Online bibliography on Quebec and War

Béatrice Richard has researched and posted online Bibliographie, la guerre et le Québec as the result of two years of work on the first inventory of published works concerning Quebec and war. Professor Richard has consulted various bibliographies and numerous journals, and placed the results in a preliminary classification. The bibliography is presented in three categories: New France (1500-1760), the British regime (1760-1867), and Confederation (1867-1914). Each part is further sub-divided into general works and war and society, before moving into specific period conflicts and themes.

University of British Columbia Press catalogue for Spring 2008

The University of British Columbia Press has released its Spring 2008 catalogue. As usual it contains some new publications of specific interest to readers of Canadian military history, including:

Stephanie Bangarth, Voices Raised in Protest: Defending North American Citizens of Japanese Ancestry, 1942-49;

Kurt Jensen, Cautious Beginnings: Canadian Foreign Intelligence, 1939-51 (to be released June 2008);

Michael Petrou, Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War (to be released March 2008); and

Cynthia Toman, An Officer and a Lady: Canadian Military Nursing and the Second World War.

Nomination for a Canadian Blog Award - Part 2

Just a reminder - the deadline for voting in the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards is Wed, 30 Jan, at 11.59 p.m. PST. Please consider voting for The Cannon's Mouth.

So, to follow on from my post last week about the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards - The Cannon's Mouth was nominated in the category "Best Military Blog". The first round of voting finished today, and The Cannon's Mouth is still in the running, one of the remaining five in the military category. Round 2 - the final round - means renewed voting for your favourite military blog, and I hope it's The Cannon's Mouth. If you want to vote for this blog, please visit the 2007 CBA site - the voting page is here. Voting begins tomorrow. Thanks again in advance for your vote if you think this blog is worthy.

Conference on the Seven Years' War

The Omohundro Institute of Early American History, Niagara University, and Brock University, are preparing to host a conference titled "Contest for Continents: The Seven Years' War in Global Perspective" from 22 to 24 October 2009 "to examine the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War, 1754-1763) as a global conflict." As the press release continues,

With nearly one million battlefield deaths and fighting on four continents and in three oceans, the Great War for Empire stands as the first world war. The conference will address the conflict as one that transcended the national and imperial categories that have traditionally been used to evaluate it. The object is to study the war both globally, involving North America, South Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, West Africa, and the Philippines, and in transnational perspective, including its military, diplomatic, political, cultural, economic, and social aspects.

The organizers are seeking to have a conference crossing multiple disciplines, nationalities, and imperial boundaries "and will welcome paper proposals from a variety of disciplines and scholarly approaches." Sessions of the conference will be held on the university campuses of Brock (St. Catharines, Ontario), Niagara (Niagara Falls, New York), and Old Fort Niagara (Youngstown, New York).

Proposals for papers are invited from "advanced graduate students as well as more more senior scholars" for both complete panels and individual papers "on any aspect of the Seven Years' War in any of its theaters, especially submissions that treat the war thematically across geographic boundaries." The organizers stress that the geographic element includes North America, Eastern and Central Europe, and South Asia. Submission details from the organizers: "To apply, send a 500-word synopsis of your proposal along with a short c.v. to ieahc1@wm.edu, as an attachment in MS Word. You may direct questions to program co-chairs Thomas A. Chambers (chambers@niagara.edu) and David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye (dschimme@brocku.ca). The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2008."

Quebec City conference on the military history of the St. Lawrence River and Gulf

The Collège militaire royal du Canada and Musée Naval du Québec are working together to produce a Colloque francophone d'histoire militaire on "Le Saint-Laurent en guerre (1608-2008)". As the ad for the conference notes:

Ce colloque propose de revisiter les 400 ans d’histoire militaire du fleuve et de son golfe. Il s’agit ici d’inscrire le Saint-Laurent dans le temps long, d’en explorer les rythmes, les ruptures comme les continuités à travers des thèmes tels que les enjeux géopolitiques et stratégiques, les opérations militaires, les systèmes et les politiques de défense, les conflits armés comme moteurs de développement économique, les représentations et les lieux de mémoires. La plupart de ces aspects, non exhaustifs, peuvent être traités dans le contexte de toutes les époques et dans des perspectives pluridisciplinaires et /ou comparatives.

Submission of presentation proposals are welcomed: "Prière de faire parvenir vos propositions de communication par courriel, avant le 1er mai 2008. Celle-ci doit comporter 250 mots maxima, incluant la problématique et la thèse proposée, et indiquer le titre de la communication. Veuillez également faire parvenir un bref cv (une page) indiquant vos coordonnées complètes, vos intérêts de recherches et publications ou réalisations récentes. Adresser le tout à Béatrice Richard: beatrice.richard@rmc.ca"

New books (January 2008) at Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada has released its new books list for January 2008. The list includes the following items of interest (including some that had not yet been released for sale) with respect to Canadian military history (it's mighty thin this month):

Donald Hickey, Don't Give up the Ship!: Myths of the War of 1812 (Montreal: Robin Brass Studio, 2008);

Kevin Patterson and Jane Warren (eds.), Outside the Wire: The War in Afghanistan in the Words of its Participants (Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2008);

Michael Petrou, Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2008);

Steve Pitt, Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2008);

3rd Windsor Military Studies Conference

There has been a change to one of the presentations at this conference (Hayes vice Copp), so I'm posting a revised version:

The 3rd Windsor Military Studies Conference is to be held at the Major F.A. Tilson, VC Armoury, 4007 Sandwich Street, Windsor, Ontario, on 15-16 February 2008.

Dr. Desmond Morton will begin the conference with the keynote address on "The Final 100 Days". Dr. Geoffrey Hayes will speak on "Rethinking Vimy Ridge: 90 Years On", while Dr. Susan Mann will deliver "War and the Making of Maj Margaret Macdonald". Switching gears, Lieutenant-Colonel David L. Bashow will speak on "The Canadian War Museum and the Bomber Command Controversy" and Major Ron Miller will lead a panel discussion on "Current Canadian Operations".

Lectures at The Military Museums (in Calgary)

Calgary's The Military Museums continues its series of lectures in the early months of 2008 including (each talk begins at 7.30 p.m., preceded by a cocktail reception one hour earlier):

Stephane Guevremont, "Shipbusters" [404 Squadron, RCAF], 21 February 2008;

Christine Leppard, "Task Forces and Tactical Innovations: Re-thinking the Liri Valley Campaign, Italy 1944", 20 March 2008;

Alison Mercer, "Evaluating the Soldier's General: An Analytical and Comparative Study of Bert Hoffmeister's Command Approach", 27 March 2008;

Norman Leach, "The Making of Passchendaele" [the movie], 3 April 2008; and

Russell Benneweis, "Training of the Canadian Army", 17 April 2008.

Annual Meeting of the National Council on Public History

I recently received the programme for the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Public History, titled "Public Histories of Union and Disunion", to be held at The Brown Hotel, in Louisville, Kentucky, from 10 to 13 April 2008. It's an interesting gathering, particularly to someone like me who works in the public history field. Usually, however, I wouldn't mention it on this blog, except that this year there will actually be a presentation involving Canadian military history. In the session labeled "Contested History: Museum Presentations and Controversy" one of the speakers will be Dean Oliver of the Canadian War Museum, speaking on "Strategic Bombing and the Canadian War Museum".

McCrae House Lecture Series for 2008

This year's McCrae House Lecture Series is titled "1917-1918: Looking Back on the Decisive Years of World War One after Ninety Years" and includes three presentations:

24 January at 7.30 p.m., Andrew Iarocci, Canadian War Museum, presenting "The Hundred Days: Ordinary Soldiers in the 1918 Victory Offensives";

21 February at 7.30 p.m., Terry Copp, Wilfrid Laurier University, presenting "Robert Borden, Arthur Currie and Canada's War 1916-1918"; and

27 March at 7.30 p.m., Mark Humphries, University of Western Ontario,
presenting "Canadians and the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918: Myths and Reality".

All three presentations will be held at McCrae House, 108 Water Street, Guelph, Ontario.

Military History Grad Students at the University of Western Ontario

Recently, I followed up a link on an individual only to find myself on a webpage listing the PhD students attending the University of Western Ontario. I found this interesting, because it provides the names and subject areas of a few Canadian military historians you might not be familiar with. I never thought of posting about this subject before, but I might try to see if I can find similar lists at other Canadian universities. The names and projects I found were:

Trista Grant, "Policy, Training and Performance: Canada's Peacekeepers from Suez to Sarajevo" (supervisor Jonathan Vance);

Wesley C. Gustavson, "The Whole Earth is their Sepulchre: History, Memory and the Imperial War Graves Commission" (Vance);

Richard Holt, "Filling the Ranks: Training and Reinforcements within the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1918" (Vance);

Teresa Iacobelli, "'Arbitrary Justice?': Executed and Commuted Death Sentences of the First World War" (Vance); and

Heather Moran, "Stretcher Bearers and Surgeons: Canadian Front-Line Medicine in the First World War" (Vance).

Nomination for a Canadian Blog Award 2007

I discovered, quite by accident, that The Cannon's Mouth was nominated for one of the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards in the category "Best Military Blog". I don't know who nominated me - but thanks. I must be honest and admit I'd never heard of these awards until that point. Their website notes: "The Canadian Blog Awards is an annual event on the Canadian Blogosphere in which Canadian Bloggers and Blog Readers vote to decide which blog is the best - either overall or within a category."

Alright, like I said, The Cannon's Mouth has been nominated for "Best Military Blog", and voting amongst the nominated blogs is currently underway. If you want to vote for this blog, please visit the 2007 CBA site - the voting page is here. Thanks in advance for your vote if you think The Cannon's Mouth is worthy.

Latest Issue of Legion Magazine

The January/February 2008 issue of Legion Magazine has been published, and contains the following items of specific interest to Canadian military history:

Sharon Adams, "Shaped by Sacrifice";

David J. Bercuson, "Regimental Traditions in Times of War";

John Boileau, "Battle Honours of the Canadian Forces", Part 1: "War of 1812";

Terry Copp, "Advancing on the Hitler Line";

Adam Day, "The Circle of Remembrance";

Adam Day, "Operation Medusa: The Battle for Panjwai", Part 3: "The Fall of Objective Rugby";

Hugh A. Halliday, "Canadians Against the Bolsheviks";

Tom MacGregor, "Maintaining the Silent 'Cities of Stone'";

Marc Milner, "The Threat Becomes Real";

Master Corporal Matthew Parsons, "The Battle of Panjwai: A Soldier's Story: Ambush at the White School";

as well as a handful of book reviews by J.L. Granatstein.

Historical Papers at the Canadian Forces Leadership Institute

The Canadian Forces Leadership Institute, part of the Canadian Defence Academy of the Department of National Defence, was created in 2001 "as the Centre of Excellence for leadership research and concept development in the CF. The purpose of the CFLI is to disseminate core concepts of leadership and the Profession of Arms to the CF." Among its many activities, the CFLI has issued many Research Papers, some of which are specific to subjects of Canadian military history, including:

H. Coombs, "Dimensions of Military Leadership: The Kinmel Park Mutiny of March 4/5, 1919 (2003) [direct PDF link];

H. Coombs, "The Search for Certainty: Sackets Harbour, May 28/29, 1813" (2003) [direct PDF link];

A. English, "Professionalism and the Military: Past, Present, and Future: A Canadian Perspective" (2002) [direct PDF link];

R. Goette, "Squadron Leader N.E. 'Molly' Small, RCAF, DFC, AFC: A Study of Leadership Successes and Failures in the RCAF's Eastern Command, 1942" (2003) [direct PDF link];

C. Mantle, "The 'Moral Economy' as a Theoretical Model to Explain Acts of Protest in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919" (2004) [direct PDF link];

C. Mantle, "For Bully and Biscuits: Charges of Mutiny in the 43rd Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, November and December 1917" (2004) [direct PDF link];

C. Mantle, "Polished Leathers and Gleaming Steel: Charges of Mutiny in the Canadian Army Service Corps at Bramshott Camp, England, November 1917" (2004) [direct PDF link];

R.O. Mayne, "Keeping up with the Jones's: Admiralship, Culture, and Careerism in the Royal Canadian Navy, 1911-1946" (2002) [direct PDF link]; and

K. Wenek, "Looking Back: Canadian Forces Leadership Problems and Challenges" (2002) [direct PDF link].

Undoubtedly, many of the other research papers on this site also touch on issues of specific interest to Canadian military history.

The Canada at War Books List

Recently, while doing a search for a particular new publication I'd heard about, I came across CanadaAtWar.com: A Books List, a website listing many, many, many publications in Canadian military history. Don (no last name provided), notes on the site that he started it after he "became frustrated with trying to locate books about Canada's military history using keyword searches on the online book sellers. By using key word, isbn, title, author searches and relying heavily on The Canadian Military Experience, 1867-1995: A Bibliography, this list has been created. I hope this site helps others to locate the books they want."

The site is divided into two major parts: the first providing an overall "Booklogue" for the years 1993 to present, each containing all listed titles published in that particular year. The second part divides the booklists into pre-First World War, First World War, Second World War, and post-Second World War categories for easy viewing.

Don explicitly asks visitors to his site to let him know if books listed are no longer available for purchase, to let him know of new titles and where they can be purchased, and to tell others about the site. He closes his "about" page with: "I realize that this site isn't a 'high tech' site, but I do hope it is useful." The Canada at Wars Book List is extremely useful, and proof that substance is still more important than glamour.

Upcoming lecture on the latest tour of HMCS TORONTO

The Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies is hosting a talk by Commander Stephen Virgin, commanding officer of HMCS Toronto, titled "Recent Deployments of HMCS Toronto and Canada's Naval Activities Overseas", on Wednesday, 16 January 2008, at 7.00 p.m., at the Laurier Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University, 232 King Street, Kitchener, Ontario. HMCS Toronto recently returned to Canada after five months deployed on anti-terrorism duties in the Mediterranean Sea and having conducted a circumnavigation of Africa with Standing NATO Maritime Group 1.