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Winston Churchill said that the only thing that ever really frightened him during the Second World War was the U-boat peril. Britain’s entire war effort and the survival of its people were dependent on convoys of cargo ships from North America manned by merchant sailors.... -
HERO: PRIVATE ERNEST ALVIA (SMOKEY) SMITH Having crossed Italy’s Savio River on the night of Oct. 21-22, 1944, the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada’s ‘C’ Company and newly formed tank-hunting platoon cut the Cesena–Ravenna road alongside a badly damaged church. The force numbered just 50 men. Twenty were tank hunters, heavily... -
In 1939, Canada was the only independent nation in North America to declare war on Germany. A member of the British Commonwealth, Canada was nonetheless independent in foreign and defence policy and had been so since the Statute of Westminster in 1931. The British colonies... -
1 September 1942 HMCS Morden launches three depth charge attacks against U-756 astern of a convoy. Years later the corvette is given credit for the U-boat’s destruction. 2-3 September 1918 The Canadian 1st and 4th divisions lead the assault on the Drocourt-Quéant Line at the... -
Britain declared war on Germany at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 3, 1939. At just after 7 o’clock that evening, Captain James Cook of the passenger liner SS Athenia joined his first-class guests for dinner. While the ship had actually gotten underway two days earlier—en route from... -
Six weeks into the Battle of Britain, on Aug. 26, 1940, a squadron of nine German aircraft headed across the English Channel to wreak havoc on an airfield in Kent, an area known at the time as Hellfire Corner for the ferocious fighting that went...
Military History
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Canadian Armed Forces, officially bilingual for 50 years
Canada’s Armed Forces are apt to see many more deployments to Africa. Of the 30 most fragile states in the world, 21 are in Africa, and many of those are French-speaking. It has been estimated that by 2050, 80 per cent of all French-speaking people will be African, due to high birth rates. Instability...
