Archive for December, 2008

Countertop Hazards Pricey granite is the hot choice for countertops—sometimes too hot, it turns out. Some granite slabs contain a small amount of radioactive uranium, which releases low levels of radon gas as it decays. Radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer, accounting for about 10 per cent of all cases. This has prompted worried customers south of the border to call the United States Environmental Protection Agency for advice. In turn, that’s prompted the stone importing industry to consider testing protocol for granite. Although in Canada “the situation is probably no different than in the U.S.,” says Dr. Bliss Tracy, [...]

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 [...]