31 May 2008

MA theses and PhD dissertations - part 11

More results from the Library and Archives Canada theses portal - MAs and PhDs with specific reference to Canadian military history (some have direct links to their PDFed versions):

Glen Berg, "Scrambling for Dollars: Resource Allocation and the Politics of Canadian Fighter Aircraft Procurement, 1943-1983", MA thesis, Royal Military College of Canada, 1994;

Bob Bergen, "Balkan Rats and Balkan Bats: The Art of Managing Canada's News Media during the Kosovo Air War", PhD dissertation, University of Calgary, 2005;

David Laurier Bernard, "Philanthropy vs. Welfare State: Great Britain's and Canada's Response to Military Dependants in the Great War", MA thesis, University of Guelph, 1992;

Marcel Besnier, "Etude comparée des insurrections de 1837-1838 dans le Haut et le Bas-Canada : essai historiographique", MA thèse, Université du Québec à Montréal, 1977;

Bernard Dansereau, "Le mouvement ouvrier montréalais et la crise de la conscription, 1916-1918", MA thèse, Université du Québec à Montréal, 1994;

Benjamin Thomas Edward Fitch, "Doing their duty: Politics and Recruitment in the Maritimes during World War I", MA thesis, University of Calgary, 2003;

Bernd Horn, "'Proudly they served': The History of 3 Airborne Commando in the Canadian Airborne Regiment", MA thesis, Royal Military College of Canada, 1997;

Bernd Horn, "Bastard Sons: An Examination of Canada's Airborne Forces, 1942-1995", PhD dissertation, Royal Military College of Canada, 2000;

Sarah Beth Klotz, "Armed with Cameras: The Canadian Army Film Unit during the Second World War", MA thesis, University of Ottawa, 2004; and

Béatrice Richard, "La Deuxième Guerre mondiale dans la mémoire collective canadienne-française/québécoise à travers le mythe de Dieppe, 1942-1995", PhD thèse, Université du Québec à Montréal, 2000.

30 May 2008

Veterans' Stories at McGill University Website

I recently stumbled across some items concerning Canadian military history on the McGill University website called McGill Remembers: The Veteran. This is a small portal to a handful of stories concerning war and the university. The site quotes former university President F. Cyril James: "We who are alive today, free men and women in a democratic community, can never forget the extent of our obligation to all, but, being human, each one will think especially on the memory of those who were kindred or close friends."

The portal leads to stories on the university's "War Records Office" during the Second World War, the university's "Roll of Honour" and a couple of public contributions.

One of the stories I found particularly interesting, that of Flying Officer William Joseph Allison, one Canadian serving on a Royal Air Force Wellington bomber crew, all of whom perished during a mission on 20 November 1944. The story revolves around the mission and the subsequent search for family in an attempt to bring Allison's relatives to the crash site and memorial.

27 May 2008

New Books (May 2008) at Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada (www.collectionscanada.ca) has released its new books list for May 2008. The list includes the following items of interest (including some not yet released for sale and some which seem to have been out for sale for a while now) with respect to Canadian military history:

William Booth, Remarks and Rough Memorandums: Captain William Booth, Corps of Royal Engineers, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1787, 1789, ed. Eleanor Robertson Smith (Shelburne, NS: Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society, 2008);

Tim Cook, Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1917-1918 (Toronto: Viking Canada, 2008);

Jane Dewar (comp.), Lest We Forget: Stories of Canada at War (published in 1986 as True Canadian War Stories) (Toronto: Prospero Books, 2008);

John Johnson, Service in Three Centuries (Bowmanville, ON: Lynn Michael-John Associates, 2008) [Bowmanville, Ontario];

Gladys Osmond, Dear Gladys: Letters from Over There (Kingston, ON: School of Policy Studies, Queen's University, 2008);

James M. Pitsula, For All We Have and Are: Regina and the Experience of the Great War (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2008);

Janice Gross Stein and Eugene Lang, The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar (Toronto: Penguin, 2008);

Chris Wattie, Contact Charlie: C Company, 1st PPCLI and the Battle of Panjaway, May 17 - August 3, 2006 (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2008); and

Mark Zuehlke, Brave Battalion: The Remarkable Sage of the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) in the First World War (Mississauga, ON: J. Wiley & Sons Canada, 2008).

24 May 2008

Index of The Canadian Historical Review part 1

An examination of the back issues of The Canadian Historical Review from vol.1, no.1 (1920) onward reveals a lot of content of interest to readers of Canadian military history, including:

Vol.1, No.1 (1920):

George M. Wrong, "Canada and the Imperial War Cabinet", pp.3-25;

Vol.1, No.3 (1920):

Benjamin Sulte, "The Captains of Militia", pp.241-245;

Vol.3, No.1 (1922):

F. Landon, "The Trent Affair of 1861", pp.48-55;

Vol.4, No.2 (1923):

Anonymous, "The Canadian Militia before the Great War", pp.98-104;

A.H. de Trémaudan, "Louis Riel and the Fenian Raid of 1871", pp.132-144;

Vol.5, No.1 (1924):

W.B. Kerr, "The Occupation of York (Toronto), 1813", pp.9-21;

Vol.7, No.1 (1926):

Wilson Porter Shortridge, "The Canadian-American Frontier during the Rebellion of 1837-1838", pp.13-26;

Vol.9, No.2 (1928):

S. Morley Scott, "Civil and Military Authority in Canada, 1764-1766", pp.117-136;

Vol.10, No.1 (1929):

John Perry Pritchett, "The Origin of the So-Called Fenian Raid on Manitoba in 1871", pp.23-42;

Vol.10, No.2 (1929):

Jane Clark, "The Command of the Canadian Army for the Campaign of 1777", pp.129-135.

21 May 2008

MA theses and PhD dissertations - part 10

More results from the Library and Archives Canada theses portal - MAs and PhDs with specific reference to Canadian military history (some have direct links to their PDFed versions):

William Beahen, "A citizens' army: The Growth and Development of the Canadian Militia, 1904 to 1914", PhD dissertation, University of Ottawa, 1980;

David Pierce Beatty, "Canada-United States Permanent Joint Board on Defense", PhD dissertation, Michigan State University, 1969;

Brian T. Begbie, "Naval Gunfire Support for the Dieppe Raid", MA thesis, University of Ottawa, 1999 [direct PDF link];

Karine Bellerose, "Les captifs britanniques en temps de guerre en Nouvelle-France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siecles : etude socio-politique et militaire", MA thèse, University of Ottawa, 2006;

Carl Benn, "The Iroquois in the War of 1812", PhD dissertation, York University, 1995;

Douglas R. Benneweis, "Training as per syllabus: Readying The South Saskatchewan Regiment for War, 1939-1944", MSS thesis, University of Calgary, 2007;

Edward Benoit, "D Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery, in the South African War, 1900", MA thesis, McGill University, 1997 [direct PDF link];

Lorne William Bentley, "Canada and Vietnam: Open Mouth Diplomacy, 1972-1973", MA thesis, University of Western Ontario, 1973;

Willmott Donald Bentley, "The Seventh Canadian Infantry Brigade in North West Europe: A Study in the Growth of Combat Effectiveness", MA thesis, University of Guelph, 1993; and

David Jay Bercuson, "Labour in Winnipeg: The Great War and the General Strike", PhD dissertation, University of Toronto, 1971.

18 May 2008

Victoria Cross unveiled

On Friday, 16 May, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, unveiled the Victoria Cross currently in place at the peak of Canada's national honours system. Although approved in 1993 as one of the three Military Valour Decorations (including the Star of Military Valour and the Medal of Military Valour), only the latter two decorations had yet been manufactured and awarded. Friday's unveiling is the culmination of several years of effort to bring the "Canadianization" of the Victoria Cross to fruition and involved the work of many government departments.

The Governor General's website also has links to Her Excellency's speech, a hi-res photo of the decoration (the one accompanying this post), and a PDF booklet on the history of Canada and the Victoria Cross.

And, please, if I may be so bold - can we just agree to call this the "Victoria Cross" and not the "Canadian Victoria Cross"? This decoration is totally ours. The decoration awarded to Canadians in the past can be respectfully and reverently deemed to be the British Victoria Cross. The newly-produced decorations needs no such prefix.

Note: I found a bunch more information than the PDF booklet mentioned above at the website of DND's Directorate of Honours and Recognition here and here. It was never the intention of the Pro Valore booklet to include such levels of detail. I'm glad to see the details appear on the DH&R site.

11 May 2008

MA theses and PhD dissertations - part 9

More results from the Library and Archives Canada theses portal - MAs and PhDs with specific reference to Canadian military history (some have direct links to their PDFed versions):

Michael Robert Adams, "Procurement maketh policy: A Case Study of the CP-140 Aurora and the Leopard I", MA thesis, McMaster University, 1980;

Robert Charles Aitken, "'Undo the myth maker': A Comparison of Ritual Torture and Religious Transaction in Popular Religious Rioting during the French Wars of Religion, and the Huron Prisoner of War Execution Ceremony in North America during the End of the Sixteenth Century", MA thesis, Concordia University, 2006;

Robert Alain, "Sir Thomas White and Canada's Participation in the Great War", MA thesis, Queen's University, 1975;

Geneviève Allard, "Les infirmières militaires canadiennes pendant la Première Guerre mondiale", MA thèse, Université Laval, 1997;

Peter Michael Archambault, "The Informal Alliance: Anglo-Canadian Defence Relations, 1945-1960", PhD dissertation, University of Calgary, 1997 [direct PDF link];

Martin F. Auger, "The Air Arsenal of the British Commonwealth: Aircraft Design and Development in Canada during the Second World War, 1939-45", PhD thesis, University of Ottawa, 2006;

Randy B.J. Banks, "The Red River Rebellion: A Peculiar People in Exceptional Circumstances", MA thesis, Carleton University, 1980;

Shane G. Barratt, "The Canadian Government and Peacekeeping: An Analysis of the House of Commons Debates concerning Involvement in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations", MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 1996 [direct PDF link];

William David Bartlett, "The Early History of Fort Alexander", MA thesis, University of Waterloo, 1986;

Lewis Denver Baxter, "The Complexity of Unification", PhD dissertation, University of Waterloo, 1976;

Charles Alexander Cotton, "The Divided Army: Role Orientations among Canada's Peacetime Soldiers", PhD dissertation, Carleton University, 1980;

Barry M. Gough, "The Royal Navy on the Northwest Coast of North America, 1810-1910", PhD dissertation, University of London, 1969;

Annabel Fay Hanson, "The Pantheon on Nepean Point?: The Canadian War Memorials Collection in Historical Context", MA thesis, Queen's University, 2001;

Russell Allan Hart, "Learning Lessons: Military Adaptation and Innovation in the American, British, Canadian, and German Armies during the 1944 Normandy Campaign", PhD dissertation, Ohio State University, 1997;

Andrew Iarocci, "The Mad Fourth: The 4th Canadian Infantry Battalion at War, 1914-1916", MA thesis, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2001 [direct PDF link];

Katherine Anne Ling, "A Share of the Sacrifice: Newfoundland Servicewives in the Second World War", PhD dissertation, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2001 [direct PDF link];

Gloria Alice Morrison, "The Voices of Those who Served: The Early War Years and the Men of the 1st Battalion, Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (MG)", MA thesis, University of Ottawa, 2001;

James Arthur Mowbray, "Militiaman: A Comparative Study of the Evolution of Organization in the Canadian and British Voluntary Citizen Military Force, 1896-1939", unknown, 1975;

Aaron Plamondon, "Casting Off the Imperial Yoke: The Transition of Canadian Defence Procurement within the North Atlantic Triangle, 1907-1953", MA thesis, Royal Military College of Canada, 2001; and

Harold Aage Skaarup, "An Intelligence Advantage: Collective Security Benefits gained by Canada through the Sharing of Military Intelligence with the United States of America", MA thesis, Royal Military College of Canada, 1997 (direct link to PDF).

06 May 2008

Latest issue of Canadian Military Journal

Volume 8, number / numero 4 (Winter / hiver 2007-2008) of the Canadian Military Journal / Revue militaire canadienne has been published online. As usual, this issue contains several items of interest to readers of Canadian military history, including:

Ian Gooderson, "Assimilating Urban Battle Experience - The Canadians at Ortona" / "Assimiler l'expérience du combat urbain - les Canadiens à Ortona";

Bernd Horn, "'Love 'Em or Hate 'Em': Learning to Live with Elites" / "Qu'on les aime ou qu'on les déteste, il faut apprendre à vivre avec les élites";

Adam Lajeunesse, "Sovereignty, Security and the Canadian Nuclear Submarine Program" / "La souveraineté et la sécurité canadiennes et le projet d'acquisition de sous-marins nucléaires";

as well as a handful of book reviews.

01 May 2008

MA theses and PhD dissertations - part 8

More results from the Library and Archives Canada theses portal - MAs and PhDs with specific reference to Canadian military history (some have direct links to their PDFed versions):

Tom Axworthy, "Soldiers Without Enemies: A Political Analysis of Canadian Defence Policy, 1945-1975", PhD dissertation, Queen's University, 1979;

Nilufer Balsara, "Paying for Peace: Canada, the United Nations and the Financing of the Congo Peacekeeping Mission, 1960-1964", PhD dissertation, University of Toronto, 1999 [direct PDF link];

Stacey Joanne Barker, "Save Today what our Allies need Tomorrow: Food Regulation in Canada during the First World War", MA thesis, Carleton University, 2003;

Andrew Paul Burtch, "Canadian Theatre: The Battle of St. Lawrence and its Aftermath, May-October 1943", MA thesis, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2003;

Alexander Vance Campbell, "The Royal American Regiment, 1755-1772: An Atlantic Community", PhD dissertation, University of Western Ontario, 2003;

Allan Douglas English, "The Cream of the Crop: A Study of Selection, Training, and Policies Governing Lack of Moral Fibre in Aircrew of the Royal Canadian Air Force, 1939-1945", PhD dissertation, Queen's University, 1994;

John Alan English, "The Casting of an Army: Being a Treatise on the Bases and Conduct of Canadian Army Operations beyond the Normandy Bridgehead to the Closure of the Falaise Gap", PhD dissertation, Queen's University, 1989;

Anne Fisher, "Civil Defence in Canada, 1939-1965: Garnering Public Support for War and Nuclear Weapons through the Myth of Protection", MA thesis, Lakehead University, 1999 [direct PDF link];

Albert George Fowler, "The Growth of the Protestant Chaplains' Service in the Canadian Military, 1945-1968: The Pursuit of Assumed Status", MA thesis, Carleton University, 1990;

Andrew B. Godefroy, "From Alliance to Dependence: Canadian-American Defence Cooperation through Space, 1945-1999", MA thesis, Royal Military College of Canada, 1999 [direct PDF link];

Hugh Avi Gordon, "The End of the Big Ship Navy: The Trudeau Government, the Defence Policy Review and the Decommissioning of the HMCS Bonaventure", MA thesis, University of Victoria, 2003;

Brent Alan Hobson, "New Solutions for Old Problems?: Canadian Naval Support of Sovereignty, 1971-2000", MA thesis, Dalhousie University, 1999 [direct PDF link];

Lenora-Mae Adelle Karmas, "Trial Employment of Canadian Forces Servicewomen in a Combat Service Support Unit", MA thesis, University of British Columbia, 1984;

Katherine Anne Ling, "Servicewives in Wartime Halifax, 1939-1945", MA thesis, Dalhousie University, 1994;

Joseph George Marc Alan Potvin, "The Integration of the Canadian Forces Logistics System and its Effect on the Operational Capabilities of the Canadian Military", MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 1996;

Douglas Alan Ross, "In the Interests of Peace: Perception and Response in the History of Canadian Foreign Policy Decision-Making concerning the International Commission for Supervision and Control for Vietnam, 1954-65", PhD dissertation, University of Toronto, 1979;

Aldona Marija Sendzikas, "The Last Bastion: The Story of Stanley Barracks", MA thesis, University of Toronto, 1990;

Ralph Alan Shaw, "The Influence of Post-War Continental Air-Defence Strategies and National Economic Development Policies on the Industrial Organization of the Canadian Aerospace Industry", MA thesis, Queen's University, 1994;

John Alan Smitton, "Son's Narratives of Growing up with a World War II Combat Veteran Father", PhD dissertation, University of British Columbia, 2003; and

Alfred James Tedlie, "Winter and Rough Weather: Fort Churchill, 1946-1964, in Defence of Northern Canada", MA thesis, University of Victoria, 1990.