Digital Commons Network^™

General Simonds Speaks: Canadian Battle Doctrine In Normandy, Guy Simonds, Terry Copp

Canadian Military History

On the afternoon of 11 July 1944, a Canadian Corps HQ once again became operational on the soil of France. Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds assumed responsibility for 8,000 yards of front in the Caen sector. There was little time or inclination to mark this event or link it with the memory of the vaunted Canadian Corps of World War 1 fame—there was too much to be done. Elements of the newly-arrived 2nd Canadian Infantry Division would take over part of the line and acquire some badly needed experience. Plans for the Corps’ role in Operation “Goodwood” had to be elaborated …

“A Proper Slaughter”: The March 1917 Gas Raid At Vimy Ridge, Tim Cook

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The Test Of Command: Mcnaughton And Exercise “Spartan,” 4–12 March 1943, John Nelson Rickard

Canadian Military History

The large-scale General Headquarters (GHQ) exercise known as “Spartan,” held in the south of England during March 1943, was a significant event in the history of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. The purpose of “Spartan” was to test the army in the dual tasks of breaking out of an established bridgehead and making the transition to open warfare. As a direct result of shortcomings on the exercise, three Canadian generals lost their commands. Of greatest significance was the eventual relief of General A.G.L. McNaughton as commander of the First Canadian Army in November 1943. During and after …

“The Development Of An Unbeatable Combination”: Us Close Air Support In Normandy, Michael Bechthold

Canadian Military History

In the climactic scene of the highly-acclaimed Saving Private Ryan, the beleaguered Ranger and Airborne forces of Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) are about to be overrun. Against overwhelming odds they have fought to save a crucial stone bridge over the Merderet River. It is a losing battle. With defeat imminent, the Americans retreats across the bridge and prepare to blow it. However, before that can happen, Captain Miller is shot and is unable to detonate the explosives. As a German tank rumbles across the bridge it appears all is lost. Then, in typical Hollywood tradition, the calvary arrives--two …

Exercise “Musk Ox”: Asserting Sovereignty “North Of 60”, Hugh A. Halliday

Canadian Military History

The Second World War was over and the Canadian armed forces were being reduced rapidly. The first chilly blasts of the Cold War had not yet penetrated to the consciousness of most Canadians. What role could the forces play in the postwar world? The most obvious answer was to revert to those interwar operations that had most directly benefited the nation—aerial surveys, northern communications, limited engineering projects. New tasks had evolved; aerial search and rescue was an example.

The Canadian government was aware that it had neglected the north during the war; the American presence in the Alaska Highway, CANOL, …

Canadian Armour In Normandy: Operation “Totalize” And The Quest For Operational Manoeuvre, Roman Johann Jarymowycz

Canadian Military History

The Allied record in Normandy is irritating simply because we could have done better. The extensive casualty rates to infantry and armour nearly exhausted American arms and created a political crisis in Canada. The dazzling success of American armour during “Cobra’s” pursuit eclipsed the Canadian armoured battles of August, despite the fact that the vast majority of Allied tank casualties from direct gunfire engagements occurred in II Canadian Corps. The exultation of operation manoeuvre, the closing of the Falaise Gap and the liberation of Paris obfuscated the reality of tactical deficiency. It required three bloody months and seven major operations …

Reflections On Caen, Bocage And The Gap: A Naval Historian’S Critique Of The Normandy Campaign, Marc Milner

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Recapturing The North: Exercises “Eskimo,” “Polar Bear” And “Lemming,” 1945, Hugh A. Halliday

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Tactics, Training, Technology: The Rcn’S Summer Of Success, July–September 1942, Robert Fisher

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The Blind Leading The Blind: The Battle Of The St. Eloi Craters, Tim Cook

Canadian Military History

The battle at St. Eloi between 27 March and 19 April 1916 was a minor side-show compared to the armageddon raging between the Germans and the French at Verdun. Yet, it was an important event for the 2nd Canadian Division as it was their first set-piece battle on the Western Front. It was also an unmitigated disaster.

C. Anthony Law (1916–1996): Official War Artist, Laura Brandon

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Canada, Conflict And Commemoration: An Appraisal Of The New Canadian War Memorial In Green Park, London, And A Reflection On The Official Patronage Of Canadian War Art, Paul Gough

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Air Support In The Breskens Pocket: The Case Of The First Canadian Army And The 84 Group Royal Air Force, Michael Bechthold

Canadian Military History

Operation “Switchback” was conceived to capture the Breskens pcoket and liberate the south bank of the Scheldt Estuary leading to Antwerp. As the Allies moved out of Normandy in the late summer of 1944, their primary supply line remained over the invasion beaches. The logistical situation became critical as the distance fromthe beachhead lengthened. The British scored a major coup in early September when they captured the port of Antwerp. Not only was this the largest port in Europe, it had been taken with its port facilities intact. Unfortunately, there remained one problem; Antwerp lay some 50 miles from the …

Canadian Military Heritage, Volume 1: 1000–1754 [Review], Desmond Morton

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Posters And The Canadian War Museum, Hugh A. Halliday

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Operation Research And 21 Army Group, Terry Copp

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Collections Of The Cwm: An Historical Resource, Cameron Pulsifer

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The Rcn At War, Dean Oliver

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Der Gegenangriff Vor Verrieres: German Counterattacks During Operation “Spring,” 25–26 July 1944, Roman Johann Jarymowycz

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Treason At Quebec: British Espionage In Canada During The Winter Of 1759, Peter Macleod

Canadian Military History

In the spring of 1760, the British garrison at Québec, commanded by James Murray, found itself the target of a French army intent upon the recapture of the colonial capital. Led by the exceptionally able François de Levis, the French hoped to surprise Murray’s outnumbered and isolated army, but even as the French embarked at Montreal on 20 May, Murray was writing that he had “received certain intelligence” of French preparations and had taken appropriate precautions. Much of this foreknowledge came from British spies working behind the French lines. Although prior to September 1759 the British had not possessed a …

A Canadian Soldier In The Great War: The Experiences Of Frank Maheux, Desmond Morton

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

The Underground War: Military Mining Operations In Support Of The Attack On Vimy Ridge, 9 April 1917, Michael Boire

Canadian Military History

This article aims briefly to describe the significance and evolution of military mining as a battlefield tactic during the Great War, with special reference to the role these underground operations played in the greatest success of Canadian arms—the capture of Vimy Ridge.

No military historian’s visit to Vimy Ridge, this country’s most symbolic and emotion-laden battlefield, would be complete without a stop at the Grange Tunnel, an infantry subway dug during the winter and spring of 1916–1917 by the soldier-miners of the 172 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers. They were ably assisted by work parties from all four veteran battalions of …

Official Apologies, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

Political Science Faculty Publications

In favour of official apologies for past wrongs, one can argue that while guilt, or fault, is an attribute held by an individual only if she has actually committed a harmful act, responsibility is another matter. Membership in a corporate entity means the individual shares in the entity’s responsibility to ameliorate the consequences of injustices that it perpetrated. The corporate entity bears this moral responsibility even if its actions or lack of action were legal at the time they occurred. Moreover, the human dignity of those whom the entity has wronged is at stake, and overrides any damages to the …

Did Paul See The Saving Significance Of Jesus’ Death As Resulting From Divine Violence? Dialogical Reflections On Romans 3:25, Christian Eberhart, Don Schweitzer

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Universal Women's Rights Since 1970: The Centrality Of Autonomy And Agency, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article reviews the development of universal women’s human rights since 1970. It begins by discussing how the international feminist movement influenced the development of women’s legal human rights, and continues by reviewing three debates in the literature on women’s rights. The first debate is whether human rights as originally formulated were actually men’s rights; the second debate is about the relationship between culture and women’s rights; and the third considers the effects of globalization on women’s rights. The author defends a liberal approach to human rights via the principles of equality and autonomy for women, but also argues that …

Imagining Transcultural Fandom: Animation And Global Media Communities, Sandra Annett

English and Film Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

But Where Will They Build Their Nest? Liberalism And Communitarian Resistance In American Cinematic Portrayals Of Jewish-Gentile Romances, Holly A. Pearse

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation analyzes approximately fifty American films that feature predominantly heterosexual interfaith/intercultural romantic, sexual or marital relations between Jewish and Gentile protagonists. It asks what political or social ideals can be illustrated by these portrayals, and how these films can be taken cumulatively to explore trends in modern life. The author places liberalism at the heart of the mainstream Hollywood discourse on intermarriage, and shows how films that run counter to the expectations of liberal romances may reflect communitarian critiques of liberal tenets.

The issue of intermarriage is contextualized with a discussion of the endogamous tradition in Judaism, and by …

The Cord (November 11, 2009)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (November 4, 2009)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

Proving Grounds Of Urbicide: Civil And Urban Perspectives On The Bombing Of Capital Cities, Kenneth Hewitt

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

In the bombing of urban settlements, the main impacts have been on resident civilians, living space and non-military functions. This is shown in the bombing of London, Berlin and Tokyo in the Second World War, arguably the first and only serious tests of strategic air power and urbicide to determine war outcomes. The history and scope of raiding of these capital cities differed in many ways, but the civilian experience and urban implications were very similar. The bombings attacked the most vulnerable areas, where resident populations found themselves poorly protected at best. The intentions, as well as results, of the …