.

1 NOVEMBER 1939
Daily coast-to-coast flights launched by Trans-Canada Air Lines.

Trans-Canada Air Lines brochure.

PHOTO: BJORN LARSSON

2 NOVEMBER 1971
Eight Canadian Forces crew members die when a Dakota aircraft crashes near Cape Perry, N.W.T.

3 NOVEMBER 1972
No. 444 Squadron is established at Lahr, West Germany.

4 NOVEMBER 1942
Germany’s Afrika Korps begins its retreat from El Alamein, North Africa.

5 NOVEMBER 1966
Canada’s first and only military hydrofoil, Bras d’Or (2nd), is damaged by fire while under construction in Quebec.

Salisbury Plain.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA

6 NOVEMBER 1914
1st Canadian Division settles into a routine training schedule on England’s Salisbury Plain. It will be a difficult winter for Canadian troops with record levels of rain and cold temperatures.

Donald A. Smith (Lord Strathcona) drives the “last spike”.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA

7 NOVEMBER 1885
Donald A. Smith (Lord Strathcona) drives the “last spike” at Craigellachie, B.C., to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway.

8 NOVEMBER 1942
Fleet Air Arm pilots operating in North Africa make first operational use of anti-G suits.

9 NOVEMBER 1944
The troops of 1st Canadian Army settle into a three-month period free of major operations in Northwest Europe.

George Cross.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA

10 NOVEMBER 1941
The Royal Canadian Air Force is awarded its first George Cross when Leading Aircraftman K.M. Gravell is posthumously awarded the decoration for the attempted rescue of his pilot.

Armistice letter.

PHOTO: LEGION MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

11 NOVEMBER 1918
After more than four years of fighting, the First World War is suddenly ended by an armistice at 11 a.m.

12 NOVEMBER 1944
Along with Royal Navy ships, His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Algonquin takes part in a surface operation against German vessels along the Norway coast. The Canadian ship scores a hit on an enemy minesweeper and assists in the sinking of another.

13 NOVEMBER 2006
In Afghanistan, a report from the Joint Co-ordination and Monitoring Board states that approximately 3,700 lives were lost in 2006 to militant violence. The report also points to the rising drug trade.

14 NOVEMBER 1940
Coventry, England, is devastated by a German air raid.

Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Leckie.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA

15 NOVEMBER 1919
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Leckie is appointed superintendent of the Air Board’s Flying Operations Branch.

Louis Riel.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA

16 NOVEMBER 1885
French-Canadian Métis leader Louis Riel is hanged at Regina.

17 NOVEMBER 1934
Grote Stirling is appointed defence minister.

18 NOVEMBER 1916
After capturing Regina Trench on the Somme, 4th Canadian Division attacks Desire Trench. It is an impressive showing, but flanking forces are held up and bad weather also slows operations.

19 NOVEMBER 1942
Russians launch a counteroffensive to relieve besieged Stalingrad.

HMCS Snowberry.

PHOTO: LEGION MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

20 NOVEMBER 1943
Royal Canadian Navy corvettes Snowberry and Calgary and the Royal Navy frigate Nene sink U-536 in the North Atlantic.

Canoe River, B.C., train disaster.

PHOTO: JOHN STABLES

21 NOVEMBER 1950
A westbound train carrying soldiers en route to training and eventual embarkation for Korea collides with an eastbound train east of Canoe River, B.C. Twelve soldiers die at the scene, four more succumb aboard the relief train, and another dies several days later. All are members of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery.

22 NOVEMBER 1941
Flying Officer J.A.O. Levesque is the first Royal Canadian Air Force pilot to shoot down a Fw 190.

23-25 NOVEMBER 1951
The Royal 22nd Regiment is heavily attacked during the Korean War near Hill 355.

24 NOVEMBER 1940
First graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan arrive in England from Trenton, Ont.

HMCS Shawinigan.

PHOTO: DND

25 NOVEMBER 1944
His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Shawinigan is torpedoed and sunk with all hands in the Cabot Strait.

HMCS Halifax.

PHOTO: KEN MACPHERSON – NAVAL MUSEUM OF ALBERTA

26 NOVEMBER 1941
His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Halifax is commissioned.

27 NOVEMBER 1940
The Canadian merchant ship Lisieux sinks during a gale in the North Atlantic. 12 die and 17 survive.

28 NOVEMBER 1934
Ten new Atlas aircraft are taken on strength by Canada’s air force.

29 NOVEMBER 1957
Two paid off minesweepers—HMCS Kenora and HMCS Kentville—are transferred to the Turkish navy.

Major W.G. Barker.

PHOTO: LEGION MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

30 NOVEMBER 1918
After fighting dozens of enemy aircraft and downing three on Oct. 27, Major W.G. Barker of Dauphin, Man., is awarded the Victoria Cross.

For ‘ON THIS DATE’ December Events, come back to legionmagazine.com on December 1st, 2010