October 2010 - Legion Magazine

28Oct 2010

By Sharon Adams1 Comment

Health

Health File

Copper And Iron Alert Anyone over 50 who takes nutritional supplements may want to consider a brand without iron and copper pending further research into connections between the minerals and a range of age-related diseases. Although essential, high levels of these trace minerals are associated with many health conditions of older adults, according to researcher George J. Brewer, emeritus professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. Higher concentrations of copper and iron are found in those with neurodegenerative conditions, atherosclerosis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other chronic health problems. “Subtle toxicity of copper and iron…may affect most of us as we age,” Brewer says in research published in Chemical Research in Toxicology. The human...

24Oct 2010

By Hugh A. Halliday4 Comments

Air Force

The Search For The Magnetic Pole: Air Force, Part 41

On July 19, 1947, a Canso aircraft took off from Royal Canadian Air Force Station Rockcliffe on a quest to define the unsteady location of the North Magnetic Pole. The Arctic mission, which would encounter everything from gales to menacing ice to unchartered terrain, was called Operation Polco. The RCAF had a history of survey flying in the North, but general cartographic photography over Canada had been suspended during the Second World War. Instead, work of that nature had been focused on immediate wartime aims connected with routes supplying aircraft to Britain, Alaska and the Soviet Union. During this same time, Canadian sovereignty was scarcely exercised in the Arctic. By the time Polco began, Canada had taken steps to restore a national northern presence. Indeed, several me...

22Oct 2010

By Marc Milner2 Comments

Navy

The Accidental Enemy: Navy, Part 41

The winter of 1941-42 is usually treated by historians as a quiet one on the North Atlantic Run, but it is doubtful anyone guarding the convoy routes saw it that way. The North Atlantic was its typical vile self, with storm-battered ships and weary men standing to their duty in the face of a constant threat from U-boats. In fact, weather proved to be a major factor in the loss of two Royal Canadian Navy escorts to marine accidents in December 1941. This brought to an end a series of losses to weather and collision dating back to May 1940, when the battleship His Majesty’s Ship Revenge sideswiped and sank the gate vessel His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Ypres in Halifax. The destroyers Fraser and Margaree are also counted in this category. The navy suffered only one loss to marine accident a...

18Oct 2010

By Terry CoppNo Comments

Army

Fighting Normandy’s Terrain: Army, Part 90

This story marks the start of a new series on the Canadian Army’s experience during the campaign in Normandy and Northwest Europe, 1944-45. Having just returned from another battlefield study tour with eight students from my university, Wilfrid Laurier, and an equal number from the Université de Montréal, I have been reflecting on the enormous changes that have occurred since my first visit to these battlefields in the early 1980s. The late Robert Vogel and I were then beginning work on what became the five-volume Maple Leaf Route series, and I wanted to see the ground the Canadians fought over. I came away with two strong impressions. First, it was evident that something really needed to be done to commemorate the Canadian achievement on the actual battlefields where soldiers fough...

11Oct 2010

By Jennifer Morse1 Comment

War Art

Geoffrey Bagley

In 1985, on the 75th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy, Geoffrey Bagley donated 92 naval artworks to the Canadian War Museum, so in this the centennial year of the navy, it seems fitting to celebrate his contribution to Canada’s war art. The artist was born in England in 1901 and began his education in architecture. Finding it not entirely to his liking, he successfully petitioned his parents to let him study at the Nottingham College of Art. The artist left England in 1929, and moved to Toronto where he worked as an engraver. From there he went to Montreal where he built a career as a respected art director for a fine-paper manufacturer. In 1942, Bagley was hired as a graphic artist by the Wartime Information Board and the National Film Board of Canada. For his two year...

4Oct 2010

By Sharon AdamsNo Comments

Health

16 Travel Tips: Get Out And Go

Baby boomers are reaching retirement age—and many plan to lace up some good walking shoes and take those trips they’ve always dreamed about. Some even plan to take their parents. The good news is the travel industry has been paying attention, and there’s never been a better time for seniors to hit the road or take to the skies. When are you too old to travel? NEVER. Short of illness that keeps you bed- or house-bound, there are travel adventures for every age group. Dicky knees, achy hips, reliance on medication or mobility aids—even the need for dialysis—do not have to put the kibosh on your travel dreams. Here are some tips to help smooth the road. Destinations: Mindful of smart choices Options for destinations, accommodations and transportation should be determined by the healt...

Month: October 2010

Health File

The Search For The Magnetic Pole: Air Force, Part 41

The Accidental Enemy: Navy, Part 41

Fighting Normandy’s Terrain: Army, Part 90

Geoffrey Bagley

16 Travel Tips: Get Out And Go

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