Archive for July, 2004

When the icebreaker Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Labrador steamed out of Halifax on July 23, 1954, nobody was predicting it was the start of one of the most momentous voyages in Canadian maritime history. Yet that is exactly what would come to pass four months later when Labrador became the first ship to complete a continuous circumnavigation of North America. The search for a sea route around the north of the Canadian mainland was an elusive goal not realized for more than 400 years, consuming and frustrating generations of explorers and [...]

The Canadian government’s pre-World War I military aviation policy was simple—there was none. Aircraft trials at Petawawa, Ont., in 1909 had ended in two crashes, and efforts by civilians and middle-ranking officers failed to generate military interest in aircraft. Sam Hughes, the minister of militia and defence, treated aviation with icy silence prior to 1914. Upon the outbreak of war, Hughes adjourned to Camp Valcartier in Quebec to organize personally a Canadian Expeditionary Force, ignoring previous mobilization plans. Inexplicably, [...]

While 1st Canadian Infantry Division was training and re-equipping in England, the war on the Western Front had become stalemated. Trenches began to stretch from the Swiss border to the Belgian coast, with the Kaiser’s army taking up positions on the most advantageous ground. The German army planned to be defensive in the west, defeat Russia and then turn to deal with France and Britain. In Northern France, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had suffered [...]

By the time Canada was at war in August 1914, only tiny Rainbow, her crew augmented by volunteers, was able to respond. Indeed, she defended imperial interests in the eastern Pacific—from Chile to the Bering Sea. Her captain, Walter Hose, described these days as a “heart-breaking starvation time” for the Royal Canadian Navy. In the last two years before the war, more Canadians deserted from the service than joined. George Desbarats, the deputy naval minister, sympathized with those who bolted from the “irksome [...]

by Natalie Salat Canadian Forces Advisory Council chairman Peter Neary (left) and Roméo Dallaire highlight the urgency of looking after current CF [...]

by Ray Dick Clockwise from top: A damaged building near Sanski Most; Major Dwayne Hobbs (left) and Sergeant Major Jim Devine get word that a [...]

by David J. Bercuson There has probably been more kerfuffle, more public debate, and more hand-wringing within the army over last fall’s announcement that the Land Force is to acquire the new Stryker Mobile Gun System mounting a 105 millimetre cannon than on any other recent procurement decision. The government announced that, in effect, 60 of these vehicles would replace the older Leopard tanks acquired in the 1970s but recently upgraded with [...]

by Ray Dick A cold rain dampened enthusiasm and kept many of the expected spectators away from Brampton’s Meadowvale Cemetery on the Sunday afternoon of May 2. But the show went on regardless as a section of the cemetery was dedicated as the Last Post Fund Ontario Field of Honour, a hallowed burial ground for veterans and eligible civilians. “This dedication ceremony honours all Canadian veterans, including those who fought and those who have stood ready to fight…,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Evelyn Kelly who as president of the board of directors of the Ontario Branch of the Last [...]

by Ray Dick The Downsview Lands, a 600-acre parcel of land in the heart of Toronto that once bustled with activity in supplying the manpower and implements for war and peace, is now changing dramatically as work is well underway in the development of Canada’s first self-supporting national urban park. This is part of the high ground that in early days before industrialization, expansion and the demands of war provided a perfect view of the [...]

Modern-day Canadian Forces members are set to see radical changes to the support system available to them once they return to civilian life. In the spirit of the Veterans Charter established at the end of WW II, the federal government recently announced its intention to reform the current programs and services for those leaving the forces. The May announcement followed closely on the heels of documents released by the Veterans Affairs [...]