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Article

Meet the Navy

Meet the Navy. Royal Canadian Navy musical revue produced during World War II under the supervision of Capt Joseph P. Connolly, director of Special Services for the RCN. Rehearsals began in June 1943 at Hart House in Toronto.

Macleans

Millennium Preparations

Maj. Rod Babiuk picked up his brass abacus for a buck at a garage sale, while many of his colleagues at CFB Kingston hunted down wooden versions of the beaded counting machines. No, the army has not developed a sudden interest in ancient math.

Macleans

Ottawa Purchases New Helicopters

Cpl. Mark Gibeault missed the big news conference. Many of his colleagues gathered around TVs last week at the Comox, B.C., armed forces base to applaud Defence Minister Arthur Eggleton's long-awaited announcement that Canada would buy 15 new search-and-rescue helicopters.

Article

Militia Acts

Militia Acts provided manpower for defence. Until the 1850s, such Acts in Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick usually imposed compulsory service on males between 16 and 50 or 60, with annual or more frequent enrolment musters.

Article

Naval Service Act

The Naval Service Act, passed by the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, established the Royal Canadian Navy on 4 May 1910. Before the Act passed, Canada did not have a navy of its own and relied on the British Royal Navy. This new defence initiative was a direct response to the naval arms race between Britain and Germany in the years before the First World War and the 1909 panic in Britain over expansion of the German navy. The Act was built on earlier, distinctively Canadian approaches to defence and its key provisions remained in force until 1950. The Naval Service Act was bitterly opposed by French Canadian nationalists, led by Henri Bourassa, who feared deeper involvement in imperial affairs.

Article

Somalia Affair

In 1992–93, Canada contributed military forces to UNITAF, a United Nations–backed humanitarian mission in the African nation of Somalia. In 1993, Canadian soldiers from the now-defunct Airborne Regiment tortured and killed a Somali teenager named Shidane Arone. These and other violent abuses during the mission shocked Canadians and damaged the country’s international reputation. They also led to a public inquiry that revealed serious failures of leadership at the highest levels of the Canadian Armed Forces, kick-starting reforms aimed a professionalizing the officer corps.

This article contains sensitive material that may not be suitable for all audiences.

Article

Admiralty

Admiralty (short for Board of Admiralty), a British government department which, between its inception in the early 18th century and its amalgamation into the Ministry of Defence in 1964, was responsible for the conduct of naval affairs.

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Reserve Force of Canada

The Reserve Force of Canada comprises part-time members of the ARMED FORCES, whose role is to augment and support the Regular Force. Compulsory universal military service for early settlers eventually became part-time, volunteer soldiering.

Article

Rainbow (Ship)

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.

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Yukon Field Force

Yukon Field Force (1898-1900), composed of 203 officers and men drawn from all 3 branches (cavalry, artillery and infantry) of the Permanent Force of the Canadian Militia.

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Military Engineers

Military engineers are soldiers specially trained to apply engineering science and technology to war. Their designation as "sappers" refers to their task of sapping - digging trenches.

Article

The Army Show

The Army Show. At first a musical revue produced during World War II for the Canadian army, and later the operational name for entertainment units serving with the army.