New book on a Canadian nursing sister and parliamentarian

Debbie Marshall, an Alberta writer and editor, has published a new book, Give Your Other Vote to the Sister: A Woman’s Journey into the Great War, through the University of Calgary Press. This biography covers the amazing story of Roberta MacAdams, the first woman elected to the Alberta legislature. As the University of Calgary Press release puts it:

In fact, she was one of the first two women elected to a legislature anywhere in the British empire. Her triumph was extraordinary for many reasons. Not only did she run while serving as a nursing sister overseas during the Great War, but over 90 per cent of her electors were men – Alberta soldiers stationed in England and in the muddy trenches of the Western Front. Give Your Other Vote to the Sister describes MacAdams’ journey overseas, her work at a large military hospital in London, and the personal sacrifices she endured during the war. It also chronicles Debbie Marshall’s own journey to reclaim MacAdams' life, one that took her across Canada and to the places where MacAdams lived and worked in England and France. It was a search that would change her own perceptions about how and why so may women willingly participated in the world’s first “great war.”

The Canadian Historical Review's new publications listing

The latest issue of the Canadian Historical Review (volume 88, no 1, March 2007) mentions several recently-published books and articles in its "Recent Publications Relating to Canada" with respect to Canadian military history. This list includes: Robert L. Dallison, Turning Back the Fenians: New Brunswick's Last Colonial Campaign (Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2006); Bernard D. Fardy, The July Drive: The Battle for Beaumont Hamel (St. John's: Flanker, 2006); Joop Gerritsma, "The Vickers Vanguard: Its History and Service in Canada", Journal of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society, vol. 43, no. 4 (2005): 128-137; Larry Laliberte, "The 1870 Wolseley Expedition Route", Manitoba History, vol. 52 (2006): 41-42; Norman Leach, Broken Arrow: A True Story of the cold War and America's Fist Lost Nuclear Weapon (Calgary: Red Deer, 2006); Raymond Moriyama, In Search of a Soul: Creating the New Canadian War Museum (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006); Gene Quigley, Voices of World War II (St. John's: Jesperon, 2006); and John R. Trigs, "Social Flux at the Naval Establishment at Penetanguishene, Lake Huron, 1817-1834", Historical Archaeology, vol. 39, no. 2 (2005): 105-135.

Facelift for the Borden Military Museum

In Saturday's Toronto Star Roberta Avery penned "Smart salute to the military" (http://www.thestar.com/Travel/article/232408), a piece on the recently revamped Borden Military Museum. Housed in two former hangars on the grounds of Canadian Forces Base Borden, the museum "emphasizes the role of Canada's military as a fighting force. There are about 10,000 artifacts ranging from a CF-5 Freedom Fighter aircraft to the giant tanks, pins and ribbons and a huge collection of model airplanes." Numerous displays and exhibits have been opened or revamped for the museum, ranging from a weapons exhibit with approximately 350 firearms to a First World War field kitchen to a 1950s military ambulance outfitted for use by a field dentist.

Latest Issue of the Canadian Military Journal

The Spring 2007 issue (volume 8, number 1) of the Canadian Military Journal / Revue militaire canadienne (www.journal.forces.gc.ca) has now been published. Amongst its content are a few items of interest to readers of Canadian military history: Major Andrew Godefroy's "Chasing the Silver Bullet: The Evolution of Capability Development in the Canadian Army" / << À la recherche de la << solution miracle >> : l'évolution du développement des capacités au sein de l'armée canadienne >>; Gordon MacKinnon's "Major-General Malcolm Smith Mercer: The Highest Ranking Canadian Officer Killed in the Great War by Friendly Fire" / << Le major-général Malcolm Smith Mercer : l'officier canadien le plus haut gradé tué durant la grande guerre par un tir ami >>; and Ken Reynolds' "'Not a man fell out and the party marched into Arras singing': The Royal Guard at the Unveiling of the Vimy Memorial, 1936" / << << Pas un homme n'a rompu les rangs, et les troupes ont avancé sur Arras en chantant >> - La Garde royale à l'inauguration du monument commémoratif de Vimy, 1936"; as well as several book reviews of note.

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.

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).

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)."

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.

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.

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.