Browse "Wars"

As early as 1909 the Conservative Party believed that Canada should contribute "emergency" funds to help the Royal Navy maintain its superiority over the German navy. In March 1912 the RN required more "dreadnought" battleships.

On 6 June 1944, Canadian forces took part in the greatest amphibious operation in military history. Over 10,000 Canadian sailors in 110 warships, 15 RCAF squadrons and 14,000 soldiers took part in D-Day.

​One of the worst war crimes in Canadian history occurred in June 1944, during the Battle of Normandy, following the D-Day landings of the Second World War.

The Battle of Paardeberg was the first time men in Canadian uniform, fighting in a Canadian unit, made war overseas. It also inspired one of the first remembrance ceremonies in Canada: from 1900 until the end of the First World War, Canadians gathered not on November 11, but on February 27 — Paardeberg Day — to commemorate the country’s war dead and its achievements in South Africa (see also Remembrance Day in Canada).

How does memory speak to us? Each November, over 13 million poppies blossom on the jackets, dresses and hats of Canadians.

FROM HIS hilltop perch overlooking the fertile Lalandar Valley, Shaheen is prepared for war. Or perhaps, in his mind, the conflicts that have swept through the mountains around Kabul have not ended.

The Permanent Joint Board on Defence is a Canadian-American advisory body established at Ogdensburg, NY, 18 August 1940, by PM Mackenzie King and US President F.D. Roosevelt.

​In 1991, Canada joined an international military coalition to confront Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait. It was the first time Canada sent women to war in combat roles.

A Pinky Schooner was an ancient type of vessel adapted to a primitive sloop or schooner rig in the British North American colonies and widely used in the Maritime provinces until the early 1900s. Often less than 14 m long, they were cheap to build and ideally suited for fishing.

Privateering refers to government licensing of private vessels to wage war. In Canada, privateering dated back to Samuel Argall's attack in 1613 on PORT-ROYAL, Acadia. From 1756 to 1815 British privateers sailed from Halifax, Liverpool and other Atlantic ports, cruising as far south as Venezuela.

Members of the Women’s Division (WD) of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) were wartime pioneers. Thousands of young Canadian women volunteered to serve at home and abroad during the Second World War as part of the air force.

RCAF Blackouts. Entertainment troupe, one of several organized during World War II by air force personnel.

Rainbow, a light cruiser serving in the Royal Navy from 1891 until 1910, when the Canadian government purchased the ship for the new Royal Canadian Navy. After its arrival at Esquimalt, BC, 7 Nov 1910, its duties included training and fisheries patrol.

​While they may not have had access to the battlefields, a number of Canadian women artists made their mark on the visual culture of the First World War by representing the home front.

The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed on 13 April 1912 to satisfy Britain's need for a military presence in the expanding field of aviation.

Royal Naval Air Service The naval wing of Britain's ROYAL FLYING CORPS became the RNAS on 23 June 1914.

The Second World War was a defining event in Canadian history, transforming a quiet country on the fringes of global affairs into a critical player in the 20th century's most important struggle. Canada carried out a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic and the air war over Germany, and contributed forces to the campaigns of western Europe beyond what might be expected of a small nation of then only 11 million people.

When the Second World War ended, more than a million Canadian men and women, serving in uniform, were set to return to their homes. A driving question for the country was: What was owed to the veterans?

The Seven Years War (1756–63) was the first global war, fought in Europe, India, and America, and at sea. In North America, imperial rivals Britain and France struggled for supremacy. Early in the war, the French (aided by Canadian militia and Aboriginal allies) defeated several British attacks and captured a number of British forts.

The war on the water was an essential, if not the most important, aspect of the WAR OF 1812. Great Britain was obviously at a disadvantage geographically when trying to defend its colony Canada in a conflict with the United States.