JANUARY 1, 1945
Losses are heavy as hundreds of aircraft attack 11 Allied airfields in Belgium and Holland in the Luftwaffe’s last major offensive of the war.

JANUARY 2, 1929
W.R. (Wop) May and Vic Homer begin a mercy flight to deliver diphtheria serum by Avro Avian biplane from Edmonton to Fort Vermilion, a distance of some 1,000 kilometres.

JANUARY 3, 1962
In a raging gale, an RCAF helicopter crew rescues 23 men from a freighter ripped open by rocks off Uclulet on Vancouver Island’s west coast.

JANUARY 4, 1917
Edward Rochfort Grange, who was on his way to becoming Canada’s first air ace, shoots down three Albatros D.IIs while in the Royal Naval Air Service in Britain.

JANUARY 5, 1971
Bernard Lortie, brothers Paul and Jacques Rose and Francis Simard are charged in the kidnap and murder of Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte during the 1970 October Crisis.

JANUARY 6, 1929
Albanian nun Sister Teresa arrives in Calcutta, where she becomes Mother Teresa in service of the poorest of the poor.

JANUARY 7, 2009
Trooper Brian Richard Good is killed and three other Canadian soldiers wounded by an IED blast north of Kandahar City.

JANUARY 8, 1940
Food rationing begins in Britain; Canada tightens its belt and sends flour, bacon, eggs, cheese and milk to its beleaguered ally.

JANUARY 9, 2005
A peace agreement is signed to end civil war in the Sudan.

JANUARY 10, 1842
Governor General Sir Charles Bagot arrives in Kingston, then the temporary capital of Canada. Despite being in poor health, his presence leads to significant governmental change.

JANUARY 11, 1902
The 10th Canadian Field Hospital gathers in Halifax prior to setting off for the Boer War in South Africa.

JANUARY 12, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference begins to establish terms of peace following the First World War.

JANUARY 13, 1942
Canadian fighter pilots arrive in Singapore as part of a force intended engage the Japanese in aerial combat.

JANUARY 14, 1941
On a British Broadcasting Corporation radio program, a Belgian refugee suggests using the letter V for Victory. In July it becomes a public campaign.

JANUARY 15-17, 1991
The United Nations Security Council deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait passes; the Persian Gulf War begins.

JANUARY 18, 1967
Yellowknife is announced as the new capital of the Northwest Territories.

JANUARY 19, 1948
The Royal Canadian Air Force begins taking delivery of De Havilland Vampire jets.

JANUARY 20, 1899
The first of 7,500 pacifist Doukhobors arrive from Russia to take up free homesteading land in Saskatchewan, part of a federal plan to populate the Prairies.

JANUARY 21, 1975
HMCS Assiniboine’s Sea King crew carries out a daring high line transfer rescue of eight crewmen from a merchant ship foundering off Nova Scotia.

JANUARY 22, 1951
The Canadian Tribal-class destroyer Huron sails for her first of two tours in the United Nations Korean War operations.

JANUARY 23, 1945
Royal Canadian Air Force Spitfire pilot Richard Audet, 22, of Lethbridge, Alta., shoots down two jets; three weeks earlier he’d scored a record five kills in a five-minute dogfight.

JANUARY 24, 1946
HMCS Warrior, Canada’s first aircraft carrier, is commissioned.

JANUARY 25, 1951
HMCS Cayuga and Nootka are the first Canadian ships fired on in the Korean War. They retaliate by obliterating shore batteries at Inchon harbour.

JANUARY 26, 1955
Members of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Reserve are allowed to join the regular force of the Royal Canadian Navy.

JANUARY 27, 1916
Manitoba is the first province to give women the vote and the right to run for office.

JANUARY 28, 1980
Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor spirits six Americans to safety after hiding them since their embassy and dozens of hostages had been seized by Islamic revolutionaries, Nov. 4, 1979.

JANUARY 29, 1973
Following the signing of a ceasefire in the Vietnam War, HMCS Terra Nova sails for Vietnam in the event that an emergency evacuation of neutral monitors is required.

JANUARY 30, 1911
The Naval Service of Canada requests a change of name to the Royal Canadian Navy. King George V approves.

JANUARY 31, 1917
Germany announces it will resume unrestricted submarine warfare.

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For February On This Date Events

Please see the January/February 2014 issue of Legion Magazine.

Here’s a taste of what to expect.

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FEBRUARY 16, 1815

U.S. Senate approves Treaty of Ghent. The War of 1812 comes to an end.