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Create AccountThis article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on July 14, 1997. Partner content is not updated.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If only Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had not jumped at U.S. President George Bushs request to send Canadian troops to Somalia in 1992.The “beartrap” was a Canadian innovation designed in the 1960s to enable the safe operation of helicopters from destroyer-size ships. Known formally as the Helicopter Hauldown and Rapid Securing Device (HHRSD), it is now an integral part of all Canadian frigates. The beartrap revolutionized maritime helicopter operations and was adopted by other navies.
Veronica Foster Guerrette, Second World War icon, model, vocalist (born 2 January 1922 in Montreal, Quebec; died 4 May 2000 in Toronto, Ontario). Foster worked for the John Inglis Company assembling Bren light machine guns during the Second World War. She was featured on propaganda posters that encouraged women to serve Canada by working in munitions factories. Foster became a Canadian icon representing female workers in the manufacturing industry. After the war, she was lead singer with the dance band Mart Kenney and His Western Gentlemen.
The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.
This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on December 14, 1998. Partner content is not updated.
Tracey Constable was understandably skeptical when, last May, Canada's top soldier, chief of defence staff Gen. Maurice Baril, called on women who had been sexually assaulted in the Canadian Forces to come forward and tell their stories. Constable, a native of Grand Falls, Nfld.
This article contains sensitive material that may not be suitable for all audiences.
The museum's four permanent exhibition spaces, called the Canadian Experience Galleries, are arranged in chronological fashion to trace the history of armed conflict and its effect on Canadian history and culture.
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a non-binding political commitment made by United Nations Member States to protect
populations from genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and war crimes. Canadian leadership was instrumental in the establishment of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) in 2000, which led to the development
and eventual adoption of R2P at the 2005 UN World Summit (see also Canada and Peacekeeping).
On 25 July 2014, Canada marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812. The first milestone commemoration was held in 1914, when, just days before the start of the First World War, crowds of people gathered to celebrate 100 years of peace.
During the First World War, more than 5,000 Canadian pilots served in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The RFC was formed on 13 April 1912 to satisfy Britain's need for a military presence in the expanding field of aviation. It joined with the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in April 1918 to become the Royal Air Force. During the war, an RFC/RAF training program in Canada produced approximately 10,500 pilots, mechanics and aircraftmen.
The Canadian Rangers are a unique organization within the Armed Forces, created to provide a paramilitary presence in the North and in other remote areas made up of mainly local Indigenous populations. The current number of Canadian Rangers in 2021 is roughly 5,000.
Canadian Grenadier Guards Band. Regimental band founded 26 Apr 1913 in Montreal by J.-J. Gagnier, who became its conductor. At that time it consisted of about 40 players, half of whom were professionals, including six members of the Gagnier family. Formed at the request of F.S.
Fort Michilimackinac (Michigan) refers to three distinct military posts at the Straits of Mackinac between lakes Huron and Michigan. French explorers arrived by 1634, establishing a mission on the north mainland in 1671 and a fort in 1690 (St Ignace, Mich).
The British land forces that defended British North America during the War of 1812 were drawn from a number of organizations. The British "army" of the time consisted of the infantry, cavalry, the Royal Waggon Train and the Royal Sappers and Miners.
Canadians are not normally accustomed to outward displays of patriotic pride over their fallen warriors. Since 1948, more than 100 Canadians have lost their lives nobly in peacekeeping missions around the world, their passing hardly noted beyond their immediate families and regiments.
When is a war not a war? For the Korean War, the answer is not always clear. This year, 2013, marks the 60th anniversary of the ceasefire of a war that not everyone describes that way. It had ambiguous beginnings, more than 20 participating countries, and still no formal end. But some things are evident. This year, Historica Canada is commemorating this sometimes-forgotten but still-resonant period of our recent history, and Canada’s role therein. Our country sent more than 26,000 members of our military to the Korean “theatre.” More than 500 Canadians died, and another 1,000 were wounded; 32 became prisoners of war.
"We sank a German submarine, U-877."
See below for Mr. Blais' entire testimony.
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.
In international relations, the term middle power refers to a state that wields less influence on the world stage than a superpower. As the term suggests, middle powers fall in the middle of the scale measuring a country’s international influence. Where superpowers have great influence over other countries, middle powers have moderate influence over international events. Canada was considered to be a middle power during the postwar period — from 1945 until about 1960. Though Canada was not as powerful or prominent as the United Kingdom or the United States during this time, it was an international player that influenced events through moral leadership, peacekeeping and conflict mediation.
The Victoria class are diesel-electric powered conventional attack submarines, referred to as SSK submarines. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) acquired four surplus Victoria-class submarines from the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN) in the late-1990s. They were procured as a supposedly cost-effective interim measure to maintain a submarine capability for the RCN pending a permanent replacement for its three Oberon-class submarines. Following a troubled decade-long introduction process, the Victoria class eventually achieved full operational status. The Victoria-class submarines are intended to remain in service until a replacement projected for the late 2030s.
U-boat Operations threatened Canada's sovereignty in 2 world wars. German submarines (Unterseeboote) first laid mines off Halifax and attacked shipping in Aug 1918, and virtually unopposed by the unprepared naval service they sank 11 schooners and a trawler for a total of 2002 gross tons.
Battle of Lundy's Lane National Historic Site marks the 25 July 1814 Battle of Lundy's Lane, the fiercest and bloodiest land action during the War of 1812.
