Military History
Dispatches
Backgrounders in Canadian Military History
The
Royal Military College of Canada
1876 to the Present
The Royal Military College of Canada offers a professional military
education to officer cadets in the Canadian Forces. Unlike military
training, which focuses on the development of concrete skills, military
education involves the professional preparation of officers to lead
armed forces effectively in peace and war.
The Salvation
Army
A Touch of Home
During both world wars and throughout the Cold War, the Salvation
Army provided Canadian military personnel overseas and in Canada
with comforts such as hot drinks and snacks and helped maintain
morale by establishing leave centres for rest and recreation. The
Salvation Army tried to establish a degree of civility amidst the
loneliness and dehumanizing conditions of war. For almost a century,
the Salvation Army provided a small "home away from home" for
Canada's military personnel.
Les
Purs Canayens
French Canada and Recruitment during the First World War
During the First World War, the Canadian government used posters
as propaganda devices, for fund raising purposes and as a medium to
encourage voluntary enlistment in the armed forces. Because of
Canada's bilingual character, recruiting poster images and text
reflected different cultural traditions, outlooks and sensibilities.
Into the Blue
Pilot Training in Canada, 1917-18
In 1917-18 the British air force directed an ambitious flying training
operation in Canada. The scheme had no precedent, but it inspired the
vast British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of the Second World War,
and subsequent training programs in Canada for aircrew from nations
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that continue to the
present day.
Fortress
Europe
German Coastal Defences and the Canadian Role in Liberating the
Channel Ports
Fearing an Allied invasion in the west while embroiled in war with
the Soviet Union in the east, Adolf Hitler endeavoured to create
the "Atlantic Wall", or "Fortress Europe", by encrusting the
Atlantic seacoast with concrete and steel defences. Fortunately for the
Allies, the sheer scale of the project exceeded German resources.
A
Garrison Country
Newfoundland and Labrador during the Second World War
When the Second World War began in September 1939, Newfoundland was being
administered by a "Commission of Government." Under this constitutional
arrangement, there was a governor and six commissioners, all appointed
by the United Kingdom. The coming of war changed Newfoundland's situation
with dramatic suddenness. When the British ultimatum to Germany ran
out on 3 September 1939, Newfoundland was at war along with the
mother country. For Canadians and Newfoundlanders the war years
constituted a period of mutual discovery that laid the foundation
for the common bond of nationhood.
The
Canadian Women's Army Corps, 1941-1946
The formation of the Canadian Women's Army Corps during the
Second World War is a milestone in the history of women's
participation in the Canadian military. The Canadian Women's
Army Corps proved themselves efficient and competent soldiers
in all respects. Their example helped set the stage for the
integration of women into Canada's postwar armed forces.
Canada's
Air Force in War and Peace
Canada has a long and storied history of military aviation,
global in its reach, embracing combat, civil duties,
humanitarian missions, and peacekeeping. The air power of
Canada has an undiminished role to play in helping to
maintain international stability and defend Canada's
interests. The challenges which lie ahead will amply
bear out the motto of the Royal Canadian Air Force:
Per Ardua Ad Astra — Through Adversity to the Stars.
The
Royal Canadian Navy and the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1945
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest campaign of
the Second World War and the most important. At stake
was the survival of Great Britain and the liberation
of western Europe from German occupation. Canada's
enormous effort in the struggle was crucial to Allied
victory.
For
Queen and Country
Canadians and the South African War, 1899-1902
The South African War of 1899-1902 or, as it is more commonly known,
the Boer War, occasioned Canada's first major military expedition
abroad. Fighting in South Africa taught the Canadians a
number of valuable lessons. Thereafter, militia
training became more realistic, and discipline
tighter. In addition, Engineers, Signals, Service,
and Ordnance Corps, were added to the order of battle,
laying the "foundation of a modern army." During the
much larger and bloodier conflicts to come in the
twentieth century, Canadian soldiers were to fully
justify the reputation their forebears had gained in South
Africa.
Canada and NATO
Canada strongly supported both NATO's enlargement and internal
reform, arguing that NATO had now become the embodiment of
those ideals first enunciated in Article 11 of the treaty:
a forum for nonmilitary cooperation and dialogue from which
security, and a true sense of North Atlantic community, might
gradually emerge.
Canada's War Art
The Canadian War Museum's war art collections of 13,000 works
increasingly provide a link to the conflicts from the
perspective of those who witnessed them. While, to a certain
extent, the paintings act as illustration, they also convey
the feelings of the participants in the conflicts. The works
of war art are a unique legacy for all Canadians. Not only
are they vivid depictions of military events inspired by
personal experience, but they are also important elements
in our nation's art history.
History
As Monument
The Sculptures on the Vimy Memorial
The nation's War memorial at Vimy Ridge by Canadian
sculptor Walter Allward is a magnificent testimonial to
the Canadian sacrifice during the Great War.
Allward's greatest works have become a newly vibrant
part of our national heritage. Many Canadians have had the
opportunity of traveling to France to visit the Vimy
Memorial; now tens of thousands more can see the
inspiration for this historic monument in the sculptor's
original plaster figures.