November 2019 - Legion Magazine

27Nov 2019

By Sharon Adams1 Comment

Military Milestones

The Grey Cup in Lahore

In late November 1965, Canadian peacekeepers at an air base in Lahore, Pakistan, received an early Christmas present—a film recording of the Grey Cup game. Nearly 100 Canadians had been deployed on a United Nations mission supervising a ceasefire between warring India and Pakistan in the fall of 1965. The Canadians provided air transport and reconnaissance with three RCAF Otters and three Caribous. They were led by Major-General B.F. Macdonald and located at a base along the India-Pakistan border between Lahore and Amritsar, India. Aside from aerial reconnaissance, the Otters regularly flew between Rawalpindi and New Delhi. But the extremely hot weather caused problems. The Otters could only fly three hours a day, as they burned seven and a half litres of oil an hour. Drums of oil we...

U.S. calls on Canada to ban China’s 5G networks

27Nov 2019

By Stephen J. Thorne2 Comments

Front Lines

U.S. calls on Canada to ban China’s 5G networks

The national security adviser to the president of the United States has warned Ottawa against allowing Chinese telecom giant Huawei to install its 5G network in Canada, saying the technology would be used as a “Trojan Horse” to undermine national security and threaten the country’s trusted position among its allies. Speaking at an international security conference in Halifax on Nov. 23, Robert C. O’Brien didn’t mince words during his assessment of China’s intentions in the North American telecom market. “When they get Huawei into Canada...they’re going to know every health record, every banking record, every social media post—they’re going to know everything about every single Canadian,” O’Brien told more than 300 delegates from academia, government and the military attending the ann...

26Nov 2019

By Mark ZuehlkeNo Comments

Heroes And Villains

Heroes and Villains: Gandhi & Godse

Hero: Mahatma Gandhi Two days before his assassination, Mahatma Gandhi said, “If I’m to die by the bullet of a madman, I must do so smiling. God must be in my heart and on my lips. And if anything happens, you are not to shed a single tear.” In 1915, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi—already reverently known as Mahatma for his spiritual lifestyle and beliefs—returned to India after 21 years in South Africa. During his years away, Gandhi had practised law and, more importantly, earned an international reputation as a leading proponent for Indian self-rule. Back home, Gandhi’s status quickly made him a key figure in the Indian independence movement. Advocating moderate, pacifist resistance to British rule, Gandhi was elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1920. On January 26, 1930,...

24Nov 2019

By Graham ChandlerNo Comments

Military History

Managing Canada’s Wartime Image

The view looks out over the massive forward guns of a Royal Canadian Navy destroyer. “A never-ending stream of war supplies that Britain must have if victory is to be achieved, manned by men determined that the North Atlantic supply line not be broken,” booms the authoritative voice of Lorne Greene. It’s the opening scene from a nine-minute film called Atlantic Patrol, released in April 1940 by the newly minted National Film Board of Canada. It was the first in a highly successful monthly series aimed at getting Canadians behind the war effort. With war clouds looming in 1939, Prime Minister Mackenzie King wanted to unify Canadians; make them “feel Canadian.” He needed more than the CBC and the railways to bond citizens nationally. He had brought in accomplished Scottish film pr...

23Nov 2019

By Sharon Adams1 Comment

Military History

The Art of Recruitment

Canada was unprepared for the Second World War. It had only a score of aircraft and a handful of destroyers. Its army was small and lacked modern equipment. And coming out of the Depression, with the sacrifices of the First World War still vivid, Canadians were less than unanimous in their support. But how to rally people to the cause in the pre-television era? Posters were the answer. They were relatively cheap, could be quickly and widely distributed and, once fixed to a wall, tended to stay there a long time. In skilful hands, their words appealed to reason, and their images tapped immediately into people’s subconscious emotions. They were the ideal propaganda tool for the time. In the year ending in March 1942 alone, the Bureau of Public Information distributed more than 1.2 mi...

22Nov 2019

By Marc MilnerNo Comments

Front Lines

Chopper Mission

Story by Marc Milner Photography by Stephen J. Thorne The word comes in late in the evening: the president and the provisional government of “West Isles” are surrounded by a rebel force in the capital city of “Blue Mountain.” They need to be saved from the rebels if the peace-support mission in the region is to succeed. Canadian Special Operations Forces have them protected in a secure compound—and it’s time to send in the Griffons. “The Griffons are enablers,” said Captain Nate Fenn, an instructor with 403 Squadron in New Brunswick, where aircrew train to fly the Royal Canadian Air Force’s fleet of Bell CH-146 Griffon helicopters. “Success is measured by how things go for the guy on the ground. If a corporal fails in his task because we did not do our job, that’s mission failure.”...

Month: November 2019

The Grey Cup in Lahore

U.S. calls on Canada to ban China’s 5G networks

Heroes and Villains: Gandhi & Godse

Managing Canada’s Wartime Image

The Art of Recruitment

Chopper Mission

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