geoffrey Hayes

Canadian Military History

Canadian historians of the Second World War have long been interested in a strategic debate that has waged since 1944: should the Allies have exploited the success of the capture of Antwerp, then the largest port in Northwest Europe, by clearing its western approaches; or should they have sought to “leap” the German defenses along the Rhine, in the ill-fated Operation “Market Garden.”

All Canadian writers on the issue are agreed that the decision to go ahead with “Market Garden” held important consequences for the soldiers of First Canadian Army. As British and American forces turned northeast of Antwerp in …

The Cherry Beret By Ashton L. Kerr [Review], Markus C. Martin

Canadian Military History

Review of Colonel Ashton L. Kerr, MD, The Cherry Beret: Distant recollections of World War II as remembered by one of the first Canloan officers. Published privately.

Painting The Map Red: Canada And The South African War, 1899–1902 By Carmen Miller [Review], Sidney Allinson

Canadian Military History

Review of Carman Miller, Painting the Map Red: Canada and the South African War, 1899-1902. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993.

Achilles In Vietnam: Combat Trauma And The Undoing Of Character By Jonathan Shay [Review], James C. Lawless

Canadian Military History

Review of Jonathan Shay, MD, Ph.D., Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character. New York: Antheneum, 1994.

When Your Number’S Up: The Canadian Soldier In The First World War By Desmond Morton [Review], Nick Gardner

Canadian Military History

Review of Desmond Morton, When Your Number's Up: The Canadian Soldier in the First World War. Toronto: Random House, 1993.

The Generals: The Canadian Army’S Senior Commanders In The Second World War By J.L. Granatstein [Review], Gil Drolet

Canadian Military History

Review of J.L. Granatstein, The Generals: The Canadian Army's Senior Commanders in the Second World War. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1993.

The Battle Of Lundy’S Lane: On The Niagara In 1814 By Donald E. Graves [Review], Barry Gough

Canadian Military History

Review of Donald E. Graves, The Battle of Lundy's Lane: On the Niagara in 1814. Baltimore, MD: Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company of America, 1993.

True Patriot: The Life Of Brooke Claxton, 1898–1960 By David Jay Bercuson [Review], David A. Lenarcic

Canadian Military History

Review of David Bercuson, True Patriot: The Life of Brooke Claxton, 1898-1960. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994.

Best-Kept Secret: Canadian Intelligence In The Second World War By John Bryden [Review], David Stafford

Canadian Military History

Review of John Bryden, Best-Kept Secret: Canadian Secret Intelligence in the Second World War. Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1993.

The Walcheren Causeway Revisited, Guy De Merlis

Canadian Military History

On a secluded plot of land reclaimed from the sea, the grateful Dutch people of Zealand have erected a monument dedicated to the 135 soldiers of the Fifth Brigade, Second Canadian Infantry Division killed or wounded in the battle of the Walcheren causeway, October 31st to November 2nd, 1944.

The monument, unveiled by His Royal Highness Prince Bernard, of the Netherlands, on October 31st, 1987, in the presence of a handful of Canadian veterans, commemorates the sacrifice of the members of three regiments: The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, Le Régiment de Maisonneuve, both Montreal units, and the …

Eugene Colson And The Liberation Of The Port Of Antwerp, Shelagh Whitaker

Canadian Military History

In September 1944 a unique alliance of Canadian infantrymen with Belgian resistance fighters joined forces to liberate the port of Antwerp. It was the key, as many see it, to victory.

In September 1994, the Governor General of Canada honoured this collaboration and the one man responsible for the Belgian participation in it, Colonel Eugene Colson of Antwerp, with the Meritorious Service Medal. Rarely have such medals been given to non-Canadians.

Tommy Burns As A Military Leader: A Case Study Using Integrative Complexity, J.L. Granatstein

Canadian Military History

Lieutenant-General E.L.M. Burns is relatively well-known to Canadian military historians and to Canadians generally. A professional soldier born in 1897, Tommy Burns attended the Royal Military College, leaving before graduation to serve with the Canadian Corps in France and Flanders during the Great War. He saw much action, won the Military Cross, and decided to remain in the tiny Canadian Permanent Force after the Armistice. Burns rose with rapidity in the interwar years, his career helped by brilliant performance at the British Army Staff College, Quetta, and selection for the Imperial Defence College, London. He had powerful patrons, senior officers …

A Loss Of The Hmcs Clayoquot, Douglas M. Mclean

Canadian Military History

The torpedo struck without warning. HMCS Clayoquot was returning from an anti-submarine sweep in the approaches to Halifax harbour when its stern rose into the air, mangled by the detonation of a German T-5 acoustic homing torpedo. The men aboard felt two concussions, the second likely being depth charges stored on Clayoquot’s stern set off by the torpedo. Whatever the details, the explosions were devastating for the small Bangor class minesweeper. A grainy photograph of the doomed ship shows the stern blasted vertical, the ship listing to starboard. Clayoquot lasted barely ten minutes after being hit, just long enough …

A Conspiracy Of Silence? The Popular Press And The Strategic Bombing Campaign In Europe, Laurie Peloquin

Canadian Military History

The controversy surrounding the decision by Bomber Command to target German cities populated mainly with non-combatants rages even today. It has been said that these were decisions made in secret, so secret that not even the airmen who flew the missions knew what they were really striking. In his book Weapons and Hope, physicist Freeman Dyson states, “I was one of the very few people who knew what were the objectives of the campaign, how miserably we were failing to meet these objectives, and how expensive this was for us in money and lives,” and, “I felt deeply my …

Communications In The Canadian Corps, 1915–1918: Wartime Technological Progress Revisited, Bill Rawling

Canadian Military History

Warfare has, for millenia, been a rich source of myth and legend, and one of the main reasons many historians proclaim Herodotus to be the first to ply their trade is because, at least, he discounted divine intervention as the prime explanation for the ebb and flow of battle. Myths, however, persist to this day, one of the most popular in our industrialized culture being a common belief that technological development accelerates in wartime. In many cases this might be true; the First World War, for example, saw much innovation (this author hesitates to use the word “progress”) in the …

A Canadian’S Guide To The Battlefields Of Normandy By Terry Copp [Review], William Mcandrew

Canadian Military History

Review of Terry Copp, A Canadian's Guide to the Battlefields of Normandy. Waterloo, ON: Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, 1994.

The Suicide Battalion By James L. Mcwilliams And R. James Steel [Review], A.M.J. Hyatt

Canadian Military History

Review of James L. McWilliams and R. James Steel, The Suicide Battalion. St. Catharines, ON: Vanwell Publishing, 1993.