December 2019 - Legion Magazine

22Dec 2019

By Sharon AdamsNo Comments

Artifacts

Box of memories

In early March, a large number of military artifacts from a little-known Canadian engagement was nearly lost to history. A boxful of photos and documents, leftovers from an estate sale, ended up donated to a Goodwill store in Port Colborne, Ont., which recognized its historic importance and turned it over to the Niagara Military Museum. “It’s a treasure trove,” said Jim Doherty, president of the museum. Inside the box were artifacts documenting the deployment of Colonel Frank Campbell to Vietnam in 1973. He was a member of the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) delegation. A briefcase, albums, documents, photographs and mementoes of his military career were in the box. When the United States withdrew from Vietnam, it asked Canada to participate i...

Huge Boston Christmas tree an annual gift from Nova Scotia

18Dec 2019

By Stephen J. ThorneNo Comments

Front Lines

Huge Boston Christmas tree an annual gift from Nova Scotia

Long before Nova Scotia and three other provinces formed the confederation that jump-started Canada, trade and relations along the Atlantic coast were conducted largely on a north-south, not east-west, basis. Family and cultural ties between Nova Scotia and New England, for example, were strong, and remain so. To this day, you’d swear by the accents along parts of Nova Scotia’s South Shore that you were in New York or Massachusetts. A half-century after that first union between provinces, when the munitions ship Mont-Blanc blew up in Halifax Harbour after colliding with the relief vessel Imo on Dec. 6, 1917, it was Bostonians and the people of Massachusetts who led the way in flooding the city with aid and supplies. They were also among the last to leave. As a thank you,...

18Dec 2019

By Sharon AdamsNo Comments

Military Milestones

Japan advances on Hong Kong

In late 1941, Japan began its war against the West, attacking the American base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, invading Malaya the next day, and marching on Hong Kong. Canada had dispatched the Winnipeg Grenadiers and Royal Rifles from Quebec City to join 14,000 Allied defence troops in the Hong Kong garrison. They arrived Nov. 16, undertrained, poorly armed and without their transport and heavy equipment. They were told there were only 5,000 ill-equipped and badly supplied Japanese troops nearby, which was far from the case: 52,000 seasoned, heavily armed Japanese invaders launched their assault on Hong Kong on Dec. 18. The Hong Kong defence plan called for forces to be thinly spread; the Japanese overran the defences in just a week, despite courageous fighting, Sergeant-Maj...

17Dec 2019

By Don GillmorNo Comments

News

Smallwood’s big vision

It was 82 years late to the party, but in 1949, Newfoundland officially became part of Confederation, largely through the efforts of Joey Smallwood, a former pig farmer and journalist. After the Second World War, Britain was looking to save money and jettisoning Newfoundland as a colony made economic sense. Smallwood was one of 45 delegates elected to the Newfoundland National Convention of September 1946, formed to debate and recommend the island’s future direction. There were two options on the ballot: remain a colony or become an independent nation. Britain hoped for the latter. Smallwood lobbied tirelessly for a third option: join Canada. Prime Minister Mackenzie King was on board and offered $15 million and the absorption of most of Newfoundland’s debt as an incentive. But it wasn...

Choose our cover for the next issue of <em> Canada’s Ultimate Story! </em>

13Dec 2019

By Canvet Publications Ltd.No Comments

News

Choose our cover for the next issue of Canada’s Ultimate Story!

2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the next issue of Canada’s Ultimate Story explores that pivotal year of victory. Help us choose the next cover for this milestone issue 1945 - Canada and the end of the Second World War. On newsstands across Canada Feb.3, 2020. CLICK HERE TO ENLARGE COVERS! Loading…

Capture of 22-metre transatlantic narco-sub marks new era in war on drugs

11Dec 2019

By Stephen J. ThorneNo Comments

Front Lines

Capture of 22-metre transatlantic narco-sub marks new era in war on drugs

Spanish authorities recently captured a 22-metre submarine after its three crewmen transported US$121-million worth of cocaine 7,700 kilometres across the Atlantic Ocean from Colombia, then scuttled it and ran. It’s the biggest narcotics submarine ever found, and the first confirmed to have transported drugs from the Americas to Europe, signalling what experts have characterized as a new era in the distribution of illicit drugs. “I have analysed over 160 reported narco-submarine incidents since 1993 and this one is extraordinary,” H.I. Sutton, an underwater warfare analyst, wrote for Forbes Magazine. “Virtually all previous occurrences have been between Colombia and Mexico, and mostly in the Pacific. “Narco-submarines typically travel a couple of thousand mil...

Month: December 2019

Box of memories

Huge Boston Christmas tree an annual gift from Nova Scotia

Japan advances on Hong Kong

Smallwood’s big vision

Choose our cover for the next issue of Canada’s Ultimate Story!

Capture of 22-metre transatlantic narco-sub marks new era in war on drugs

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