Digital Commons Network^™

Canadian Soldiers In West African Conflicts, 1885–1905, Andrew B. Godefroy

Canadian Military History

This article examines the role played by Canadians at the turn of the century in West Africa. Though not intended to draw sweeping conclusions about the influence of such operations on the Canadian army as a whole—such analysis must follow at a later time when more contextual evidence is available—it does rediscover a largely forgotten chapter in the origins and evolution of the army, as well as raise a number of questions that obviously deserve greater attention. Most important, perhaps, this article demonstrates that a new approach to the analysis of the pre–1914 Canadian army is required, one that focuses …

“Anything But Lovely”: The Canadian Corps At Lens In The Summer Of 1917, Geoff Jackson

Canadian Military History

Much has been written on the Canadian Corps and the string of victories that it achieved after its initial triumph at Vimy Ridge. The corps did not have a perfect record after Vimy, although the battles are often depicted as such. The attack on the town of Lens in August 1917 demonstrated that the corps was still capable of making mistakes that were extremely costly in casualties and did not garner any sort of victory.

Examining the battle of Lens will dispel some of the myths. The brief literature on Hill 70 and Lens has always lumped them together as …

Fighting The Mujahideen: Lessons From The Soviet Counter-Insurgency Experience If Afghanistan, Tony Balasevicius, Greg Smith

Canadian Military History

The Canadian Forces currently in Afghanistan as part of a NATO coalition are playing a major role in a counter-insurgency campaign directed against a resurgent Taliban threat. Dealing with this menace will not be easy as the Taliban, realizing they cannot defeat NATO’s superior military strength, have resorted to asymmetric actions that strike at the coalition’s will through the cumulative effects of terror and small-scale “hit and run” military operations. Although NATO must contend with these tactics, concentrating solely on the military aspects of the problem will not address the real danger.

The true nature of the Taliban’s threat rests …

The Road To Transformation: Ascending From The Decade Of Darkness, Bernd Horn, Bill Bentley

Canadian Military History

Nobody likes mistakes. Fewer yet like to revisit errors—to analyze, discuss or study them. They are often an embarrassment and remind us of our fallibility and shortcomings. It is always much easier to celebrate our achievements and successes—that leaves everyone with a warm feeling. However, although it is always preferable to avoid making mistakes, once they occur they are important and must be recognized as such. They speak to our weaknesses as both individuals and institutions. They are signals, if not alarms, to warn us of deficiencies that must be addressed. In fact, it has often been said for good …

Close Fire Support: Sexton Self-Propelled Guns Of The 23rd Field Regiment, 1942–1945, Andrew Iarocci

Canadian Military History

On the battlefields of the First World War, initially successful attacks all too often ended in failure because artillery weapons could not be moved up quickly enough to support assault infantry at the sharp end of the fight. As the first tanks appeared on the battlefields in late 1916, British designers tabled ideas for self-propelled gun carriages capable of negotiating difficult terrain, carrying their own loads of ammunition and providing some degree of protection for their crews. One design that never made it off the drawing board was the ED3 Emplacement Destroyer, a 27,000-pound vehicle mounting a 4.5-inch howitzer.^{1 …}

Sydney F. Wise, 1924–2007: A Personal Recollection, W.A.B. Douglas

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The First Use Of Poison Gase At Ypres, 1915: A Translation From The German Official History, Mark Osborne Humphries

Canadian Military History

While English-speaking historians know in detail about almost every event on the BEF’s front, the same cannot be said of our knowledge of the German side of the Western Front. This is not surprising, as comparatively few English language books have been written about the German experience on the battlefields of the Great War. Recent English language scholarship by Holger Herwig, Annika Mombauer, and Robert Foley, to name but a few historians, has enriched our understanding of the conflict. However, these works have tended to concentrate on political and diplomatic history, or in the case of Mombaurer and Foley, on …

Kamerad, Tritt Ein!: German Trench Culture—An Aspect Of The Human Side Of The First World War, Bruno Friesen

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Preparing For The Bomb: The Development Of Civil Defence Policy In Canada, 1948–1963, Mark Davidson

Canadian Military History

During the period 1948 to 1963 civil defence in Canada developed in a number of stages that reflected changes in technology, weaponry and scientific discovery. The first stage of development, roughly between 1948 and 1952, witnessed only minor developments. Civil defence followed the Second World War practice, with a focus on air raid shelters and, if possible, evacuation. In the years 1952 to 1954 as the possibility of a nuclear attack became more real as a result of the Soviet development of intercontinental bombers, civil defence officials moved towards a policy of mass evacuation of target areas and the rescue …

The Great Naval Battle Of North Point: Myth Or Reality?, Richard O. Mayne

Canadian Military History

Hollywood itself could hardly have scripted a better battle. According to eyewitnesses, a German U-boat lurking off the shores of North Point, Prince Edward Island, laid a trap for an unsuspecting convoy transitting the Northumberland Strait. On 7 May 1943, the trap was sprung, Canadian naval escorts and aircraft did their best to defend the beleaguered convoy from a brazen and unorthodox attack that was unlike any other. There could only be one conclusion: the German commander was half-mad. Just like the fictional Captain Ahab, he was willing to take unwarranted risks with his boat and men to destroy his …

Trial By Fire: Major-General Christopher Vokes At The Battles Of The Moro River And Ortona, December 1943, G.C. Case

Canadian Military History

During the month of December 1943, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division (1st Cdn Div) underwent the most severe trial yet experienced by Canadian troops in Italy, when it crossed the Moro River, engaged two German divisions in rapid succession and, after a week of vicious street fighting, took the town of Ortona. Hailed at the time as victories, these battles have since been the subject of considerable debate among soldiers and historians alike. Much of the controversy has revolved around the division’s commander, Major-General Christopher Vokes, who has been accused by some of mishandling his formation, and has been castigated …

A Forgotten Victory: Courcelette, 15 September 1916, David Campbell

Canadian Military History

The 2nd Canadian Division, which landed in France on 15 September 1915, had established an uncertain operational record by the summer of 1916. As part of the Canadian Corps, the division had spent virtually all of its time in or near Belgium’s notorious Ypres Salient, where it was embroiled in a grim campaign of trench warfare. Notable successes in trench raiding were offset by costly setbacks, such as the division’s failure to hold a series of mine craters at St. Eloi in April 1916. This was followed in June by the withdrawal of one of its brigades in the face …

Saint John’S Red Head Battery: A Forgotten Military Artifact Of Confederation, Roger Sarty

Canadian Military History

In the early 1860s, driven by the threat of war with the United States, British army engineers and local contractors built a coast artillery battery on top of the red-coloured bluffs overlooking the eastern approach to Saint John harbour. It is broadly similar to earlier coastal batteries that still exist at Halifax and Quebec City, but on a more massive scale because artillery was rapidly increasing in size and power during the 1860s. Other heavy batteries were constructed at other Canadian ports during that decade, but all were subsequently rebuilt with more modern structures. Red Head Battery is the only …

21st Army Group In Normandy: Towards A New Balance Sheet, Terry Copp

Canadian Military History

The purpose of this article is to offer further evidence in support of the view that the combat performance of the Anglo-Canadian armies in Normandy has been greatly underrated and the effectiveness of the German forces vastly overrated. This argument informs my study of the Canadians in Normandy, published under the title Fields of Fire, but the intention here is to consider questions about combat between British and German units in Normandy.

Longing And Loss From Canada’S Great War, Tim Cook, Natascha Morrison

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Arbitrary Justice?: A Comparative Analysis Of Canadian Death Sentence Passed And Commuted During The First World War, Teresa Iacobelli

Canadian Military History

The topic of military executions has dominated the study of discipline and punishment during the First World War. Considering the relatively small number of men who were executed, 361 in British and Dominion forces combined, it is startling how much attention the subject has garnered. The morality of the practice has been widely discussed and debated and it has spawned recent pardons campaigns in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada. Yet, virtually ignored in these debates have been the stories of the 3,080 men of the British and Dominion forces who were also sentenced to death, but saw their …

Aleutian Allusions: Mackenzie King’S Diary And The Invasion Of Kiska In 1943, Glen Roger Perras

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Working With Montgomery: On Being A Scientific Adviser To A Commander-In-Chief (21 Army Group 1944–1945), B.F.J. Schonland

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The Balance Sheet: The Costs And The Gains Of The Bombing Campaign, David L. Bashow

Canadian Military History

Critics of the bomber offensive frequently argue that the material and human cost of the campaign far overshadowed the gains, and that the resources dedicated to it could have been more effectively utilized elsewhere. They have argued that the combat manpower could have been better used in the other fighting services, especially the army, and industry could have been used to produce more weapons for these fighting services. However, proponents of this line of thought assume that the weight of effort expended on the bombing campaign was inordinately high. Richard Overy maintains that it was actually rather modest. “Measured against …

Table Of Contents

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Per Ardua Ad Astra: A Concicise Guide To Canadian Personnel Records And Rcaf Service Information Of The Second World War, Timothy Dubé

Canadian Military History

The motto of the Royal Canadian Air Force—per ardua ad astra—through adversity to the stars—might also serve as an apt expression when beginning research on individual Canadian airmen or airwomen of the Second World War. Without a guiding-hand, the first-time researcher is likely to experience some considerable “adversity” before locating their “stars.”

This note introduces the key records and published sources for documenting those individuals who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, as well as directions for locating the records of those Canadians who served in related air elements during the conflict. …

The 2000 Canadian Battle Of Normandy Foundation Study Tour

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Equipment Of The Canadian Infantrymen, 1939–1982: A Material/Historical Assessment, Andrew Iarocci

Canadian Military History

The history of Canada’s soldiers in the twentieth century tends to incorporate a few recurrent themes. One of these is the changing nature of the soldier’s experience of war, from the Boer War through to the Second World War and beyond. Another is the gradual transition of Canadian military forces from British to American spheres of influence, a theme that has become particularly relevant since 1939. This article will explore these two themes from a material history perspective, an approach that is generally absent from the broader historiography. The focus will be the transformations in the Canadian infantry soldier’s personal …

Viking Force: Canada’S Unknown Commandos, George Kerr

Canadian Military History

Most people interested in Canadian military history know about hte elite first Special Battalion, formed in July 1942 as the Canadian element of the largely American First Sepcial Service Force.¹ Few, however, have ever heard of Viking Force, Canada’s first attempt at creating an elite Commando unit in the Second World War. Viking Force does not appear in any Canadian Army Order of Battle, and did not even last long enough for its members to put on the unit’s horned-helmet shoulder patch, yet it played an important role in the sad story of the Dieppe fiasco. Acknowledgment of that …

The Canadians In Sicily: Sixty Years On, Geoffrey Hayes

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Supply Problems In An Amphibious Operation (Extract From War Diary, Hq, Rcasc 3 Cdn Div, October 1944), A.J.S. Turvey

Canadian Military History

The operations to clear the approaches to Antwerp were among the most important actions carried out by the Canadian forces in the Second World War yet relatively little is known about them. The decision to mount an amphibious attack behind German defences in the Breskens Pocket was a particularly brilliant example of what is now called manoeuvre warfare, but neither Lieutenant Guy Simonds, acting commander of First Canadian Army, nor Major-General Dan Spry, General Officer Commanding 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, have been given much credit for the exploit. One of the many aspects of Operation “Switchback” deserving of study is …

The Long Wait (Part I): A Personal Account Of Infantry Training In Britain, June 1942–June 1943, Harold Macdonald, M.A. Macdonald

Canadian Military History

In the early summer of 1942, Harold (Hal) MacDonald, a young infantry officer from Saint John, New Brunswick, was posted overseas to join the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, then stationed in Great Britain. The North Shores were part of a growing Canadian military presence in Britain, preparing for the day when the Allies would return to the continent to help defeat the armies of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. Canadian troops had begun to arrive in England in 1939, and indeed, after the fall of France in the late spring of 1940, formed an important part of Britain’s defence forces …

Learning From The Canadian Corps On The Western Front, Christopher Pugsley

Canadian Military History

There is a curious paradox about the Canadian Corps that is summed up in this quotation from Canadian Brass, Stephen J. Harris’s study of the evolution of a professional army in Canada. How did this military organisation become so effective in war, considering the background it had and the structure that supported it for most of its existence? This model of tactical excellence was born amid the chaos of Canadian Minister of Defence Sam Hughes’ egomaniacal control at Valcartier Camp. It was beset by jealousies, political backhanders, corruption and influence peddling, and saddled with favourites as incompetent officers who …

The Myth Of The Learning Curve: Tactics And Training In The 12th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1916-1918, Mark Osborne Humphries

Canadian Military History

Canadian military historians generally accept that during the First World War the Canadian military improved over time. This idea of a “learning curve” suggests that Canadians began the war as inexperienced colonial volunteers and, as the Corps gained experience on the battlefield, commanders and ordinary soldiers alike learned from their mistakes and successes and improved combat tactics from battle to battle and from year to year.¹ Several different approaches to this argument are evident in the literature. Tim Cook and Bill Rawling both published works in the mid-1990s that argue technology was the impetus behind this process of learning. …

Hollow Of Death: Rogers’ Rangers Desperate Fight For Survival, Bernd Horn

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.