Archive for May, 2005
Canada Corner
Doctor Of Adventure
British Columbia physician John Sebastian Helmcken had a lot of experience to draw upon when he sat down to write his memoirs in the 1890s. For starters, he had travelled the world, logging some 45,000 miles by sailing vessel. And later, while working as a surgeon for the Hudson’s Bay Company, he had piled up countless miles of rough wilderness travel by canoe and horse. In still another role, he was instrumental in B.C.’s decision [...]
May 1, 2005, by Valerie Knowles
Canadian Military History in Perspective
Keeping The Corps Together: Army, Part 58
The Canadians who captured Vimy Ridge in April 1917 were proud of their nickname, the Byng Boys, but by June of that year Sir Julian Byng had moved on to take command of the 3rd British Army while Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie assumed command of the Canadian Corps. As Jack Hyatt has demonstrated in his biography of this unusual Canadian hero, Currie’s promotion occurred during a period of personal financial difficulty and [...]
May 1, 2005, by Terry Copp
Canadian Military History in Perspective
The Birth Of The Submarine Service: Navy, Part 9
In 1914, the modern submarine was completely untried in war, but its potential as a deadly weapon of stealth was widely understood. Indeed, near panic ensued off Canada’s west coast when the first Canadian submarines were spotted near Esquimalt harbour on the morning of Aug. 5, 1914. While an examination steamer raced toward the harbour, gunners manned nearby coastal batteries. Only the sight of a tablecloth—waving from the conning tower [...]
May 1, 2005, by Marc Milner
Canadian Military History in Perspective
Godfrey Of The RCAF: Air Force, Part 9
Albert Earl Godfrey was a remarkable Royal Canadian Air Force officer, proud of two accomplishments above all else. One was having held, from 1910 to 1944, virtually every rank from bugler to air vice-marshal; the other was that of being the most senior Canadian officer to fire directly on the enemy during World War II. Friendly and popular, Godfrey always looked a few years older than his real age, and was affectionately known [...]
May 1, 2005, by Hugh A. Halliday
Canada Corner
The New Canadian War Museum
The title of our main story says it all: The Dream Comes True.
We have a new Canadian War Museum opening in Ottawa on May 8, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
The museum was a long time coming. Its arrival signals a change in government attitude to embrace the premise that the sacrifices of Canadians in time of war are central to our history as a nation and must not be forgotten.
It [...]
May 1, 2005
Memoirs & Pilgrimages
Manna From Heaven
The following is an excerpt from Days of Victory: Canadians Remember, 1939–45 by Ted Barris. Published by Thomas Allen Publishers of Toronto, the book sells for $34.95, not including tax, and is available at bookstores everywhere.
The sky was falling again.
Aircraft had suddenly appeared over the western horizon, out beyond the approaches to Waalhaven airfield near the centre of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Next came the [...]
May 1, 2005, by Ted Barris
Memoirs & Pilgrimages
The End Of Darkness
For Canadians, the Second World War in Europe continued almost to the last moment, to May 8, the official day of victory. At sea, convoys continued to cross the North Atlantic ready to fight off the U-boats until the final Kriegsmarine surrender. Only when the Nazi submarines surfaced and began to steam to Allied ports was the war truly ended. In the air, the bombing of German targets continued until late in April while Typhoons [...]
May 1, 2005, by J.L. Granatstein
Canada Corner
Reinventing The Circus
Every audience member seems to take away a different image from a Cirque du Soleil performance. For some, it is the high-tech light show or the fantastical costumes. For others, it is the aerialists moving gracefully on ropes and wires high above the ring. For me, when I went to see Cirque’s Quidam in Vancouver in May 2004, it was the young Chinese acrobats. Now, a year later, I can’t even remember exactly what they [...]
May 1, 2005, by Laura Byrne Paquet
Defence Today
Eye On Defence: A Capricious Decision
About a year ago I wrote in this space that in the ballistic missile defence discussion in Canada “Certain (political) elements…see too much political capital to be gained from the issue to ever allow its underlying realities to be dispassionately debated.”
That prophecy came true with a vengeance Feb. 24 when the government told Canadians that Canada would “not participate in the United States ballistic defence system at this time.” That decision was [...]
May 1, 2005, by David J. Bercuson
Defence Today
Budget, Missile Defence Dominate Conference
The Conference of Defence Associations held its annual seminar in Ottawa this year against a backdrop of major activity in the world of Canadian defence and foreign affairs.
Just days before the March 3-4 conference Prime Minister Paul Martin announced that Canada wouldn’t be participating in the American ballistic missile defence initiative. A new budget had also just been tabled, allocating large increases in defence spending. There was a newly appointed [...]
