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The Success Of The Light Armoured Vehicle, Ed Storey

Canadian Military History

In order to understand the purchase of military vehicles, one must understand the vehicle and where it falls in the evolution of vehicle procurement. This article, written in response to an earlier article in response to an earlier article in Canadian Military History by Frank Maas, examines the chronology and motivations behind the Canadian acquisition of wheeled armoured fighting vehicles.

Making The Department Of National Defence Work In The 1970s: The Deputy Minister And The Cds Remember, J.L. Granatstein

Canadian Military History

In the aftermath of unification, the Canadian Forces were struggling to deal with the changes that overtook them, not least the Trudeau government’s relative indifference to the military, the impact of bilingualism, and massive reorganization. General Jacques Dextraze, who became chief of the defence staff in 1972, and Sylvain Cloutier, the deputy minister in the Department of National Defence from 1971 to 1975, played key roles in managing the changes. Interviews conducted by J.L. Granatstein in 1988 indicate where they agreed—and disagreed—and tell us much about the characters of these two key figures.

War And Medicine At The Canadian War Museum, Andrew Burtch, Tim Cook

Canadian Military History

War and Medicine is the Canadian War Museum’s major summer exhibition. War and Medicine provides an unflinching look at the relationship between medical practice and military operations over the past 150 years. It comprises more than 300 artifacts, images, and works of art from the Museum’s National Collection and 50 lenders in Europe and North America. The exhibition is open until 13 November 2011.

Brigadier J.K. Lawson And Command Of “C” Force At Hong Kong, Tyler Wentzell

Canadian Military History

Brigadier J.K. Lawson, the commander of the Canadian contingent at the Battle of Hong Kong, has been the subject of only a few statements in any work concerning the battle. These statements, as false and misleading as they are, have been referenced many times and are generally taken as fact. This article seeks to rectify this affair by providing a biographical profile of Lawson based on archival data and interviews with his family. Contrary to other accounts, Lawson was a professional soldier with substantial education and experience in his craft and he was extremely well–suited to his appointment to command …

“When You’Re A Long, Long Way From Home”: The Establishment Of Canadian-Only Social Clubs For Cef Soldiers In London, 1915–1919, Sarah Cozzi

Canadian Military History

This article examines the off–duty activities of Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) soldiers in Britain during the First World War. For many CEF soldiers abroad, Britain became their “home away from home,” with London serving as their main leave–time destination. Although thousands of CEF soldiers visited the English capital, Canadian federal and military authorities maintained a hands–off approach to the off–duty lives of the men. Fearing for the men’s well–being, Canadian philanthropist, Lady Julia Drummond, established the Canadian–only King George and Queen Mary Maple Leaf Club. Founded upon middle– and upper–class moral standards the Maple Leaf Club emphasizes the role of …

“Canada’S Roll Of Honour”: Controversy Over Casualty Notification And Publication During The Second World War, Timothy Balzer

Canadian Military History

During the Second World War, the Canadian Army’s announcement of casualties to next–of–kin and the press often caused controversy. Even though the army tried to notify the family and public as quickly as possible, it could not always do so. Unofficial communications with the family, procedural failures, and more frequently press and censorship errors, cause occasional mistakes in casualty reporting. Moreover, the interests of Canada’s allies often prevented the timely publication of casualty names and figures, as in the aftermath of the Dieppe Raid, Sicily campaign and Normandy landings. These delays were often for alleged security reasons, sometimes with questionable …

No Easy Thing: Senior Command In The Canadian Army, 1939–1945, Randall Wakelam

Canadian Military History

There is relatively little Canadian military history which looks specifically at the questions and themes surrounding senior command (commanders of large formations of troops—normally generals or lieutenant–generals). Current interpretations call for a trilogy of abilities: the ability to defend national interests in the highest military (and often political) circles; the ability to organize and manage forces both before and during combat; and the ability to lead both directly and indirectly those who have to implement the plans. Were Canadians then, and are historians today, right to apply this multiple standard? This article looks at the three officers who commanded First …

Destroying Hitler’S Berghof: The Bomber Command Raid Of 25 April 1945, Oliver Haller

Canadian Military History

This paper examines the Royal Air Force raid on Adolf Hitler’s Berghof on the Obersalzberg in April 1945. Arthur Harris, the head of Bomber Command, wanted to emphasize the air power’s decisive role in the defeat of Nazism. However, Winston Churchill and Bernard Montgomery, among others, questioned the usefulness of destroying Berchtesgaden so late in the war. Unlike traditional explanations that focus on post–Dresden guilt, this article contends that British politicians grew increasingly concerned with the economic state of postwar Germany and the potential costs of the upcoming occupation. The continuation of area bombing at this late stage of the …

Analysis Of 75 Mm Sherman Tank Casualties Suffered Between 6th June And 10th July 1944: Report No. 12

Canadian Military History

Long before the war it was evident that science would have much to contribute to the development of military equipment, and it was no surprise that research found such wide applications to the technically difficult but fundamentally amenable problems of Radar, Anti-aircraft and Fragmentation, to name only a few. These problems offered great possibilities to the well-established methods of the physical sciences. By contrast, the complexities of military tactics proved for a long time intractable, since even the smallest battle is a bewildering compound of variables, and new methods had therefore to be worked out before there could be any …

“Black, White And Grey”: Wartime Arguments For And Against The Strategic Bomber Offensive, David Ian Hall

Canadian Military History

The strategic bomber offensive against Nazi Germany has attracted more than its fair share of attention, most of which has been highly critical, both on moral as well as pragmatic grounds. Scholarly articles and books, in addition to a much larger number of sensationalized popular accounts, have appeared at a steady rate since the end of the war.¹ More recently, journalists and television producers—capitalising on the fiftieth anniversary commemorations of the Second World War—have taken an interest in this controversial yet highly marketable and therefore profitable subject. Partly revisionist, and deliberately emotive, their “factions” (part fact and part dramatic …

Prisoners Of War As Library Users, Jean Langdon-Ford

Canadian Military History

One does not usually associate libraries and study classes with amenities provided for internees in Prisoner of War camps in the First World War. It was surprising then for me, as Librarian/Archivist of the Canadian War Museum, to find evidence in our Library/Archives of well-organized libraries in the First World War internment camps in Germany. My introduction to POW library users in this war came about as I was undertaking a preliminary inventory of the rich resources of the Canadian War Museum (CWM) Archives. In the CWM Archives are two files related to libraries in POW camps in Germany. One …

The Attack On Boulogne, Roger Rowley

Canadian Military History

Account by Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Rowley, OC, Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders given to Historical Officer, 21 September 1944.

The Mobile Striking Force And Continental Defence, 1948–1955, Sean M. Maloney

Canadian Military History

The need to project land force power within the confines of the northern portion of the North American continent may appear, at first glance, ridiculous in today’s world. In the early years of the Cold War, both Canada and the United States gave credibility to a land supported air threat to North America and took steps to meet such a contingency. The Canadian response was to configure the small, almost token, active Canadian Army into an airtransportable formation called the Mobile Striking Force (MSF). Some have suggested that the creation of the MSF and its operations in the 1948–1955 period …

Operational Manoeuvre Group: Operation Sohil Laram Ii, Kandahar Province, February 2008, Sean M. Maloney

Canadian Military History

In February 2008 Regional Battle Group (South) in Afghanistan, based on The 1st Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles supported by Canadian “enablers” and working with Afghan national security forces, conducted a mission known as Operation SOHIL LARAM II in the Maywand district of Kandahar province. A weak NATO presence coupled with a corrupt police force had allowed the Taliban to turn Maywand into a safe haven. Following the dismissal of the police force, Op SOHIL LARAM II was successful in disrupting Taliban operations, reasserting government authority and regaining the confidence of the local population. In addition, the disruption of Taliban …

From Mother Country To Far Away Relative: The Canadian-British Military Relationship From 1945, J.L. Granatstein

Canadian Military History

Historically, Canada has looked to Great Britain for its military culture. During the First and Second World War, the Canadian army was virtually interchangeable with the British army. However, the decline of the British military power starting in 1940 increasingly caused Canada to gravitate towards her neighbour to the south.

A Canadian Conscript Goes To War—August 1918: Old Myths Re-Examined, Patrick Dennis

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

“The Pow Will Safely Return!”: Second World War Allied And German Propoganda, Amber Lloydlangston, Tracy Lo

Canadian Military History

During the Second World War, both the Allied and Axis governments expended significant resources in the production and dissemination of propoganda. Directed at their own people, the propoganda of these governments fostered correct thinking, feelings, attitudes, and behaviours. Directed at military personnel of enemy nations as part of psychological warfare operations, this propoganda was far more subversive. Its goal was to undermine the efficiency and coherence of enemy forces and, ultimately, to weaken their will to fight. Among the different media harnessed to achieve this end, aerial leaflets hold a unique place in the history of psychological warfare operations. Their …

Toward A Transnational History Of World War I, Michael S. Neiberg

Canadian Military History

Michael S. Neiberg delivered the keynote address at the 19th Military History Colloquium, held at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, 1–3 May 2008. This is the text of his address.

A Force Of Reason: Canada, Central America, And The Grupo De Observadores De La Naciones Unidas Para Centro America, Andrew B. Godefroy

Canadian Military History

Though the Cold War never led to open hostilities between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, the two superpowers did engage in a seemingly endless series of wars by proxy in their struggle for dominance over international affairs. One of the major arenas was Central America, where regional politics influenced by ideologies led to decades of internal and external strife. Yet a glimmer of hope for peace emerged in the early 1980s even though acrimonious relations persisted between the US and USSR. Central and South American governments, with the encouragement of more distant nations, began a process …

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 …