02/25/1941
British forces capture Mogadishu in North Africa.

02/25/1942
The Royal Mail Ship Queen Elizabeth is refitted in Esquimalt, B.C., to carry thousands of troops.

02/26/1942
Japanese Canadians are to be evacuated from the West Coast.

02/26/1945
With 6th Infantry Brigade (2nd Division) in the lead, Canadian forces launch Operation Blockbuster and clear the Calcar Ridge in Germany. Progress is slower on 3rd Div.’s front. In the face of strong resistance and a sudden enemy counter-attack at Mooshof, Sergeant Aubrey Cosens of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada takes charge and directs fire from a 1st Hussars tank against German strongpoints. After breaking through the hard core of resistance in Mooshof, Cosens gives the order to consolidate the position. He then sets off to report to his company commander, but is killed by a sniper’s bullet. His display of courage earns him the Victoria Cross. Operation Blockbuster continues into March and, through a series of methodical set-piece attacks, draws the enemy out of its Rhineland defences.

02/27/1945
The bloody struggle for the Hochwald gap begins as Canada’s 4th Armoured Division drives into the fray during the Battle of the Rhineland. Senior commanders are anxious to expedite matters by plunging headlong into the gap, against the advice of experienced field officers. In this phase of Operation Blockbuster, heavy casualties result from the decision to abandon methodical planning and preparation.

02/28/1952
Vincent Massey becomes Canada’s first native-born governor general.

02/28/1991
United States President George Bush announces a ceasefire in the Persian Gulf War.

03/1/1917
Fourth Canadian Division launches a gas raid against German positions on Vimy Ridge. Aggressive trench raiding had become an increasingly common, if not reckless, activity in the Canadian Corps. During this aborted attack, many Canadian soldiers became victims of their own gas when retaliatory German artillery fire ruptured gas cylinders in the Canadian lines.

03/1/1945
Fourth Canadian Infantry Brigade launches an attack on enemy positions in the Hochwald Forest defence line covering Xanten, the last German bastion west of the Rhine.

03/2/1943
The Canadian budget introduces a pay-as-you-go income tax.

03/2/1969
In France, the supersonic Concorde jet completes its first flight.

03/3/1915
First Canadian Division is now responsible for a large section of front near Fleurbaix, France, as part of the 4th British Army Corps.

03/3/1921
The Canadian submarines CH-14 and CH-15 are commissioned.