More MA theses and PhD dissertations

Renald Fortier, Curator of Aviation History at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa, kindly sent me a long list of recent Canadian military history MA theses and PhD dissertations for my ongoing list. Many thanks Renald! The material is as follows:

Begin, Maxime Steve, "Des radars et des hommes : mémoires inuit de la station Fox Main de la Dew Line (Hall Beach, Nunavut)", MA thèse, Université Laval, 2004;

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

Brandon, Laura E., "The Canadian War Museum's Art Collections as a Site of Meaning, Memory, and Identity in the Twentieth Century", PhD dissertation, Carleton University, 2002;

Christensen, Kyle D., "Out of the Sun and into the Ground: An Assessment of the Decline of the Canadian Air Force", MA thesis, Dalhousie University, 2002;

Cook, Tim, "Canadian Official Historians and the Writing of the World Wars", PhD dissertation, University of New South Wales, 2005;

Dillon, Terrence M., "The Unification of the Canadian Armed Forces: A Recipe for Disaster", PhD dissertation, Alliant International University, 2003;

Godefroy, Andrew B., "Defence and Discovery: Science, National Security, and the Origins of the Canadian Rocket and Space Program, 1945-1974", PhD dissertation, Royal Military College of Canada, 2004;

Goette, Richard E., "The Struggle for a Joint Command and Control System in the Northwest Atlantic Theatre of Operations: A Study of the RCAF and RCN Trade Defence Efforts during the Battle of the Atlantic", MA thesis, Queen's University, 2002;

Gordon, Hugh A., "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, 2002;

Gucciardo, Dorotea, "A Force for Change? The Integration of Women in the Canadian Forces, 1970 to Present", MA thesis, University of Ottawa, 2005;

Halladay, Laurel, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Soldiers and Artists: Canadian Military Entertainers, 1939-1946", MA thesis, University of Calgary, 2000 (direct PDF link);

Heide, Rachel L., "The Politics of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Base Selection in Western Canada", MA thesis, Carleton University, 2000 (direct PDF link);

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

Jackson, Paul, "Courting Homosexuals in the Military: The Management of Homosexuality in the Canadian Military, 1939-1945", PhD dissertation, Queen's University, 2002;

Lawrence, Keith M., "Cautious Steps: The Development and Use of Tactical Air Power by the RAF during the Second World War", MA thesis, McGill University, 2001;

Paquette, Dirk, "Organizational Change and Canada's Air Force", MA thesis, The University of Manitoba, 2001 (direct PDF link);

Plamondon, Aaron, "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;

Pletsch, Mary C., "The Guardian Angels of this Flying Business: RCAF Ground Crew in 6 Group", MA thesis, Royal Military College of Canada, 2002;

Ruffilli, Dean C., "Operational Research and the Royal Canadian Air Force Eastern Air Command's Search for Efficiency in Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare, 1942-1945", MA thesis, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2001 (direct PDF link);

Stone, J.C., "The Canadian Armed Forces and the Economics of Strategy", PhD dissertation, Royal Military College of Canada, 2005; and

Stouffer, R.W., "An Expression of Canadian Nationalism: The History of the No. 1 Royal Canadian Air Force Air Division and RCAF Cold War Air Power Choices, 1952-70", PhD dissertation, Royal Military College of Canada, 2005.

I promise that I will eventually come up with a solution as to how to combine the first two, and later, lists of MAs and PhDs in one central location for future reference.

Newspaper piece on the Canadian War Museum

I've been intending for some time to write some posts on various military museums in this country. After all, not all Canadian military history projects undertaken appear in print or on the internet, much of it being presented to the public in the exhibits and displays of military museums from coast to coast. So let's start with the biggest one. I found a piece from Alan Hustak, CanWest New Service, on Saturday titled "A sacred place: Evocative Canadian War Museum - full of inspirations, experiences - will have you coming back for more". The article provides some background on the new Canadian War Museum, some highlights, and contact information. The new museum, in my opinion, is definitely worth seeing. It's huge, so if you visit, be prepared for a long stay - probably an entire day.

New book notice by Library and Archives Canada for October 2006

Library and Archives Canada has released its new books list for October 2006. Of interest to readers of Canadian military history are the following: Jonathan Moore, Archaeological and Historical Investigations of three War of 1812 Wrecks at Kingston, Ontario: Report for Province of Ontario: licence to conduct archaeological exploration or fieldwork 1999-096 at sites BbGd-6, BbGc-45 and BbGc-46 (Ottawa: privately published, 2006); Raymond Collishaw with R.V. Dodds, The Black Flight (2nd edition, Ottawa: CEF Books, 2006, special edition reprint of 1973 edition of Air Command); Cynthia Faryon, Incredible Tales of the Royal Canadian Air Force (Canmore, AB: Altitude Publishing, 2006); Donald Harry Laird, Prisoner five-one-eleven (Ottawa: CEF Books, 2006, special edition reprint series); Jack Monroe, Mopping Up! (Ottawa: CEF Books, 2006, special edition reprint series); Stephen Brumwell, Paths of Glory: The Life and Death of General James Wolfe (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006); Cuthbert Gunning, North Bay: World War I and the Decade that Followed (North Bay, ON: privately printed, 2007); and Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, Halifax Citadel, Georges Island, Fort McNab, Prince of Wales Tower and York Redoubt National Historic Sites of Canada Management Plan / Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada de la Citadelle-d'Halifax, de l'Ile-Georges, du Fort-McNab, de la Tour-Prince-de-Galles et de la Redoute-York, plan directeur (Halifax, NS: Parks Canada, 2006).

New book by Jeffrey Keshen and Serge Durflinger

Jeffrey Keshen and Serge Durflinger, two Canadian military historians at the University of Ottawa, have published a textbook for war and society courses entitled War and Canadian Society through Thomson Nelson publishers. As the publisher's blurb puts it, the book "seeks to sensitize readers to selected topics in Canadian military and social-military history and to familiarize them with some important and often emotive writing about the effects of war on Canada in the post-Confederation era. The readings, drawn from the recent and not-so-recent historiography, are grouped around themes, or modules, which convey some measure of war's often transformative effect on Canada and Canadians." The themes or modules covered include "The Northwest Campaign", "Manliness, Militarism, and Imperialism", "Managing the Truth: Home and Front in the First World War", "Remembering Vimy", "The Second World War: Community, Family, and Youth in Montreal"; "A Nation Transformed", "The Air War: Canadian Participation in Bomber Command"; "Becoming Seasoned Soldiers - Canada's Campaign in Normandy", "Veterans of the World Wars", "Canada during the Cold War", "Aid to the Civil Power: The October Crisis and Oka October Crisis"; and "Peacemaking and Stability Operations: Somalia and the Balkans".

The 2004 issue of the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association

I recently ran across the index for volume 15, issue 1 (Winnipeg 2004) of the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association on the Canadian Historical Association's website. It contains the following items of note: Larry Hannant's "'My God, are they sending women?': Three Canadian Women in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939"; P. Whitney Lackenbauer's "The Irony and the Tragedy of Negotiated Space: A Case Study on Narrative Form and Aboriginal-Government Relations during the Second World War"; and Rachel Lea Heide's "Allies in Complicity: The United States, Canada, and the Clayton Knight Committee's Clandestine Recruiting of Americans for the Royal Canadian Air Force, 1940-1942".

Recent MA theses and PhD dissertations

I mentioned in a previous post how I'd like to gather the titles of recent (say past five years or so) master's theses and doctoral dissertations on Canadian military history. This is not the simplest thing to do, several sources being needed to try and gather together the information. What I figured I do, then, is occasionally post on this subject, listing my latest findings with links to their entry on the Library and Archives Canada database (where you can ILL these items from if you're interested). This time around I have found:

Legare, Jennifer Michelle, "'From the Ashes': The Niagara District in the War of 1812", MA thesis, University of Guelph, 2003;

Field, Vincenzo, "Explaining Armageddon: Popular Perceptions of Air Power in Canada and Britain and the Destruction of Germany, 1939-45", MA thesis, UNB, 2003 (UNB theses are not listed in the Library and Archives Canada listings);

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

Hunter, Jennifer, "'Is it even worthwhile doing the dishes?': Canadians and the Nuclear Threat, 1945-1963", PhD dissertation, McGill University, 2005;

Lackenbauer, Paul Whitney, "Vanishing Indian, Vanishing Military: Military Training and Aboriginal Lands in Twentieth Century Canada", PhD dissertation, University of Calgary, 2004;

Morin, Mélanie, "Lire entre les lignes : témoignages d'infirmières militaires canadiennes en service outre-mer pendant la Prèmiere Guerre mondiale", mémoire de maîtrise, Université de Moncton, 2005;

Wilford, Timothy, "Canada and the Far East crisis in 1941: Intelligence, Strategy and the Coming of the Pacific War", PhD dissertation, University of Ottawa, 2005;

Wilson, John Jason Collins, "Soldiers of Song: The Dumbbells and other Canadian concert parties of the First World War", MA thesis, University of Guelph, 2004;

Toman, Cynthia, "Officers and Ladies: Canadian Nursing Sisters, Women's Work, and the Second World War", PhD dissertation, University of Ottawa, 2003; and

Burianyk, Kathyrn Vera, "The Home Front in Regina during World War II", MA thesis, University of Regina, 2004.

Latest issue of the CHA Bulletin

I just received the latest issue of the Bulletin of the Canadian Historical Association (volume 32.3, 2006) which contains a couple of items relevant to Canadian military history. Desmond Morton makes the front page in a section on "History Debates the Issues / L'Histoire dans le débat public: 1" under the title "Some Military-Historical Reflections on Afghanistan. R.H. (Bob) Caldwell provides an "Exhibition Review: Clash of Empires: The War that Made Canada, 1754-1763", on the exhibit currently on at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

18th Military History Colloquium at Wilfrid Laurier University

Mike Bechthold, at the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, has sent me a copy of the call for papers for the 18th Military History Colloquium, to be held at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, from 4 to 5 May 2007. The document notes: "The primary focus will be on all periods of Canadian military history - pre-1914, First and Second World Wars, the Korean War and post-1945 developments including peacekeeping. Proposals for papers advancing new and innovative perspectives will receive first consideration. Papers addressing all facets of military history, including tactics and operations, social and cultural issues, economic impacts, and the home front, from the colonial era to the present day will be considered." Any scholar is welcome to submit but a proposal, but the colloquium's organizers have always particularly encouraged graduate students and recent PhDs to submit proposals. One-page proposals (e-mails preferred) can be sent to Mike Bechthold at the centre at mbechtho@wlu.ca. Update: Mike has let me know that the banquet during the colloquium will be held at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, with a tour of the museum being conducted before the banquet begins.

Book reviews in The Globe and Mail

Lieutenant Steven Dieter, an officer with The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment in Kingston, Ontario, and a grad student in the War Studies Programme at The Royal Military College of Canada, published three book reviews on Canadian military history in last weekend's edition of Books in The Globe and Mail. Yes! Military history in the Globe's review of books. Steven reviewed Kenneth Radley's We Lead, Others Follow: The First Canadian Division, 1914-1918 (he writes: "Radley, a former military officer, begins with the mobilization of Canadian men in 1914 and follows through to the war's end, examining the pains and trials faced by that First Division. It was the mould from which Canada's remaining three divisions would be created. One key theme comes through: First Division wasn't just a unit; it was a family."); Tim Cook's Clio's Warriors: Canadian Historians and the Writing of the World Wars (he writes: Cook "writes of the challenges faced by Canada's military historians after both world wars"); and Colonel Bernd Horn's (ed), The Canadian Way of War: Serving the National Interest (he writes that Horn has "collected and edited a series of essays about how and why Canadians have served in the military - and how that has affected the development of our country").

McNorgan and Lock's "Black Beret"

Today I had a chance to finish reading Major (ret'd) Michael R. McNorgan and Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas A. Lock's Black Beret: A History of The Windsor Regiment (RCAC) 1936-2006. You might not have even been aware that a history of the Windsors was underway. I admit to having advance knowledge as Mike McNorgan is a friend and former co-worker of mine and I was fortunate to get ahold of the copy from work that Mike gave our library. This regimental history was privately published by The Windsor Regiment Association and I'm really not sure how it's being sold, but anyone interested could contact them through the association's website. Update: Mike McNorgan sent me an e-mail with details on how to purchase the book. You can send a cheque to the WR Association - Kit Shop, Major F.A. Tilston, VC Armoury, 4007 Sandwich Street, Windsor, ON, N9C 1C3. You can also e-mail the association directly at wr_assoc@canada.com. The cost of the book is Cdn$ 50.00, tax included, plus Cdn$ 15.00 for shipping and handling in Canada. Foreign sales are also possible - send the association an e-mail message.

That said, and my connection to Mike announced, I'd like to give a bit of a book review on this history. My first thought, and I'll admit this might not sound all that charitable, is how interesting would a regimental history be of a (honour bearing) regiment which has no battle honours? Mike and LCol Lock, fortunately, proved my initial thought wrong, for which I am mightily glad. After all, in my own work on The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, I duly noted that for most of the regiment's history, the officers and soldiers were involved in peacetime activities. It's just that wartime is easier to write (in my opinion) and, well, more intriguing and exciting to most readers. This history of the Windsors is an interesting mix of the regiment's wartime and peacetime roles. Operations, training, the ups and downs of militia life (for individuals and the regiment itself), the regimental family, and ties to the community all tie together to provide an interesting story. Almost as interesting as the narrative are the abundant number of appendices covering everything from prominent members to buttons and bows to short memoirs. The book is also well-illustrated and obviously the product of a regimental family willing and able to spend money to have the job done right.