Second World War | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Browse "Second World War"

Displaying 61-75 of 706 results
  • Article

    Léo Major

    Léo Major, DCM and Bar, soldier and war hero (born 23 January 1921 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, died 12 October 2008 in Montreal, QC). Major was a veteran of the Second World War and the Korean War. He is the only Canadian to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for two separate wars.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/Leo_Major_Canada_Post_Stamp.jpg Léo Major
  • Article

    Leonard Birchall

    Leonard Joseph (Birch) Birchall, CM, O Ont, air force pilot, war hero, educator (born 6 July 1915 in St. Catharines, ON; died 10 September 2004 in Kingston, ON). During the Second World War, Birchall became known as the “Saviour of Ceylon” for alerting Allied forces of an approaching Japanese fleet. Captured after sending his message, he is also renowned for the courage and leadership he displayed while a prisoner of war.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Leonard_birchall.jpg Leonard Birchall
  • Article

    Leonard Braithwaite

    ​Leonard Austin Braithwaite, CM, OOnt, QC, lawyer, politician (born 23 October 1923 in Toronto, ON; died 28 March 2012 in Toronto). Braithwaite was the first Black Canadian elected to a provincial legislature. He served as a Liberal member of the Ontario Legislature from 1963 to 1975.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/leonard-braithwaite-tw.jpg Leonard Braithwaite
  • Article

    Leonard Warren Murray

    Leonard Warren Murray, naval officer (b at Granton, NS 22 June 1896; d at Derbyshire, Eng 25 Nov 1971). Murray joined the navy in 1911, served in WWI and by 1939 was deputy chief of the naval staff.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Leonard Warren Murray
  • Article

    Lloyd Samuel Breadner

    Lloyd Samuel Breadner, air chief marshal (b at Carleton Place, Ont 14 July 1894; d at Boston, Mass 14 Mar 1952). Commissioned in the Royal Naval Air Service 28 December 1915, he won a Distinguished Service Cross as a fighter pilot in 1917.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Lloyd Samuel Breadner
  • Article

    Louis Levi Oakes

    Louis Levi Oakes (also known as Tahagietagwa), Mohawk soldier, war hero, steelworker, public works supervisor (born 23 January 1925 in St. Regis, QC; died 28 May 2019 in Snye, QC). During the Second World War, Oakes was a code talker for the United States Army. Code talkers used their Indigenous languages to encode radio messages to prevent the enemy from understanding them. When he passed away at age 94, Oakes was the last Mohawk code talker. (See also Cree Code Talkers and Indigenous Peoples and the World Wars.)

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/louislevioakes1.jpg Louis Levi Oakes
  • Article

    Mary Greyeyes Reid

    Mary Greyeyes Reid, Cree veteran of the Second World War (born 14 November 1920 on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation reserve, Marcelin, SK; died 31 March 2011 in Vancouver, BC). The first Indigenous woman to join Canada’s armed forces, Mary became a member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps during the Second World War. The military tried to boost Indigenous recruitment and demonstrate Canada’s military might by posing her in a staged photo that has since been widely circulated in Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/cead97f2-01e5-4959-9560-c91596bfe398.jpg Mary Greyeyes Reid
  • Article

    Masumi Mitsui

    Masumi Mitsui, MM, farmer, soldier, Canadian Legion official (born 7 October 1887 in Tokyo, Japan; died 22 April 1987 in Hamilton, ON). Masumi Mitsui immigrated to Canada in 1908 and served with distinction in the First World War. In 1931, he and his comrades persuaded the BC government to grant Japanese Canadian veterans the right to vote, a breakthrough for Japanese and other disenfranchised Canadians. Nevertheless, Matsui and more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were displaced, detained and dispossessed by the federal government during the Second World War (see Internment of Japanese Canadians).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MasumiMitsui/2010-23-2-4-551.jpg Masumi Mitsui
  • Article

    Milton Fowler Gregg

    Milton Fowler Gregg, diplomat, politician, soldier, educator (b at Snider Mountain, NB 10 Apr 1892; d at Fredericton 13 Mar 1978).

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Milton Fowler Gregg
  • Article

    Mona Parsons

    Mona Louise Parsons, actress, nurse, resistance fighter (born in Middleton, Nova Scotia on 17 February 1901; died in Wolfville, Nova Scotia on 28 Nov 1976). Mona Parsons was the only Canadian woman to be imprisoned by the German army, yet her story is unfamiliar in Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/f4d63b3d-df6d-4716-b4b4-f51d1304db3a.jpg Mona Parsons
  • Memory Project Archive

    A. William Breck (Primary Source)

    William Breck joined the RCAF at age 18 in the autumn of 1940. After a typical experience learning to be a pilot in the RCAF’s training system, he was posted overseas in September 1941. Although he had wanted to be a fighter pilot, he was trained to fly the Wellington bomber. After joining an operational squadron, Breck was in a Wellington which crashed, killing all but him and the tail gunner. He describes this incident. After recovering, Breck flew as a staff pilot at a training school, and recounts the method of training and qualifying air gunners. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 A. William Breck (Primary Source)
  • Memory Project Archive

    Aaron Eric Glustien (Primary Source)

    Aaron Eric Glustien was born in Romny , Ukraine in 1920. After immigrating to Canada with his family in 1921, he lived in Montreal, Quebec City, and finally New Waterford in Nova Scotia. He enlisted with the Canadian military at the start of the Second World War, joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. Initially selected for pilot training, he soon transferred to the role of navigator, where he served for two terms as part of Bomber Command. After the war, he worked at a commercial airline before transferring back to the RCAF and serving in the Korean War. In his testimony, Glustien shares his early years leading up to enlisting in the military. He describes the duties of members of the Bomber Command and his responsibilities as navigator, and shares how the RCAF was regarded among the Allies.Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/The-Memory-Project/image/7551_original.jpg Aaron Eric Glustien (Primary Source)
  • Memory Project Archive

    Abe Jeffrey Levine (Primary Source)

    "... once the screeching stopped, and that was agonizing, because you figured you’d be blowing up any, any second. And then blissful silence. That was that." Abe Jeffrey Levine served in the Royal Canadian Airforce during the Second World War.Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/MemoryProject/AbeJeffreyLevine/613_538.jpg Abe Jeffrey Levine (Primary Source)
  • Memory Project Archive

    Abel Allain (Primary Source)

    Abel Allain served in the Royal Canadian Medical Corps. in the Second World War. Read and listen to Abel Allain’s testimony below.Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/The-Memory-Project/image/11380_original.jpg Abel Allain (Primary Source)
  • Memory Project Archive

    Adalbert Augustin Robillard (Primary Source)

    Adalbert Augustin Robillard served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War.  Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/The-Memory-Project/image/12452_original.jpg Adalbert Augustin Robillard (Primary Source)