MARCH 1, 1942
The Canadian Women’s Army Corps is granted full army status and becomes an integral part of the Canadian Militia. Prior to this, only nursing sisters were admitted into the Canadian Armed Forces.

MARCH 2, 1923
The Halibut Treaty, a Canadian-American agreement concerning fishing rights in the North Pacific Ocean, is the first treaty negotiated and signed by Canada independent of Britain.

MARCH 3, 1919
William E. Boeing and Eddie Hubbard use Boeing’s C-700 to deliver the first Canadian international airmail from Vancouver, B.C., to Seattle, Wash.

MARCH 4, 2006
In Gumbad, Afghanistan, while meeting with village elders, Canadian Captain Trevor Greene is attacked from behind by a man wielding an axe and suffers a serious head wound.

MARCH 5, 1885
Louis Riel and a group of Metis hold a meeting where they agree to take up arms to protect their land rights. Three days later at another meeting, the Revolutionary Bill of Rights is drafted.

MARCH 6, 2002
Nearly 130 combat troops of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry are sent to Afghanistan, where they participate in the search for terrorists and their hideouts.

MARCH 7, 1951
In the Battle of Maehwa-San in South Korea, two companies from 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry assault and secure Hill 532, resulting in seven Canadians dead and 37 wounded.

MARCH 8, 1945
Colonel the Honourable Colin Gibson is appointed Minister of National Defense for Air.

MARCH 9, 1925
Pink’s War, an operation led by Wing Commander Richard Pink, begins. It is the first Royal Air Force operation conducted independently of the British Army or Royal Navy.

MARCH 10, 1945
The First Canadian Army successfully completes its month-long campaign against German opposition to occupy the land between the Rhine and Maas rivers.

MARCH 11, 1935
Following the granting of Royal Assent to the Bank of Canada Act, the Bank of Canada begins operations as the nation’s central bank.

MARCH 12, 2000
The Royal 22nd Regiment ends its peacekeeping operation with the United Nations in East Timor.

MARCH 13, 2002
In Paktia Province, Afghanistan, Operation Harpoon, a joint American-Canadian military assault, is launched using land and air forces to eliminate Taliban and al-Qaida resistance.

MARCH 14, 1916
In Saskatchewan, women are granted the right to hold office and vote in provincial elections.

MARCH 15, 1990
Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Baltej Singh Dhillon becomes the first officer to be allowed to wear a turban in uniform after the federal government rules the prohibition against turbans be lifted.

MARCH 16, 1935
Adolf Hitler violates the Treaty of Versailles and orders Germany to rearm herself. He reintroduces military conscription to increase the size of the armed forces.

HMCS Guysborough [WIKIMEDIA.ORG]

MARCH 18, 1942
No. 413 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force begins its transfer from the Shetland Islands to Ceylon to strengthen allied air defences and provide reconnaissance on Japanese plans.

MARCH 19, 1923
The Royal Canadian Air Force officially adopts the uniform of the Royal Air Force. These changes remain in place until unification on Feb. 1, 1968.

MARCH 20, 1945
HMCS New Glasgow and German submarine U-1003 collide off Lough Foyle, Northern Ireland, sinking the U-boat and damaging the frigate.

MARCH 21, 1918
The entire German army attacks the British front between St. Quentin and Arras with a heavy artillery bombardment of explosives and gas. Called Operation Michael, this massive campaign kicks off the 1918 Spring Offensive.

MARCH 22, 1951
The Eighth Army reaches the 38th parallel in Korea.

MARCH 23, 1978
Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the United Nations deploys 110 peacekeepers to Lebanon to ensure the Israelis have left and to help restore the Lebanese government’s authority.

MARCH 24, 1945
Corporal Fred G. Topham, a medical orderly with the First Canadian Parachute Battalion, earns the Victoria Cross for treating wounded casualties, while injured himself, during the Allied assault on the Rhine.

MARCH 25-26, 1952
The Chinese launch a raid on the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry platoon holding Hill 132 and a Royal Canadian Reserve outpost on Hill 162. The Chinese withdraw as Canadians hold their positions at the cost of eight killed and 13 wounded.

MARCH 27, 1756
In the Battle of Fort Bull, French forces, Canadian militia and Indian allies take British-held Fort Bull, N.Y.

MARCH 28, 1961
The Royal Canadian Air Force receives the first CF-104 Starfighter, fulfilling Canada’s NATO commitment in Europe as a nuclear strike aircraft.

MARCH 29, 1909
Conservative party member George Foster introduces a resolution to establish a Canadian Naval Service. In response, Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier offers his own resolution approving the establishment of the service and it passes unanimously in the House of Commons.

MARCH 30, 1953
In advance of the upcoming Korean Armistice Agreement, communists announce that each side shall directly repatriate all prisoners of war who insist on repatriation following the armistice; those who refuse should be repatriated to a neutral state.

MARCH 31, 1949
Canada’s Supreme Court formally becomes the final court of appeal and replaces Britain’s Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

April On This Date Events

Visit our website legionmagazine.com.

The items will appear April 1. Here’s a taste of what to expect.

April 24, 1915
The 100^th Anniversary of the Battle of St. Julien, during which Germans release a cloud of chlorine gas across no man’s land and advance toward Canadians. Urine-soaked handkerchiefs offer little protection and many are blinded or collapse in suffocation.