May 1, 1961: 415 Maritime Patrol Squadron is formed. Based at Summerside, P.E.I., the squadron flies Argus anti-submarine/marine patrol aircraft.
![Lieutenant-Colonel William Otter. [PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA E008300575]](https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MAY_2_1885.jpg "MAY_2_1885")
May 2, 1885: At the Battle of Cut Knife Hill in Saskatchewan, Lieutenant-Colonel William Otter and 500 troops attack Chief Poundmaker’s Cree camp, one of three main centres of resistance during the Northwest Rebellion.
May 3, 1917: Canadians attack and defeat the enemy at Fresnoy east of Vimy Ridge. Close to 500 Germans are captured.
May 4, 1945: General H.D.G. Crerar, commanding First Canadian Army, orders all planned assaults cancelled as German surrender is imminent.
May 5, 1945: In a small Dutch hotel, Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes, commander of 1st Canadian Corps, accepts the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands.
May 6, 1994: The Queen and French President Francois Mitterrand officially open the ‘Chunnel’ (underwater tunnel), linking England and France.
May 7, 1945: German forces surrender. The war in Northwest Europe is over.
May 8, 1945: VE-Day (Victory in Europe Day) is declared and celebrated.
![Major-General Frederick D. Middleton. [PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA PA-026733]](https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MAY_9_18851.jpg "MAY_9_1885")
May 9, 1885: Major-General F.D. Middleton’s column reaches Batoche, Sask., and engages in a four-day battle with Louis Riel’s forces, culminating in a successful assault on the rebel stronghold.
May 10, 1940: Winston Churchill becomes British prime minister.
May 11, 1940: Canadian-born Lord Beaverbrook to minister aircraft production.
May 12, 1944: The Allied offensive to breach the Gustav Line anchored on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins with an assault across the Rapido-Gari River.
May 13, 1954: United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs legislation authorizing U.S. participation with Canada to build the St. Lawrence Seaway.
May 14, 1984: Jeanne Sauvé begins her term as Governor General of Canada.
May 15, 1917: Prime Minister Robert Borden returns to Canada after attending an imperial war conference with British and dominion leaders in England.
![HMCS Beacon Hill. [PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA PA-145617]](https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MAY_16_1944.jpg "MAY_16_1944")
May 16, 1944: The River-class frigate HMCS Beacon Hill is commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy.
![U.S. President John F. Kennedy addresses Parliament. [PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA PA-176448]](https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MAY_17_1961.jpg "MAY_17_1961")
May 17 1961: Canada hosts President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie. Addressing Parliament, Kennedy states: “Geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends.”
May 18, 1915: Canadians launch their first attacks against Festubert, France.
![The Canadian Red Cross at work. [PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA PA-175786]](https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MAY_19_1909.jpg "MAY_19_1909")
May 19, 1909: Parliament passes The Canadian Red Cross Society Act which establishes the Canadian Red Cross. Prior to this date it operated as a branch of the British Red Cross.
May 20, 1998: Canadian involvement in Operation Determination ends. The purpose of the operation was to blockade all Iraqi ports and intercept any shipping attempting to leave or enter the area.
May 21, 1998: The Canadian submarine Ojibwa conducts her final sail past in Halifax.
![Merchant Ship Frank B. Baird. [PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA PA-086572]](https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MAY_22_1942.jpg "MAY_22_1942")
May 22, 1942: While hauling bauxite from the Caribbean to Sydney, N.S., the Canadian merchant ship Frank B. Baird is sunk by U-158 southeast of Bermuda. Her crew of 23 survives.
May 23, 1873: Parliament creates the North West Mounted Police, a semi-military force of 300 policemen.
May 24, 1963: The CH-124 Sea King helicopter enters service with the Royal Canadian Navy.
May 25, 1941: Seven Royal Canadian Navy corvettes arrive in St. John’s, Nfld. They are the first units of the Newfoundland Escort Force.
![HMCS Haida. [PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA PA-174736]](https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MAY_26_1953.jpg "MAY_26_1953")
May 26, 1953: His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Haida is patrolling off Korea when she spots a train under clear midnight skies. Shells from Haida’s guns destroy the train’s engine and boxcars.
May 27, 1918: The German army launches its fourth offensive of the year against French forces in the Chemin des Dames.
May 28, 2000: With full military honours, Canada’s Unknown Soldier is laid to rest in a tomb in front of the National War Memorial. The Royal Canadian Legion had a major role in establishing the serviceman’s final resting place.
May 29, 1940: Canada steps up war efforts as Parliament passes $700 million war appropriations bill.
May 30, 1942: The Royal Air Force’s first thousand-plane bomber raid attacks Cologne, Germany. More than 500 Canadians are involved.
May 31, 1942: The Canadian merchant ship Liverpool Packet is torpedoed and sunk off Yarmouth, N.S., by U-432. Two die, 21 survive.
For ‘ON THIS DATE’ June Events, come back to legionmagazine.com on June 1st, 2011
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