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Ninety years ago, the young Dominion of Canada was in the midst of one of the most significant years in its history. It was the year in which the Canadian Corps surged up Vimy Ridge in April 1917, a fortress that the Germans had defended […]

More than half a century after the Allies launched their strategic bombing campaign against German industrial, military and civilian targets, the morality and effectiveness of the tactic are still being hotly debated.

Over the past year there has been an additional debate about […]

The Battle of Vimy Ridge holds a special place in the Canadian mind. This April, thousands of schoolchildren, their teachers, parents, relatives of Great War veterans, and representatives from veterans organizations and governments will go to France […]

From top: Loaded down with bicycles and other kit, Canadians arrive at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944; a congestion of soldiers and vehicles covers the beach; medical personnel prepare to transfer […]

A sunny and windy morning in central Italy: RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli is staring out the window of the embassy van as it travels up the narrow mountain road into the village of Prezza. He’s 120 kilometres east of Rome, in a hilly agricultural region that seems forgotten by time, but renowned for its Montepulciano wine, red garlic and artichokes. Looking up–between the passing treetops–the 54-year-old commissioner notices how the mountain still wears the medieval village like […]

by Major Rohan Maxwell

Cattle drink from a pond that has yet to be cleared of mines.

In the aftermath of World War II, nationalism, communism and decolonization combined to plunge Indochina into decades of warfare. In Cambodia, war has been part of the landscape since the early 1960s, particularly during the Vietnam War when various armies used the country to advance their military objectives. Indeed, the United Nations reports that between 1969 and 1973 an estimated […]

In an isolated spot high in the French Pyrénées, a group of 30-odd pilgrims from Chatham, Ont., gathered in July to honour one of their own lost in WW II.

To pull back the shroud of time that has enveloped Pilot Officer Leslie Arthur Peers, J85070, Royal Canadian Air Force, we begin by examining excerpts from the 1944 operations log of 624 Squadron, Royal Air Force, in which he flew Halifax bombers from Blida, Algeria:

“5/6 June, Duty Proust (France); Up 2225, Down 0529; Not successful–no visibility, 10/10th cloud over target.”

“7/8 June, Duty Nickels (France); Up 2200, Down 0505; Nickels dropped on […]

Vimy Ridge. Beaumont Hamel.

For the two dominions of Canada and Newfoundland, these were the two most significant battles and battle sites of WW I. Since the joining of the two dominions under the banner of Canada in 1949, Vimy and Beaumont Hamel have remained prominent among the 13 battlefield memorials in France and Belgium commemorating the exploits of Canadians and Newfoundlanders in WW I.

In April 1997, Canada gave equal and unique distinction to Vimy and Beaumont Hamel with the announcement that the two sites in northern France had been designated national historic sites, the first such sites outside the country […]