29 June 2008

New historical fiction on Canada in the First World War

I recently received an e-mail from a reader of this blog, retired Canadian Forces' officer Michael J. Goodspeed, mentioning that he'd recently published his latest book through Blue Butterfly Books, an historical novel called Three to a Loaf: A Novel of the Great War. As the publisher's website notes:
Three to a Loaf is the First World War story of Rory Ferrall, a young Canadian officer of Anglo-German descent who, after being wounded and disfigured at Ypres, comes to the attention of British military intelligence. Ferrall's German background is valuable to the war's planners. Hundreds of German-Americans had returned to the Fatherland to fight for the Kaiser at the outbreak of war in August 1914 and the British captured one. Cleverly trained to impersonate the captured German-American officer, Ferrall is smuggled into wartime Germany to infiltrate the German General Staff and discover their top-secret plan to break the stalemate on the Western Front.

A page-turning novel of war and espionage, Three to a Loaf is also a portrait of societies and individuals pushed to the breaking point, and in some cases, beyond. Michael Goodspeed artfully blends the tension of a thriller with period detail, the detached commentary of a nitty-gritty travelogue, and psychological understanding of a harried man facing soul-destroying ethical decisions.
Copies of the novel can be purchased from the publisher's website or at bookstores such as Chapters.

26 June 2008

Index of The Canadian Historical Review part 4

A continuing look at the back issues of The Canadian Historical Review from vol.31, no.1 (1950) onward reveals a lot of content of interest to readers of Canadian military history, including:

Vol.31, No.1 (1950):

Donald M.A.R. Vince, "The Acting Overseas Sub-Militia Council and the Resignation of Sir Sam Hughes", pp.1-24;

Vol.31, No.2 (1950):

George F.G. Stanley, "The Indians in the War of 1812", pp.145-165;

Vol.32, No.1 (1951):

W.H. Nelson, "The Last Hopes of the American Loyalists", pp.22-42;

Vol.32, No.2 (1951):

C.P. Stacey, "Commodore Chauncey's Attack on Kingston Harbour, November 10, 1812", pp.126-138;

Vol.32, No.4 (1951):

David Lowenthal, "The Maine Press and the Aroostook War", pp.315-336;

Vol.33, No.4 (1952):

C.P. Stacey, "Canada and the Nile Expedition of 1884-85", pp.319-340;

Vol.34, No.2 (1953):

Gerald S. Graham, "Views of General Murray on the Defence of Upper Canada, 1815", pp.158-165;

Vol.35, No.2 (1954):

Alice R. Stewart, "Sir John A. Macdonald and the Imperial Defence Commission of 1879", pp.119-139;

Vol.35, No.4 (1954):

J. Mackay Hitsman and C.C.J. Bond, "The Assault Landing at Louisbourg, 1758", pp.314-330;

Vol.36, No.2 (1955):

H.S. Ferns and Bernard Ostry, "Mackenzie King and the First World War", pp.93-112;

Vol.36, No.3 (1955):

C.P. Stacey, "Britain's Withdrawal from North America, 1864-1871", pp.185-198;

Alvin C. Gluek Jr., "The Riel Rebellion and Canadian-American Relations", pp.199-221;

Vol.36, No.4 (1955):

Harold A. Davis, "The Fenian Raid on New Brunswick", pp.316-334;

Vol.37, No.2 (1956):

Gerald S. Graham, "The Defences of Canada, 1710", pp.167-169;

Vol.37, No.3 (1956):

W.J. Eccles, "Frontenac's Military Policies, 1689-1698: A Reassessment", pp.201-224;

Vol.37, No.4 (1956):

A.W. Willms, "Conscription, 1917: A Brief for the Defence", pp.338-351;

Richard A. Preston, "The Journals of General Sir F.P. Robinson, G.C.B.", pp.352-355;

Vol.38, No.1 (1957):

C.P. Stacey, "John A. Macdonald on Raising Troops in Canada for Imperial Service, 1885", pp.37-40;

Vol.38, No.4 (1957):

Guy R. MacLean, "The Canadian Offer of Troops for Hong Kong, 1894", pp.275-283;

Vol.39, No.1 (1958):

Robin W. Winks, "The Creation of a Myth: 'Canadian' Enlistments in the Northern Armies during the American Civil War", pp.24-40;

C.P. Stacey, "Another Look at the Battle of Lake Erie", pp.41-51;

Vol.39, No.2 (1958):

Leonid I. Strakhovsky, "The Canadian Artillery Brigade in North Russia, 1918-1919", pp.125-146;

Vol.40, No.1 (1959):

C.P. Stacey, "The Anse au Foulon, 1759: Montcalm and Vaudreuil", pp.27-37.

23 June 2008

Latest issue of The Canadian Army Journal

Volume 11, Number 1 (Spring 2008) of The Canadian Army Journal is now available online. In addition to a very interesting collection of articles and material on recent operations, this issue also contains some material of particular interest to students of Canadian military history, including:

David R. O'Keefe, "With Blinders On: The Black Watch and the Battle for Spycker, September 12-14, 1944";

Major Andrew B. Godefroy, "Jadex";

Shaye K. Friesen, "Note to File - Reaching into the Oracle: Reflections of a Cold Warrior on the Issues and Challenges in Defence";

as well as several book reviews.

20 June 2008

MA theses and PhD dissertations - part 13

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):

David A. Borys, "The Education of a Corps Commander: Arthur Currie's Leadership from 1915-1917", MA thesis, University of Alberta, 2006;

David A. Bourdon, "Militarism, Sport and Social Control in Alberta, 1900-20", MA thesis, University of Calgary, 1985;

Peter Bower, "Louisbourg: The Chimaera, 1745-'48", MA thesis, Dalhousie University, 1975;

Craig Braddon, "Soldiers and Politicians: The Struggle for Supremacy, Canadian Civil-Military Relations in an Age of Transformation and International Uncertainty, 1898-1913", MA thesis, The Royal Military College of Canada, 2004;

Charles S. Bradley, "The Education of Non-Commissioned Officers, Soldiers and their Children in Britain's Canadian Garrisons, 1800-1890", MA thesis, Carleton University, 2002;

José Antonio Brandao, "Your fyre shall burn no more: Iroquois Policy towards New France and her Native Allies to 1701", PhD dissertation, York University, 1995 [direct PDF link];

Maureen Elisabeth Brandstaetter, "Deutschtum on the Prairies, 1914-1918: A Study of Prairie German-Canadian Newspapers during the First World War", MA thesis, University of Calgary, 1986;

Robert Matthew Bray, "The Canadian Patriotic Response to the Great War", PhD dissertation, York University, 1977;

Bonnie Maureen Motyka, "General James Wolfe: The Hero Image and History", MA thesis, University of Alberta, 1991; and

Mark Bradley Watson, "The Manifestation of the Theory of Logistics: The Royal Canadian Navy as a Case Study, 1945-1967", MA thesis, The Royal Military College of Canada, 2002.

17 June 2008

Latest issue of The Canadian Historical Review

The latest issue of The Canadian Historical Review (vol.89, no.1, March 2008) doesn't contain any articles on Canadian military history, but, as usual, Michael D. Stevenson's "Recent Publications Relating to Canada" does note several books and articles of interest (I've eliminated all articles from Canadian Military History as I've mentioned them previously):

Stephanie Bangarth, Voices Raised in Protest: Defending North American Citizens of Japanese Ancestry, 1942-1949 (Vancouver, 2007);

Howard G. Coombs (Ed.), The Insubordinate and the Noncompliant: Case Studies of Mutiny and Disobedience, 1920 to Present (Toronto, 2007);

Paul Douglas Dickson, A Thoroughly Canadian General: A Biography of General H.D.G. Crerar (Toronto, 2007);

Susanne K. Edwards, Gus: From Trapper Boy to Air Marshall (Burnstown, ON, 2007);

Lance Goddard, Hell and High Water: Canada and the Italian Campaign (Toronto, 2007);

Dianne Graves, In the Midst of Alarms: Women in the War of 1812 (Toronto, 2007);

Larry Gray, Canadians in the Battle of Atlantic (Edmonton, 2007);

Nathan M. Greenfield, Baptism of Fire: The Second Battle of Ypres and the Forging of Canada, April 1915 (Scarborough, ON, 2007);

Jean Martin, "Isle-Maligne et la Deuxième Guerre mondiale", Saguenayensia, t.49, no.2 (2007): 3-6;

Brian Douglas Tennyson, Percy Wilmott: Cape Bretoner at War (Sydney, NS, 2007);

Cynthia Toman, An Officer and a Lady: Canadian Military Nursing and the Second World War (Vancouver, 2007);

Brent Wilson (Ed.), Hurricane Pilot: The Wartime Letters of W.O. Harry Gill, DFM, 1940-1943 (Fredericton, 2007); and

Mark Zuehlke, For Honour's Sake: The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace (Mississauga, ON, 2007).

14 June 2008

Exhibit on Louisbourg in 1759

An article by Michael Lightstone recently appeared in The Chronicle Herald to discuss an exhibit which opened on 3 June at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, entitled "Halifax vs Louisbourg: The Final Siege". The exhibit "has items linked to the historic siege [of Louisbourg in 1758] and to the famous battle in Quebec a year later" and numbers about 100 artefacts in total. These include "a 3,600-kilogram mortar, a recreated troop transport ship, an array of weaponry and an actual letter from the front lines". The exhibit runs until 2 November and more information about the museum can be found here.

13 June 2008

Index of The Canadian Historical Review part 3

A continuing look at the back issues of The Canadian Historical Review from vol.21, no.1 (1940) onward reveals a lot of content of interest to readers of Canadian military history, including:

Vol.21, No.1 (1940):

C.P. Stacey, "The Military Aspect of Canada's Winning of the West, 1870-1885", pp.1-24;

Vol.23, No.3 (1942):

D.C. Harvey, "Nova Scotia and the Canadian Naval Tradition", pp.247-259;

Vol.24, No.2 (1943):

Norman Penlington, "General Hutton and the Problem of Military Imperialism in Canada, 1898-1900", pp.156-171;

Vol.24, No.3 (1943):

J.W. Dafoe, "Canada and the Peace Conference of 1919", pp.233-248;

Vol.25, No.1 (1944):

A.E. Prince, "The Need for a Wider Study of Military History", pp.20-28;

Vol.26, No.3 (1945):

C.P. Stacey, "The Historical Programme of the Canadian Army Overseas", pp.229-238;

Gilbert Norman Tucker, "The Royal Canadian Naval Historical Section and its Work", pp.239-245;

Kenneth B. Conn, "The Royal Canadian Air Force Historical Section", pp.246-254;

Vol.26, No.4 (1945):

Lawrence Henry Gipson, "A French Project for Victory Short of a Declaration of War, 1755", pp.361-371;

Vol.27, No.1 (1946):

Robert England, "Disbanded and Discharged Soldiers in Canada prior to 1914", pp.1-18;

Vol.27, No.2 (1946):

Marguerite B. Hamer, "Luring Canadian Soldiers into Union Lines during the War between the States", pp.150-162;

Vol.28, No.1 (1947):

Gilbert Norman Tucker, "The Naval Policy of Sir Robert Borden, 1912-14", pp.1-30;

Vol.29, No.3 (1948):

Eric Harrison, "The Army's Official History", pp.301-306;

Vol.29, No.4 (1948):

C.P. Stacey, "A Note on the Citadel of Quebec", pp.387-392;

Vol.30, No.1 (1949):

J.B. Conacher, "The Battle for Agira, July 24-8, 1943: An Episode in Canadian Military History", pp.1-21;

Vol.30, No.3 (1949):

George F.G. Stanley, "Gabriel Dumont's Account of the North West Rebellion, 1885", pp.249-269.

11 June 2008

Birthday of a Municipal Armoury

A couple of days ago James Neeley at The Peterborough Examiner published an interesting piece on the centenary of Peterborough, Ontario's municipal armoury. Constructed in 1908 as part of an armoury building boom in the years before the First World War, the armoury has been the home for thousands of militia soldiers over the decades. Perhaps as many as sixteen units have been housed in the building during the past century as it has played - and continues to play - its role in training soldiers and contributing to Canadian military history.

10 June 2008

MA theses and PhD dissertations - part 12

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):

Lucie Blanchette-Lessard et Nicole Daigneault-Saint Denis, "Groupes sociaux patriotes et les rébellions de 1837-1838 : idéologies et participation", MA thèse, Université du Québec, 1976;

John Charles Blaxland, "Strategic Cousins: Canada, Australia and their use of Expeditionary Forces from the Boer War to the War on Terror", PhD dissertation, Royal Military College of Canada, 2004;

Nick Ninoslav Blazanovic, "The Rebirth of North American Air Defence", MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 2004;

Gary Blake Doige, "Warfare Patterns of the Assiniboine to 1809", MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 1989;

William Alexander Binny Douglas, "Nova Scotia and the Royal Navy, 1713-1766", PhD dissertation, Queen's University, 1973;

Bob Hummelt, "Trouble on the Home Front: Perspectives on Working Mothers in Winnipeg, 1939-1945", MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 2001 [direct PDF link];

Bohdan S. Kordan, "Ethnicity, the State, and War: Canada and the Ukrainian Problem, 1939-1945: A Study in Statecraft", PhD dissertation, Arizona State University, 1988;

Bill Rawling, "The Field Engineers of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division in the Second World War, 1939-1945", MA thesis, University of Ottawa, 1984;

Bill Rawling, "Tactics and Technics: Technology and the Canadian Corps, 1914-1918", PhD dissertation, University of Toronto, 1990; and

A. Blair Stonechild, "The Indian Role in the North-West Rebellion of 1885", MA thesis, University of Regina, 1989.

08 June 2008

Articles from War in History

The index for all the issues published to date of War in History has been posted on the journal's site and I've gone through it to see what articles pertain directly to Canadian military history:

Peter J. Henshaw, "The British Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Preparation for the Dieppe Raid, March-August 1942: Did Mountbatten Really Evade the Committee's Authority", vol.1, no.2 (1994), pp.197-214;

Donald Howard Avery, "Atomic Scientific Co-Operation and Rivalry Among Allies: The Anglo-Canadian Montreal Laboratory and the Manhattan Project, 1943-1946", vol.2, no.3 (1995), pp.274-305;

Craig Gibson, "'My Chief Source of Worry': An Assistant Provost Marshal's View of Relations between 2nd Canadian Division and Local Inhabitants on the Western Front, 1915-1917", vol.7, no.4 (2000), pp.413-441; and

Tim Cook, "Documenting War and Forging Reputations: Sir Max Aitken and the Canadian War Records Office in the First World War", vol.10, no.3 (2003), pp.265-295.

(through vol.15, no.2).

05 June 2008

Book review of Humphries' The Selected Papers of Sir Arthur Currie

My latest book review is of Mark Osborne Humphries (ed.), The Selected Papers of Sir Arthur Currie: Diaries, Letters, and Report to the Ministry, 1917-1933 (Waterloo, Ontario: LCMSDS Press of Wilfrid Laurier University, 2008). Thanks to Mark for sending me a review copy.

Everyone reading this review should know who Sir Arthur Currie was, although I’m not sure how well known his name is outside of Canada. Currie was, of course, the first Canadian to command the Canadian Corps during the First World War and, arguably, the best general this country has ever produced. Despite his accomplishments, and three book-length biographies, there still seems to be so much unknown about Currie, his character, his personality, and his life.

Enter Mark Osborne Humphries who, in this work, takes a different route, editing a large amount of documentation produced by Currie so that several aspects of his career can be presented. As Humphries writes:
Currie’s papers present a portrait of a complex individual, constantly changing and evolving. They provide insight not only into the inner workings of the Canadian Corps, but also the evolution of Canadian society and the memory of the Great War. Sir Arthur Currie emerges from his letters and diaries as a flawed personality and a sound battlefield commander. This is his story in his own words.
Humphries begins his introduction by writing that this “is not a biography of Sir Arthur William Currie”, the documents being presented with the intention of providing “a window into one of the most tumultuous periods in Canadian history and the life of one of Canada’s most important historical figures.” After discussing some of the historiography – popular and academic – about Currie, the author moves on to present a concise, yet very informative, biography of Currie.

Following the introduction, the remainder of the book is divided into three main parts: diary entries and correspondence from 1917 through 1919; the Interim Report on the Operations of the Canadian Corps during the Year 1918; and, finally, correspondence and personal papers from 1919 to 1933. Aside from the Interim Report – which was published – the documentation presented is taken from three archives: Library and Archives Canada, the Canadian War Museum, and the archives of McGill University. The material mostly originated in the Currie fonds of these institutions, however, the papers of some other notable Canadians were also researched, particularly those of Sir Robert Borden. Humphries is quite up front in admitting that there is very little of a strictly personal, or family nature to be found in the documentation presented. Any personal correspondence between Currie and his wife has not survived and there appears to be little else of a personal nature about Currie surviving in Canadian archives.

Approximately half of the documents presented in this volume are found in the first part – diary entries and correspondence for the period 1917 to 1919. My first thought was that it’s such a shame that this part begins only with May 1917, meaning most of Currie’s time as a brigade and divisional commander is simply not there. Humphries explained the gap earlier in the book, noting that Currie’s personal diary for 1915 and 1916 “is little more than a record of appointments and meetings”. Most of his correspondence for the early years has also not survived, and those letters still extant “offer little insight into the life of the brigade commander.”

That initial disappointment out of the way, the text begins with the category of “Corps Commander, May – December 1917” and provides some very interesting material. Diary entries detailing Currie’s activities and opinions of developments are interspersed with correspondence, typically Currie’s responses to letters received from individuals back home in Canada. A secret message from Sir George Perley, Canada’s overseas minister, to Prime Minister Borden in June 1917 details some of the deliberations going into the choice of the successor to General Byng as Canadian Corps commander. Although they touch on operational aspects of the Corps’ activities, Currie’s own words are already often directed at defending the Corps’ reputation and praising the “fighting qualities” of the Canadian soldier. Humphries also incorporates italicized contextual paragraphs in between some of the documentation so as to provide the bigger picture not specifically discussed.

The next section, “Corps Commander, 1918”, provides more of the same. Of particular note is Currie’s report to Sir Edward Kemp, Canada’s overseas minister, in February 1918 proposing that the divisions of the Canadian Corps not be reorganized as the British army was then undertaking. Currie’s defence of the current Canadian structure is well-defined, well-argued, and insightful as to his understanding of what it was that had allowed the corps to reach the state of efficiency it then enjoyed. Humphries also reprints Currie’s “Special Order” of 27 March 1918 continuing to urge the officers and men of the corps onward as an example of Currie’s inability to really connect with the troops. Despite his devotion to the members of the Canadian Corps – shown, for example, in a letter to Borden on 28 June where he pleads for Borden to spend more time with the troops – Currie simply never had the magnetism that would permit him to be loved by his men. The documents Humphries presents in this section appear to show Currie becoming more comfortable with his position and less concerned about detractors in England or Canada through most of the year. Currie was also clearly becoming more and more interested in protecting and promoting the reputation of the Canadian Corps as a fighting force, for example, railing against the “Canada in Flanders” series of books in a letter in October 1918. Not surprisingly, as the year ends much of his attention is increasingly focused on the repatriation of the Canadians overseas. The last few weeks of documentation also mark the reappearance of Currie’s struggle with his detractors, a fight which would not be “won” for another decade.

Repatriation and the reputation of the Canadian Corps and Currie remain at the core of the final section, “Corps Commander, January – August 1919”, the material here continuing to reveal Currie’s intention to win both of these battles. Increasingly, Currie sees every negative comment on the Canadian Corps as an attack against it and against himself, a belief that perhaps even reached the level of paranoia.

The second part of this book contains the Interim Report on the Operations of the Canadian Corps in the Year 1918, a document submitted to the Minister, Overseas Military Force of Canada, in 1919. Humphries writes that it was a “narrative account of the final year of the war. It is laudatory, but is demonstrative of Currie’s deep admiration for the men fighting under him.” I would also suggest that, in addition, it might have been an attempt by Currie to sustain or protect his reputation as the Corps commander. Humphries seems to agree, noting that Currie also “seemed to hope that the achievements of the Corps would protect him from revelations about the 1914 theft. With this in mind, Currie’s Report to the Ministry is a telling document, a study as much in the psychology of the Corps’ commander as it is a historical account of military operations.” Humphries does explain the document’s place in history and how such an attempt by Currie to explain the triumphs of the Canadian Corps wasn’t successful.

As history, the inclusion of the Interim Report is interesting but, not surprisingly, much of it has been overtaken by later research on the operations of the Canadian Corps. As psychology, which is likely a more important reason to include it in this book (as Humphries alludes to above), it is definitely revealing about Currie’s intent to trumpet the accomplishments of the corps. However, I’m not sure that it adds much to the overall book. The history is outdated and the psychology could be summed up in a few paragraphs – as Humphries did in his narrative. It’s quite possible that my opinion is tainted in that I was already familiar with the Interim Report in its full published version (with all of the mass of appendices attached), but I have no way of knowing how many other readers of Humphries’ book will also have had the opportunity to see the report before this.

The third part of this book returns to the format of the first, this time turning to correspondence and personal papers from 1919 to 1933. Within the section “Inspector General of Militia, August 1919 – April 1920”, Currie continues his struggle to maintain the reputation and memory of the Canadian Corps and also provides some interesting insight into the post-First World War struggle to integrate the Canadian Expeditionary Force units returned from overseas into the Militia units that never left Canada.

Protecting the Corps’ accomplishments from apathy and his own reputation from attack continues in the next section, “Principal of McGill University, April 1920 – November 1933”. It was early during these years that Currie seems to have been able to finally relax, to escape Ottawa, and to move ahead with his post-war life. Topics of discussion in the documents presented range from his work and circumstances to the reconstruction of the former battlefield areas of Europe to the fate of friends and colleagues he served with during the war. Increasingly, he also takes on the role of advocate for Canadian veterans in the face of what he feels is inadequate government support. Meanwhile, some of these documents discuss his disillusionment over politics, some context regarding the Port Hope libel trial, and his protests against the drafts of the British official history of the war.

My only complaint about this section is its length. Despite covering fourteen years, it’s less than half as long as the 1917 to 1919 documentation, which is somewhat disappointing. I do not believe, however, that this is in any way Humphries’ fault. The fact that 1919 to 1933 are peacetime years, as opposed to the wartime years of 1917 to 1919 (and the massive amount of document production that entailed), the fact that Currie did not keep a post-war diary, and the lack of personal correspondence doesn’t give the editor in this case much to work with.

In the end, there were a few typographical mistakes and misspellings in this volume that might have been caught in the penultimate draft, but certainly not enough that they truly detract from the overall benefits of the book.

All in all, I found this to be a fascinating work. Despite three biographies and several articles, I think there's still so much about Sir Arthur Currie we don't know. This book goes a long way toward adding more to the picture of the man - both positive and negative. Like the Canadian Corps he commanded, Currie was complicated, and Mark Osborne Humphries has provided further insight into the intricacies of his character and accomplishments.

03 June 2008

Index of The Canadian Historical Review part 2

A continuing look at the back issues of The Canadian Historical Review from vol.11, no.1 (1930) onward reveals a lot of content of interest to readers of Canadian military history, including:

Vol.12, No.3 (1931):

C.P. Stacey, "Fenianism and the Rise of National Feeling in Canada at the Time of Confederation", pp.238-261;

Vol.14, No.2 (1933):

C.P. Stacey, "The Garrison of Fort Wellington: A Military Dispute during the Fenian Troubles", pp.161-176;

Vol.16, No.2 (1935):

Jean Elizabeth Lunn, "Agriculture and War in Canada, 1740-1760", pp.123-136;

Vol.17, No.2 (1936):

C.P. Stacey, "The Withdrawal of the Imperial Garrison from Newfoundland, 1870", pp.147-158;

Vol.17, No.4 (1936):

E.C. Kyte, "Fort Niagara in the War of 1812: Side-Lights from an Unpublished Order-Book", pp.373-384;

Vol.18, No.2 (1937):

W.S. Wallace, "Some Notes on Fraser's Highlanders", pp.131-140;

Walter Ronald Copp, "Nova Scotian Trade during the War of 1812", pp.141-155;

Vol.18, No.3 (1937):

C.P. Stacey, "The Hudson's Bay Company and Anglo-American Military Rivalries during the Oregon Dispute", pp.281-300;

Vol.18, No.4 (1937):

L.S. Stavrianos, "The Rumour of Russian Intrigue in the Rebellion of 1837", pp.367-373;

Vol.19, No.4 (1938):

Arthur R. Ford, "Some Notes on the Formation of the Union Government in 1917", pp.357-364;

Vol.20, No.1 (1939):

Max Savelle, "Diplomatic Preliminaries of the Seven Years' War in America", pp.17-36.

02 June 2008

History of Toronto's Warriors' Day Parade

John C. Hymers, a member of The Warriors' Day Parade Council recently e-mailed me about the 87th Annual Warriors' Day Parade, to be held at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, Ontario, on 16 August 2008 with the theme "Saluting Our Veterans, Supporting Our Troops". Details on the parade can be found at the parade website.

This is an event with a long history, dating back to the first parade in 1921. In fact, the website contains extensive information on - and links to - the history of the event. The salute on the first parade was taken by none other than Lord Byng of Vimy, then Governor General of Canada. There are pages dedicated to significant events in the parade and an overall historical background to the parade.