Archive for March, 1999

Tourists visiting the New Richmond area in Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula may come upon Stanley House, a spacious summer residence nestled among the trees just west of the village. Located near the mouth of the Grande-Cascapédia–a premier salmon fishing river renowned for its annual run of large fish–Stanley House is a reminder of a time over a century ago when successive governors general enjoyed free fishing privileges in the river’s famous pools. In 1879, the Canadian government granted the fishing rights to His Excellency, [...]

by Mac Johnston The many faces of our world never cease to amaze. Imagine that you’re in the Middle East in December with a troupe to entertain Canadian peacekeepers. In Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, your bus approaches North Camp at El Gorah. The entrance is like nothing you’ve ever seen back home. Both sides of the road are lined with 45-gallon drums filled with poured concrete and linked by a sturdy cable. There are also concrete obstacles in the centre, forcing vehicles to zigzag their way through the maze. You also pass over a steel plate that conceals a retracted steel barrier. What [...]

There is no end to the What Ifs? that determined the shape and texture of this country. What if Champlain had no appetite for privation and retreated to France? What if Wolfe had not found his path up the slope? What if so many Americans had not been loyal? What if there had been no champagne at Charlottetown? Here’s another one: What if 54 years ago a stubborn little man from Gambo, Nfld., had not had an epiphany during breakfast in a Montreal hotel and decided that Newfoundland and Labrador would be better off as a province of Canada than as [...]

With calmness and precision, Charles Goldhamer created lasting impressions of life in the air force, including sketches and paintings of airmen who had suffered severe burns. From top [...]

by Ray Dick In Part 1 of this series on the Canadian Forces Today we explained how the Department of National Defence is addressing the challenge of maintaining a combat-ready force while cutting costs. In Part 2, we took a look at the army and the various challenges it faces. This time around, we focus on the air force and explain how it is coping with shrinking budgets. Despite successive budget cuts, downsizing and some serious hits to morale, Canada’s air force is heading into the new millennium as a leaner, but strong air arm of the Canadian Forces. “In the last [...]

As Canada’s chief army historian between 1945-59, Colonel C.P. Stacey rarely employed emotional language in his writing about WW II, but when it came to describing the July 1944 battles for Verrières Ridge, he included the following: “Three miles or so south of Caen the present-day tourist, driving down the arrow-straight road that leads to Falaise, sees immediately to his right a rounded hill crowned by farm buildings. If the traveller be Canadian, he would do well to stay the wheels at this point and cast his mind back to the events of 1944; for this apparently insignificant eminence is [...]