Canadian Armed Forces
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Early Armour in Canadian Service
A detailed review of the development and use from WWI to the early years of WWII.
Excuse Us! Herr Schicke Gruber
This is the memoir of a Canadian Army officer who commanded an infantry company of the Royal Winninpeg Rifles in Normandy during World War II.
Fall of an Arrow
On February 20, 1959, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker announced to the House of Commons the cancellation of the CF-105 Arrow. Its development costs to that time were $340 million. The Arrow was to be the world's unsurpassed interceptor aircraft. Yet within two months of the Prime Minister's announcement, six completed aircraft were dismantled and all papers and documents associated with the project were destroyed.
Here is the history and development of the Arrow - the plane that would make Canada the leader in supersonic flight technology. The Arrow was designed to fly at twice the speed of sound and carry the most advanced missile weapons system.
Here are the stories of the men and women who were in the vanguard of the new technology - who had come from England, Poland, and the United States to make aviation history.
Fifty Years After
A skilful blend of Canadian War History and the personal accounts of young men and women who participated in the Second World War.
Flying under Fire, Volume Two: More Aviation Tales from the Second World War
Building on the success of the previous volume, Flying Under Fire, Volume Two, features nine more personal accounts from Canadian pilots who flew in the Second World War. From training camps to posting across Canada, Britain, Europe, and North Africa, these stories capture the excitement, fear, hope, and dread of war-time service, and are all told with the vivid detail of first-hand experience.
The contributors to this volume are a distinguished group: two are Air Commodores, three are Hall of Fame members, one has an Order of Canada and a McKee Trophy, and five have Distinguished Flying Crosses. Some, including Art Wahlroth and Bob Fowler, flew bombing missions in the war, many were fighters, and others, like Bill Carr and Jack Winship, performed reconnaissance duties, but all brought back tales of incredible resourcefulness and courage in the face of danger. And central to all their stories are the planes - Mosquitoes, Spitfires, Wellingtons, Meteors, Mitchells, and Kittyhawks fill the pages, each exhibiting the special quirks and personalities the pilots came to know and trust.
Flying Under Fire, Volume Two, pays tribute to the roughly 35,000 Canadian airmen involved in the Second World War, honouring their contributions and preserving their stories for generations to come.
Flying Under Fire: Canadian Fliers Recall the Second World War
Thousands of young Canadians volunteered for service in the RCAF, RAF, and other air services during WWII, risking their lives to protect others. The airforce played a critical part in the Allied victory and the stories of those brave men and women are as powerful and gripping as they were sixty years ago.
The stories collected in Flying Under Fire were originally published in the Canadian Aviation Historical Society Journal and are the first-hand accounts of pilots, trainees, and ground crew who recall the danger, excitement, tragedy, and victory of serving their country. They bring an immediacy and a special brand of grim humour to their tales, capturing the hopes, fears, and spirit of the times.
This book, made possible by the survivors of a long and difficult war, is dedicated to the memory of the 14,541 air personnel who did not return.
Forced March to Freedom
The prisoners of Stalag Luft III endured two forced marches across Germany in the final months of World War II. This is an illustrated diary recorded at the scene.
Canadian, Robert Buckham was employed as a graphic artist in several studios in Toronto and as an art director in a Montreal advertising agency prior to enlisting in the RCAF. Twice rejected for aircrew because he was too tall, he was finally accepted for pilot training in May of 1941. He was posted overseas in early 1942 and eventually joined 428 Squadron, 6 Group, based in Dalton, Yorkshire, where he flew Wellington X bombers over Germany and German-occupied France. His aircraft was downed on April 8, 1943, on his tenth operational flight. He and his entire crew were captured. Imprisoned in Stalag Luft 3, Sagan, Germany, where he recorded the scene in small drawings and paintings, which were eventually rolled and carried on two forced marches in a tube created from soldered Klimcans. The forced marches brought him to Stalag 8B, Lubeck, where he was finally liberated.
Generalship and the Art of the Admiral: Perspectives on Canadian Senior Military Leadership
This thoughtful and provocative book is a compendium of works by well known Canadian authors, scholars and serving Canadian Forces officers that express the unique Canadian experience and outlook in regard to Generalship and the Art of the Admiral. The book examines Canadian generalship from a number of perspectives such as the historic experience, the nature of higher command, recent operations, and the functional roles and responsibilities of generalship.
Girl in a Sloppy Joe Sweater: Life on the Canadian Home Front During World War Two
A light-hearted but true-to-life account of Canadian home front living during the war years.
Great War Tanks in Canadian Service
A concise illustrated history of early tanks in Canadian service during World War I. Text and photos give us a good account of the first Canadian tank units and life in tanks during the Great War. A useful addition to this series and coverage of Great War armour.
Guns of the Regiment
Since Confederation, the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery has used more than 130 types of gun, howitzer, mortar, and rocket. Each gun was purchased or manufactured to fill a role in the defence of Canada, or in support of Canadian foreign policy. It then served with the Regiment, and was modified, modernized, or upgraded as necessary. Finally, it was transferred into the reserves, and later, a few retired in museums or as monuments.
"Guns of the Regiment" will be an invaluable resource to anyone with an interest in the weapons used by the Canadian artillery. Each gun has its own section, detailing its development and its career in the Regiment at home and overseas. Special sections deal with the manufacture of the guns, the organization and operation of the Regiment, and the mechanization of the artillery in the 1930s. Every gun is illustrated by at least one photograph, many of which have never been previously published.
Halifax at War: Searchlights, Squadrons and Submarines 1939-1945
From early September, 1939 Halifax was at war. When the war began, people gathered along the waterfront to watch the fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy leave. For the next six years, the city was uniquely affected by the war's events. Halifax at War explores this transformation of the city and civilian life, making use of a rich blend of historical, biographical and archival sources.
Bill Naftel describes the incredible demands placed upon the city due to the war -- which far exceeded any other city in Canada. Halifax's infrastructure was barely able to cope as thousands of soldiers and sailors streamed through the city and thousands more arrived for war-related work. At first the war was welcomed for the jobs it created and the prosperity it brought, but soon crowding and inflated prices proved a trial for native Haligonians as well as thousands of temporary residents.
Reflecting new insights derived from primary documents, this lively history offers a new perspective on the impact of the war on Canada and Canadians, and on the many ways in which Halifax played a unique role in supporting Canada's contribution to the allied war effort.
Hands to Flying Stations: A Recollective History of Canadian Naval Aviation 1945-1954 (Volume 1)
In the first ten years, fifty eight young men of all ranks died, serving in the cause of Canadian Naval Aviation. Volume One of HANDS TO FLYING STATIONS describes for the first time those early days, and is the story as told by those who were there.
Hands to Flying Stations: A Recollective History of Canadian Naval Aviation 1955-1969 (Volume 2)
As told by those who were there, this is the story of the early years of Canadian Naval Aviation.
Heartbreak and Heroism: Canadian Search and Rescue Stories
This book is about some of the most dramatic search-and-rescue operations in Canada. Whether the action is on the heaving deck of a sinking ship off the Newfoundland coast, within the incredibly confining walls of a power plant in Ontario, or high on a cliff face on a British Columbia mountain, each of these stories is exciting, memorable, and true. They are accounts of courage, loyalty, perseverance, and sacrifice that knows no bounds.
We read of the heartbreaking last days of an Anglican missionary fighting for his life in a lonely Arctic outpost. Another chapter relays a dramatic rooftop rescue in New Brunswick. We meet people who are saved from floods, fires, plane crashes, earth movements, and violent storms. No less are the stories of the sometimes unexpected and tragic losses of the rescuers.
Because Canada is so vast, Search and Rescue capability has to span the nation, and extend from sea to sea to sea. No other country has done what we have done. Heartbreak and Heroism is popular history at its most exciting.
Highway of Heroes: True Patriot Love
Canadians line the overpasses of the Highway of Heroes to show their support, grief, and pride in our fallen champions.
The first four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan were repatriated at Canadas largest military base in 2002. The fallen soldiers were driven down the 172-kilometre stretch of highway between Trenton and Toronto, and pedestrians lined the overpasses, hoping to make a connection with the grieving families. The support these people show isn't political; its not a movement for or against Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. Its always been a grassroots movement about showing respect for our fallen champions. People young and old, emergency services workers, Canadian Legion members, military personnel, friends of the fallen, and family of fallen soldiers stand atop each bridge along the highway in the blistering heat or bone-chilling cold. After five years of this display of patriotism, the Highway of Heroes was officially named in the summer of 2007 and has been a gleaming example of a nations grief and its pride.
HMCS Haida: Battle Ensign Flying
This is the story of Canada's greatest destroyer, the aggressive and hard-hitting Haida. She is Canada's most decorated warship, winning honours in the Arctic, English Channel, Normandy, Bay of Biscay, and Korea. Her first commander, the late Harry DeWolf, is Canada's most famous naval hero. Since her decommissioning in 1963, Haida, the last of the feisty Tribals, has been preserved as a national naval memorial. HMCS Haida's story is an account of sharp-end war; of Canada's naval experience in Murmansk convoys and British Home Fleet protection; in English Channel operations, when Canadian and British naval units swept the German naval ensign from the seas; in the destruction of a U-boat, and in the liberation of Trondheim, Normay. Haida was always in on the action. She sank more enemy military tonnage than any other Canadian vessel.Haida's finest days were during the intense naval operations leading up to D-Day. With her sisters Huron and Iroquois and the ill-fated Athabaskan, with British and Polish men of war, she engaged German destroyers, torpedo boats, minesweepers and others and never lost. She vigorously carried the war to the enemy at great risk. Her postwar career including two tours in the Korean theater displays the same brave purpose in her officers and men, trained professionals and dedicated sailors. Barry Gough has written a new chapter in Canadian naval annals, showing that the best equipment brings forth the best results when good fortune and superb seamanship and weapons handling are matched in equal measure Haida's illustrious story.
HMCS Swansea: The Life and Times of a Frigate
HMCS Swansea is the story of a ship, just one of Canada's several hundred warships. It is also the story of the men who served in her, and of other ships who operated with her, in wartime in EG-9, and in peacetime in her various training roles. It is a representative tale that could have been told, and has been, of any one of a hundred similar ships of the Royal Canadian Navy.
HMCS Swansea is typical, yet atypical. Typical in that she participated in the Battle of the Atlantic in the same way as her sister frigates; atypical in that she was involved in the destruction of four U-boats, more than any other RCN ship. And it was in this role of hunter-killer that she was absolutely the best.
Those who served in Swansea remember her with affection; she generated, and for some still generates, much joy, remembrance and even love. All think of her as their ship.
In Canadian Service Aircraft 3: Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax, along with the Avro Lancaster and the Short Stirling, was one of the three heavy bombers employed by The Royal Air Force Bomber Command in its aerial offensive against the Axis in W.W.II.
Although overshadowed by the legendary Lancaster, the Halifax played a major role in the night bombing campaign, in antisubmarine operations, meteorological reconnaissance, transport, and towing gliders in airborne operations.
In all, over 6,000 Halifax aircraft were produced and these were flown in over 75,000 missions. It served from 1941 until finally retired in 1952. At one time during their service in the RAF Bomber Command all 15 RCAF Bomber Squadrons and three Heavy Conversion Units were equipped with the Halifax, several operating only the Halifax.
Although some squadrons began reequipping with the Lancaster beginning in late 1943, the Halifax was the mainstay of these squadrons from 1942 to the end of the war in night bombing and mine laying operations. This book documents the development of the Halifax aircraft from its inception during the expansion of the RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s until production ended in 1946.
Its service with RCAF 6 Group of Bomber Command, and its operations with all 15 RCAF Squadrons is related, with representative photographs. A complete description of each version of the aircraft is presented, along with accurate multi-view line drawings and photographs.
The aircraft defensive and offensive armament is described as well as color schemes and markings. Finally, a chapter is dedicated to modeling the Halifax with descriptions of kits and decal markings that have been produced.
This book will be a worthy addition to the collection of the historian, to the modeler and for those who served in the Halifax squadrons or their families.
In Flanders Field: The Story of John McCrae
Called the most talented Canadian physician of his time, John McCrae (1872-1918) achieved international fame by his poem, "In Flanders Fields." The most popular English-language poem of the First World War, it has made the poppy inseparable from memories of war.
John McCrae's life was a microcosm of the years of tumultuous changes in late Victorian Canada. Son of Scottish pioneers, he fought in the Boer and First World Wars, taught medicine art McGill University, was a member of the influential English-speaking elite of Montreal, and a friend of the great and near-great. Deeply religious, he was marked by kindliness and laughter.
This book describes the full-blooded vigour of John McCrae's early and middle years, the writing of "In Flanders Fields" at the height of a battle in 1915, the impact of the poem, and the tragedy of his last years working in a Canadian hospital in war torn France.
In Peril on the Sea: The Royal Canadian Navy and the Battle of the Atlantic
During the Second World War the Royal Canadian Navy expanded from a tiny service of 10 ships in 1939 to become the third largest Allied navy by 1945. Its primary role was convoy escort in the North Atlantic to keep open the vital lifeline carrying supplies to Britain. In small, ill-equipped ships, most notably the famous corvettes, the RCN battled U-boats and dreadful weather in a role that has often gone unheralded in many histories. This book was commissioned by the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic. Written and complied by Donald E. Graves, it includes not only the author's text but many excerpts from the recollections of those who took part... Canadian, German, sailors, civilians. The book is generously illustrated with photographs as well as drawing, maps and diagrams that explain the intricacies of anti-submarine warfare in World War II.
In Search of Pegasus: The Canadian Airborne Experience 1942-1999
This book is the first substantial attempt to chronicle the entire airborne experience, spanning over fifty-six years. Although often viewed as outcasts and pariahs, Canada's intrepid paratroopers have always represented the best combat soldiers this country has been able to offer. Renowned for their courage, initiative, physical prowess, and indomitable spirit, the nation's paratroopers have always represented the proficiency of the Canadian army. Aided by 400-plus dramatic photographs and a meticulously researched text, it opens the history and operational contribution of Canada's airborne forces to the public eye. From its beginnings as 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion in 1942 through the disbandment of the Canadian Airborne Regiment in 1995 and its aftermath it affirms the necessity of parachute capability. It is a tribute to their professionalism and tenacity.
Into the Maelstrom: The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion – History, Insignia, Uniforms
An excellent and thorough summary of uniforms, equipment and insignia researched from primary sources, backed by a great selection of photographs, many from private collections. Ken Joyce's work on the battalion has been unrivaled, and the book is an excellent reference.
Jump Wings: History of Canadian Airborne Qualification Badges, 1942-2012
Canadian parachute-related 'wings'. Included are the first styles of wings introduced during the Second World War and continued to the present. Other sections address Para Rigger, Search and Rescue, Pathfinder/Scout and Army Pilot wings.
Leaving a Contrail
In 1954, nineteen-year-old Mike Zrymiak drove into Regina to follow a whim and enlist in the RCAF. So began a thirty-year adventure that saw this one-time Saskatchewan farm boy flying Harvards to Cosmopolitans, nervous students to royalty, during one of the most politically charged eras of modern history—the Cold War. He remembers this career in his latest book, Leaving a Contrail.
As one of seven children born to Ukrainian emigrants during the Great Depression, thoughts of becoming a pilot and an officer were the furthest from anyone’s mind—including Mike’s. Yet Mike discovered his passion in flying, and found himself thriving in an environment that demanded both discipline and initiative. While he, like many of his generation, considers the unification experiment of 1968 the low point of his time in service, his career afforded many high points as well, including serving as Harvard instructor to NATO pilots, pilot with 412 Squadron flying VIPs, protocol officer with Northern NORAD HQ North Bay, commander of Lahr Airfield, studies at the National Defence Staff College, military attaché to Czechoslovakia, deputy commander of Air Command Air Reserves, and commander of CFB Namao.
However, as Vic Johnson, editor of Airforce Magazine, states, Leaving a Contrail is much more than just another military memoir. "[It] expresses many closely held opinions on the DND HQ hierarchy, [including] enforced bilingualism, the effect of ‘human rights’ on Canada’s military and other controversial subjects based on his many years at the ‘Head Shed’ in Ottawa . . . . [yet] is written in a breezy, easy-to-read style and flows from one posting to the next."
One of those postings included a two-year stint behind the Iron Curtain during the 1980s, where more than once he found himself face-to-face with nervous representatives of the ruling Communist regime, their fingers on the trigger.
Lords of the Lake: The Naval War on Lake Ontario, 1812-1814
Of all the struggles that took place along the border between the United States and Britain's provinces in Canada during the War of 1812, the one that lasted the longest was the battle for control of Lake Ontario. Because the armies depended on the lake for transportation, controlling it was a key element in the war on land. Both Britain and the US threw manpower and resources into efforts to build inland navies, culminating on the British side in a ship larger than Nelson's "Victory." This is the first full-length study of this aspect of the War of 1812
Making Tracks: Tank Production in Canada
The first ever examination of this unknown story. Based on official reports and coupled with many recently uncovered photographs. The book covers the initial manufacture of Valentine tanks and examines the production of the Sexton SP, the Grizzly, the Ram Mks I and II and the virtually unknown Skink AA Tank. 56 pages and 51 illustrations.
More Fighting for Canada: Five Battles, 1769-1944
More Fighting for Canada is the second volume of the "Fighting for Canada" series and contains five detailed accounts of battles fought in Canada or by Canadian soldiers overseas. Included are the battle of Sillery (1760), the last major action of the Seven Years War in America and a French victory; Cut Knife Hill, 1885, fought between the Canadian militia and the aboriginal peoples; Paardeberg, 1900, Canada's first major overseas action; Iwuy, 1918, the last cavalry Canadian cavalry charge; and the Melfa River, 1944, a desperately-fought river crossing that resulted in the award of the Victoria Cross. Written by professional soldiers (all being combat arms veterans) and edited and with an introduction by Donald E. Graves, More Fighting for Canada concentrates on the tactical level of war, the "sharp end" where the fighting takes place.
Nickels and Nightingales
Written by a decorated Canadian air force hero, this is a compelling recollection of how one young man successfully beat the odds of war.
No Day Long Enough: Canadian Science in World War II
More than one million Canadians served in uniform during the Second World War. The story of their efforts and sacrifices is one field that has often been told and is known to most Canadians.
Less well-known is the story of the nation's scientists and engineers, many of them just out of university at the time, who toiled endless hours in the name of the war effort. Led by a handful of visionaries, these youngsters, most with more enthusiasm than experience, developed the technologies Canada needed to arm and support our fighting services. For them, racing against the clock in a war against a ruthless and often savage enemy, there was no day long enough to allow them to complete everything they'd hoped to do by each day's end.
The stories in this book, most of them first-hand accounts, give us a glimpse of their hard work and triumphs during a war they had to win.
Not All of Us Were Brave: Perth Regiment – 11th Infantry Brigade, 5th Canadian Armoured Division
This is the story of a young mans journey through World War II. It covers a wide cross section of the strengths and weaknesses of young men not attuned to killing, and not mentally prepared to face the horror of seeing their close friends die violent deaths in battle. The story is about the hopes, the prayers, the fears, the daily miseries and even the lighter moments that the aspiring heroes of the Perth Regiment experienced on the Italian front as part of 11th Infantry Brigade, 5th Canadian Armoured Division.
As the title suggests, from his first battle inoculation Private Stan Scislowski realizes he is not destined for the heroic role to which he once aspired. His fears affect him deeply: his burning dream of returning home a national hero becomes more and more improbable, and his attempts to come to terms with his un-heroic nature make the war as much a mental battle as a physical one. His story is much like that of the overwhelming number of Canadians who found themselves in the cauldron of war, serving their country with all the strength they could find, even when that strength was fading fast.
Not All of Us Were Brave focuses not on the heroes, but on the ordinary soldiers who endured the mud, the misery, the ever-present fear, the inspiration, and the degradation. The narrative holds nothing back: the dirty linen is aired along with the clean; the light is shown alongside the dark. It shows what war is all about.
Oakville’s Flower: The History of the HMCS Oakville
The story of HMCS Oakville, a corvette that fought U-boats in WWII and remains a hero to its hometown in Oakville, Ontario.
This is an in-depth look at the history and legacy of HMCS Oakville, a Canadian World War II corvette that fought in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was one of the few corvettes to sink a U-boat. From its creation through its christening off the shores of its namesake town, its exploits at sea, the famous encounter with U94, and the ships lackluster end, Oakvilles is a story that showcases not only our nations proud naval heritage, but also the importance of remembrance.
Oakvilles Flower sets the scene of naval war in the Atlantic ? the battles between convoys, stealthy U-boats, and the lowly corvettes that formed the backbone of the Royal Canadian Navy. We follow Oakville, one of those corvettes, through its rise and fall as a Canadian naval legend, to its revival in the town of Oakville, championed by the local Sea Cadet Corps that shares its name and safeguards its legacy.