21 June 2007

Mark Zuehlke's latest and upcoming military history publications

Well, military historian Mark Zuehlke is certainly keeping busy on the Canadian military history front. His website (www.zuehlke.ca) is reporting the publication of three books - one this year and two in 2008:

Coming this November from Douglas & McIntyre is Terrible Victory: First Canadian Army in the Scheldt Campaign - September 13-November 6, 1944. Zuehlke writes that the book draws on personal diaries, military records, and interviews with veterans (in other words, the same style as his previous Canadian military history publications) and, in his words, "dramatically retells this battle that required all the Canadians' courage, endurance, sacrifice, and skill to turn potential tragedy into triumph."

Scheduled for publication in the Fall of 2008, also published by Douglas & McIntyre, is Husky: Canada and the Sicily Campaign - July-August, 1944 [sic, 1943].

Also scheduled for publication around the same time, this book to be published by John Wiley & Sons, Canada, is Brave Battalion: 16th Canadian Battalion (Canadian Scottish) in World War I.

19 June 2007

New Books at Library and Archives Canada

The New Books lists at Library and Archives Canada (www.collectionscanada.ca) for the months of April and May 2007 note the following items of interest to Canadian military history:

Allan English, Richard Gimblett and Howard Coombs, Networked Operations and Transformation: Context and Canadian Contributions (Montreal, 2007);

Éva Lucie Gagné, Pounding the Enemy: Diary of the 13th Battery, C.F.A., 1914-1918 (Ottawa, 2007);

Bernd Horn (ed.), Intrepid Warriors: Perspectives on Canadian Military Leaders / Les guerriers intrépides : perspectives sur les chefs militaires canadiens (Toronto, 2007);

Zen Karp, War Diary: The Highland Light Infantry of Canada in Northwest Europe 1944-1945 (Cambridge, Ontario, 2007);

Judy Kozar, Canada's War Grooms and the Girls who Stole their Hearts (Renfrew, Ontario, 2007);

W. James Macdonald, Honour Roll of the Nova Scotia Overseas Highland Brigade (Sydney, NS, 2007);

Craig Leslie Mantle, Learning the Hard Way: The Leadership Experiences of Lieutenant Agar Adamson during the South African War, 1899-1901 (Kingston, Ontario, 2007);

Craig Leslie Mantle (ed.), The Apathetic and the Defiant: Case Studies of Canadian Mutiny and Disobedience, 1812-1919 / Les apathiques et les rebelles : des exemples canadiens de mutinerie et de désobéissance, 1812-1919 (Toronto, 2007);

Debbie Marshall, Give Your Other Vote to the Sister: A Woman's Journey into the Great War (Calgary, 2007);

Eric McGeer, The Canadian Battlefields in Italy: Ortona and the Liri Valley (Waterloo, Ontario, 2007); and

George Alexander Reid, Speed's War: A Canadian Soldier's Memoir of World War II (Royston, BC, 2007).

18 June 2007

Exhibit on the Centenary of the Trois-Rivières Armoury

Marie-Eve Proulx has an article in L'Hebdo Journal (http://www.lhebdojournal.com/article-114065-Le-manege-militaire-de-TroisRivieres-a-100-ans.html) a media outlet in Trois-Rivières, Québec, announcing an exhibit in le Musée militaire de Trois-Rivières, which has just opened and runs until August 24. She writes:

"Pour la saison estivale 2007, le Musée militaire du 12e Régiment blindé du Canada à Trois-Rivières présente une exposition temporaire afin de souligner le centième anniversaire de la construction du manège militaire de Trois-Rivières. Le manège militaire abrite des souvenirs qui nous transportent dans un voyage à travers le temps. Au cours des décennies, les multiples artefacts et archives, qui ont été déposés au musée, s'ajoutent à notre compréhension de la vie militaire et préservent une page de notre histoire collective. Ainsi, alors que le manège militaire fête son centenaire, son musée présente une exposition temporaire sur ce monument historique. La nouvelle collection temporaire du musée, qui rappelle le contexte historique qui a amené le gouvernement du Canada à réformer la milice et à mettre en place et promouvoir un vaste programme de construction de manège militaire au début du XXe siècle, dresse aussi un portrait de la construction du manège militaire et de son imposante architecture. L'exposition temporaire sur le manège militaire s'ajoute à l'exposition permanente du Musée, qui traite de l'histoire des Forces canadiennes et du Régiment lors de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale (1939-1945)."

12 June 2007

New Exhibit at the Billy Bishop Heritage Museum

On 2 June the Billy Bishop Heritage Museum (www.billybishop.org), in Owen Sound, Ontario, officially launched a new exhibit entitled "Courage in the Skies...Valour on the Ground". Mary Smith, the museum's manager, noted: "Each year we remember, respect and honour the great sacrifices Canadian veterans have made to help maintain our democracy. This is our way of thanking veterans and recognizing their contributions to Canadian society." The exhibit itself revolved around the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Billy Bishop earning his Victoria Cross. The Royal Bank of Canada provided support to the exhibit in the form of a $5,000 donation.

05 June 2007

Latest issue of The Northern Mariner

I've just seen the vol.xvi, no.1 (April 2006) issue of The Northern Mariner, published by the Canadian Nautical Research Society (www.cnrs-scrn.org). In the interests specifically of Canadian military history, this issue contains an article from Serge M. Durflinger, "'Six Thousand Tons of Fighting Apparatus': Canadian Reactions to the Visit of the German Cruiser Karlsruhe to Vancouver, March 1935" and a book review of Michael Whitby, Richard Gimblett and Peter Haydon's The Admirals: Canada's Senior Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century.

01 June 2007

Military History Carnival #2

I don't think I mentioned previously that on 13 May 2007 the "Military History Carnival #2" went live on the Victoria's Cross? blog. In the world of blogging, a carnival is a post which a blogger agrees to piece together a collective post from submissions made by fellow bloggers. In this case, the subject is, obviously, the second carnival devoted to military history.

This issue of the carnival provides a brief text and links to a wide variety of posts on military history from around the world. The second carnival mentioned posts dealing with historiography, the use of the internet in military history, the state of military history, and subjects about or from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Russia, China, Korea, Japan, India, Switzerland, Spain, France and Greece. The only Canadian military history subject matter was my own post on my return from my trip to Vimy Ridge in early April.

Alright, so it's not entirely about Canadian military history, but that's not the point.

The third military history carnival will be posted on June 17 on Behind Antietam on the Web. Submissions can be e-mailed to bdowney@aotw.org or use the submission form.