September 2019 - Legion Magazine

HMCS <em> Iroquois </em> damaged in Korea

30Sep 2019

By Sharon AdamsNo Comments

Military Milestones

HMCS Iroquois damaged in Korea

HMCS Iroquois was on its first tour of duty in Korea, under frequent fire as it patrolled the peninsula’s east coast, itself frequently firing on North Korean rail lines. A tunnel near Songjin on the main rail line carrying war supplies from Russia to North Korea was frequently shelled and under constant repair. It was the target for about two hours on Oct. 2, 1952, as Iroquois worked to keep repair crews from bringing the line back into operation. At 4 p.m., the Tribal-class destroyer stopped firing and began a long, slow turn seaward. North Korean shore batteries opened fire when Iroquois was fully broadside. In the petty officers’ mess, Peter Fane was positioned to pass shells from the ship’s magazine to the gun battery on the deck above. Suddenly over the ship’s broa...

27Sep 2019

By Legion MagazineNo Comments

Serving You

A new online health promotion

Starting this September, veterans and their family members will be able to participate in a free online health promotion program called MissionVAV. This program, sponsored by the Veteran and Family Wellbeing Fund, is a fun way to improve wellness in different areas such as fitness, decreasing stress, improving sleep, eating healthier and losing weight. The program sets up missions, which include physical activities that can be measured. The missions last approximately six weeks and each one has a different wellness goal. Start a team, join a team or do it on your own, there are many ways to take part whenever you want and wherever you are. Because the program is online, anyone with access to the internet using a computer, tablet or smartphone can join a mission. The objective of each ...

27Sep 2019

By Sharon AdamsNo Comments

Artifacts

Goggle-eyed lifesaver

Legion Magazine sat down with Tim Cook, author and historian at the Canadian War Museum, to discuss the introduction of gas warfare in the First World War and the invention and evolution of Gas Masks used to save the soldiers’ lives. The first gas mask issued to British troops after the Germans unleashed the devilish new weapon in 1915 was devised by a doctor from Newfoundland. On April 22, 1915, German troops on the Western Front released 160 tonnes of chlorine gas, which turned into a yellow-green cloud six kilometres long and half a kilometre wide. It drifted on the wind over Canadian and French lines and, heavier than air, settled in low areas—turning trenches into death traps. When chlorine contacts moisture in the eyes, nose and lungs, it turns to an acid that blinds...

The costs of war (Part 2): Military greenhouse gas emissions

25Sep 2019

By Stephen J. Thorne1 Comment

Front Lines

The costs of war (Part 2): Military greenhouse gas emissions

A series of reports produced by the Costs of War Project says the American military is contributing significantly to climate change, emitting more greenhouse gases than some developed countries and compromising national security in the process. The United States Department of Defense is “the world’s largest institutional user of petroleum and correspondingly, the single largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world,” according to Pentagon Fuel Use, Climate Change and the Costs of War, a report by Neta C. Crawford, a co-director of the project, based at Brown University’s Watson Institute. The report estimates U.S. military greenhouse gas emissions exceeded 1.2 billion tonnes between 2001, when the war on terror began, and 2017. In 2017 alone, the Pentagon’s greenhouse gas emissio...

25Sep 2019

By Sharon AdamsNo Comments

Military Milestones

BOMARC missiles come to Canada

In 1957, the United States and Canada signed the North American Air Defence Agreement to place their air forces under joint command to facilitate defence of the entire continent from Soviet nuclear bombers. On Sept. 23, 1958, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker announced that under that agreement, two Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons were to be equipped with surface-to-air guided BOMARC anti-aircraft missiles. But the prime minister failed to inform Canadians that the BOMARC missiles would have nuclear warheads. When the news broke in 1960, the country was plunged into a contentious military and moral debate. Diefenbaker’s own cabinet was split on the issue, and anti-nuclear protests were held throughout the country. Should Canada live up to its Norad obligations, or stand up in ...

Cree chief exonerated after 1885 conviction

24Sep 2019

By Tom MacGregorNo Comments

News

Cree chief exonerated after 1885 conviction

Canadian military history was corrected in a formal ceremony on May 23 in Saskatchewan when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exonerated Chief Poundmaker, who had been convicted of treason in 1885. Poundmaker was a Cree chief of a reserve at Cut Knife Hill in Saskatchewan. He had been involved in treaty negotiations with the federal government but when relations between the Métis and First Nations soured, Métis leaders convinced Louis Riel to return to Canada and lead what became known as the Northwest Rebellion, also referred to as the Northwest Resistance. With his people starving after a harsh winter, Poundmaker led a party of Cree to Battleford to demand the rations that had been promised but not delivered by the government. In the wake of the rebellion, local villagers had fled their ...

Month: September 2019

HMCS Iroquois damaged in Korea

A new online health promotion

Goggle-eyed lifesaver

The costs of war (Part 2): Military greenhouse gas emissions

BOMARC missiles come to Canada

Cree chief exonerated after 1885 conviction

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