1 May 1952
Operation Leap Frog begins. The Royal Canadian Air Force deploys 12 squadrons to join ground forces in western Europe, part of Canada’s NATO commitment to deter Cold War attacks.
Credit: CWM/19910001-317
2 May 1915
Lieut. Alexis Hannum Helmer is killed by shellfire near Ypres, Belgium. His death inspired Lt.-Col. John McCrae to write “In Flanders Fields” the following day.
5 May 1945
Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charles Foulkes, commander of 1 Canadian Corps, accepts the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands.
Credit: Alexander M. Stirton/DND/LAC/PA-138588
7 May 2011
Under intense fire, Canadian Capt. David Suffoletta begins to organize multiple assaults that help Afghan police neutralize Taliban insurgents holed up in a shopping centre in Kandahar. He is awarded the Star of Military Valour.
9 May 1885
The Battle of Batoche begins. By its end, Canadian authorities defeat Louis Riel’s force of Métis and First Nations allies, marking the beginning of the end of the North-West Resistance.
Credit: Canada Post Corporation/LAC/2216740
14 May 2003
The first modernized CF-18 fighters are accepted into service. In total, 80 of Canada’s front-line Hornets receive an upgrade to radar, navigational and electronics equipment.
17 May 1900
The Royal Canadian Field Artillery helps relieve Mafeking, South Africa, from a seven-month Boer War siege.
19 May 1918
Katherine Maud MacDonald of No. 1 Canadian General Hospital is the first Canadian nursing sister killed in action during German bombings of Étaples, France.
Credit: CWM/19950037-011
21 May 1998
HMCS Ojibwa is decommissioned in Halifax. The Oberon-class, diesel-electric submarine was purchased from the Royal Navy and had been in Canadian service since 1965. Ojibwa is now a museum in Port Burwell, Ont.
23 May 1947
The Canadian Rangers are formed to monitor remote and coastal regions of Canada for Cold War threats. Today, there are roughly 5,000 Rangers, who are primarily members of local Indigenous communities.
24 May 1943
U-boats begin a withdrawal from the North Atlantic.
26 May 1953
On midnight patrol during the Korean War, HMCS Haida locates and destroys a Chinese supply train.
Credit: DND/LAC/PA-143957
27 May 1870
Canadian and British troops defeat the Fenians at the Battle of Trout River.
30 May 2008
After a patrol is attacked in Afghanistan, Cpl. Tyler Myroniuk and WO Robin John Crane lead an advance under enemy fire. They are both awarded the Medal of Military Valour.
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