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Public interest in the military training of young Canadians has waxed in time of wars and threat of wars, and waned in peacetime.

Percy Walker Nelles, naval officer (b at Brantford, Ont, 7 Jan 1892; d at Victoria, 13 June 1951). Percy Nelles, the son of Charles Nelles, an officer in the Royal Canadian Dragoons, was the founding recruit of the Canadian Navy and became chief of the naval staff.

Robert Hilborn Falls, naval officer (b at Welland, Ont 29 Apr 1924). Falls joined the RCAF in late 1942 and trained as a pilot.

Hugh Palliser, naval officer, governor of Newfoundland (b at Kirk Deighton, Eng 26 Feb 1722/ 23; d at Chalfont St Giles, Eng 19 Mar 1796). He was a naval officer at the siege of Québec in 1759, and was appointed governor of Newfoundland 1764.

Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de La Jonquière, Marquis de La Jonquière, naval officer, governor general of New France, appointed 1746, served 1749-52 (b near Albi, France 18 Apr 1685; d at Québec 17 Mar 1752). In 1746 La Jonquière was a veteran of 49 years in the French navy.

George Clarence Jones, naval officer (b at Halifax 24 Oct 1895; d at Ottawa 8 Feb 1946). Jones joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1911 and spent WWI at sea in British warships.

Esteban José Martínez Fernández y Martínez de la Sierra, naval officer (b at Seville, Spain 9 Dec 1742; d at Loreto, Mexico 28 Oct 1798). In 1774 he sailed with Juan Pérez Hernández on an exploratory voyage from San Blas, Mexico, to the northern Haida Gwaii and Nootka Sound.

Sir Henry Mainwaring, pirate (b near Ightfield, Eng 1587?; buried at Camberwell [London], Eng 15 May 1653). A skilled navigator who was commissioned by the Crown in 1610 to capture the pirate Peter EASTON, he failed and turned to piracy, basing himself in North Africa.

Military supremacy did not solve the problem of how to bring real social and economic stability to the colony for d'Aulnay. After his accidental death by drowning in 1650, Acadia lapsed again into internal strife.

From 1991 to the present, members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and civilian police forces, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), have served in peace operations in the Balkans. Their mission was to provide security and stability following the breakup of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Nearly 40,000 Canadians have served in the Balkans, and 23 CAF members died while deployed there.

Edward Kielley (or Kielly), surgeon, naval officer (b at St John's c 1790; d there 8 Mar 1855).

William Neilson Hall, seaman (born 25 April 1829 in Horton Bluff [now Lockhartville], NS; died 25 August 1904 in Horton Bluff). William Hall was the first Black, the first Nova Scotian, and the first Canadian naval recipient of the Victoria Cross.

Stuart Graham, aviator (b at Boston, Mass 2 Sept 1896; d at Port Charlotte, Fla 16 July 1976). Raised and educated in NS, he served in the Royal Naval Air Service, patrolling shipping lanes in flying boats.

Isaac de Razilly, naval captain, knight of Malta, colonizer and lieutenant-general in Acadia (b at Château d'Oiseaumelle, Touraine, France 1587; d at La Hève, Acadia 1636).

Sir John Ross, naval officer and explorer (born 24 June 1777 in Balsarroch, Scotland ; died 30 Aug 1856 in London, England ).

Sir Peter Warren, naval officer (b c 1703; d at Dublin, Ire 29 July 1752). He commanded the Royal Navy at the 1745 siege of LOUISBOURG, where he was made governor. Warren recommended the deportation of Acadians and the fortification of Chebucto (Halifax) as early as 1739.

Joseph Pierre Roméo Vachon, pilot, airline executive (b at Ste-Marie-de-la-Beauce, Qué 29 June 1898; d at Ottawa 17 Dec 1954). After service in the RCNVR during WWI, Vachon joined Laurentide Air Service in 1921 and in 1924-25 performed an aerial survey of Québec's North Shore.

Peter John Vickers Worthington, soldier, journalist, publisher, author (born 16 February 1927 in Fort Osborne Barracks, Winnipeg; died 12 May 2013 in Toronto, ON). Co-founder and outspoken editor in chief of the Toronto Sun from 1971 to 1982.

Isabel Janet Macneill, OC, OBE, naval officer and correctional system supervisor (born 4 June 1908 in Halifax, NS; died 18 August 1990 in Mill Village, NS). Isabel Macneill was a pioneering woman in nontraditional leadership positions. She was the first female commanding officer of a navy ship in the British Commonwealth and the first female prison superintendent in Canada.