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Frank Hurley: Adventurer and war photographer
Hurley was an Australian who left school at age 12, escaped the drudgery and hardship of a working-class life at the dawn of the 20th century, and turned his gift of gab and passion for photography into a lifetime of adventure and renown.
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Canadian summer in Apeldoorn
In five weeks of bloody battles to boot the Germans out of the Scheldt Estuary in October and November of 1944, the Allies suffered about 13,000 casualties, including about 6,300 Canadians. And the fighting was expected to be just as stiff to liberate the rest of the Netherlands.
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Art of the war horse
British cavalry were among the first units to see action in WW I, but they didn’t last. The war’s most impactful weapon—the machine gun—along with the mud and barbed wire of trench warfare would ultimately spell the end for equine-borne military.
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Witnessing genocide
In late 1993, Canadian General Roméo Dallaire was tasked to head a force of 2,500 United Nations peacekeepers sent to Rwanda to help implement a peace accord. It was intended to end three years of civil war between the Hutus and Tutsis, a minority ethnic group.
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Declassified documents shed new light on notorious sinking of USS Thresher
At 8 a.m. on April 9, 1963, USS Thresher (SSN-593), the lead boat in its class of nuclear-powered attack submarines, left port at Kittery, Maine, for a series of dive tests in the deep ocean 350 kilometres east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
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Bird strike caused fatal Snowbirds crash, report confirms
A single small bird brought down a Canadian Snowbirds demonstration aircraft last year after it was sucked into the plane’s engine and caused a compressor stall, a flight safety report confirmed on March 29.
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Paratrooper medic received the Victoria Cross
On the morning of March 24, 1945, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion jumped into heavily defended territory on the east bank of the Rhine River, part of the airborne assault during the Battle of the Bulge.
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Snakes on a chopper: Vietnam vets tell harrowing serpentine tales
“Any veterans out there run into snakes while serving?”

Thus began a thread on Facebook’s “Vietnam: Helicopter War” page that took readers on a raucous thrill ride through the jungles of Southeast Asia.
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Recounting CEF’s first battle
The Canadian Expeditionary Force’s first battle experience, aside from a trench raid, came in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in mid-March 1915.

The Canadians were tasked with preventing the Germans from reinforcing their position while the British pushed through enemy lines to advance the front. A new front was established, but the Allies were unable to exploit their advantage and press on due to difficulty transmitting orders and a lack of reserves.
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Take your shot—we did, says Gulf War vet
Gulf War veteran Paul Schutt has a message for Canadians in these pandemic times: Get your COVID-19 vaccine shots—if not for yourself, for your country.
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Sighted sub, sank same
The battlefields of Europe were thousands of kilometres away, but Newfoundland and Labrador were definitely in a war zone during the Second World War.
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front lines
Defence Today
Frank Hurley: Adventurer and war photographer
You may not know the name Frank Hurley but you almost certainly know at least some of his pictures. Hurley...
Defence Today
Art of the war horse
Mercifully, the First World War was the last major confrontation in which horses played a major role.  British cavalry were among...
Defence Today
Bird strike caused fatal Snowbirds crash, report confirms
A single small bird brought down a Canadian Snowbirds demonstration aircraft last year after it was sucked into the plane’s...
Defence Today
Declassified documents shed new light on notorious sinking of USS Thresher
At 8 a.m. on April 9, 1963, USS Thresher (SSN-593), the lead boat in its class of nuclear-powered attack submarines,...
Defence Today
The new Space Jam: General calls for traffic cops in crowded orbit
  The head of United States space operations is seeking new ways to manage the traffic jam of satellites and...
Defence Today
A harder line against China is needed
A harder line against China is needed
Defence Today
Changed forever by war
Changed forever by war
Defence Today
Snakes on a chopper: Vietnam vets tell harrowing serpentine tales
“Any veterans out there run into snakes while serving?” Thus began a thread on Facebook’s “Vietnam: Helicopter War” page that...
Defence Today
Take your shot—we did, says Gulf War vet
Gulf War veteran Paul Schutt has a message for Canadians in these pandemic times: Get your COVID-19 vaccine shots—if not...
Defence Today
New study discounts depleted uranium’s role in Gulf War illness
A new scientific study claims sarin gas is a likely cause of Gulf War illness, not debris from depleted uranium...
Defence Today
Boarding parties in the Persian Gulf
Canadian sailors had limited to no experience in boarding potentially hostile ships at sea when they embarked on their mission...
Defence Today
New details emerge in the case for the first Canadian Victoria Cross
Private Jess Randall Larochelle of the Royal Canadian Regiment was in an observation post when it was destroyed by a...
MEMOIRS
Letters to Mom
During the Second World War, 21-year-old Allan Coburn was one...
Cross Border Doctor
It can be extraordinary who and what you will find...
Pépère’s war story
Hormidas Odilon (Henry) Goulet enlisted with the 22nd Battalion in...
Battlefield doctor
My great-great-grandfather was a surgeon who treated soldiers at the...
Canada’s man in Havana
The story of a young Canadian diplomat spying on the...
Buried alive at the Somme
When I was a young child of four or five,...
My dad, the air force doctor
The nooks and crannies of my parents’ red-brick house in Halifax...
The Silent Ward
The author was a nurse in the First World War....
Not all Veterans wore uniforms
Story by Brian Purdy Son of Gordon Purdy Through the...
Tears of Remembrance
At the first strains of the anthem, backs straightened and...
Remembrance
On Remembrance Day or, for a naval veteran, Battle of...
The search for an old contemptible
It all started with a random tweet. My first inclination...
MILITARY HISTORY
Military History
Canadian summer in Apeldoorn
Canadian summer in Apeldoorn
In five weeks of bloody battles to boot the Germans out of the Scheldt Estuary in October and November of 1944, the Allies suffered about 13,000 casualties, including about 6,300 Canadians. And the fighting was expected to be just as...
Military History
Witnessing genocide
Witnessing genocide
In late 1993, Canadian General Roméo Dallaire was tasked to head a force of 2,500 United Nations peacekeepers sent to Rwanda to help implement a peace accord. It was intended to end three years of civil war between the Hutus...
Military History
Searching for Tirpitz
Searching for Tirpitz
On March 31, 1944, Canadian destroyers HMCS Sioux and HMCS Algonquin left Scapa Flow in Scotland’s Orkney Islands to join Operation Tungsten, the hunt for the German battleship Tirpitz. Tirpitz was a massive ship launched in 1939. It was 251...
Military History
Paratrooper medic received the Victoria Cross
Paratrooper medic received the Victoria Cross
On the morning of March 24, 1945, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion jumped into heavily defended territory on the east bank of the Rhine River, part of the airborne assault during the Battle of the Bulge. “They called it Operation Varsity,”...
Military History
Adrift in the Bay of Biscay
Adrift in the Bay of Biscay
  Just after 7:30 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day in 1945, survivors of the minesweeper HMCS Guysborough were in frigid Atlantic waters awaiting rescue. About half of them wouldn’t make it. Guysborough was about 300 kilometres off the coast of...
Military History
Recounting CEF’s first battle
Recounting CEF’s first battle
  The Canadian Expeditionary Force’s first battle experience, aside from a trench raid, came in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in mid-March 1915. The Canadians were tasked with preventing the Germans from reinforcing their position while the British pushed through...
HEALTH
Looking for a good night’s sleep
Looking for a good night’s sleep
Looking for a good night’s...
Medical Advances Behind the Line, Part 1
Medical Advances Behind the Line, Part 1
The First World War spurred...
Pain centre
Pain centre
In 2014, in physical agony...
Help for those living with concussion
Help for those living with concussion
The long days and nights...
A military response to the pandemic
A military response to the pandemic
Truly, the Canadian Armed Forces has...
Pandemic shines light on problems in long-term care facilities
Pandemic shines light on problems in long-term care facilities
Veteran Fraser (Tommy) Gray, 88,...
Legion Magazine
1/6 videos
1
The Fall of Hong Kong | Narrated by Stephen J. Thorne
The Fall of Hong Kong | Narrated by Stephen J. Thorne
2
Canadians in the Battle of Britain | Narrated by Stephen J. Thorne
Canadians in the Battle of Britain | Narrated by Stephen J. Thorne
3
Canadians in the Battle of Britain | Narrated by Stephen J. Thorne
Canadians in the Battle of Britain | Narrated by Stephen J. Thorne
4
Liberation of the Netherlands | Narrated by Roméo Dallaire
Liberation of the Netherlands | Narrated by Roméo Dallaire
5
William Shatner | Battle of Vimy Ridge
William Shatner | Battle of Vimy Ridge
6
The Dieppe Raid | Narrated by Alex Trebek
The Dieppe Raid | Narrated by Alex Trebek
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NEWS
Sombre coverage
Sombre coverage
The Legionary cover headline in September 1939 was sombre—Canada at War—and the words ‘The Fighting Man’s Magazine’ were added to the masthead.   The magazine’s coverage now included Legion programs...
VAC advised to expect a surge in backlogged claims
VAC advised to expect a surge in backlogged claims
VAC expects a surge in backlogged claims
Sexual misconduct settlement claims deadline is Nov. 24
Sexual misconduct settlement claims deadline is Nov. 24
Sexual misconduct settlement claims deadline is Nov. 24
Choose our cover for the next issue of <em>Canada’s Ultimate Story!</em>
Choose our cover for the next issue of Canada’s Ultimate Story!
The next issue of Canada’s Ultimate Story is Canada and the brutal battles of THE SOMME. Help choose the cover by casting your vote. The Battle of the Somme lasted...
Pay Tribute boxes distribute poppies in a new age
Pay Tribute boxes distribute poppies in a new age
With your tap debit or credit card, you tap on the bright poppy image on the box and take a poppy. You have just made a $2 donation to the...
Short film promotes remembrance
Short film promotes remembrance
The efforts of the Canadian Armed Forces in long-term care facilities in Quebec during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are the subject of a new short film promoting...
Legion receives $14 million to help branches
Legion receives $14 million to help branches
The federal government  has announced $20 million in special funding to support veterans’ organizations that are suffering because of the pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence...
Choose our cover for the next issue of Legion Magazine!
Choose our cover for the next issue of Legion Magazine!
Click on covers to enlarge! Help choose the March/April 2021 issue of Legion Magazine! The March/April 2021 issue of Legion Magazine updates the saga of the Avro Arrow, revisits the...
Heroes And Villains
Sophie Scholl and Roland Freisler
Sophie Scholl and Roland Freisler
Sophie Scholl & Roland Freisler
Face to Face
Was it right to commute Kurt Meyer’s death sentence for killing Canadian PoWs?
Was it right to commute Kurt Meyer’s death sentence for killing Canadian PoWs?
Was it right to commute Kurt Meyer’s death sentence for killing Canadian PoWs?
Face to Face
Are there 98 Canadian VCs?
Are there 98 Canadian VCs?
It is hard to say exactly how many “Canadians” have been awarded the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth’s highest award for valour in the face of the enemy. As an editor with Legion Magazine, we usually just say safely, “nearly 100.”...
Heroes And Villains
HEROES AND VILLAINS: Syngman Rhee vs Kim Il-sung
HEROES AND VILLAINS: Syngman Rhee vs Kim Il-sung
Hero: Syngman Rhee “The new UN proposal is unacceptable to this government.…We can no longer survive a stalemate of division.” —Syngman Rhee on June 6, 1953, stating his opposition to peace talks between the UN, the North Korea People’s Army and...
Face to Face
Face to Face | Was All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) the most important war film ever made?
Face to Face | Was All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) the most important war film ever made?
All Quiet on the Western Front is an Academy Award-winning 1930 film based on the classic anti-war novel by a German veteran of the First World War, Erich Maria Remarque. Coming 12 years after the First World War ended and...
Face to Face
Should the James Cross kidnappers have been granted safe passage to Cuba?
Should the James Cross kidnappers have been granted safe passage to Cuba?
In the early morning hours of Dec. 3, 1970, dozens of police officers and heavily armed soldiers surrounded a modest dwelling in Montreal North where, for nearly two months, British diplomat James Cross had been held hostage by a gang of...

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Front Lines is a weekly podcast produced by Legion Magazine, Canada’s leading military history publication. Join writer Stephen J. Thorne each week for fascinating stories and compelling commentary on Canada’s rich military past and present.

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Legion Magazine engages Canadians in commemorating the effort, bravery and sacrifice of those who served and continue to serve in Canada’s military. From the War of 1812 to modern armed forces missions around the world, Legion Magazine offers a blend of stories, photographs, graphics, maps and posters on Canadian military history and heritage, veterans’ issues and the Canadian Armed Forces. Legion Magazine is published six times a year in English with a French insert. Legion Magazine is published by Canvet Publications Ltd.

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