Archive for May, 2010

Soon after the end of hostilities in the First World War, there was a need to provide life insurance protection for returned soldiers, especially pensioners, who were unable to pass the medical examination required to obtain commercial life insurance.  After first considering paying the extra premiums required by insurance companies to cover the estimated excess risks attributable to war disability, the government decided to provide insurance in limited amounts (up to $5,000) and at standard rates to contributing veterans of the war. Accordingly, Parliament enacted The Returned Soldiers Insurance Act which came into force on Sept. 1, 1920.  The final [...]

The theme of The Royal Canadian Legion’s 43rd dominion convention scheduled for June 13-16 is “Birthplace of the Legion—Uniting The Nation.” It refers first to the choice of Winnipeg for the convention, which is where veterans groups came together in 1925 for the Unity Conference that established the Legion. Secondly, the theme refers to how veterans provided a unified vision on the care and benefits deserved by the men and women who had served their country in a horrific war overseas. While the Legion has successfully lobbied for many veterans benefits over the years, Legionnaires are once again meeting to grapple [...]

John Gray, an intelligence officer, was one of the first Canadian liberators to enter Rotterdam after the German surrender. He came out of the city hall where he had been inquiring where he could find the city’s resistance leaders, and saw a dozen or so Dutchmen around his jeep. “As I was about to climb in I saw the cardboard box with the remains of our lunch—sandwiches and pie. If these men were hungry—would it be resented?” Gray then asked one man if the food was of interest. The Dutchman “stared at me incredulously—any use? He climbed onto the bonnet of the jeep and began to break the sandwiches into little bits and to give each man a small handful.

MAY 1, 1945 As part of the Pacific Fleet, His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Uganda and elements of Task Force 57 place themselves to intercept Japanese air strikes headed for the island of Okinawa south of Japan. Uganda, along with other cruisers and battleships, bombards air bases on the Shakashima Islands and comes under attack by two kamikazes. Two support British aircraft cruisers are hit. PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Uganda. MAY 2, 1945 The Royal Canadian Army Service Corps begins transporting relief supplies by truck convoy to the hungry people of the western Netherlands. MAY 3, 1917 Robert Grierson Combe earns the [...]