Archive for 2008

Three years after a spinal injury during a parachute jump abruptly ended his military career, retired sergeant Steve Daniel is an exceptional athlete, coming out of the Paralympic Games in Beijing ranked 11th in the world for arms-only rowing. “I first stepped into my racing single (boat) in April and within five months was able to rank 11th in the world,” Daniel said in an e-mail interview with Legion Magazine shortly after competing in the debut of adaptive rowing at the Paralympic Games. “I look forward to competing in future years as I strive to work my way to the top [...]

In 1920, the newly formed Canadian Air Board, controlling both civil and military aviation, established a base at Jericho Beach, Vancouver, which became the principal air force base on the Pacific coast. Operations elsewhere, including Victoria and Prince Rupert, B.C., were carried out by temporary detachments performing one or two specific jobs. The diversity of these tasks is demonstrated when one looks at the work reported by the Vancouver Air Station for the week of Sept. 5-11, 1921. The station’s work record shows 19 hours, 26 minutes flown, including three forestry reconnaissance sorties to Kamloops, Sicamous and Shuswap lakes; four [...]

The establishment of the New­found­land Escort Force (NEF) in May 1941 marked the beginning of the modern Canadian navy. Previously, the Royal Canadian Navy had served either uniquely Canadian needs, or as part of the larger British imperial fleet. With the NEF, the RCN began to carve out distinct strategic, operational and tactical roles within an emerging western alliance dominated by the United States. To a very considerable extent, the ‘father’ of the NEF, and the man who—for better or for worse—would see the RCN through this formative period of trade escort and anti-submarine warfare in the North Atlantic was Leonard [...]

All wounded Canadian military personnel—regular troops and reservists—must be guaranteed “first class” treatment when they return home, whether their injuries are physical or psychological, says a Senate committee report titled Bringing Our Wounded Home Safely. The committee toured facilities in Afghanistan, Germany and Canada to determine how well wounded soldiers are rescued, treated and rehabilitated. The aim was to comfort families and loved ones of those serving overseas, and to point out the disparity in provincial health care systems that results in uneven treatment of the wounded once they get back home, Senator Colin Kenny said in an interview with Legion [...]

This is the first of a series of articles examining the battles fought by the 1st Canadian Corps in Italy during the late summer and fall of 1944. During a recent trip to the region between the Metauro River and Rimini along the Adriatic coast it was possible to visit many of the most important battlefields and to appreciate the challenges imposed by the terrain. We began our survey at the church in the town of Montemaggiore which, at an elevation of 197 metres, is perched on a hill just south of the Metauro. The church square is known as the [...]

Members of the Canadian military who were exposed to nuclear radiation during allied countries’ atomic tests or in cleaning up accidents at one of Canada’s nuclear reactors will be recognized and compensated for their service. National Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson announced Sept. 2 that eligible veterans will be compensated with an ex gratia payment of $24,000. “Through this program, a remarkable group of individuals will finally get the acknowledgment and respect they so rightfully deserve,” said Thompson while making the announ­ce­ment in Calgary, just days before the general election was called. The payment is similar to the [...]

Born in 1925 at Winnipeg, Tom Bjarnason was the last of eight children. His love affair with airplanes began the moment he got close enough to touch one. He remembers being six or seven years old—walking for hours to get to Stevenson Field, now the location of Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. “I could see these airplanes…sitting right there, and I was touching the fabric. It was a thrill I never, ever got over.” For years Bjarnason had dreamed of becoming a pilot, but a vision problem in his right eye ensured his dream would never come to pass. He [...]

On a wooded hillside outside Vladivostok, Russia, 14 Canadians found their final resting place in 1919. Five others died at sea. They were ordinary folk who had enlisted in the closing days of the First World War for service in an unlikely theatre—Siberia. The Canadian Siberian Expedition Force (CSEF), which consisted of 4,213 men and one woman from across Canada, mobilized alongside 13 Allied armies to replace Lenin’s Bolsheviks with a more friendly government. The mission failed in the face of divided Allied strategies and heated domestic opposition, consigning the story to the margins of history. Editor’s note: University of Victoria historian [...]

The shooting this summer of a South Korean tourist cast an uncomfortable shadow over the Veterans Affairs Canada delegation that had come to Seoul to mark the 55th anniversary of the Korea Armistice Agreement signed on July 27, 1953. Park Wang Ja, a 53-year-old housewife from Seoul, was walking on a beach at a tourist area in North Korea when, according to North Korean officials, she strayed into a restricted military area and was shot twice. This was after failing to acknowledge shouts and a warning shot. The killing, coupled with North Korea’s refusal to allow South Korean authorities to examine the [...]

Members of the Canadian Forces killed or wounded since Oct. 7, 2001, may be eligible to receive a newly minted honour—the Sacrifice Medal. The Sacrifice Medal was announced Aug. 29 by Governor General Michaëlle Jean. It was created to recognize members of the CF, a member of an allied force, or a Canadian civilian under the authority of the Canadian Forces who died or was wounded under honourable circumstances as a direct result of hostile action. While it is a new honour for the CF, the Sacrifice Medal replaces the Wound Stripe, which was a distinction worn on the sleeve of soldiers [...]