For many Canadians, mention of the name Farley Mowat is sure to pique the interest of most. Some Canadians might know Mowat as an environmentalist- a man whose writing and activism helped to change popular attitudes towards nature. His writing on the Canadian North specifically helped to draw much popular attention to occurrences in the...
Today's episode is dedicated to Canada's most proficient fighter pilot in the Second World War, George Buerling and his many stories from his time in the Royal Air Force.
The Italian Campaign in the Second World War is often overshadowed by the legacy of the D-Day Landings in June of 1944, however the soldiers who served in “Sunny Italy” faced their own share of trials and tribulations. The story of RSM Harry Fox is just one of these accounts. The collection of stories found...
Our Fathers’ Footsteps is about four average men among the millions of people who volunteered to serve their countries during World War II. These men had one thing in common. They all landed on Normandy’s beaches on June 6, 1944. Using family history books, letters, telegrams, journals, and Regimental War Diaries, Don Levers tells the...
What was the experience like for the many members of the air operations leading up to D-Day?Today’s episode tells just part of the story of Flight Lieutenant David Murray Peden, who recounts his role as an RCAF bomber pilot preceding D-Day in the early hours of June 6th, 1944. We are excited that Witnesses to...
For centuries, countries have relied on their non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps to form the backbone of their armed forces. The Canadian Army was no different in the Second World War. As it mobilized from fewer than 56,000 regular and part-time soldiers to almost a half-million men and women, it needed to grow an effective NCO...
Faced with the global environmental disaster that asserts itself a little more each day and that threatens peace in the world, we began asking ourselves some questions: What have we done with the peace obtained by the Allied Forces in Europe in 1944-1945? What are we going to do with it in the future? As...
August 2022 will mark 80 years since the Dieppe Raid – Operation Jubilee. In nine hours, a force of nearly 5,000 Canadians suffered over 800 killed, with two-thirds of the force dead, wounded, or captured. Canada’s darkest moment of the Second World War remains shrouded in controversy, mystery, and tragedy. For decades, the disaster dominated...
Today’s episode is a little different. Instead of a guest interview, we are pleased to share stories about Canadians who served during the world wars. This is a new feature of the podcast and we hope to bring it to you regularly. Today’s stories take us from the forests of France behind the trenches in...
In fall 1941, the Canadian government accepted a request to reinforce the British garrison at Hong Kong. Canada sent two infantry battalions, the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers, a brigade headquarters, and two nurses from the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. “C” Force, as they were known, arrived in Hong Kong on...