Military History Commons^™

The Partnership Between Canada And Britain In Winning The Battle Of The Atlantic, Correlli Barnett

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Canadian Battle Of Normandy Foundation 2003 Study Tour: Sicily And Italy, Canadian Battle Of Normandy Foundation

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Air Operations At Dieppe: An After-Action Report, Trafford Leigh-Mallory

Canadian Military History

Editor’s Introduction: The ill-fated action at Dieppe in August 1942 is most often remembered for the heavy casualties suffered by the Canadian land forces deployed in the assault and the political controversy that followed this ’military debacle.’ Lingering doubts over the rationale for the raid, and persistent statements that lives were lost in vain, continue to this day. But the Dieppe Raid was much more than casualties and questionable military decision making. It had immediate and valuable implications on the planning and conduct of future Allied amphibious operations, particularly the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944.

1st Canadian Infantry Brigade In The Second Battle Of Ypres: The Case Of 1st And 4th Canadian Infantry Battalions, 23 April 1915, Andrew Iarocci

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Recollections Concerning Canadian War Crimes Investigations And Prosecutions, Wady Lehmann

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

Pursuit: The Letters Of Captain Harold Macdonald, North Shore Regiment, From Normandy To The Scheldt, Harold Macdonald, M.A. Macdonald

Canadian Military History

No abstract provided.

“It Made Them Forget About The War For A Minute”: Canadian Army, Navy And Air Force Entertainment Units During The Second World War, Laurel Halladay

Canadian Military History

On 3 February 1944, wounded Canadian service personnel recuperating in a British hospital were delighted to hear that a concert party, part of the Canadian Army Show, was in the area and would be performing for patients that evening. The variety was extremely well-received; singing, dancing and comedy routines seemed to be exactly was the injured needed to raise their spirits. After the show was over, a man in a wheelchair approached performer James Cameron and exclaimed “it was so good to see that—please come back again.” The Captain in charge of this satisfied patient wrung Cameron’s hand and enthusiastically …

“Always Ready For Any Sticky Job”: The Canadian Corps Of (Civilian) Firefighters In The Second World War, Keith Hart

Canadian Military History

The Canadian Corps of (Civilian) Firefighters was created. In 1942 to assist the British National Fire Service (NFS) in fighting fires caused by German bombings. Some 400 specially-recruited Corps members served in Britain from 1942 to 1944 under often very hazardous conditions. Its story remains one of the forgotten and more unique Canadian contributions to the war effort.

The Road To The Cobourg Court Room: New Material From The Archives Of The Canadian War Museum On The Sir Arthur Currie-Sir Sam Hughes Dispute, 1918-1919, Barbara M. Wilson

Canadian Military History

The post-First World War dispute between Sir Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia and Defence from October 1911 to November 1916 and Sir Arthur Currie, General Officer Commanding the Canadian Corps from 9 June 1917 to the end of the war, must be one of the least dignified episodes in Canadian military history. Hughes, although very energetic, was erratic and arbitrary and was fired by Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden for his inefficient administration of the Canadian military forces overseas. Currie, on the other hand, led the Canadian Corps in a stunning series of successes: Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, the Drocourt-Queant …

The Generation Of Memory: Reflections On The “Memory Boom” In Contemporary Historical Studies, Jay Winter

Canadian Military History

Jay Winter delivered the following in the form of a lecture at the Canadian War Museum on 31 October 2000. A distinguished academic, Winter has been writing about the cultural history of the First World War for nearly three decades. He has taught at the University of Cambridge in England and is presently at Yale University. Since 1988, he has been a director of the Historial de la grande guerre in Peronne, an important war museum in northern France. In this capacity, he has become familiar with a great many institutions of war and military history around the world and …

Combat Motivation And The Roots Of Fanaticism: The 12th Ss Panzer Division In Normandy, Michael E. Sullivan

Canadian Military History

The post-First World War dispute between Sir Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia and Defence from October 1911 to November 1916 and Sir Arthur Currie, General Officer Commanding the Canadian Corps from 9 June 1917 to the end of the war, must be one of the least dignified episodes in Canadian military history. Hughes, although very energetic, was also erratic and arbitrary and was fired by Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden for his inefficient administration of the Canadian military forces overseas. Currie, on the other hand, led the Canadian Corps in a stunning series of successes: Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, the …

French Canadian Participation In The War Of 1812: A Social Study Of The Voltiguers Canadians, Martin F. Auger

Canadian Military History

During the War of 1812, the participation of French Canadians in colonial militia units such as the Voltigeurs Canadiens was of great importance for the defence of Lower Canada. The colony’s lack of regular British toops combined with threats of American invasion rendered crucial to the mobilization of the local populace, most of which was of French descent. Although lacking the discipline and structure of British regular soldiers. Lower-Canadian militiamen were able to neutralize numerous American invasion attempts. Altogether, this impressive participation in the war effort helped redefine the military character of French Canadians. It also dissipated the British authorities’ …

“One More For Luck”: The Destruction Of U971 By Hmcs Haida And Hms Eskimo, 24 June 1944, Barry M. Gough, James A. Woods

Canadian Military History

On the evening of 23 June 1944, HMCS Haida and HMS Eskimo set out from Plymouth, operational base of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla (10th DF), to conduct a sweep of the Western Approaches to the English Channel. Their role was to assist in securing these waters for the ongoing delivery of supplies and reinforcements to the Normandy bridgehead. Across the Channel to the southest, American, British and Canadian forces were now in their third week of fighting across the fields and hedgerows of Normandy. Operation OVERLORD had been the largest amphibious invasion in history and, dependent as it was on …

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. …