Latest issue of The Northern Mariner

The Northern Mariner, vol. xv, no. 4 (October 2005) issue is out and all three of its articles are subjects of Canadian military history: Keith Calow's "Rough Justice: The Court Martial of Lieutenant Robert Douglas Legate"; Richard Goette's "Britain and the Delay in Closing the Mid-Atlantic "Air Gap During the Battle of the Atlantic"; and Pat D.C. Barnhouse's "Trials and Tribulations: An Examination of the Decision to Terminate the FHE 400 Hydrofoil Project".

Presentation on Verdun, Quebec, at UQAM

A "table ronde" on "Verdun, 1939-1945 : guerre et urbanité" is scheduled for March 7, 2007, from 3.00 to 5.00 p.m., at Pavillon Athanase-David, salle D-R200, 1430, rue Saint-Denis, at the Université Québec à Montréal. The round table will consist of Serge Durflinger, professeur, Département d'histoire, Université d'Ottawa and author of Fighting from Home: The Second World War in Verdun, Quebec (UBC Press, 2006); Claire Poitras, professeure-chercheure, Institut national de recherche scientifique, Urbanisation, Culture et Société; and, Yves Tremblay, historien militaire, Direction Histoire et patrimoine du ministère de la Défense nationale, Ottawa and professeur associé, Département d'histoire, UQAM. For further information, contact Isabelle Bisson-Carpentier, (514) 987-3000, poste 5022 or bisson-carpentier.isabelle@uqam.ca.

New issue of The Canadian Army Journal

The latest issue of The Canadian Army Journal / Le Journal de l'Armée du Canada vol. 9.3 (Winter / Hiver 2006), has been published and contains several items of interest in the field of Canadian military history: Captain John N. Rickard's "A Case Study in Professional Development: McNaughton's Preparation for High Command During the Second World War" / "Une étude de cas sur le perfectionnement professionel : la préparation de McNaughton à assumer le haut commandement au cours de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale"; Kathryn E. Rose's "Frontlines and Headlines: The 'Maple Leaf' Newspaper and Army Culture during the Second World War" / "Sur le front de la guerre et de l'information : le journal <<>> et la culture de l'Armée de terre durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale"; LCol Robert S. Williams and Maj Jim D. Godefroy's "Note to File - On the Evolution of Intelligence Support Under IFOR" / "Note au dossier - L'évolution du soutien du renseignement au sein de l'IFOR"; as well as several book reviews of books on Canadian military history.

Le Project Montcalm / The Montcalm Project

Michel Litalien has sent me the following material for posting on a very interesting project currently underway:

"Une vaste étude sur les soldats des troupes françaises envoyés en Nouvelle-France lors de la guerre de Sept Ans (1755-1760)"

En octobre 2006, la Société généalogique canadienne-française a lancé officiellement le Projet Montcalm, un vaste projet de recherche portant sur les soldats des troupes françaises qui ont combattu en Amérique entre 1755 et 1760. Les objectifs du projet sont de constituer une base de données exhaustive sur quelque 9152 soldats et officiers envoyés en Amérique au cours des années précédant la Conquête et d’en publier les résultats dans un livre commémoratif qui sera lancé en septembre 2009. Cette recherche permettra d’établir avec précision le nombre et les noms des soldats venus en Nouvelle-France, d’identifier ceux qui sont décédés au pays, ceux qui s’y sont établis et ceux qui sont rentrés en France en 1760. Pour chaque militaire, on retrouvera des éléments spécifiques concernant son parcours militaire et civil depuis son engagement en France jusqu’à son décès.

Pour plus d’info, voir : http://www.sgcf.com/comm-montcalm.php

"Le Projet Montcalm or French soldiers in North America during the Seven Years War (1755-1760)"

Last October (2006), the Société généalogique canadienne-française officially launched the “Montcalm Project”, a vast research project on French soldiers who fought in North America between 1755 and 1760. The Project’s objectives are to create an exhaustive database for the 9152 troops and officers sent to North America in the few years preceding the Conquest and to publish the results in a commemorative book to be published in September 2009. This research will determine with great precision the number and the names of soldiers who came to New France, identify those who died here, those who settled and those who went back to France in 1760. For each soldier, it will be possible to find the specific elements related to his military and civilian career from his enrolment in France until his death.

For more info (in French), please see: http://www.sgcf.com/comm-montcalm.php

New book on Hong Kong 1941

I received an e-mailed press release recently from Ronald C. Parker noting the self-publication of his book on the Battle for Hong Kong. Titled Deadly December: The Battle of Hong Kong, the book tells the story "from a Canadian perspective, using the words of those Riflemen, and Grenadiers, who fought that, long ago, almost forgotten battle." The author, himself a retired Militia soldier, is the son of Major Maurice A. Parker, officer commanding "D" Company, The Royal Rifles of Canada, during the battle. The book is dedicated to Major Parker "and to all the brave men and women who fought the Battle of Hong Kong. It is meant to keep the memory of those men and women alive." The book is published by Lulu and can be purchased directly from the publisher. Ronald Parker can also be contacted at rcwp2000@yahoo.ca.

Tim Cook wins award for his JMH article

The Society for Military History 2007 Awards were announced by the organization on February 1, 2007, and included, amongst the winners, one Canadian. Tim Cook, First World War historian at the Canadian War Museum, was one of the 2007 Moncado Prize recipients (there are four awarded annually) for best article appearing in The Journal of Military History in the previous year. In Tim's case, the award was for his article, "The Politics of Surrender: Canadian Soldiers and the Killing of Prisoners in the Great War", vol.70 (July 2006). Congratulations to Tim!

New online journal on the War of 1812

Major John Grodzinski, a member of the History Department of The Royal Military College of Canada, has sent me information on a really interesting new online journal of which he is the editor. The journal is the War of 1812 Magazine, published on the Napoleon Series website. Meant to be published about once every two months, the "aim of the magazine is to offer information, discussion and a place to learn about an oft-neglected aspect of the Napoleonic Wars, the last war fought between Great Britain and the United States, from 1812 to 1814." Five issues of the magazine are presently online and John invites readers to offer "the results of their research, documents relating to the war, commentary, reviews of books, imagery, films and other War of 1812 related items."

New Books List from Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada has issued its New Books list for January 2007. It contains only a couple of items of interest for readers of Canadian military history: James Goodwin, (Toronto: Dundurn, 2007); and Our Gallant Doctor: Enigma and Tragedy: Surgeon Lieutenant George Hendry and HMCS Ottawa, 1942 (Toronto: Dundurn, 2007); and C.P. Stacey, Quebec, 1759: The Siege and the Battle, edited and with new material by Don Graves, revised edition (Montreal: Robin Brass, 2007).