# Today in Military History



## big bad john

We have the sidebar "Today in Military History".   It an and of itself is a wonderful idea.   An excelllent educational tool.   But to go on from there I have started this thread.   Just to expand on the items everyday.   Please let me know if I should continue this.   All are encouraged to contribute.

The first item is below:

   
   Major Charles Ferguson Hoey
Maungdaw, Burma
February 16th, 1944
1st Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment 

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Charles Ferguson Hoey was born in Duncan, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on the 29th of March 1914. He was educated at the Duncan Grammar School and at the Duncan High School. In April 1933 he went to England with the intention of making the army his career. He first enlisted in the West Kent Regiment, won a cadetship to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and went there in September 1935. He graduated from Sandhurst in December 1936 and, after a brief visit home to Duncan, joined the 2nd Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment, which is now the Royal Lincolnshires following distinguished service fighting in Burma. He transferred to the 1st Battalion of the Lincolnshires, then in India and sailed for there in September 1937. He went to Burma with the 1st Battalion in 1942 and served there until his death in February 1944. He was awarded the Military Cross in July 1943 for his outstanding service at Maungdaw during a raid on a Japanese position. His Victoria Cross came as a result of the action described in the citation. Major Hoey is buried in Taukkyan Cemetery, Rangoon, Burma. His Victoria Cross is on display at the Sabraon Barrack in Lincoln, England. 
Citation
'In Burma, on the 16th February 1944, Major Hoey's company formed a part of a force which was ordered to capture a position at all costs.

After a night march through enemy held territory the force was met at the foot of the position by heavy machine-gun fire.

Major Hoey personally led his company under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire right up to the objective. Although wounded at least twice in the leg and head, he seized a Bren gun from one of his men and firing from the hip, led his company on to the objective. In spite of his wounds the company had difficulty keeping up with him, and Major Hoey reached the enemy strong post first, where he killed all the occupants before being mortally wounded.

Major Hoey's outstanding gallantry and leadership, his total disregard of personal safety and his grim determination to reach the objective resulted in the capture of this vital position.'


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## big bad john

HMCS Saint John, March 26, 1944
The river class frigate HMCS Saint John, K456, was built by Canadian Vickers Ltd. in Montreal. She was laid down on May 28, 1943 and launched on August 25, 1943. Lieutenant Commander WR Stacey, RCNVR, brought his ship to the City on a courtesy call. After a parade, Mayor Wasson, standing to Stacey's right, presented the ship with a piano, a washing machine, gramophone, records, books for a library, a serving tray, water jug, cigarette box and ash trays. Stacey commanded HMCS Saint John during her attack on U-247. Under command of Oblt. Gerhard Matschulat, U-247 had one ship sunk to her credit, the British fish trawler Noreen Mary on July 5, 1944. The Saint John sank U-247, with the loss of all 52 hands, on Sept. 1, 1944 in the Channel near Lands End, by depth charges. HMCS Swansea was also given shared credit for the sinking. LtCmdr. Stacey was on leave when she killed her second U boat. U-309, under command of Oblt. Herbert Loeder, was depth charged by Saint John on Feb. 16, 1945 in the North Sea. Saint John arrived at Cardiff for repairs on Feb. 27, 1945, and, when these were completed in April, proceeded to Saint John for tropicalization refit from May to Oct. 1945. HMCS Saint John was paid off Nov. 27, 1945 at Halifax. She was placed in reserve in Bedford Basin until sold in 1947 for scrapping at Sydney.


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## big bad john

Destruction of Truk
(February 17-18, 1944)

Truk had been the main base for Combined Fleet since the beginning of the war, and for the first two years of the conflict was considered an unassailable bastion. However, by early 1944 the American carrier forces in the Pacific had grown so monumentally in strength that attacks that would have been unthinkable a mere six months earlier became possible. In early February, Task Force 58 under Admiral Mitscher came against Truk with an enormous force of eight carriers and six battleships. Warned by radio intelligence, the Japanese had withdrawn the majority of their heavy surface units immediately prior. However, the Americans had a field day against the few light surface combatants they found, as well as against the numerous transports anchored in the lagoon. In two days of raids, American aircraft destroyed most of the ground facilities and fighter cover, and wiped out practically everything afloat. Those vessels which managed to flee the atoll were eliminated by the American surface and submarine forces ringing the area. Truk was reduced to near-uselessness, and would sit out the remainder of the war as a virtual backwater, cut of from the ongoing American offenses in the central Pacific.


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## Jonny Boy

i think we should keep the topics and things that happend on this day in history to be CANADIAN. not that there is anything wrong with other countries history, but it is a Canadian army website. hence the army.CA


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## big bad john

No problem, but I took them from the history calender that the owner of the site has set up.  If you notice the VC winner from yesterday, he was a Canadian.
I also thought that we all could learn from everyone else regardless of nationality.  How does everyone else feel?


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## vangemeren

I love the idea. I always look at Today in history and want a short explanation of the event. I would like to help, but I don't think I would be able to give my 100% in terms of time.


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## Shec

First off, many thanks Big Bad John for this.     Secondly, to address the "Canadian only vs. any nationality is relevant" question   may I suggest that drawing some sort of a Canadian connection to an otherwise non-Canadian event might be a guiding consideration.        Major Hoey VC's Canadian origins being a perfect example.


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## Jonny Boy

well in all honesty if you want to know about Americans specifically in history than just go and rent one of the hundreds of movies and TV series about how they one the war. i would really like to see and hear more about Canadians in the 1st and 2nd world war. it seems that even Canadians know more about American history than they do there own.


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## big bad john

There has only been one mention of Americans here, today and that is because it is on the sites Military History Calender.  I haven't seen a lot of US content on this site.  If there is something that you don't want to read, then you have the freedom not to read it.

We all, regardless of experience, learn from our friends, allies and our enemies.  No one else seems to mind.


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## Jonny Boy

i dont mind..... i would just like it to stay with canadian history. they isnt anything wrong with that is there?


well here are 2 things that have happend on this day in canadian military history

17 February 1795
The Queen's Rangers finish clearing a path from York (Toronto) to Lake Simcoe, which is then named Younge Street.  It has taken the troops the better part of a year to complete the new road, labouring through intense cold, hilly terrain, and dense hardwood trees.




17 February 1917
Flt. Lt. Hugh Aird of Toronto takes part in a bombing mission against the Buk bridge in Macedonia. Aird drops three 100-pound bombs on the bridge, preventing its further use by the Turks.


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## big bad john

Then please add them to the "Today in Military History" Military Calendar.  Mike has thoughtfully placed an add an entry button there.  When you put it there we all get to learn.
Can you expand on the two items you provided?  Thank you for providing them.


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## Jonny Boy

I can give the web site where i got the info it is pretty good 

http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/tih/tih_e.html

ummm i dont really know if i can expand on those to exept that the one in 1917 with the boming. with the planes use as for as i know would have been very difficult for the pioletto fly the ww1 plane over enemy territory while carrying 300 pounds of bombs.

that is  about all i can really expand on. the other one is pretty basic on this day they finished building younge st up to lake simcoe (Barrie, Ontario) the CO' name was John Graves Simcoe so the lake was named after him.


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## big bad john

That's it!  Keep them coming.  The more we all contribute the more we all enjoy.  

Thank you Hutch.


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## Jonny Boy

oh i have some more here 


17/2/1939
The Royal Canadian Air Force receives its first delivery of Hawker Hurricane fighters, intended to replace severely outdated aircraft of the time. this was just intime for the begining of the 2nd world war.

17/2/1937
The destroyers HMCS FRASER and HMCS ST LAURENT were commissioned at Chatham, England.

17/2/1944
HMCS ALGONQUIN (Destroyer) is commissioned at Glasgow, Scotland.

17/2/1959
The Cabinet officially cancels production of the Avro Arrow aircraft. the avro arrow was the fastest plane in the world at that time. in modern time they are still struggling to get planes to go any faster. The Avro Arrow could reach up to MACH 2+. since one of the arrows went missing before it could be destroyed it is atill suspected that it is still out somewhere in one peice.


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## big bad john

Have you added them to the Calendar?  If not, you'll find the button on the bar at the top of the page.


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## Jonny Boy

yup i have added them all to the today in history i will try and do the same tommorow and every day if i am not to busy. i love sharing canadian history with other people


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## big bad john

Good on you!


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## big bad john

"Feb. 18-27, 1900: The Battle of Paardeberg Drift is Canada's first great victory overseas, a defining moment in Canadian history. The Royal Canadian Regiment scores the first real victory in the South African War with its defeat of Boer forces under General Piet Cronje. In a fierce and parching battle, the Canadians persist against effective Boer marksmen and determined troops. In the first day of fighting, RCR casualties are 18 men killed, 63 wounded. The battle continues for 10 days of horrid weather, bitter fighting and inadequate supplies and rations. The RCR holds the line to force the Boers to surrender on Feb. 27, the highly symbolic Majuba Day, the anniversary of the Boer triumph over the British in 1881. Paardeberg becomes the first British success in a war that, to that point, was a long succession of disasters."  Legion Magazine

The Battle of Paardeberg-Second Boer War 1900

One day towards the end of January 1900 'Fighting Mac' arrived at the Modder River Camp to take up his command, and the Highland Brigade turned out to welcome their new Brigadier. The Modder River camp lay where the rivers Riet and Modder meet. Hector Macdonald was considered a worthy successor to Lord Clyde, Sir Archibald Alison, and 'Andy' Wauchope, a fit man to command Scotland's sons. And that meant a very fine man indeed. There was a great deal of work to do, and the new commanders welcomed it.

When Macdonald arrived at the Modder he was cheered by the men. Then he called his battalion commanders together and talked to them. The disaster at Magersfontein must be forgotten. The way ahead would be difficult, but Lord Roberts was taking over command, and from now on there would be no looking back. To give the men something to think and talk about, Macdonald announced one day that for a few hours he would temporarily take over personal command of a company - normally a Captain's duty. Parading this company before the whole brigade he informed them that they had to contend against a wily enemy capable of playing clever tricks. They would have to use all their cunning to beat the Boers at their own game.

After addressing the company, he put them through an hour's parade-ground drill. It is safe to say that they had never before been drilled by a General with a Colour-Sergeant's word of command and a voice that carried far beyond the tents of the camp. The Highland Brigade talked of very little else that day; everyone agreed that 'Fighting Mac' was the man to get things done. Besides, he knew his drill book, and that was rare. Macdonald had many years of experience behind him. He had served in the ranks and he knew what private soldiers thought and how they behaved; in some respects he never ceased to be an ordinary Highland soldier. He was not a man who sat in the Officers' Mess and left the care of his men to subordinates. So when he set out to inspect his new command, visiting each battalion in turn, he made sure he not only met every officer personally, but also as many of the N.C.O.s and men as possible.

One of the criticisms of Kitchener was that he hardly ever talked to the men. But 'Fighting Mac' went amongst them, asked to meet non-commissioned officers, inspected the cook-houses, made sure the troops were being properly fed, examined a platoon's boots, inquired into the recreational facilities, and arrived unexpectedly at drill parades to see what was happening. And to make the Highlanders forget their recent set-back, and give them something to think about, he ordered a series of ceremonial 'spit-and-polish' parades.

Riding on a gray horse down the ranks of the Black Watch, the Argyll and Sutherlands, the Seaforths, and the Highland Light Infantry, 'Fighting Mac' stopped, dismounted, talked to men and their commanders, shook hands with private soldiers and Lance-corporals, let them have a good look at him, expressed surprise if buttons or brasses were unpolished, drank with the officers and Sergeants in their messes, and in three days had won the hearts of what had seemed a dispirited, lost brigade.

On February 8th, 1900, Roberts and Kitchener arrived at the Modder camp, where there were now some 37,000 men, 113 guns, 12,000 horses, and 22,000 transport animals. It was reported that there were no less than seventy-eight 'Fighting Macs', twenty-one of them Macdonalds.

To mislead the enemy and divert attention, Macdonald's brigade, with two squadrons of the 9th Lancers and the 62nd Battery under command, left the Modder camp on Saturday, February 3rd, and marched to Koodosberg Drift, a crossing of the river. The drift, or ford, was found to be undefended and was at once seized by Macdonald, who, after pitching camp on the south bank, sent out strong parties across the drift to seize and entrench the Koodosberg and some adjacent hills. A few Boer scouts were seen hurrying away with news of his arrival, and on Tuesday, February 6th, large numbers of enemy were seen assembling on the north bank. Next morning they began an attack on a crest held by the Seaforths. Macdonald immediately ordered two companies of the Black Watch and two of the Highland Light Infantry into the fight and inflicted severe losses on the enemy.

Surveying the position from a low hill, he made a rapid appreciation of the situation and decided that if a mounted force were dispatched from the Modder camp the Boers could be surrounded. A message was sent back to Lord Methuen, who sent out reinforcements, but the Boer scouts quickly observed the movement of the large body of men and horses and guns, and the enemy withdrew up-country.

On February 9th the brigade returned to camp, and next day Lord Roberts, who had now arrived with Kitchener and his staff, visited the Highlanders to congratulate them on having successfully engaged the enemy. Addressing the battalions drawn up on parade, he said he looked to them under General Macdonald to act up to their great traditions during the difficult months ahead. While Macdonald had been claiming the attention of the Boers on the river, Roberts had withdrawn his main force some forty miles south, moving the troops by rail with such secrecy that even Commanding Officers had no idea where they were going. By the night of Sunday, February 1lth, about 5,000 men had been concentrated at Ramsden, twenty miles north-east of Belmont, and were ready to advance. Thus began the historic battle of Paardeberg.

Kitchener now took over active command, Lord Roberts unfortunately having been taken ill suddenly with a feverish cold. He set up his headquarters on the night of February 17th, 1900, on a hill south of the river, five miles from Paardeberg. Later the hill became known as Kitchener's Kopje. From it he and his staff watched the Boers early next morning, some 5,000 men, women, and children assembled in the laager surrounded by British troops. He now ordered Macdonald to advance with his brigade and clear the enemy from the right river bank. At the same time a full scale infantry attack was launched in the central sector.

Macdonald rode out to make a reconnaissance of the ground over which his battalions must pass and found no cover at all. The land sloping down to the river bank was flat, treeless, and without rocks or boulders. The whole movement would have to be carried out within sight and range of the enemy's position. His right wing was required to wheel round straight on to the river, leaving the left and centre battalions to clear the forward enemy positions from the river bed. The maneuver was plainly ill-conceived. But a brigade commander did not argue with Kitchener, one obeyed. So he called his battalion commanders together, and with a heavy heart gave them their orders.

The Boers waited silently until the leading Highlanders were within a hundred yards of their forward posts and then opened fire. As the first unexpected fusillade hit the advancing Scots they faltered and fell flat, and those who were not dead or wounded began to crawl, still clearly visible in the morning sunlight. It was almost impossible for a man to dig in while lying on his stomach under close fire, but somehow - although they were being killed by the dozen - they managed to stay where they were for the whole day, returning the enemy fire and retaining the initiative, but quite unable to move forward. They lost heavily, but they did not withdraw. Macdonald himself was wounded in the foot by a Mauser bullet, and his horse was killed beside him as the wound was being dressed. But in spite of the pain he refused to retire, and stayed with his brigade until nightfall, when Roberts rode up and ordered the Highlanders to withdraw so that the artillery could come up to engage the enemy at dawn. The Scots now knew all the Boer strongholds, and they handed this information over to the gunners.

At 7.40 that evening Kitchener had sent Roberts a message saying, 'I hope tomorrow we shall be able to do something more definite.' He did not mention that during the afternoon the Boers had developed an attack on their right flank and had inflicted heavy casualties on the army. Kitchener's message roused Roberts, who rode out at once to take over command. Kitchener had never lost a battle, but he had never fought against white men using modern weapons and he had not learned the lessons of Majuba and Magersfontein. He had ordered his men to dig in and to prepare for a renewed frontal attack next morning.

When Roberts arrived he found Kitchener's Kopje in enemy hands, some 1,200 British soldiers dead on the battlefield, and the Boers still in their stronghold, trapped on the river bed with hundreds of carcasses of horses and cattle rotting around them, killed by gun fire. The troops were battle-weary, having made no progress and having lost confidence. It was a relief when the order came to pull out of the line. Macdonald, leaning on a stick, watched them march back to a temporary camp where they were to bivouack for the night. Then he borrowed a horse from the Black Watch and went to visit each battalion in turn.

Pieter Cronje now sent a message into the British lines, asking for twenty-four hours in which to bury his dead. It was not an unreasonable demand in a campaign in which there was no real hatred. All day his men had refrained from shooting stretcher-bearers and water parties, and there were many women and children in his camp. But Roberts replied that if the Boers surrendered they could carry out their burials peacefully. To this Cronje replied, 'Since you are so unmerciful as not to accord the truce asked for, nothing remains for me to do. You do as you wish.' This was interpreted by Roberts as a desire for surrender, so he sent an officer forward under a white flag to make the necessary arrangements, but it soon became clear that Cronje had intended a complete rejection of Roberts's demand. 'During my lifetime I shall never surrender,' the Boer leader proudly announced.

Kitchener now urged that a new direct attack on the position should be mounted at dawn, but Roberts was unwilling to waste further lives, realizing that it was only a matter of time before the Boers, completely surrounded, were forced to capitulate. And nine days after the start of the battle, on the day after the relief of Ladysmith, he was proved right. It was February 27th, the anniversary of the disastrous Battle of Majuba, when Cronje's forces, severely shaken by the continual heavy concentration of artillery fire which the gunners had directed on to their laager, at last surrendered.

They were met by Field Marshal Lord Roberts, V.C., wearing neat khaki drill, carrying his Kandahar sword but wearing no badges of rank. Cronje dismounted and walked towards the victor Roberts shook him warmly by the hand, saying,'I'm glad to see you,' a statement which he at once realized might have been more happily phrased, for he immediately added,'You have made a gallant defence, sir.' But Cronje did not reply, for he spoke no English. Roberts thereupon invited his prisoner and his family and staff to lunch. The Boers were equally chivalrous. It was Joubert who had returned Macdonald's sword after Majuba. And now the wounded General remembered that this was Majuba day itself, and wrote to Roberts to remind him.

A fortnight later the British marched into Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State which had for so long resisted British occupation. With them rode Hector Macdonald, although he had still not recovered from his wound and had spent only a week in hospital.

'I am not able to walk yet,' he wrote home to his elder brother William,'but I hope to be able to do so in a month or two. The bullet entered the outside of my left foot, just under the ankle joint, and came out at the other side a little lower down - a very clean wound which, if caused by a Martini bullet, would have cost me my foot.'

Perhaps it was not surprising that Hector Macdonald did not stay in hospital long, but hastened to rejoin his brigade as soon as he could hobble with a stick. Macdonald was given the task of keeping this corner of the Orange Free State clear of Boers, which meant that his battalions must be almost continually on the move. And on June 3rd, 1900, the Dutch leader Christiaan de Wet suddenly swooped on a convoy escorted by 150 of the Black Watch, overpowered them by sheer force of numbers, and took many prisoners. Again at the end of July, at Honing Sprint, he captured 100 Highlanders who were acting as an escort to a supply train for Lord Roberts at Pretoria. But in August came revenge, when over 5,000 Boers and five held guns were captured by Macdonald at Prinsloo.

It was not work which Hector Macdonald's men liked, but they were well trained. And north of Bloemfontein they won a brilliant success on the railway line near Brantford, driving the enemy across the Vet River and pursuing them for several miles. Although only seven prisoners were taken, so quick were the Boers to escape, the equipment and supplies which fell to Macdonald's men included thirty-one wagons and 270 oxen, six cases of dynamite, and large stores of artillery and rifle ammunition, food, blankets, and clothing, most of which was of British origin. After the Paardeberg battle, the Queen wrote to Kitchener:

WINDSOR CASTLE, February 23, 1900.
'The Queen wishes to write a line to Lord Kitchener to say how she follows him and Lord Roberts everywhere, and how we have been cheered by news of the past ten days, and are hoping for more good news. She knows, however, that we must be patient and not expect things to go too fast.
'The Queen saw Lady Roberts, who had heard from Lord Roberts what a help Lord Kitchener was to him.
'The many losses grieve the Queen very much, but she knows that they are unavoidable. She was so sorry for poor General Macdonald, but hopes his wound is not really severe. Pray tell him so from her.
'Pray say everything kind from the Queen to Lord Roberts, and believe that no one thinks more constantly or prays more fervently for the well-being of her dear, brave soldiers of all ranks than she does.'

When the time came for the breaking up of Macdonald's brigade, Lord Roberts said, 'No words of mine can adequately describe their magnificent conduct during the long and trying campaign. We have only to look at the gallantry displayed by the Gordons at Elandslaagte, at the unflinching bravery of the Highland Brigade at Magersfontein and at Paardeberg, to realize that the traditions of these regiments have been nobly maintained.'

Source: Toll For The Brave 1963


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## big bad john

The German government announced that a submarine blockade of Great Britain would begin on Feb. 18. To this the London government replied with an order in council (March 11) ordering the seizure of all goods presumably destined for the enemy. Cotton was declared contraband on March 18.   6


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## big bad john

Operation Neptune
Aboard HMCS Algonquin

By Andy Irwin
I was serving in HMCS Algonquin (R17), a V-class destroyer assigned to the 26th Destroyer Flotilla stationed with the British Home Fleet in Scapa Flow. I believe we sailed from Scapa on May 25, 1944, and arrived off Portsmouth on May 27th, proceeding to anchor off Seaview, Isle of Wight. I celebrated my 19th birthday on the 28th.

We realized there was a major operation about to take place because of the mass of all types of shipping in the area. Speculation about what may be happening was rife in the mess decks.

We carried out several night patrols in the English Channel until June 4, and on the afternoon of June 5th we learned that Operation Neptune, the naval component of the invasion of Europe, was to commence that evening. It became quite obvious when the landing craft loaded with troops began moving out of the harbour in mid-afternoon.

We weighed anchor at 1600 and proceeded to rendezvous off Cowes where we joined with HMS Hilary, the headquarters ship of "Force J" (Juno Beach). En route we passed HMC Ships Prince Henry and Prince David, the two former CNR, BC coastal liners which had been refitted from AMCs to Infantry Landing Ships. Our initial role was to escort Hilary - which had on board, MGen. Keller, the commander of the 3rd Canadian Division and his staff - to the assault area off Normandy. 

HMS Hilary got under way at 1800 with HMCS Algonquin astern, followed by a flotilla of LCIs carrying Royal Marine Commandos. As we steamed through the Solent, "Clear Lower Decks" was piped and all hands gathered around the aft torpedo tubes to hear a briefing on our role by our Commanding Officer, LCdr. Desmond W. Piers, DSC. The route to the beaches of Normandy had been swept by minesweepers and the Channel marked with blue lights. While a surface attack was possible, the greatest danger was posed by drifting mines. Two of them gave us a good scare during the trip.

During the crossing, bridge lookouts could see that the Commandos in the landing craft were having a bad time in the rolling seas. We closed up to action stations at midnight and sailed in darkness until about 0500 when the sky began to brighten and it was soon daylight.

What a sight! Ships of every size and type, from mighty battleships to barges, as far as the eye could see. It was amazing there were no collisions reported during the crossing.

At about 0600, the battleships and cruisers opened fire with their main armament on shore batteries and other defensive positions. The noise was absolutely thunderous! I believe HMS Rodney was outboard on Juno Beach. It was eerie seeing her 16-inch shells passing overhead, in-bound for the beaches.

Around 0630, the sky was obliterated by a huge mass of bombers in-bound to blast shore positions. Then followed aircraft towing gliders loaded with troops. We could see them going in to land under heavy fire. It was unnerving to see some hit and disintegrate. 

We commenced our bombardment at 0700 and our initial target was a battery of two German 75mm guns. When the guns were silenced, we then targeted houses and other buildings along the shoreline. We ceased fire at about 0745 in preparation for H-hour (landing time) for the infantry. They had been proceeding past us toward the shore during the course of our bombardment, and hit the beaches at about 0800.

At 0900 we were slowly moving up and down the landing area when an LCI came alongside and asked us to take off casualties. A mortar had landed inside their craft killing one and injuring five. All were taken to the wardroom which had been transformed into a sickbay where "Doc" Dixon proceeded to provide treatment. Two of the survivors succumbed during the night and we buried all three at sea on the morning of June 7th.

At 1100 on the 6th, we received a request from our artillery officer spotter ashore to take out three 88mm German guns holding up the advance of our troops about three miles inland. Our four 4.7-inch guns put the first salvo short, the next a bit long, then right on target to demolish the position. I later learned that it was Le Régiment de la Chaudière we had helped, as they advanced on Bene sur Mer. At the 55th anniversary of D-Day in 1999, I met Sgt. Jean Minveille of the Chaudière's, and we reminisced about the occasion as he introduced me to Calvados, the drink of Normandy.

Following D-Day, we carried out night patrols to keep the area clear of U-boats and E-boats. We had a few nervous nights when enemy aircraft randomly dropped their bombs in the anchorage area. One bomb exploded about 50 yards off our port beam.

On Sunday, June 18 (D+12), we escorted the battleship HMS Rodney from Portsmouth back to Normandy. LGen. H. D. G. Crerar, CB, DSO, Commander 1st Canadian Army and his staff of twenty-two, were on board Algonquin. It was a proud moment for us as this was the first time a Canadian Army commander with his army standard flying from the yardarm, had gone into battle from a Canadian warship.

At 0400 June 19 (D+13), we got a call for bombardment from the army on the eastern flank at Gonnerville where commandos were to make a dawn attack. We received the following signal later: "THE COMMANDING OFFICER AND ALL RANKS OF THE 45TH ROYAL MARINE COMMANDO WISH TO RECORD THEIR APPRECIATION FOR THE EXCELLENT SUPPORT RECEIVED DURING THE OPERATION AT 0445. ITS SUCCESS WAS LARGELY DUE TO YOUR COOPERATION."

On Saturday, June 24, while returning from patrol following a night of dodging parachute mines, we were approaching Sword area to carry out a bombardment when the destroyer HMS Swift, about a half-mile ahead and on patrol with us, hit a mine,broke in two amidships, and sank within minutes. On June 28, 1944, we departed Portsmouth to rejoin the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow. 

Andy Irwin is a member and former President of Toronto Branch. He currently serves as a National Director and Chairman of our National Fund Raising Committee. This article first appeared in the Summer 2002 edition of the Naval Museum of Alberta's newsletter "Ensign," and is reprinted in "Starshell" with their permission. 
Copyright © 2003 G.G. Armstrong All Rights Reserved 

(Originally Published in Vol VII, No. 20, Autumn 2002 edition of Starshell.)


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## Spr.Earl

-Hutch- said:
			
		

> i think we should keep the topics and things that happend on this day in history to be CANADIAN. not that there is anything wrong with other countries history, but it is a Canadian army website. hence the army.CA


I disagree as the Topic states "To day in Military History" wheather it's our own or others because we learn from our own and others Military History Victories and Mistakes


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## Spr.Earl

Hutch does this post have enough Canadian Content for you?
     
18/2/1900
Canadian troops fight South African Boers at the Battle of Paardeberg
     
18/2/1944
Sixteen Canadian minesweepers, in four divisions of four ships, begin to leave St. John's for British waters to take part in the invasion of Normandy.

Hey many things have happened through out the World in the past that has effected us in many way's so lets not limit our knowledge just to our own history because if we do we may end up like some Nations who only see their own history and stay narrow minded when it's comes to the World.


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## Spr.Earl

On this date;
The Royal Canadian Air Force receives its first delivery of Hawker Hurricane fighters, intended to replace severely outdated aircraft of the time.
Oh my is this like a broken record!!


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## big bad john

The Earliest Air Battles in Australia

Darwin, Australia, 19th February, 1942

by Burbank 

The first air attack on Darwin is typical of many of the earliest air actions of the Pacific War in 1942. This account describes the high levels of skill and organisation which characterised the early Japanese operations. But more importantly it highlights the lack of preparedness, the shortage of aircraft and supplies, and the low level of understanding of Japanese capability at that time. However, overshadowing all of these political considerations, is the tremendous display of courage by the allied airman in this theatre, against the most horrific adversity. In this instance, at Darwin, it was air-crews of the USAAF and the USN; but else where it was pilots of the RAAF and RAF in Malaya; the Dutch in Indonesia; and the USAAF in the Philippines. All fought with great bravery, usually against overwhelming odds and often flying technically inferior aircraft. One RAAF commander, at Rabaul, when ordered to defend the town with Wirraways - single-engine observation aeroplanes - responded to RAAF headquarters in Australia with the salute of the Roman Gladiators nos morituri te salutamus, â Å“we who are about to die salute youâ ?. 

Prelude to the First Japanese Air Attack

With the raid on Darwin, Australia on the morning of 19 February 1942, the Japanese were covering their southern flank for the invasion of Timor. During the night of the 19-20, they landed on Timor.

The 1st and 2nd Kokusentai comprised respectively of the aircraft carriers Kaga and Akagi, and Hiryu and Soryu, sailed from Palau (west of the Philippines) on the 15th of February bound for Timor and Darwin. They reached their fly-off point, 200 miles north west of Darwin, on the morning of the 19th. The first raid was launched from the carriers and consisted of 71 B5N2's (Kate) level bombers, 81 D3A1's (Val) dive bombers, and 36 A6M2's (Zero) fighters led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. (There is a discrepancy in the number of Japanese aircraft reported as participating in the carrier-borne strike. Analysis of observer reports of the raid concluded the total to be 81 aircraft, whereas a contemporary Japanese report records 188 carrier aircraft launched (Hermon Gill, 1985). As each of the four aircraft carriers had a complement of 66 aircraft (plus reserves) at the time of the attack (Chesneau, 1984), the second, higher number seems most likely.)

Co-ordinated to closely follow this first strike were 54 twin engine land-based bombers of the 1st Air Attack Force flying from Kendari on the island of Sulewasi. They were G3M2's (Nell/Tina) and G4M1's (Betty) of the Takao and 1st Kokutai's.

At the time the Japanese attack flew off their carriers, a US Navy PBY Catalina was patrolling 140 miles north of Darwin, and was the first aircraft to encounter the incoming force. Some of the Japanese fighters then made a diversion to Bathurst Island, from where radio messages warning of the approaching raid were being sent to Darwin, and the transport aircraft there was destroyed on the ground.

Earlier in the day, 10 P40s of the USAAF 33rd Pursuit Squadron (17th Pursuit Group) had departed from Darwin for Java to join their sister units who had previously staged through Darwin on their way to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). They were in formation with the single B17 present, which was providing navigational guidance for them. (On their staging ferry flight from Brisbane to Darwin two RAAF transports had accompanied them). However weather reports from Java were unfavourable, and the fighters had to return to Darwin, where they arrived just before the Japanese. No RAAF fighters were based in the Darwin districts at this time, and RAAF aircraft were either bombers (Hudsons) and patrol/light attack aeroplanes (Wirraways), or support types.

Using 243 planes, the Japanese would, in the two raids that day, drop approximately 114,620 kilograms of ordinance consisting of at least 683 separate bombs. At Pearl Harbour, by contrast, they had used 350 planes, dropping only 271 bombs and torpedoes with an all up weight of approximately 146,400 kilograms.


Allied Aircraft Present on 19th February, 1942 in the RAAF North West Area (administration district)

17 Hudsons 2 and 13 Sqns RAAF

14 Wirraways 12 Sqn RAAF

10 P40s 33 Pursuit Sqn, USAAF

1 B24 USAAF

1 B17 USAAF

1 Fairey Battle RAAF

3 Moth Minors RAAF

#3 Beechcraft transports USSAF

3+ PBY Catalinas (USS William B.Preston) USN

1 Empire Flying Boat Qantas

Airfields dispositions on the morning of the 19th were:

RAAF Darwin: 9 Hudsons, 10 P40s, 1 B24, 1 B17.

Civil Aerodrome Darwin: 1 Fairey Battle, 3 Moth Minors, #2 Beechcraft transport, 

Batchelor (70km south): 9 Wirraways

Daly Waters (500km south): 8 Hudsons (uncrewed)

Darwin Harbour: 3+ PBY (with tender USS William B.Preston), 1 Empire Flying Boat

Bathurst Island (80km north-east): #1 Beechcraft transport

(# these are listed in some sources as DC3s of the 22nd Transport Sqn, USAAF)


The Aerial Battle

(Transcribed from Raynor, 1995) 

At about 0920 hours Lt. Moorer; still heading North in his PBY at a height of about 2,000 feet and 140 miles from Darwin, sighted a merchant ship. He immediately descended down to 600 feet to investigate. It wasn't an empty sky - Moorer's machine was seen by the 9 escorting Zeros from the Kaga led by Lt. Yasushi Nikaido. Only seconds later the flying boat was hit by fire from a Zero fighter flown by NAP I/C Yoshikazu Nagahama. The PBY having been struck the port engine and fuel tank burst into flames. Moorer skilfully made an emergency landing and he and all the members of the crew were able to evacuate the blazing wreck before it blew up. In the distance the merchant ship which they had been so keen to investigate was making its way towards them. The vessel proved to be the Florence D. This ship with an all-Philippine crew had been chartered by the U.S. Navy to make supply runs from Australia to Corregidor with arms and ammunition. Moorer and his men were taken aboard and given medical attention. The Captain informed him that his crew would be delivered to Java, the ship's first port of call.

After the attack on the flying boat Nagahama had attempted to join his attack group for the flight to Darwin. On climbing to altitude he was unable to locate the force and so he proceeded on to Darwin independently. He and the other 8 Zeros, now also proceeding independently would in fact reach the target ahead of the main attack force.

The American P40 Kittyhawks that had arrived on 15 February were to fly to Java. At 0915 hours in Darwin the pilots of the 33 Pursuit Squadron U.S.A.A.F under Major Floyd Pell had, after a delayed start, taken off from the R.A.A.F Base. As ordered, they were to proceed to Java via Koepang. They formed up on a B17 bomber that was to carry out the navigation role for the flight.

At 0930 hours Pell and his P40s were advised by radio that the weather conditions were against them and that they should return to Darwin. At the Bathurst Island Mission Father McGrath, one of the volunteers with the Navy coast watching scheme, was alerted by native islanders of the approach of aircraft from the North. Father McGrath moved quickly to the room containing his tele-radio. The Priest was ready immediately to report to radio VI.D. Darwin.

By about 0938 hours the P40s were back over Darwin and Major Pell landed at the R.A.A.F with 'A' flight coming in behind him. The 5 remaining fighters of "B" flight remained aloft to provide top cover.

At Nightcliff about 130 yards back from the coast line at Headquarters of the 2/14 Field Regiment A.I.F. the second in Command of the Unit Major Ron Hone picked up the phone to call the R.A.A.F. The reason - for a short while the P40 Kittyhawks had been seen at a height of about 8,000 feet and north of Nightcliff. Machine gun fire was heard. To begin with this had not created a lot of excitement, as the R.A.A.F. bombing range was located quite close and the men were familiar with the sound of aircraft firing their guns. This time it was different. One of the P40 Kittyhawks was seen to be trailing smoke and within seconds it had plunged to its doom. Major Hone reported the event and the R.A.A.F. replied that, "If this is an air raid we know nothing of itâ ?. While Hone was on that call a second fighter was seen to crash. Major Hone now contacted Larrakeyah Barracks - at 0946 hours. The War Diarist of the General Staff 7 M.D. recorded at 0950 hours that Post No.M 4 reported 6 aircraft approaching from seawards at great height, unable to identify. TOO (Time Observation Occurred) 0938 hours.

Now a third P40 was in trouble. What was the explanation for the P40 Kittyhawks being attacked? The answer lay with the 9 Zeros from Kaga that had attacked Lt. Moorer's PBY 90 miles to the North at 0920 hours. No longer with the main force and on a different height, speed and track, they had made a direct course for Darwin. By now Nagahama, who had brought down Lt. Moorer in his PBY that morning had arrived alone and ahead, not only of the main Japanese force, but also the remainder of his comrades from the Kaga Flight. When he began his engagement the 5 aircraft had for a time appeared to be 6 and this was indeed what had first been reported by the 2/14 Field Regiment. The other 8 Zeros from his group were also fast approaching and they in turn entered the air battle. Nagahama had been the first to spot the patrolling P40s of "B" flight and immediately attacked. Lt. R. Oestreicher spotted the enemy fighter and gave the alarm â Å“Zeros!â ?. The Americans had split up, but the Japanese pilots had been savagely efficient and in no time at all two of the P40s were down. Lt. Jack R. Peres was the first to fall - he had not had time to react and his plane plunged into the water off Gun Point. Lt. Elton S. Perry was next to be hit, also crashing into the sea, a victim of a second Zero. It was only the beginning. Lt. Max R. Wiecks was now attacked and his aircraft was shot to pieces. Wiecks managed to bail out, where he spent some time in the water before reaching land. Other Japanese Zero aircraft were now in the fight and Lt. William R. Walker had also been engaged. Turning and twisting in vain, his aircraft was hit and he was himself wounded in the left shoulder. Despite this he was able to make an emergency landing at the R.A.A.F base. Within a short period the whole of "B" flight had been downed with the exception of Lt. Oestreicher. The early arrivals from the Kaga had thus despatched four P40Es. It was all seen from the ground - George Horwood who had just about finished unloading the 3.7-inch ammunition for the anti aircraft when more or less above his head was the fighter aircraft in a dogfight. "The fighters lasted no time at all".

At about 0945 hours Fuchida had crossed the Australian coast around Koolpinyah before turning West over the Noonamah area for the final run up to Darwin. Nagahama's flight had headed in from the North West direct for the shipping in the harbour....................Perfect V formations of Kates continued over the Harbour at about 8-10,000 feet. They ignored the Anti Aircraft fire and released their bombs straddling the Neptuna at the Wharf.

While all this was happening the pilots of the 5 remaining P40s at the R.A.A.F base had attempted to get airborne to engage the enemy.. Major Pell got up but before he could take evasive action was set upon by Zeros from the carrier Hiryu. At about 80 feet he bailed out - his chute just opening before meeting the ground. Though alive he was set upon by another Zero from the same carrier, strafed and killed. About this event S/Sgt Fishback of the Headquarters Battery 147 Field Artillery reported to the author:

"I was a patient at the Berrimah Hospital when this happened. Berrimah was so close to the R.A.A.F field. The Zero chased Major Pell right over the slit trench that I had crawled into. They seemed a lot closer than 80 feet. I thought that Zero was going to come right into that slit trench with me"

Lt. Charles W Hughes taxiing for take off was hit while still on the ground - he was dead at the controls of his aircraft. Lt. Robert E McMahon was able to get into the air and in fact engaged a group of Zeros. At this point his under-carriage lowered due to battle damage or mechanical failure thus restricting his capacity to take evasive action. The Zeros pounced firing at the P40. His engine began to burn but he did manage to send a burst of fire into a Val Dive bomber where the rear gunner was seen to collapse over his weapon. In danger of being roasted alive and though slightly wounded in the leg, McMahon was able to bail out and land safely.

Lt. Burt Rice was also able to take off as was Lt. John G. Glover. Rice was immediately set upon and his machine went into a flat spin. Lt. Rice was able to bail out and during his descent he was circled by Lt. Glover who in his turn was also attacked by Zeros. With his plane almost uncontrollable, Glover made it to the boundary of the R.A.A.F where his landing took the form of several cartwheels totally destroying the aircraft. Amazingly he emerged from the wreckage and was assisted to safety by an Australian soldier possibly from the Aerodrome location of the 1/54 Anti Aircraft Search Light Company. Men had been watching from their slit trenches near Bagot Hospital. One American P 40 pilot was seen fighting for his life over the area. The fighter started smoking just South of the (nursing) Sister's house over the main road on the Eastern frontage of the Hospital. Both aircraft were at a very low altitude of under 200 feet. so low, in fact, that the pursuing Zero had to climb to miss a tree.

Machine gunning of the slit trenches situated 50 yards around the East side of the hospital did occur, however, no bombs were dropped in the area 

The second wave of bombers, 54 land-based aircraft from Kendari, arrived over Darwin about midday. The had no fighter escort and bombed the airfields unopposed.

Casualities and damage to Darwin were severe. Approximately 250 people were killed, mostly in ships on the harbour. Eight ships were sunk with at least 14 more damaged, and severe damage was done to the port and airfield facilities. Fifteen aircraft were destroyed - including nine of the ten P40's which so bravely tried to fight overwhelming numbers of Japanese. The QANTAS flying boat was able to take-off between the two attacks and escaped successfully to Groote Eylandt, 350 miles east of Darwin. 

Five Japanese aircraft were confirmed destroyed, and five more recorded as probables. Lt. Oestreicher of 'B' flight, which first engaged the Japanese, was credited with shooting down one A6M2 Zero, and two D3A1 Val's, before landing safely. His aircraft was subsequently destroyed on the ground at the RAAF base. One of the japanese pilots, Sergeant Hajimi Toyoshima, who was flying a Zero from the Hiryu, ditched on Melville Island whilst trying to return to his carrier. He ignomiously became the first Japanese prisoner of war to be captured on the Australian mainland.

Lt. Moorer who survived his ordeal, was reported as having very pertinent comment on the attack. 

(transcribed from Raynor, 1995)

The 22 February also brought rescue for passengers and crew of the Don Isidro and Florence D (which had rescued Lt. Moorer's crew). Radio VI.D. Darwin was advised by Father McGrath of "shipwrecked mariners hereâ ?. Since 19 February, members of the crew of Don Isidro had eventually come ashore in 2 groups at Bathurst Island. Eleven had died on the beach.

The H.M.A.S. Warrnambool was sent to pick up the survivors and returned 73 of them to Darwin, although 2 of these were to die shortlv after returning to the Port. Warrnambool also picked up people from the Florence D. The Warrnambool had during the rescue of the crew members been subjected to air attack by a Japanese reconnaissance plane. In spite of this she had completed the mission. One of those rescued was Lt. Thomas Moorer who had piloted the PBY shot down in the curtain raiser to the raid on 19 February 1942.

On 23 February Warrnambool entered Darwin harbour and Moorer was informed of what had happened and was able to see the massive damage for himself. Despite his own many near escapes from disaster, he was quoted as saying "Hell, it's lucky we weren't around here during the attack. We could have been killedâ ?.


(Thomas H. Moorer would later in his career be made an Admiral, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.)


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## big bad john

In the mean time, the 4th Brigade was involved in bloody action along the Goch-Calcar road: the tanks and Kangaroo troop carriers were halted by the mud in which they got bogged down and by fire from hidden 88-mm guns along the road. On the 19th and 20th, violent attacks and counter-attacks followed one another. Driven back, the 4th Brigade managed to regain some ground but it had lost some 400 men, including several captured by the enemy.


"Dear Mother and Dad,
Just a note to let you know I'm well and a Prisoner of War in Germany. Please don't worry about my condition or health-you know me, and I'm the same as ever. Your prayers have been with me, I know, and through my experiences I have been conscious of them and of you. I was captured late in the afternoon of Feb. 19. It was rather a rough time and I ended up on the wrong side of the line when the attack was over and things were more settled. I can receive all mail sent to me and the address is on the outside of this sheet. Hope war is over before I hear from you.

Your army son-Bob"
- Lt/Cpl Robert Sanderson, POW at Stalag XI B, to his parents, 10 March 1945, from Letters from a Soldier : The Wartime Experience of a Canadian Infantryman, 1993 



March 15/45
RHLI
Canadian Army
Dear Mrs. Boulet:  

It is with a feeling of deep regret that I write to you with regard to the passing of your husband, Joe. I extend to you my sincerest sympathy in your great and irreperable loss. I feel partially responsible for this calamatous occurrence as it was myself who requested that Joe be transferred from 4th brigade to this battalion. From the day of his arrival he proved himself to be an extremely efficient officer. His strong and winning personal quality gained the respect confidence and admiration of all those serving under him. 

On the night of the 26 February, Joe's company were holding a position astride the Goch-Calcar road. For over a week the enemy had been counterattacking relentlessly but each time they were driven off. On this night they came in again supported by tanks. Joe was moving about in his platoon encouraging his men when he was hit by a shell fired by one of the tanks. He was immediately evacuated but later died in hospital. He is buried at St. Michael Gestal, Holland in the military cemetery.

I fully realize how deep must be your grief. However it may be some comfort to know that your husband died fearlessly for a just and good cause. His indomitable courage was at all times an inspiration to the men of his platoon.

Please do not hesitate to call on me for any further information you may desire or if at any time I may be of service to you. 

Again I offer to you my sincerest sympathy.

Yours sincerely W. Denis Whitaker


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## big bad john

On the morning of February 19, 1945, the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions invaded Iwo Jima after a somewhat ineffective bombardment lasting 72 hours. The 28th Regiment, 5th Division, was ordered to capture Mount Suribachi. They reached the base of the mountain on the afternoon of February 21, and by nightfall the next day had almost completely surrounded it. On the morning of February 23, Marines of Company E, 2nd Battalion, started the tortuous climb up the rough terrain to the top. At about 10:30 a.m., men all over the island were thrilled by the sight of a small American flag flying from atop Mount Suribachi. That afternoon, when the slopes were clear of enemy resistance, a second, larger flag was raised by five Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman: Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon H. Block, Pfc. Franklin R. Sousley, Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon, Pfc. Ira Hayes, and PhM. 2/c John H. Bradley, USN.


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## big bad john

"On Feb. 20. 1944 the HYDRO ferry, carrying practically all the remaining supplies of heavy water concentrate was sunk on Lake TinnsjÃƒÂ¸. Thus ending the battle for heavy water on Norwegian soil. These operations had cost the lives of 40 Britons, 36 Norwegians and 20 Germans. " from the Norwegian War Museum


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## big bad john

The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow

One of the finest achievements in Canadian aviation history, the delta wing Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was never allowed to fulfill its mission. Its role was to replace the Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck as a supersonic all weather interceptor. A source of national pride, the Arrow incorporated advanced technical innovations and became a symbol of Canadian excellence.

The Mark 2 production version of the arrow, powered with two Avro Canada Iroquois turbo jet engines, would have been capable of achieving Mach 2 with full military load. This aircraft was a culmination of research and development unprecedented in Canada's aeronautical history. Thousands of people witnessed the first flight of the prototype flown by Chief Test Pilot, Jan Zurakowski, on March 25, 1958.

For various reasons, mostly due to high costs, the Federal Government cancelled the Avro Arrow program on February 20, 1959. Almost everything connected to the program was destroyed. Fortunately the forward fuselage of the first Mark 2 Arrow was saved and is on display at the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa. There are also some portions of the wings and control surfaces at the museum in Ottawa.


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## Jonny Boy

Spr.Earl said:
			
		

> Hutch does this post have enough Canadian Content for you?



ya it is good. i posted it after the 2nd post and there was one thing canadain and one american. it is all good  now. no complaints or anything


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## big bad john

Battle of Verdun: 21 February 1916 - July 1916 

One of the costliest battles of World War One, Verdun exemplified the 'war of attrition' pursued by both sides and which cost so many lives.

By the winter of 1915-16, German General Erich von Falkenhayn was convinced that the war could only be won in the west. He decided on a massive attack on a French position 'for the retention of which the French Command would be compelled to throw in every man they have'. Once the French army had bled to death, Britain would be fighting alone on the Western Front and could be brought down by Germany's submarine blockade.

Falkenhayn targeted the town of Verdun and its surrounding forts. They threatened German lines of communication and lay within a French salient (a bulge in the line), restricting their defenders. A Gallic fortress before Roman times and later a key asset in wars against Prussia, Falkenhayn also knew that the French would throw as many men as necessary into its defence, enabling him to inflict the maximum possible casualties.

He massed artillery to the north and east of Verdun to pre-empt the infantry advance with intensive artillery bombardment. Although French intelligence had warned of his plans, these warnings were ignored by the French Command. Consequently, Verdun was utterly unprepared for the initial bombardment on the morning of 21 February 1916. German infantry attacks followed that afternoon and met little resistance for the first four days.

On 25 February the Germans occupied Fort Douaumont. French reinforcements arrived and, under the leadership of General Pétain, they managed to slow the German advance with a series of counter-attacks. Over March and April the hills and ridges north of Verdun exchanged hands, always under heavy bombardment. Meanwhile, Pétain organised repeated counter-attacks to slow the German advance. He also ensured that the Bar-le-Duc road into Verdun - the only one to survive German shelling - remained open. It became known as La Voie Sacrée ('the Sacred Way') because it continued to carry vital supplies and reinforcements into the Verdun front despite constant artillery attack.

German gains continued in June, but slowly. They attacked the heights along the Meuse and took Fort Vaux on 7 June. On 23 June they almost reached the Belleville heights, the last stronghold before Verdun itself. Pétain was preparing to evacuate the east bank of the Meuse when the Allies' offensive on the Somme River was launched on 1 July, partly to relieve the French. The Germans could no longer afford to commit new troops to Verdun and, at a cost of some 400,000 French casualties and a similar number of Germans, the attack was called off. Germany had failed to bleed France to death and from October to the end of the year, French offensives regained the forts and territory they had lost earlier. Falkenhayn was replaced by Hindenburg as Chief of General Staff and Pétain became a hero, eventually replacing General Nivelle as French commander-in-chief.


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## big bad john

On February 15, II Canadian Corps took over the left flank of the advancing front, and the 3rd Division began a bitter fight for possession of Moyland Wood. Because this series of pine-covered knolls blocked all Allied attempts to advance southwards, it was stubbornly defending by a battle group of the freshly arrived German 6th Parachute Division until 21 February. 

http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/Downloads/cmhq/cmhq185.pdf


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## vangemeren

I have a link to the DND's fourth dimension articles here. The dates don't match up to the particular day, but have good information.
http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/fourth_dimension/Archive_e.asp


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## big bad john

Dateline Historica: Yonge Street began as military route  

The Ottawa Citizen 

February 21, 2005

"I have ascertained by a Route hitherto unknown but to some Indian Hunters, that there is an easy Portage between York and the Waters which fall into Lake Huron of not more than thirty miles in extent. ... I have directed the Surveyor early in the next Spring to ascertain the precise distance of the several Routes ... and hope to compleat the Military Street or Road the ensuing Autumn."

-- Lieutenant-Governor John Graves

Simcoe to Secretary of State

Henry Dundas, Oct. 19, 1793

By Laura Neilson Bonikowsky

John Graves Simcoe proposed the "military street'' as a strategic route to help protect Upper Canada from American invasion. We know it as the longest street in the world, Toronto's Yonge Street, whose completion was announced on Feb. 20, 1796.

The Toronto Passage on Lake Ontario, known by the native people as the Carrying Place Trail, was the site of Fort Rouille, which was burned down in 1759 by its French garrison as it retreated from British forces. It was a minor site for trade and settlement, but became more important after the American Revolution. Loyalists moving northward to British territory established settlements along the upper St Lawrence and lower Great Lakes, leading to the creation of Upper Canada and the establishment of the town of York, now known as Toronto.

When war broke out between England and France in 1793, Simcoe realized the capital of Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and its Lake Erie trade route would be vulnerable to attack if the Americans decided to support their French allies. He transferred the capital to Toronto Bay, and founded York as the capital. York's garrison and status as the capital attracted merchants, craftsmen and labourers, and surrounding agrarian settlement made it a market centre.

Simcoe planned major roads, knowing their value for defence and for expanding development. Governor's Road (Dundas Street) would run west to the Detroit River and the second road, Yonge Street, would go north to the Holland River, creating a link with Georgian Bay on Lake Huron and Michilimackinac. A third, Danforth, would run east.

Simcoe strengthened his proposal for the military route by pointing out its commercial advantages, telling Dundas the "produce of the Lands on this Communication will in no distant period be sufficient to supply the North West Trade with such provisions as it may."

Simcoe set off on Sept. 25, 1793 with a group of soldiers and native guides to explore north of Lake Ontario, following the Carrying Place Trail, a portage route running 45 kilometres from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe, following the Humber and Holland Rivers. The trail was a necessary route -- since the Humber's shallow water was often difficult to navigate, it froze solid in winter and its steep banks offered little defence against attack.

Simcoe and his party traversed the difficult marshland to Lac aux Claies, which he renamed Lake Simcoe to honour his father. He determined the portage was an unsuitable route to Georgian Bay, perhaps because his guides got lost as they set out on the return trip. They returned from Holland Landing by way of Bond Lake and branches of the Don River. Simcoe had found his route and wrote with great excitement to Dundas, who supported the proposed project.

Simcoe's strategic route did not follow the natural contours of the land. It was truly a military road, running as straight as an arrow from York to Holland Landing. Linking to native trails heading west, the route stretched 1,900 kilometres to Rainy River, leading to the familiar claim that Yonge is the world's longest street. Simcoe named the road Yonge Street, after Sir George Yonge, secretary of war in the British cabinet.

Laura Neilson Bonikowsky is associate editor of The Canadian Encyclopedia. To learn more about Yonge Street, consult The Canadian Encyclopedia at www.histori.ca

© The Ottawa Citizen 2005


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## big bad john

The annals of history record the name of Hastings as the site of the last invasion of Britain by French, well Norman, forces in 1066. True, this was the last successful invasion. However, little is reported about the French invasion of Fishguard, which took place in southwest Wales in 1797, nor of the brave resistance offered by "Jemima Fawr" (Jemima the Great), who single-handedly captured twelve of the invading soldiers. 

In 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte was busy conquering in central Europe. In his absence the newly formed French revolutionary government, the Directory, appears to have devised a 'cunning plan' that involved the poor country folk of Britain rallying to the support of their French liberators.  Obviously the Directory had recently taken delivery of some newly liberated Brandy! 

The French invasion force comprising some 1400 troops set sail from Camaret on February 18, 1797. The man entrusted by the Directory to implement their 'cunning plan' was an Irish-American septuagenarian, Colonel William Tate. As Napoleon had apparently reserved the cream of the Republican army for duties elsewhere in Europe, Colonel Tate's force comprised of a ragtag collection of soldiers including many newly released jailbirds. Tate's orders were to land near Bristol, England's second largest city, and destroy it, then to cross over into Wales and march north onto Chester and Liverpool. From the outset however all did not proceed as detailed in the 'cunning plan'. Wind conditions made it impossible for the four French warships to land anywhere near Bristol, so Tate moved to 'cunning plan' B, and set a course for Cardigan Bay in southwest Wales. 

On Wednesday, February 22, the French warships sailed into Fishguard Bay, to be greeted by canon fire from the local fort. Unbeknown to the French the cannon was being fired as an alarm to the local townsfolk, nervously the ships withdrew and sailed on until they reached a small sandy beach near the village of Llanwnda. Men, arms and gunpowder were unloaded and by 2 am on the morning of Thursday, February 23rd, the last invasion of Britain was completed. The ships returned to France with a special despatch being sent to the Directory in Paris informing them of the successful landing. 

The French invasion force upon landing appear to have run out of enthusiasm for the 'cunning plan', perhaps a result of those years of prison rations, they seem to have been more interested in the rich food and wine the locals had recently removed from a grounded Portuguese ship. After a looting spree, many of the invaders were too drunk to fight and within two days, the invasion had collapsed, and Tate's force surrendered to a local militia force led by Lord Cawdor on February 25th, 1797. 

Strange that the surrender agreement drawn up by Tate's officers referred to the British coming at them "with troops of the line to the number of several thousand." No such troops were anywhere near Fishguard, however, hundreds, perhaps thousands of local Welsh women dressed in their traditional scarlet tunics and tall black felt hats had come to witness any fighting between the French and the local men of the militia. Is it possible that at a distance, and after a glass or two, those women could have been mistaken for British army Redcoats? 

During their two days on British soil the French soldiers must have shaken in their boots at mention of name of "Jemima Fawr" (Jemima the Great). The 47-year-old Jemima Nicholas was the wife of a Fishguard cobbler. When she heard of the invasion, she marched out to Llanwnda, pitchfork in hand and rounded up 12 Frenchmen. She brought them into town and promptly left to look for some more. - Men of Harlech meet your match!


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## big bad john

On 22 February 1943 HMCS Weyburn (Lt.Cdr. T.M.W. Golby, R.C.N.R.) was mined off Cape Espartel east of Gibraltar in position 36.46N, 06.02W. Seven members off her crew including her commanding officer were lost with the ship. The mine was laid by U-118 on 1 February 1943


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## big bad john

Torpedoed and sunk by U-1004 near Falmouth, England on 22 February 1945. Six of her ship\'s company were lost.


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## big bad john

Battle of Ogdensburg. Two columns of Canadian and British troops cross the frozen St. Lawrence from Ft. Wellington (Prescott, Ont.) to Ogdensburg, New York. The unexpectedness of the attack, in large numbers, allows the Canadians to carry the day. The American militia withdraws into the countryside and Ogdensburg is not occupied by an American garrison for the rest of the war.


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## Jonny Boy

Today in History   22/2/1900
Canadian troops fight South African Boers at the Battle of Paardeberg during the Boer war in South Africa. 
the war was being fought against men that had moved from north western Europe and settled in the British colony of South Africa there were called the Boers.


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## big bad john

Sir George Prevost, commanding British forces in Canada, submits a progress report to the British government on the Lachine Canal project. This project, drafted on the heels of the recent war with the United States, will be the first in a system of defensive canals meant to circumvent the St. Lawrence should it be captured by the Americans in a future war.


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## big bad john

The 15-Year War began when Japan took control of northeastern China as a result of the "Manchurian Incident", in which Japanese forces blew up part of the Japanese-controlled Manchurian Railroad and blamed it on Chinese Nationalist forces, thus creating an excuse to occupy China's northeast areas and the major cities along railroad lines, With the start of the Pacific War, Japan extended its empire still further, controlling a vast area that stretched from Southeast Asia to the South Pacific. In occupying these territories, the Japanese army often massacred civilians and tortured prisoners of war. Once territories were occupied, Japan set up puppet governments whose primary purpose was the procurement of natural resources. Inevitably, local populations resented the occupation, and in China and elsewhere, unrelenting anti-Japanese resistance persisted.


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## big bad john

James John McLeod Innes (VC, CB) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British] and Commonwealth forces.
He was 28 years old, and a Lieutenant in the Bengal Engineers, Indian Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 23 February 1858 at Sultanpore, India, Lieutenant Innes, far in advance of the leading skirmishers, was the first to secure a gun which the enemy were abandoning. They then rallied round another gun from which the shot would have ploughed through our advancing columns. Lieutenant Innes rode up, unsupported, shot the gunner and remained at his post keeping the enemy at bay until assistance reached him.
He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant General.
The medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum (Chatham, England).


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## big bad john

Hugh Henry Gough (VC, GCB) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was 23 years old, and a Lieutenant in the 1st Bengal European Light Cavalry during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 12 November 1857 at Alumbagh, India, Lieutenant Gough charged across a swamp and captured two guns which were defended by a vastly superior body of the enemy. His horse was wounded in two places and he himself received sword cuts through his turban. On 25 February 1858 at Jellalabad he set a magnificent example to his regiment when ordered to charge the enemy's guns. He engaged himself in a series of single combats until at length he was disabled by a musket ball through his leg while charging two sepoys with fixed bayonets.


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## big bad john

The 23rd February 2000 finally saw a fitting headstone on the grave of Albert Edward Curtis VC after some 60 years of being unmarked, except for in recent years a wooden cross made by a pensioner from Burnt Oak, North London. The pensioner in question, Dave Tomlins, an ex-member of the London Scottish and a member of the United Services Club in Finchley had been looking for the grave for some four years before finally locating the plot in a run down part of Bells Burial Ground, Chipping Barnet, Hertfordshire. The Burial Ground records show that Annie Curtis had also been buried in the same plot and it is a mystery as to why there was no headstone to mark the grave.

Mr. Tomlins approached the Regimental Headquarters of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, which incorporates Curtis's old regiment The East Surreys, and also contacted Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London for support in placing a suitable headstone on the grave. Following his army service, Albert Curtis became a Yeoman Warder on 30th May 1910, aged 44. As a Yeoman Warder he lived with his wife Annie in accommodation in the Martin Tower and retired to the Supernumerary List on 1st November 1931. He died on 18th March 1940.

Private Albert Curtis was born on 6th January 1866 at Guildford, Surrey. He began his military career in the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders but some time during 1893 transferred to the East Surrey Regiment.

[ London Gazette, 15 January 1901 ]. Onderbank Spruit, South Africa, 23 February 1900, Private Albert Edward Curtis, East Surrey Regiment.


At Onderbank Spruit on 23rd February 1900, Colonel R Harris was severely wounded and lay during the whole day in an exposed position and under heavy fire from Boers posted behind a breastwork at short range. The Boers fired at anyone who gave any sign of life and Colonel Harris was hit eight or nine times. Private Curtis made several ineffectual attempts to reach the wounded officer and at last succeeded in doing so. Notwithstanding the fire directed upon him, Private Curtis attended the Colonel's wounds, gave him a drink from his flask and endeavoured to carry his to shelter. Finding that he was not equal to the task, he called for help upon which Private Morton immediately dashed out and in spite of the Colonel's entreaties to them to leave him and not risk their lives, the two men succeeded in carrying him to cover.
For this selfless action Private Albert Curtis was presented with the Victoria Cross at Pietermaritzburg on 14th August 1901 by his Royal Highness the Duke of York.

The VC medal group of Albert Curtis was sold at auction on 21st October 1999 to an anonymous buyer. However, a request to the purchaser was met with a favourable response and the new owner agreed that his agent could attend the day's ceremonials with Curtis's medals.


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## Jonny Boy

24 February 1838

Battle of Fighting Island.  A force of 2,000 Canadian Militia and British regulars cross the frozen Detroit River in order to dislodge 150 ill-equipped republicans of William Lyon Mackenie's "Patriot Army of the North-West".  After a brief exchange of fire, the rebels flee over the ice to the American side of the border.


24 February 1991
Canada's "Desert Cats" fighter squadron, stationed in Qatar, makes its first ground attack sorties against Iraqi targets


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## Jonny Boy

24/2/1925
Two flying officers were killed in a mid-air collision over Camp Borden, becoming the first casualties in the permanent Royal Canadian Air Force


  24/2/1944
HMCS Waskesiu sinks the German submarine U-257 in the North Atlantic


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## big bad john

A.G.L. 'Andy' McNaughton 1867-1966
soldier, was born on this day at Moosomin, Saskatchewan in 1867; died in 1966. McNaughton headed the National Research Council, commanded the First Canadian Division in World War II, and was Minister of National Defence and Canada's Ambassador to the UN.


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## big bad john

Sgt. Aubrey Cosens

Mooshof, Germany
February 25th-26th, 1945
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aubrey Cosens was born in Latchford, Ontario, on the 21st of May 1921, the son of a First World War veteran. Shortly after his birth his family moved to Porquis Junction, near Iroquois Falls, Ontario and he was educated in the Porquis Junction School. He left school in 1938 to work with his father on the railway as a second hand. He left Porquis Junction in 1939 to join the Royal Canadian Air Force but his application was rejected. Finally, in 1940, he went to Hamilton, Ontario and was accepted by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Hamilton) Regiment. He served with them in Canada, Jamaica and England; then transferred to the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada in the summer of 1944 and was soon promoted from corporal to sergeant. Sergeant Cosens is buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Nijmegan, The Netherlands. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum in Toronto. 
Citation
'In Holland on the night of 25th-26th February 1945, the 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada launched an attack on the hamlet of Mooshof, to capture ground which was considered essential for the development of future operations.

Sergeant Cosens' platoon, with two tanks in support, attacked enemy strong points in three farm buildings, but were twice beaten back by fanatical enemy resistance and then fiercely counter-attacked, during which time the platoon suffered heavy casualties and the platoon commander was killed.

Sergeant Cosens at once assumed command of the only other four survivors of his platoon, whom he placed in a position to give him covering fire, while he himself ran across open ground under heavy mortar and shell fire to the one remaining tank, where, regardless of the danger, he took up an exposed place in front of the turret and directed his fire.

After a further enemy counter-attack had been repulsed, Sergeant Cosens ordered the tank to attack the farm buildings, while the four survivors of his platoon followed in close support. After the tank had rammed the first building he entered it alone, killing several of the defenders and taking the rest prisoner.

Single-handed he then entered the second and third buildings, and personally killed or captured all the occupants, although under intense machine-gun and small arms fire.

Just after the successful reduction of these important enemy strong points, Sergeant Cosens was shot through the head by an enemy sniper and died almost instantly.

The outstanding gallantry, initiative and determined leadership of this brave N.C.O., who himself killed at least twenty of the enemy and took an equal number of prisoners, resulted in the capture of a position which was vital to the success of the future operations of the Brigade.'


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The London Gazette, 22nd May 1945


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## big bad john

The Hochwald Gap 
28 February - 1 March 1945 

 The Hochwald Gap from the air. The Canadians approached from the upper left into the Gap. Notice the rail line running across the southern forest fringe. 

The Lincoln and Welland Regiment saw no action on the 27th of February, Day Two of OPERATION BLOCKBUSTER, although it suffered 11 casualties from "light mortaring." The unit was now back under the command of the 10th Infantry Brigade, which had just been tasked with the push to the Hochwald Gap. 

While the Regiment was some distance from the Gap, the Algonquin and South Alberta Regiments fought their way to the mouth of the gap under stiff German resistance and artillery fire which did not come from their front. The German artillery fire came in from over the Rhine River, and was described as "unsettling" to have artillery fire come in over one's shoulder. Even under this resistance the Canadian Regiments advanced to the forest fringe, at the western edge of the gap. This is where the attack stalled. 

Quickly new orders were given that reorganized the attack. In the plan the Lincoln and Welland Regiment was to advance to the southwestern edge of the gap and capture the railway line and the Tuschen Wald, a small woods to the south of the Hochwald Gap. 

Again the soft ground hindered the advance of the tank forces, so the Regiment would have to go in alone. The Regiment made a two prong attack with two companies on either side of the gap to reinforce the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in their forward position, and to come to the aid of the Argyll's B company which was cut off. The remaining two companies would advance along the railway tracks and secure the Regiment's objectives. The attack went in on the 28th of February at noon. 

Major Crummer's C Company and Capt. Barkman's B Company lead the attack. Major Crummer recounts the German artillery barrage that responded to their attack: 


"We were in the middle of it, standing, trying to push forward. Well, we didn't stand long. We went to ground damn fast. You just lose everything. You can't do anything about that... You really hunker down and pray to God that you come out of it all right, because you can`t do anything for anyone, really. You look around and see if anybody is wounded and help them, but I didn`t see anybody. They were all pretty well experienced and had found rat holes or something like that ... I think at that point, I was buried a couple of times and got out of it. (The area was] mud, just mud ... I remember hearing the shelling and then after a while I didn`t hear anything, but I saw it ... I remember the huge explosions all over the damn place. At that time I crawled under a tank to get away from some fire and I could sense the tank settling down in the mud, so I got the hell out of there . . [There was] no cover. Trees are no cover, especially in shelling because you get limbs and you get shrapnel coming down on you ... We didn`t get any further than that." 
This artillery barrage was later described by Field-Marshall Montgomery as the heaviest "...volume of fire from enemy weapons... which had been met so far by British troops in the campaign." 

 Looking into the high ground of the Hochwald gap from the western approaches.  
The effects of the barrage are recalled by one Argyll who was in the area: "the black haze that hung over the place after the shelling stopped, and the feeling you had of being absolutely dazed and in a stupor; while a sudden, unreal quiet descended, broken only by the feeble cries of the wounded." 

The Regiments's war diarist described the incident as: "Hy cas suffered [49 in total] and the attack disorganized, forcing the coys to retire to their dug-in posn [to the west of the gap]." 

The Lincoln and Welland Regiment was relieved by the South Saskatchewan Regiment in the early morning of 1 March 1945. They were ordered back to some farm houses in the valley east of Udem. The previous three days of action had cost the Regiment 85 casualties. On March 1st a further 8 soldiers were wounded. 

The Regiment stayed in the Udem area for the next five days, resting and regrouping. Further attacks into the gap were mounted and pushed back by the Germans. The Hochwald gap became a deathtrap for many soldiers and tank crews over the next few days. 

An account by the German commander in the Hochwald Gap spoke out in the years after the war. His account was one of astonishment that the Canadian's did not attack across the whole front but concentrated their attacks in the Hochwald Gap area. This is where he concentrated his defenses. He stated that if the Canadian's would have attacked in more than one place the lines German lines would have crumbled sooner. 

The Hochwald gap was not crossed until March 2nd, when the Lake Superior Regiment made a successful, but very costly, dash through the gap, and secured the western boundaries of the forest.


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## big bad john

A turning point in the history of the Third Reich today in 1933 when the German Reichstag is set on fire. Discovering a Dutch Communist member called Marinus van der Lubbe in the vicinity of the fire, the authorities soon act to supress most of the human rights in Germany at that time. Although whether van der Lubbe was responsible or the Nazis themselves set the fire, one fact is inescapable - the Nazi Party would rule Germany unchallenged from that point on until 1945.


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## big bad john

As the Japanese advance rapidly spread throughout the Dutch East Indies, the Dutch Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman led out a force of Dutch, British, Australian and US cruisers and destroyers in a desperate effort to locate an invasion convoy en route to Java.  The Japanese fleet enjoyed superior firepower, and, crucially, the benefit of spotting aircraft.  The largest surface action since the battle of Jutland commenced at 1600, and the Japanese advantage in numbers of heavy guns, plus their incomparable torpedoes, soon showed, with Doorman's flagship De Ruyter and HMS Exeter suffering damage, and the destroyer Kortenaer sunk.  Commander May in the destroyer HMS Electra mounted a gallant but suicidal attack which succeeded in saving HMS Exeter.  As night fell, HMS Jupiter blew up on hitting a stray mine, and the Japanese crowned their victory with a night torpedo attack that claimed the Dutch cruisers De Ruyter and Java.  Doorman was lost with his flagship.

Meanwhile in France, the newly formed Parachute Regiment mounted a daring raid on a German radar station on the clifftops at Bruneval, near Le Havre.  Intelligence had identified the location as one of an increasing number of radar sites in Occupied Europe, but important technical details of the equipment's capabilities were needed to develop counter-measures, especially for Bomber Command aircraft.  Major John Frost, commanding C Company of the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, was tasked with capturing the station and bringing back to the UK key parts of the Wurzburg radar set.  His 120 men were accompanied by an RAF Flight Sergeant radar technician, who had never parachuted before, to inspect the radar in situ, and a team of Royal Engineers.  Frost named his three assault groups Drake, Rodney and Nelson, in recognition of the force's dependence on the Royal Navy to retrieve them from the beaches that night.

Twelve RAF Whitley bombers from 51 Squadron RAF dropped Frost's men accurately on the clifftops.  Although caught totally by surprise, German troops in the area fought back.  However, the Wurzburg was captured, along with one of its operators, and Flight Sergeant Cox identified the essential parts of the radar to be carried down to the waiting landing craft.  The raid provided invaluable intelligence on the Wurzburg system, a specialised precision radar system for controlling anti-aircraft guns, searchlights and night-fighters.  To this day, one of the sub-units of the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, is named Bruneval Company.


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## Jonny Boy

27 February 1961
Four Canadian peacekeepers are relieved of their arms by Congolese soldiers and forced to run barefoot for a mile along a dirt road before being released. This is only one in a series of incidents against Canadians -- and UN peacekeepers in general -- by the Congolese against the very people trying to help re-establish order in the shattered country.


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## Jonny Boy

27/2/1945
The last soldiers of I Canadian Corps depart Italy to join the Canadian army in northwest Europe.


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## big bad john

The Australian and US cruisers HMAS Perth and USS Houston, survivors of the Battle of the Java Sea, attempted to escape from Batavia through the Sunda Strait.  However, in the night they encountered the Japanese invasion fleet in Bantam Bay.  Massively outgunned, they went down fighting to the last.  Less than half their ships' companies survived, to face long years of imprisonment in Japanese camps.  The Japanese invasion force landed successfully in Java.


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## big bad john

At 0500 GMT, Coalition forces suspended offensive military operations in the Gulf, Kuwait having been liberated after a ground campaign lasting 100 hours.  Troops from seventeen nations had either participated in the ground offensive or had manned defensive positions in Saudi Arabia, guarding against any attempted Iraqi counter-attacks.  1st (British) Armoured Division had advanced 290 km, destroyed or captured some 200 tanks, 100 armoured vehicles and 100 artillery guns.  7,000 prisoners had been taken by the Division, including 2 Iraqi divisional commanders.  British fatalities in the Gulf, from first deployment in August 1990 to the cessation of hostilities, totalled 47, of which 24 were suffered during operations.


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## big bad john

Deerfield raid echoed war in Europe
  
James H. Marsh 
Citizen Special 


February 28, 2005

On the morning of Feb. 29, 1704, a French and First Nations army fell upon the sleeping village of Deerfield, Massachusetts. The raiders had spent a fireless winter night camped across the Deerfield River. Before dawn, they sent out scouts, who reported the village watch was asleep. Lieut. Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville called the troops and militia together and exhorted them to put aside their quarrels, pray and embrace.

The little army moved slowly on snowshoes until they reached the palisade. Volunteers climbed a snowbank up the stockade and spilled into the town. Soon a torrent of attackers was sweeping into houses. Abenaki, Kahnawake Mohawk and Pennacook ransacked the home of Rev. John Williams. They killed the youngest children and seized Williams, his wife and four eldest children. Amid the battle cries, terrified screams and gunshots, some defenders were killed, some fled and others hid, only to die in flames as the attackers torched the houses.

The Deerfield attack was set in motion by a dynastic war in Europe, which spread into the Connecticut Valley in 1699. Gov. Philippe de Riguad de Vaudreuil was anxious to take the initiative and to consolidate his native allies. The Canadians who gathered at Chambly in late 1703 came from communities that were hardened by 50 years of struggle with the Five Nations Iroquois.

The most numerous among the 200 or so First Nations warriors were Mohawk from Kahnawake. There were also Huron from Lorette and 60 to 80 Abenakis. Each First Nations group had its own motivation to take part, but the primary goal was to take captives.

The village of Deerfield was the "utmost" frontier town in Massachusetts, the very end of English settlement. It sat on what the English regarded as empty land, but which the Abenaki, in particular, regarded as their ancestral lands. Towns like Deerfield were vulnerable to attacks as forces could easily ascend Lake Champlain from Canada, cross the Green Mountains and descend the Deerfield River. Deerfield was not a military outpost, but a subsistence farming community, whose greatest crop was hordes of children, who were a threat to the area's First Nations and the far less populous French colony.

The strongest resistance in the town was organized in two large houses. At the Sheldon house, in particular, the occupants maintained steady fire, keeping the assailants at bay for hours. Elsewhere, the French and natives rounded up as many prisoners as they could find and set out with their booty just before a relief party of English militia arrived.

The retreat was always the most dangerous time for raiding parties, distracted by prisoners and loaded with plunder. Joined by enraged townsmen, the militia ran headlong after the raiding party. But without snowshoes they floundered in the deep snow. De Rouville anticipated the pursuit and laid an ambush two kilometres from the village. The English rushed forward; nine were slain and several, including militiaman John Marsh, were captured.

Those left in the town clambered among the burned-out ruins for family and friends. They found 41 dead. Nine died in the pursuit, as did seven from a neighbouring town.

The attackers began the long march back to Canada with 109 captives. As the party moved at a quick pace, a brutal weeding out took place. The survivors struggled on sore frozen feet. Those who fell behind were killed, including Eunice, John Williams's wife, who, weak and freezing, could not go on.

The party made its way to frozen Lake Champlain and a month and a half after the attack arrived back at Fort Chamby. The French managed to ransom some of the captives. John Williams spent only a week in a Mohawk village. Abenaki were the most likely to sell their captives, but for the Mohawks and Hurons captives were the essential reason for these "mourning wars." They could replace losses from battle and disease.

Diplomatic negotiations began soon after the raid and within three years 52 of the captives had returned, 46 by negotiation, one by sale and five had escaped. About 34 remained in Canada, two with the Huron, three with the Mountain Mohawk and about nine at Kahnawake. Among them was Williams's daughter, Eunice, who chose to live the rest of her life among the Mohawk. Her descendants still live in Kahnawake.

How is this violent episode in our early history remembered? Today, a re-enactment takes place each year in the museum-village of Deerfield. The word "massacre," used so freely by historians in the past, is seldom used now. There is a greater understanding of the complexity and context of the raid, particularly the role of the First Nations, who were caught in a foreign war and who were in the process of being dispossessed.

James H. Marsh is editor in chief of the Canadian Encyclopedia. To learn more about the colonial wars, consult The Canadian Encyclopedia published online by Historica at http://www.histori.ca .


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## Jonny Boy

28 February 1915

Troops from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry engage in one of the war's first trench raids. One hundred of the Patricias set out in the hours before dawn to capture and destroy a German sap trench. They suffer 20 casualties for this effort, but the enemy trench is destroyed. As the war progresses the Canadians will become particularly adept at the trench raid.


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## Jonny Boy

Today in History   28/2/1862
The Royal Rifles of Canada (now on the Supplementary Order of Battle) are formed as the '8th Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles'


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## big bad john

-Hutch- said:
			
		

> 28 February 1915
> 
> Troops from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry engage in one of the war's first trench raids. One hundred of the Patricias set out in the hours before dawn to capture and destroy a German sap trench. They suffer 20 casualties for this effort, but the enemy trench is destroyed. As the war progresses the Canadians will become particularly adept at the trench raid.


Hutch this is already on the Calender.


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## Jonny Boy

i know it is already on the calander. i just posted it on the forum though.

a lot of the post you have made are already on the calander as well. so why cant i take stuff from the calander?


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## big bad john

We use this thread to expand on the calender, not to quote it.  That would be redundant.


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## Jonny Boy

ok thats clear enough wont do it again. ;D


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## big bad john

Just a word to the wise.


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## big bad john

Major Frederick Albert Tilston
The Hochwald, Germany
March 1st, 1945
The Essex Scottish Regiment  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frederick Albert Tilston was born in Toronto, Ontario, on the 11th of June 1906. He was educated at De La Salle High School, the Ontario College of Pharmacy and the University of Toronto. Prior to his enlistment in 1940 he was sales manager of a drug manufacturing company. He enlisted as a private but because of his age, education and experience, he was quickly promoted to sergeant and then to officer. The wounds received in the action described in the citation necessitated the amputation of both legs, but exactly one year later from the date of his injuries he returned to work for his former company in the capacity of vice-president in charge of sales. He later became president and then chairman of the board for that company. In 1963 he became Honorary Colonel of his old regiment which had been renamed the Essex and Kent Regiment. He resided in Toronto, Ontario until his death on the 23rd of September 1992. His family presented his Victoria Cross to the Royal Canadian Military Institute in Toronto. 
Citation
'The 2nd Canadian Division had been given the task of breaking through the strongly fortified Hochwald Forest defence line which covered Zanten, the last German bastion west of the Rhine protecting the vital Wesel Bridge escape route.

The Essex Scottish Regiment was ordered to breach the defence line north-east of Udem and to clear the northern half of the forest, through which the balance of the brigade would pass.

At 0715 hours on 1st March 1945, the attack was launched, but due to the softness of the ground it was found impossible to support the attack by tanks as had been planned.

Across approximately 500 yards of flat open country, in the face of intense enemy fire, Major Tilston personally led his company in the attack, keeping dangerously close to our own bursting shells in order to get the maximum cover from the barrage. Though wounded in the head he continued to lead his men forward, through a belt of wire ten feet in depth to the enemy trenches shouting orders and encouragement and using his Sten gun with great effect. When the platoon on the left came under heavy fire from an enemy machine-gun post, he dashed forward personally and silenced it with a grenade; he was first to reach the enemy position and took the first prisoner.

Determined to maintain the momentum of the attack he ordered the reserve platoon to map up these positions and with outstanding gallantry, pressed on with his main force to the second line of enemy defences which were on the edge of the woods.

As he approached the woods he was severely wounded in the hip and fell to the ground. Shouting to his men to carry on without him and urging them to get into the woods, he struggled to his feet and rejoined them as they reached the trenches of their objective. Here an elaborate system of underground dugouts and trenches was manned in considerable strength and vicious hand-to-hand fighting followed. Despite his wounds, Major Tilston's unyielding will to close with the enemy was a magnificent inspiration to his men as he led them in systematically clearing the trenches of the fiercely resisting enemy. In this fighting, two German company headquarters were overrun and many casualties were inflicted on the fanatical defenders.

Such had been the grimness of the fighting and so savage the enemy resistance that the company was now reduced to only 26 men, one quarter of its original strength. Before consolidation could be completed the enemy counter-attacked repeatedly, supported by a hail of mortar and machine-gun fire from the open flank. Major Tilston moved in the open from platoon to platoon quickly organizing their defence and directing fire against the advancing enemy. The enemy attacks penetrated so close to the positions that grenades were thrown into the trenches held by his troops, but this officer by personal contact, unshakable confidence and unquenchable enthusiasm so inspired his men that they held firm against great odds.

When the supply of ammunition became a serious problem he repeatedly crossed the bullet-swept ground to the company on his right flank to carry grenades, rifle and Bren ammunition to his troops and replaced a damaged wireless set to re-establish communications with battalion headquarters. He made at least six of these hazardous trips, each time crossing a road which was dominated by intense fire from numerous, well-sited enemy machine-gun posts.

On his last trip he was wounded for the third time, this time in the leg. He was found in a shell crater beside the road. Although very seriously wounded and barely conscious, he would not submit to medical attention until he had given complete instructions as to the defence plan, had emphasized the absolute necessity of holding the position, and had ordered his one remaining officer to take over.

By his calm courage, gallant conduct and total disregard for his own safety, he fired his men with grim determination and their firm stand enabled the regiment to accomplish its object of furnishing the brigade with a solid base through which to launch further successful attacks to clear the forest thus enabling the division to accomplish its task.'


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The London Gazette, 22nd May 1945


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## Art Johnson

-Hutch- said:
			
		

> 27/2/1945
> The last soldiers of I Canadian Corps depart Italy to join the Canadian army in northwest Europe.



Interesting? the following quote is from Dileas by Kim Beattie;


"   THE 48th Highlanders were on deck at full strength when
         France was sighted on a morning so beautiful it rivalled the
              brightness of their spirits, which were soaring. Replete with
         American coffee and astonishing white bread, on which they had
         gorged themselves, they had been jamming the limited deck space of
         their LSTs since dawn. It was now nine o'clock on March 13th, and
         they were nosing their way through the sunken ships at the narrow
         mouth of Marseilles' harbour."

I've heard about the slow boat to China but two weeks to get from Italy to France, It didn't take that long to cross the Atlantic.


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## Art Johnson

Further to Operation Goldflake:

http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/fourth_dimension/2004/mar04/15_fd_e.htm


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## big bad john

By MURRAY CAMPBELL 

Monday, February 28, 2005 Updated at 2:04 AM EST

From Monday's Globe and Mail

E-mail Murray CampbellRead BioLatest Columns

 The headlines were becoming consistently cheerful, if that's not too tasteless a remark to make about a conflict in which thousands of people were dying every day. It was becoming increasingly obvious that, after more than five years, the Second World War was nearing an end.
The month-old Allied offensive that broke out of the Netherlands into Germany along a 300-kilometre front was picking up steam in the last week of February, 1945. The troops, including the 1st Canadian Army under General H..D..G. Crerar, had crashed into the enemy's industrial heartland along the Rhine and Ruhr Rivers. "Rhine Defences Crumbling," a Globe and Mail story exclaimed on Feb. 28. That was followed in the ensuing days by "Hun Quitting West of Rhine" and "Siegfried Defences in Chaos."
To the war-literate readers of the day (particularly if they knew that "Hun" was then a popular synonym for German), the message was clear: Troops from Canada, Britain and the United States would soon capture the factories that produced the weaponry for the awesome Nazi war machine.
The belief that the war was in its last days was so strong that Allied leaders were talking about â â€ and planning for â â€ the time when Hitler was gone and the world was once again at peace. Prime minister Winston Churchill told the British House of Commons on Feb. 27 that the great powers were ready for the collapse of the Third Reich. He pledged that when that happened, drastic steps would be taken "to render offensive action by Germany utterly impossible for generations to come."
Two days later, president Franklin Roosevelt said the United States had to use its power to secure peace and security for the future. "We shall have to take the responsibility for world collaboration or we shall have to bear the responsibility of another world conflict," he said from a wheelchair in the White House. (A Canadian Press dispatch described Roosevelt as "apparently in excellent health and spirits," but he died 12 days later.) There was also a good deal of activity surrounding the scheduled April 25 world security conference in San Francisco that would lead to the founding of the United Nations. In anticipation, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Colombia and Costa Rica were declaring war on Germany before a March 1 deadline that excluded non-combatants from the meeting. Canada's prime minister, Mackenzie King, was planning to lead a delegation to San Francisco.
Looking ahead as well, a senior King minister, C..D. Howe, was predicting that war production would be cut by 35 per cent when hostilities in Europe ended and that surplus plants would be sold to U.S. interests. The Howe announcement coincided with others that pointed to a future in which not all economic activity would be targeted to the war effort. The Ontario government announced on March 2 that it would build a new highway between Toronto and Barrie to relieve congestion on Yonge Street. And the Toronto Transit Commission announced plans for $51-million subway lines along Yonge and Queen streets.
But as well as things were going, soldiers were still having to fight for every foot of territory. Canadian forces looking to cross the Rhine at the small German town of Xanten had to deal with enemy soldiers "fighting like madmen," according to CP's legendary war correspondent, Ross Munro. The Canadians (and British troops fighting under Gen. Crerar's command) had just fought their way out of the dank Hochwald Forest.
German soldiers, who had pulled back to the eastern bank of the Rhine, shelled the arriving Canadians with 88-mm artillery guns. Munro said the Canadians, glad to have the bitter five-day Hochwald battle behind them, could make out Xanten's cathedral through the smokescreen that drifted like fog over the rolling, wooded countryside. "Our infantry regarded it as the last lap of the struggle before they storm across the Rhine and put new energy into the advance," Munro wrote on March 5.
Meanwhile, tanks from the U.S. 1st Army had entered Cologne, Germany's fourth-largest city, and enemy troops were fleeing at such a rate that field dispatches reckoned there were only a thousand soldiers left to defend it. In retreat, the Germans blew up the massive Hohenzollern rail and road bridge into Cologne along with most other bridges between Bonn and the Netherlands. By doing so, the Germans sealed the fate of more than 50,000 of their troops on the western bank of the Rhine. By this point in the war, an estimated 550,000 German soldiers were trapped far behind Allied lines on both sides of Europe.
Five of them were caught by Lance-Corporal L..D. Cameron of Prince Albert, Sask., near Udem, Germany. Detailed to prepare a prisoner-of-war compound just behind the front lines, he was surprised when five German soldiers (one carrying an automatic weapon) crawled from a wrecked house to surrender and stood meekly while he built the cage around them.
The soldiers clearly were disregarding the advice of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, who urged his countrymen in a Feb. 28 speech to die rather than capitulate to the Allies. Noting that the war had taken a "woeful turn" in recent weeks, he vowed greater areas of Britain would be shelled by V-weapons. "The war is by no means ended yet," Goebbels said.
U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower, commander of the Allied forces, begged to disagree. He was urging German officers to surrender for the sake of the enlisted men in their units. "The end is merely a question of time," he said in a radio broadcast. "It is in Germany's interest to put an end to this useless bloodshed. The decision is up to the German officer."
But the Nazi effort hadn't entirely run out of steam despite the massive setbacks it had suffered. On March 4, German bombers raided England for the first time since the previous June. The planes dropped high-explosive and incendiary bombs on towns and villages in the northern part of the country and also flew low over roads to spray them with machine-gun fire.
The Allies got an indication that the enemy was still prepared to fight when they received news that a new type of U-boat submarine capable of firing the V-series rockets had sunk while on trial in Norway. Resistance fighters in Norway said the Germans had been planning on using the vessel to attack U.S. coastal towns.
Even as the prospect of Allied victory neared, however, Canadians were being warned that the rationing with which they had lived for years wouldn't disappear immediately. In particular, meat supplies were predicted to remain tight because of the need to ship products to newly liberated Belgium and the Netherlands.
But if Canadians were growing weary of the war's toll, they weren't showing it. On March 2, the government launched its eighth Victory Bond drive amid indications that it would surpass its objective of $1.5-billion. Each of the seven earlier drives since the first war bond was issued in January, 1940, raised more than the one before it. By the winter of 1945, Canada had raised an astonishing $8.1-billion or about $810 from each of its 10 million citizens.
Please e-mail the Dominion Institute at staff@dominion.ca if you have any letters or photos from Canadian soldiers who died in the final months of the Second World War.


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## big bad john

1941: Five Royal Navy destroyers and two troop transports landed 500 British Commandos, Royal Engineers and Free Norwegian troops at dawn on the Lofoten Islands, in the first Commando raid, Operation Claymore.  In the eight hours they were ashore, the raiders took prisoner 200 Germans, and destroyed the oil factories on the islands.  However, perhaps the most significant haul was the capture of coding rotors for the Enigma cryptographic system, found aboard a German armed trawler.


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## big bad john

5 March 1943: Bomber Command began what Sir Arthur Harris called "The Battle of the Ruhr", with a sustained series of attacks on the German industrial heartland.  The first attack was on Essen, home of the Krupps armaments complex and much other heavy industry.  442 aircraft were sent against the city, one of the aircraft clocking up Bomber Command's 100,000th sortie of the war.  Essen was always one of Bomber Command's most difficult targets, since it was very heavily defended, and usually hidden under a heavy industrial haze.  On this occasion, however, the new Oboe precision bombing system, fitted to Pathfinder Mosquitoes, allowed the target to be marked accurately, and 160 acres were destroyed, with heavy damage caused to the Krupps works.


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## big bad john

5 March 1995  The Canadian Airborne Regiment was disbanded.  There is no more to be said.


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## Spr.Earl

Just so we have no cheeeece and keeeep those with blinkers on happy.


Today in History   13/3/1964
Between 13 and 23 March Royal Canadian Air Force Yukon transport aircraft deliver troops and supplies to the newly-created peacekeeping force on the island of Cyprus as part of Operation "SNOWGOOSE"
Today in History   13/3/1940
An agreement is reached for the Canadian army to provide coastal guns to protect Bell Island, Newfoundland.


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## vangemeren

There's nothing for today from the military calendar. We need to find something... Okay here we go, I'll put them here so they are peer reviewed before they are added to the calendar. 
My source of information is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_15

15 March:

44 B.C- Julius Caesar is assassinated on the steps of the Theatrum Pompeium by conspirators including Gaius Trebonius, Decimus Junius Brutus, Marcus Junius Brutus, and Gaius Cassius Longinus.

1781-  American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Courthouse - Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400.

1916- President Woodrow Wilson sends 12,000 United States troops over the Mexican border to pursue Pancho Villa.

1919- The American Legion is formed

1939- Nazi troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.

1944- Battle of Monte Cassino - Allied aircraft bomb the Nazi-held monastery and stage an assault.

1989- The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is established.

1991- Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.

1991-  Iraq hangs British journalist Farzad Bazoft for spying.

A more Canadian slant from http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/tih/tih_e.html

15 March 1900
Canadian troops in South Africa enter Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State.

15 March 1918
Troops from the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles carry out a "successful" raid against the German defences near Mericourt.  For the loss of 32 men, Canadians kill 35 of the enemy and take 19 prisoners.

15 March 1979
In the Cabot Strait the British tanker Kurdistan breaks in two in heavy seas and ice.  A Canadian Coast Guard vessel rescues 40 seamen from the sinking ship.

And here http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/history_archives/engraph/significant_dates_e.asp?cat=1

15/3/1945
The First Canadian Corps takes over the sector along the Waal River in Holland upon its arrival from the Italian theatre of war. As a result, both Canadian corps now form part of the First Canadian Army.

Some more from http://www.strategypage.com/militaryhistory.asp

1916	 Fifth Battle of the Isonzo ends (from Mar 5)

1930	 USS Nautilus is launched

1942	 Japanese begin an intensive bombardment of forts guarding Manila Bay.

1942	 Hawaii: NY's 27th Inf Div arrives, first division to arrive overseas in WW II.

1943	 U.S. Navy forces in the Central Pacific are designated the Fifth Fleet.

1944	 U.S. Army troops invade Manus island in the Admiralties.

1945	 British secure Mandalay.

1957	 Britain becomes the third nation to detonate a nuclear bomb.

I think I over killed, ah well. While looking for these things I came across some that some could say could be military history. I would like to know the scope of the Today in History, what it does and doesn't include. Give some good examples of each. I don't want a "military history, duh" answer.


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## vangemeren

Julius Caesar was added by someone, are any of the other entries good to go up?
(_Looking in the Direction of Big Bad John, Mr. Dorosh or any of the Army.ca history buffs_)


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## Spr.Earl

March 17th,461 According to tradition, St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, died in Saul.
Happy Saint Paddy's Day all.



March 17th 1776 British forces evacuated Boston during the Revolutionary War. 



March 17th 2003 Edging to the brink of war, President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave his country. Iraq rejected the ultimatum.


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## Spr.Earl

1917  London England - Robert Laird Borden 1854-1937 attends Imperial War Conference; to April 27. 

1916 France/Belgium - : German army starts offensive on the Somme before American troops can arrive to join the War; Second Battle of the Somme ends in November, with one million casualties. 

1885  Fort Carlton Saskatchewan - Louis Riel 1844-1885 demands surrender of Crozier's NWMP detachment at Fort Carlton; 32 km from Batoche.


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## Spr.Earl

1949 Also On This Day...
St. John's Newfoundland - Newfoundland joins Confederation as Canada's 10th province; oldest Dominion in the British Commonwealth joins 82 years after Confederatio.

1943  Ottawa Ontario - Finance Minister J. L. Ilsley announces that wartime meat rationing by coupon will begin in early May. 

1914 Ottawa Ontario - Canada now has 3,000 officers and men in the Permanent Force; 5,615 officers and 68,991 men in the militia.


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## Spr.Earl

9/4/1869
Le Régiment de la Chaudiere is organized as 'The Provisional Battalion of Dorchester'

9/4/1917
Vimy Ridge is captured by the Canadian Corps

9/4/1917
For their actions at Vimy Ridge, Ellis Sifton of the 18th Battalion, Captain Thain MacDowell of the 38th Battalion, and Private William Milne of the 16th Battalion, C.E.F. earn the Victoria Cross.

9/4/1940
The Department of Munitions and Supply is established.


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## Spr.Earl

10/4/1917
Actions by Private John Pattison of the 50th Battalion, C.E.F. at Vimy Ridge earn him the Victoria Cross.

10/4/1937
The Foreign Enlistment Act is passed by Parliament and is designed to prevent Canadians from volunteering in the Spanish Civil War.
(Still Enacted to Day)

10/4/1953
No. 1 Air Division, Royal Canadian Air Force, completes its move from Paris to Metz, France


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## bossi

Spr.Earl said:
			
		

> 1914 Ottawa Ontario - Canada now has 3,000 officers and men in the Permanent Force; 5,615 officers and 68,991 men in the militia.



It's also worth pointing out these numbers are Army only - the RCAF didn't exist, and the RCN was still in its' infancy - plus, Canada's population was only 7,879,000 as compared to today's 31,946,316 (from [urlStatistics Canada]http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/98-187-XIE/pop.htm[/url]).
Thus, we'd have to quadruple the 1914 parade strength in order to "translate" it:
12,000 Permanent Force, and a Militia of 22,460 offrs and 275,964 NCM ... totalling 290,224.

Finally, in researching to ensure I got my facts straight, I stumbled across this gem:
... Immediately prior to the onset of the First World War, *the premier of British Columbia*, in a fit of public spirit, *purchased two submarines * (CC1 and CC2) from a shipyard in Washington that had been built for the Chilean navy, but the purchase had fallen through. On August 7, 1914, the federal government purchased them from the B.C. provincial government and they were in turn commissioned into the RCN. ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Navy#Formation_Years


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## big bad john

1813: Colonel Bruyeres of the Royal Engineers writes to Sir George Prevost, commanding British forces in Canada, about the need to build a small flotilla of gunboats for Lake Huron.

1899:  During the Yukon Gold Rush, the detachment of Canadian troops from the Yukon Field Force at Ft. Selkirk has settled into the routine of winter garrison life.

1945: 45 Commando Royal Marines distinguished itself in fighting around the Montforterbeek stream near the Maas in Holland.  During the action, three Royal Marines from one troop fell wounded in open ground.  Lance Corporal Harden, a Royal Army Medical Corps orderly attached to the Commando, braved enemy fire to reach them.  Having dressed their wounds, he then hoisted the first casualty onto his back and carried him back to safety, but suffered a wound himself in the process.  Despite this, he immediately returned with two stretcher bearers to collect the second Marine.  Unfortunately, the Marine was hit as they carried him back and killed.  Undeterred, Harden led the rescue party back for the third man, and this time was himself hit again and killed.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.


1953: F/L E. A. Glover R.C.A.F. is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in Korea

1995:  Defence Minister David Collenette disbands the Canadian Airborne Regiment


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## 3rd Herd

bossi said:
			
		

> Finally, in researching to ensure I got my facts straight, I stumbled across this gem:
> ... Immediately prior to the onset of the First World War, *the premier of British Columbia*, in a fit of public spirit, *purchased two submarines * (CC1 and CC2) from a shipyard in Washington that had been built for the Chilean navy, but the purchase had fallen through. On August 7, 1914, the federal government purchased them from the B.C. provincial government and they were in turn commissioned into the RCN. ...
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Navy#Formation_Years



Gong- already covered in depth in a question of the hour session. A search of the BC archives will revel several photographs of the submarines and more primary source information9 search word- submarine or McBride. I have also posted the title and authors of a fantastic book on the subject in that thread. Gee it is nice to get a legitimate jab in against directing staff every now and again.
Cheers


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## Danjanou

3rd Herd said:
			
		

> Gong- already covered in depth in a question of the hour session. A search of the BC archives will revel several photographs of the submarines and more primary source information9 search word- submarine or McBride. I have also posted the title and authors of a fantastic book on the subject in that thread. Gee it is nice to get a legitimate jab in against directing staff every now and again.
> Cheers



And the purpose of getting a "jab" in on the DS 9 months after the post is? Your sense of timing there is impecable 8)


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## 3rd Herd

Danjanou said:
			
		

> Your sense of timing there is impeccable 8)



Can I use the excuse of new bifocals and too small date font? Yes I know Danjanou I should have looked more closely. I have just dropped and done twenty five as chastisement for my error.
Cheers


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## Danjanou

Twenty five??? While I guess that's acceptable now that you're an academic and not a grunt. 8)

BTW we seemed to have missed an important military even that happened on this date in 1879. The battle of Rorke's Drift, Wednesday 22- Thursday 23 January, 1879, when some 150 soldiers defended a supply station against some 4000 Zulus. Eleven VCs awarded the most ever in a single action.

For my pennace I will now go home and force myself to watch my ZULU DVD while waiting ofr the election resultys to come on. ;D


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## big bad john

1792:  Lady Simcoe, wintering at Quebec with her husband before he assumes the Lt.-Governor's post in Upper Canada, hosts a modest evening of dinner and dance for 12 members of the 7th Fusiliers.

1899:  The detachment of Canadian troops at Ft. Selkirk, part of the Yukon Field Force, is enduring the rigours of winter garrison life. Today the temperature dips below -50 degrees Ferenheit

1915: The capital warships of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet clashed for the first time in the First World War at the Dogger Bank in the North Sea.  Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper led out the battlecruisers of his First Scouting Group (Derfflinger, Seydlitz, Moltke) to attempt another bombardment of British coastal towns.  However, the battlecruiser von der Tann was not available, having damaged herself in a collision whilst taking evasive action during the Royal Naval Air Service's pioneering air raid on Cuxhaven on Christmas Day 1914.  Hipper therefore took with his force the powerful armoured cruiser Blucher as a substitute.  His force was successfully intercepted by Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty with his Battlecruiser Force - Lion, Tiger, Princess Royal, New Zealand and Indomitable.  Hipper prudently turned to withdraw, but Blucher's inferior speed allowed the British battlecruisers to close the gap.  During the exchange of fire, Blucher took serious hits and Seydlitz came close to blowing up when a catastrophic ammunition fire destroyed both her stern gun turrets.  Hipper was forced to abandon Blucher to her fate and run.  However, Beatty's flagship HMS Lion had also been badly hit, and forced to withdraw from the fight.  Badly phrased signals from Beatty (a serious failing he was to repeat at Jutland), and poor initiative on the part of the next most senior admiral, led to the other Royal Navy battlecruisers concentrating their efforts against the mortally damaged Blucher rather than pursuing Hipper.  Thus although a tactical victory for the Royal Navy, Dogger Bank was mainly regarded by contemporaries as a missed opportunity


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## big bad john

1892:  The Honourable Mackenzie Bowell is appointed Minister of Militia and Defence

1915:  The fisheries patrol vessel Canada is commissioned for naval service in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

1951:  HMCS Nootka, newly arrived in Korean waters, and Cayuga are passing the island of Walmi-Do when Chinese shore batteries fire on them.


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## big bad john

1806:  The War Office, by order of the King, places the New Brunswick Regiment of Fencible Infantry on the Army Establishment list.

1813:  British and Canadian garrisons between Cornwall and Kingston remain on alert against the possibility of an American attack out of Sacketts Harbour, N.Y.

1917:  The Newfoundland Regiment provides support fire on the right of an assault by the neighbouring British 87th Brigade

2004:  Death of Cpl Jamie Murphy Afghanistan  
          Cpl. Jamie Brendan Murphy, 26, of Conception Harbour, Nfld., was killed when a suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body, reportedly jumped on one of two Iltis jeeps carrying six Canadian soldiers on patrol. Three other Canadian soldiers were injured in the blast. 

At the time of his death, Cpl Murphy had only five working days left before his scheduled return to Canada.


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## big bad john

1918:  Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae dies


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## big bad john

1856: Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross.  Alexander Dunn 1833-1868 awarded Victoria Cross for gallantry at the charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimea in 1854; first Canadian; awarded by Queen Victoria, the VC is Britain's highest military honour 

1936:  No.7 (General Purpose) Squadron, RCAF, authorized in 1935, was formed at Ottawa

1945:  Canadian troops succeed in dislodging German paratroopers from their bridgehead at Kapelsche Veer (south-east of Rotterdam).

1967:  Terrorists bomb Yugoslav Embassy in Ottawa and Consulate in Toronto.

1973:  Canadian Forces aircraft airlift 115 Canadian personnel to South Vietnam for peacekeeping duties


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## big bad john

1697:  Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville leads 90 men (in five boats) in an unsuccessful attack against the fortified English fishing village on Carbonear Island in Newfoundland

1804:  Recruiting officers from the New Brunswick regiment report an unfriendly reception from the Quebec and Montreal military authorities

1855:  Royal Marines granted the title "Light Infantry"

1915:  The Canadian Cavalry Brigade, under the Command of Brigadier J.E.B. Seely, is formed from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), 2nd King Edward's Horse and Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Brigade

1973:  Canadian Forces aircraft airlift 115 Canadian personnel to South Vietnam for peacekeeping duties

1991:  At the Battle of Babiyan a CF-18 Hornet attacks and causes irreparable damage to an Iraqi warship. It was the only CF-18 credited with an official victory during the Gulf War


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## big bad john

1806:  Officers of the New Brunswick Regiment host the first great ball of the winter season. The dinner and dance is held in the drill hall, with muskets aligned along the walls and decorated with evergreen boughs.

1862:  The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada is organized as the 5th Battalion, Volunteer Militia Rifles, Canada

1916:  Two Western Canadian battalions, the 28th with recruits from Saskatchewan and Northwest Ontario, and the 29th from Vancouver and New Westminster, launch a successful night raid against the German trenches in the centre of the Canadian sector.

1919: The Minister of Militia and Defence approves of Major-General Otter's Committee recommendations for the reorganization of the Militia of Canada

1923:  The Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve are established

1945:  Battle of Kangaw  42 Commando RM, 44 Commando RM


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## big bad john

1798:  War breaks out between Great Britain and Revolutionary France. Canada is far removed from the hostilities in Europe, but French seaborne raiders will cause minor damage to Canadian settlements in New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

1900:  Le Regiment de Saguenay is organized as the ‘18th "Saguenay" Battalion of Infantry’

1911:  The first recruiting posters for the RCN are issued to post offices throughout Canada.

1915:  Actions by Lance Corporal Michael O’Leary of the Irish Guards near Cuinchy, France earn him the Victoria Cross.

1944:  The Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers unit is founded.

1968:  Unification of the Canadian Armed Forces formally takes effect. Gone are the seperate services of Army, Navy, and Air Force. A single service uniform is to be worn by all ranks, despite wide-spread protests and resignations by some senior officers.

1991:  “Desert Cat Squadron” pilots carry out 56 bombing missions during the Gulf War between 01-08 Feb.


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## armyvern

big bad john said:
			
		

> 1968:  Unification of the Canadian Armed Forces formally takes effect. Gone are the seperate services of Army, Navy, and Air Force. A single service uniform is to be worn by all ranks, despite wide-spread protests and resignations by some senior officers.



And we can add on to this date 1968...The "Logistics Branch" is born. Mess Dinner tonight. Happy Logistics Birthday everyone!!


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## big bad john

1942:  Ottawa proclaims western British Columbia a 'protected area' under wartime regulations, and orders Japanese nationals moved inland for security reasons

1943:  The second group of Canadian troops arrive in North Africa

1944:  Christmas parcels finally arrive for Canadian troops fighting in the Ortona sector of Italy. The time since the Holidays has been spent in static battle lines, watching the Germans from across the muddy fields north of the town. Spirits will be brighter today as reminders of friends and familiy bring home a little closer.


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## big bad john

1916:  Fire destroys the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, killing seven. The gothic Parliamentary Library is saved by a quick thinking clerk, who closes the iron doors.

1939:  The first group of Canadian volunteers from the Spanish Civil War return to Halifax. There is a great controversy over whether they should have even been allowed back in the country. By fighting in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion the volunteers broke Canadian law prohibiting enlistment in foreign armies. Of the 1,148 men who went overseas to fight against facism, 721 will finally return home

1941:  Government extends compulsory military training from one month to four.

1942:  The Canadian Women's Auxiliary Air Force is renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force (Women's Division).

1994:  Federal Court of Canada upholds human rights tribunal ruling on mandatory retirement in the CF; recommending developing fitness standard instead of relying on an arbitrary age rule.

updates and edit courtesy of the "Canadian Military History Calendar" by Capt. Michael O'Leary, The RCR  with gratefull thanks BBJ


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## big bad john

1697:  Led from Acadia by Father Louis-Tierre Thury, 150 Abenaki Indians attack the English settlement of York. Homes are pillaged and burned, although 30 settlers manage to hold off the attack on their stockade.

1813:  A small armed party from Ft. Wellington (Prescott, Ont.) crosses the St. Lawrence to Ogdensburg, N.Y. in search of recent deserters. A number of them are apprehended and sent to the Elizabethtown (Brockville, Ont.) district jail pending a court martial.

1915: 1st Canadian Division inspected by His Majesty King George V, Salisbury Plain

1915:  Lieutenant W.F. Sharpe is killed at Shoreham, England, during a training flight, becoming the first Canadian military aviator killed in the war.

1916:  4th Canadian Division accepted by the British Government

1945:  First Canadian Corps ordered to rejoin First Canadian Army on western front.

1949:  The "18th Armoured Car Regiment (12 Dragoons," originally the 12th Manitoba Dragoons, are redesignated the "12 Manitoba Dragoons (18th Armoured Car Regiment)."

1949:  The 24th Armoured Regiment (Three Rivers Regiment) is redesignated "Le Regiment de Trois-Riviers (24th Armoured Regiment)."

1963:  Defence Minister Douglas Scott Harkness resigns over Canada's refusal to accept US nuclear warheads for Bomarc Missiles.

2004:  PM Paul Martin says Canada will maintain up to 500 soldiers in Afghanistan after the current CF mission in Kabul is complete in August.


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## big bad john

1885:  The column of British troops moving up the Nile River to relieve Khartoum halts today after news is received of the city's fall. Amongst the relief force is a contingent of 400 Canadian voyageurs who have been employed in manoeuvering the supply boats through the various river hazards. The only casualties suffered are those from tropical diseases.

1920:  Disbandment of No. 1 Wing and No. 2 Squadron (day bombing) of the Canadian Air Force (CAF) after the government decides not to retain a permanent peace-time air force.

1944:  The Perth Regiment is on meal parade this afternoon, near the Ortona sector of the Italian theatre. A single German mortar lands in the midst of the troops, killing nineteen and wounding eighteen.

1944:  Escort carrier HMS Puncher (D79) commissioned, part of the lend lease to the UK from 5 Feb 1944 and manned by RCN personnel and carried 18 - 24 aircraft.

1945:  No. 9 (Transport) Group, RCAF, is formed to control air transport within the air force.

1951:  Government starts three-year, $5 million rearmament program for Canadian Armed Forces.

1963:  John Diefenbaker's minority government is defeated 142 - 111 in House of Commons in two non-confidence motions over nuclear weapons policy.

1993:  4e Compagnie du Renseignement

1993:  Army.ca comes online as the Canadian Army Home Page


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## big bad john

1813:  Raid on Elizabethtown (Brockville): US Capt. Benjamin Forsyth crosses frozen St. Lawrence with 52 riflemen and attacks Brockville the next day.

1863:  The "16th Battalion Volunteer Militia (Infantry) Canada" is authorized.  This unit will be designated as follows: "16th 'Prince Edward' Battalion of Infantry" (1867), "16thPrince Edward Regiment" (1900), and "The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment" (1920, on amalgamation with the "49th Regiment 'Hastings' Rifles").

1880:  "A" and "B" Batteries of the Permanent force artillery, which have also served as Schools of Gunnery, are designated "Royal Schools of Gunnery."

1901:  The Canadian Militia appoints its first Intelligence Staff Oficer (ISO), Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Brereton Rivers, RCA, a veteran of Fish Creek and Batoche.

1919:  The last Canadian troops march out of German territory, ending their occupation duty. It is the Canadian Corps of Cyclists Battalion which brings up the rear of the Canadian Corps

1922:  Wasington Naval Treaty limits numbers and size of major warships.

1943:  HMCS Louisbourg is torpedoed and sunk by enemy aircraft in an attack on a convoy in the Mediterranean Sea.

1944:  The Perth Regiment is on meal parade this afternoon, near the Ortona sector of the Italian theatre. A single German mortar bomb lands in the midst of the troops, killing nineteen and wounding eighteen.

1946:  The Canadian Government approves a peacetime RCAF of four components: a Regular Force, an Auxiliary, a Reserve and the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

1952:  Princess Elizabeth accedes to the Throne as Queen Elizabeth II.

1968:  The first Northrop CF-5A Freedom Fighter is rolled out.


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## big bad john

1862:  The 4th Trrop of Volunteer Cavalry of Montreal (or "Guides") is formed, the first guides unit in Canada.

1867:  Three Royal Navy gunboats are in winter quarters around the Great Lakes. Heron is birthed at Toronto; Britomart at Dunnville on Lake Erie; and Cherub at Goderich. The ships have been kept in Canadian waters as a deterent to further attempts by Fenian raiders to invade Ontario.

1915:  The Canadian government is asked by the British War office to begin enlisting personnel in Canada for service with the Royal Flying Corps.

1915:  Allied financial resources to be united.

1918:  Cabinet sets up War Purchasing Board; with authority to make all purchases for government.

1919:  ATTACK ON KADISH

1927:  A fire tears through the RCD stables at Stanley Barracks, Toronto.  Eight horses die in the fire and twelve others need to be put down the following day.

1942:  The Algonquin Regiment commences wartime service in Newfoundland, until Feb. 1943.

1964:  The RCAF "Golden Hawks" are disbanded.  This air display team was formed in 1959 on the 35th anniversary of the RCAF.


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## big bad john

1690:  Louis de Buade et de Palluau, Comte de Frontenac, organizes attack by Mohawk natives and French troops against Schenectady; 60 people killed, 30 captured.

1894:  Air Vice-Marshal William Avery 'Billy' Bishop VC, DSO, fighter ace, father of the RCAF, born on this day at Owen Sound, Ontario.

1900:  Field Marshall Lord Roberts, VC, inspects Belmont, garrisoned by the Second (Special Service) Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment.

1915:  Canadian troops are at the front for the first time as members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry arrive in the fighting line in the St. Eloi sector.

1919:  DEFENCE OF SREDMEKHRENGA, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 11 Feb 19).

1940:  The third Canadian Contingent arrives in Great Britain.

1943:  HMCS Regina sinks the Italian submarine Avorio in the Mediterranean Sea.

1945:  Operation Veritable, First Canadian Army opens an offensive at the north end of the German Siegfried Line.

1945:  THE RIECHWALD, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 13 Feb 45).

1945:  THE RHINELAND, effective dates for battle honour start (to 10 Mar 45).

1945:  WAAL FLATS, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 15 Feb 45).

1948:  The "RCAF Flyers" win the Olympic gold medal and Wold Amateur ice hockey championships during the Olympic winter games in Switzerland.

1950:  A North Star aircraft of No. 412 Squadron completes, over six days, the first RCAF round-the -world flight in a flying time of 125.2 hours.


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## big bad john

1666:  A French force of 300 Regulars of the Carignan-Salières Regiment and 200 Canadian militia is enroute to attack Mohawk villages around Lake Champlain. The troops have been trudging through the wilderness, aided by snowshoes, for almost a month. Without Indian guides, they wander around for three more weeks before turning for home.

1760:  Capt. John Byron starts tearing down the fortifications of Louisbourg on orders from British PM William Pitt.

1870:  Metis establish a provisional government at Red River, Louis Riel elected President.

1918:  The 5th Division, Canadian Expeditionary Force, is broken up to provide reinforcements for the rest of the Canadian Corps.

1941  The 2nd Canadian Motorcycle Regiment, C.A.S.F., (G.G.H.G.) is redesignated "The Governor General's Horse Guards."

1941:  The 5th Canadian Motorcycle Regiment, C.A.S.F., (B.C.D.) is converted and redesignated The British Columbia Dragoons.

1945:  CLEVE, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 11 Feb 45).

2004:  Canadian Lt-Gen. Rick Hillier takes command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.


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## big bad john

1763:  Treaty of Paris signed, France loses her North American empire.

1840:  Upper and Lower Canada united.

1840:  Queen Victoria and Prince Albert married.

1922:  Order in Council pursuant to the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act, the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of the Naval Service are transfered from the Minister of Marine and Fisheries to the Minister of Militia and Defence.

1942:  HMCS Spikenard is hit and sunk by a German U-Boat torpedo. Only eight half-frozen survivors will be rescued from the frozen waters of the North Atlantic

1953:  The Formation of Headquarters, Canadian Base Units Far East is Authorized.

1983:  Canada signs agreement allowing US testing of military equipment in Canada, including cruise missiles.


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## big bad john

1747:  A French militia force of 300 men launch a surprise attack against the English garrison at Grand Pré.

1900:  Canadian troops in South Africa are moved to the front for the first time. They march through the dusty veldt in temperatures over 40 degrees Celcius. When the men complete the first stage of their march, at a watering hole called Ramdam, their thirst is unbearable - and not aided by the commisariat's ration of salt pork and dry biscuits.

1941:  The 1st Canadian Cavalry Regiment (Mechanized) is redesignated the "6th Armoured Regimented (1st Hussars)."

1941:  The Governor General's Horse Guards are redesignated the "3rd Armoured Regiment (The Governor General's Horse Guards)."

1941:  The Fort Gary Horse, Canadian Active Service Force, is redesignated the "10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Gary Horse)."

1941:  The Royal Canadian Dragoons are redesignated the "1st Armoured Car Regiment (Royal Canadian Dragoons)."

1942:  Corvette HMCS Spikenard sunk by U-boat U-136.

1942:  Anti-conscription riots in Montreal.

1944:  A Wellington bomber of No. 407 Squadron, RCAF, sinks U-283 in the North Atlantic.

Photo 1) HMCS Spikenard


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## big bad john

1815:  Fort Bowyer surrenders to British.

1900:  Lord Strathcona's Horse, a unit of Canadian volunteers for South Africa, is greeted at Winnipeg by large crowds and a banquet. The soldiers have seen similar scenes all along their route from Calgary, but Winnipeg's reception is the grandest to date. A dinner is held in the local drill hall, accompanied by speeches praising the men for the work they are undertaking for the Empire

1917:  PM Robert Laird Borden arrives in London to sit as a member of the British [Imperial] War Cabinet.

1942:  Nine Canadian squadrons take part in the chase of three German warships including the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the "Channel Dash."

1949:  Ottawa announces creation of a far northern radar chain later called the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line.

1963:  Hon. Gordon Churchill appointed Minister of National Defence (to 21 Apr 1963).

1985:  MND Robert Coates resignes after the media report that, while on DND business in West Germany, he visited Tiffany's, a Lahr nightclub featuring nude dancers, and that a briefcase containing classified material was found at their table after his group had left.


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## big bad john

1641:  Iroquois Confederacy of the Long House formally declares war against New France

1917:  470 men of the Canadian 10th Brigade attack the German line near Lens. They return across No Man's Land having inflicted 160 casualties, including the capture of 50 prisoners, and destroyed many dug-outs and tunnelling shafts. The price, however, is 150 Canadian casualties.

1942:  Formation of first RM Cdo at Deal.

1945:  Allied planes start fire-bombing of Dresden; over 50,000 die as city completely destroyed.

1945:  Canadian troops capture the town of Cleve in Germany

1985:  Rt. Hon. Charles Joseph Clark appointed (actieng) Minister of National Defence (to 26 Feb 1985)

1995:  CDS General John de Chastelain directs that MGen Brian Vernon be relieved of command of Land Force Central Area for his actions regarding the passage of erroneous information to the CDS about an initiation video showing members of 1 Commando, the Canadian Airborne Regiment.


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## big bad john

1690:  A force commanded by Nicolas D’Ailleboust and Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène attacks the fortified village of Schenectady.

1761:  British troops occupy Fort Michilimackinac.

1826:  Lt. Colonel John By 1781-1836 of the Royal Engineers arrives in Hull to plan construction of the Rideau Canal from Ottawa River to Lake Ontario.

1915:  First Canadian Division arrives in France from England, and moves into Flanders.

1940:  N0. 110 (Army Co-Operation) Squadron sails from Halifax for Britain.

1945:  Five Motor Torpedo Boats of the Canadian 29th Flotilla burn in Ostende harbour.

1945:  Canadian bombers successfully target the city of Dresden, inflicting more than 60,000 casualties in a bid to destroy German factories.

1945:  MOYLAND WOOD, effective dates for battle hounour begin (to 21 Feb 45).

1950:  RCAF aircraft begin an intense Search and Rescue operation around Queen Charlotte Sound for an American B-36 bomber that has gone missing during a flight from Alaska to Texas. Joined in their efforts by US planes, Canadians will rescue the American aircrew tomorrow on Princess Royal Island.


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## big bad john

1915:  1st Canadian Division begin to arrive in France under Lieut.-General E.A.H. Alderson.

1916:  In Berlin, Ontario, a mob of citizens, led by unruly soldiers, throws the statue of Kaiser Wilhelm II into a local lake. Shops and businesses owned by German-Canadians are ransacked and smashed. Anti-German sentiment will lead the citizens to change the name of the city to modern-day Kitchener.

1923:  The Canadian Air Force (a civil-military organization0 is granted the prefix "Royal"by His Majesty the King, becoming the "Royal Canadian Air Force".

1942:  Lieutenant General Percival surrendered Singapore, the worst defeat in British military history, the prospects for further defensive operations being hopeless.  130,000 military personnel entered captivity, which many did not survive.

1946:  The 27th Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment) is disbanded.

1950:  Government lifts the last wartime price controls on goods; brought in during World War II.

1965:  The Maple Leaf Flag, adopted by Parliament, is proclaimed by Her Majesty the Queen.

1989:  Last 100,000 Soviet troops leave Afghanistan under UN accord.


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## big bad john

1693: A French-Indian force of 600 men attacks two Mohawk villages below Lake Champlain. French authorities report 25 Mohawks killed and over 300 prisoners taken. 

1813:  Six companies of the 10th Regiment of Foot, plus 4th New Brunswick Regiment, start a 52 day march to the St. Lawrence from Fredericton, NB.

1900:  Strathcona's Horse depart for South Africa.

1915:  McGill University approves the recruiting of a company of university students to serve in the CEF.

1917:  On the Western Front, every officer in a company of the Royal Fusiliers (British Army) fell casualty during an attack near Courcelette.  Nevertheless, Lance-Sergeant Palmer ignored heavy fire at point-blank range to painstakingly cut a path through entanglements of barbed wire, then rushed an enemy machine-gun nest and captured it.  Gathering the survivors of the company, he established a barricade which he then defended against no less than seven fierce counter-attacks.  Running out of grenades, he went back to the British lines for a fresh supply.  In his absence, an eighth counter-attack finally dislodged his men.  But returning, Palmer led them back to retake the position, and hold it.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.


1936:  The 19th Alberta Dragoons and The Alberta Mounted Rifles are amalgamated under the former designation.

1940:  RCAF's No. 110 Army Cooperation Squadron sails for Britain from Halifax.

1940:  The German supply ship Altmark, carrying 299 British merchant seamen captured by the pocket battleship Graf Spee during her raiding voyage in 1939, sought sanctuary from the Royal Navy in neutral Norwegian waters at Jossing Fjiord.  Since the German ship had breached Norwegian neutrality, Captain Vian in HMS Cossack ignored Norwegian efforts to stop him and pursued Altmark, coming alongside her that evening to liberate the British prisoners.

1942:  Lieutenant Roberts and Petty Officer Gould, of the submarine HMS Thrasher, won the Victoria Cross for a remarkable act of bomb disposal.

1944:  VC won by Maj. Charles Ferguson Hoey, 1st Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment (British Army), Maungdaw, Burma (awarded posthumously).

1945: Again in Burma, Jemadar Prakash Singh commanded a platoon of 4/13th Frontier Rifles, defending against massive Japanese attacks.  Prakash Singh was wounded in both legs, and his second-in-command took over the leadership of the unit.  However, he was in turn badly wounded; Prakash Singh then crawled back to the firing line and resumed command.  He suffered another pair of wounds in his legs, but continued to drag himself about on his hands to direct the defence.  A fifth wound proved fatal, but even as he lay dying, he continued to encourage his men, shouting out a traditional Dogra war-cry; his men succeeded in holding the position, despite the odds against them.  He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. 

1945:  U-309 sunk in the North Sea east of the Moray Firth, by depth charges from the Canadian frigate HMCS St. John.

1946: Honorary Captain J.W. Foote is awarded his Victoria Cross for gallantry and devotion to duty on the occasion of the raid on Dieppe (19 Aug 1942), becoming the first Canadian chaplain to receive the Victoria Cross.

1951:  HILL 327, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 20 Feb 51).

1989:  United Nations Transition Assistance Group in Namibia (UNTAG) authorized.


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## big bad john

1795:  The Queen's Rangers finish clearing a path from York (Toronto) to Lake Simcoe, which is then named Younge Street. It has taken the troops the better part of a year to complete the new road, labouring through intense cold, hilly terrain, and dense hardwood trees.

1917:  Flt. Lt. Hugh Aird of Toronto takes part in a bombing mission against the Buk bridge in Macedonia. Aird drops three 100-pound bombs on the bridge, preventing its further use by the Turks.

1917:  The German U-boat U-85 spotted a vulnerable merchant ship, Farnborough, west of Fastnet, and hit her aft in the engine-room with a torpedo.  As the merchantman's crew could be seen taking to a lifeboat, U-85 surfaced to finish off her badly damaged victim, which was already sinking.  However, the hunter now became the hunted - Farnborough was in fact HMS Q-5, one the famous Q-ships, commanded by Commander Campbell.  As the "Panic Party" escaped in the lifeboats as planned, Campbell remained behind with a small gunnery team, ignored the rising water, and patiently waited for his target to close to point-blank range.  Their concealed guns opened fire on the U-boat at only 100 yards, and hit her with almost every round out of 45 fired, quickly sinking her.  Campbell then summoned help to tow Q-5 towards shore, where she was safely beached.  Campbell received the Victoria Cross. 

1939:  The RCAF receives its first delivery of Hawker Hurricane fighters.

1951:  2nd Battalion, PPCLI, come under command of the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade in Korea.


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## big bad john

1814:  Upper Canada MP Joseph Wilcocks expelled posthumously from the Assembly at York for being a traitor; he led American raids into Canada.

1870:  Charles Arkoll Boulton captured outside Fort Gary with Thomas Scott and group of Canadians trying to overthrow Louis Riel's government.

1900:  PAARDEBURG - Battle of Paardeburg begins (to 27 Feb) , Boer War.

1920:  The Canadian government authorizes the formation of the Canadian Air Force.

1944:  16 Canadian minesweepers, in four divisions of four ships, begin to leave St. John's for British waters to take part in the invasion of Normandy.

1945:  Canadians attack German defenders in Moyland Wood. Using self-propelled flame-throwers ("Wasps"), they gain a foothold in the forest, but advance no further.


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## big bad john

1690:  A French-Indian force of some 200 men attack the English settlement at Schenectady, New York. The assault begins at 11p.m., taking the garrison and inhabitants by surprise. After burning the settlement and massacring most of the settlers, the raiders return to their base at Montreal.

1889:  Gabriel Dumont (Saskatchewan Metis leader) pardoned by Crown for role 1885 Rebellion.

1944:  Motor Torpedo boats of the 29th and 65th (Canadian) Flotillas begin to be commissioned (continues until 31 March).

1945:  GOCH-CALCAR ROAD, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 21 Feb 45).

1951:  2 PPCLI becomes the first Canadian unit sent to the front during the Korean War.

1965:  12 (Richmond) Service Battalion.

2000:  MND Art Eggleton officially opens a new facility housing HMCS Cabot, the naval reserve division in St. John's.

2000:  MND Art Eggleton, officially opens HMCS Cabot, the new Naval Reserve Complex in St. John's, NL..


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## big bad john

1796:  Queen's Rangers cut out Yonge St. 55 km to Pine Fort Landing on Lake Simcoe; to Georgian Bay by Feb. 27 

1920:  Order-in-Council authorizes the establishment of a new Canadian Air Force (CAF) on a non-permanent basis.

1959:  Defence Minister George Pearkes announces the Diefenbaker Cabinet decision to cancel AVRO CF-105 Arrow interceptor project because of costs.

1964:  Terrorists raid armoury in Shawinigan.

1985:  First successful US cruise missile test in Canadian airspace; released from a B-52 bomber over Beaufort Sea, the missile successfully makes its way to the target in Alberta.

1987:  MND announces creation of an office to study the impact of employing women in the combat arms - the Combat-Related Employment of Women (CREW) trials.

1989:  Human rights tribunal directs the Canadian Forces to cease Combat-Related Employment of Women (CREW) trials and to remove any remaining employment restrictions based on sex (with the exception of submarine duty).


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## big bad john

1900:  1st Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, and "C" Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery, depart Halifax aboard the Milwaukee for South Africa.

1916:  German army launches attack on fortress of Verdun; this World War One battle will generate one million casualties.

1918:  James Alexander Lougheed 1854-1925 appointed Minister of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment; relocation, hospital care, pensions for returning soldiers and war workers.

1945:  German resistance in Moyland Wood collapses after a week of fighting. The next objective for 1st Canadian Army will be the defences in the forests of the Hochwald.

1945:  Canadian Army breaks through the Seigfried Line, reaches Goch.

1951:  A nine-man patrol from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry comes under fire in Korea. They are the first Canadian troops to be fired upon by the enemy in this United Nations "police action". No casualties are reported.

1951:  HILL 419, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 3 Mar 51).

1971:  CF-5 fighter aircraft from No. 433 and No. 434 Squadrons conduct operations in Frobisher Bay and Whitehorse to test the aircraft's winter weather capabilities.

1992:  United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) is authorized.


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## big bad john

1740:  A force of Canadians and Amerindians led by Céléron de Blainville successfully attacks the Chickasaws, near the present city of Memphis, Tennessee.

1813:  Battle of Ogdensburg. Two columns of Canadian and British troops cross the frozen St. Lawrence from Ft. Wellington (Prescott, Ont.) to Ogdensburg, New York. The unexpectedness of the attack, in large numbers, allows the Canadians to carry the day. The American militia withdraws into the countryside and Ogdensburg is not occupied by an American garrison for the rest of the war.

1881:  Private Osborne of the Northamptonshire Regiment (British Army), won the Victoria Cross during an action in the First Boer War, when he rescued a wounded man under very heavy fire.

1917:  British troops succeeded in capturing a number of Turkish trenches at Sanna-i-Yat in Mesopotamia.  The Turks launched a vigorous counter-attack, and managed to retake part of the position.  However, Sergeant Steele of the Seaforth Highlanders (British Army), assisted by another soldier, managed to position a machine-gun in an advantageous spot.  Steele then manned the gun and for several hours was able to frustrate Turkish attempts to exploit their success.  When finally another Turkish attack did break through, Steele managed to rally the British troops, and led them in a successful counter-attack of their own, during which he suffered a severe wound.  His gallantry and leadership was recognised by the award of the Victoria Cross.

1943:  HMCS Weyburn strikes a mine and sinks off Tangier.

1945:  Corvette HMCS Trentontian sunk in the English Channel by U-1004.

1945:  1st Canadian Division begins sailing from Italy for France; Operation "Gold Flake".

1951:  First Canadian battle casualties suffered in Korea, 2nd Battalion, PPCLI.

1991:  US gives Iraq's Saddam Hussein 24 hours to quit Kuwait or face all-out ground war; Gulf War I.

1994: Paul Martin tables his first Budget as Finance Minister;  announces four military bases to close, including two of the three Military Colleges: Royal Roads in BC and Collège Militaire St-Jean in Quebec.


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## big bad john

1782:  Guy Carleton, Baron Dorchester, named Commander in Chief of British North America.

1815:  Sir George Prevost, commanding British forces in Canada, submits a progress report to the British government on the Lachine Canal project. This project, drafted on the heels of the recent war with the United States, will be the first in a system of defensive canals meant to circumvent the St. Lawrence should it be captured by the Americans in a future war.

1838:  American republican sympathizers occupy Fighting Island in the Detroit River to back Canadian rebels.

1858:  At Sultanpore in India, Lieutenant Innes of the Bengal Engineers rode ahead of the advancing British troops to drive the enemy away from an artillery piece.  He then charged a second gun, which was being more resolutely manned and was well placed to maul the advancing troops.  Innes killed a gunner and captured the gun, which he then defended until reinforcements arrived.  He received the Victoria Cross, as did Major Gough, decorated for a series of actions over the previous months, culminating in a skirmish on 23 February when he saved the life of a fellow officer.

1900:  During the Boer War, a British colonel fell wounded in the open.  Boer snipers kept his body under close watch, and drove back any attempts to reach him.  The colonel himself sustained a further eight wounds.  Private Curtis of the East Surrey Regiment nevertheless was determined to rescue him.  After several aborted attempts, Curtis managed to reach the colonel, and proceeded to dress his wounds, all the time under constant fire.  The colonel insisted that he be left, since the risks of carrying him were so high.  Curtis ignored him, and managed to carry him back to the British lines, helped by another man who succeeded in coming to his aid.  Curtis was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1909:  J. A. D. McCurdy flies the Bell designed Silver Dart at an altitude of about 10 metres for nearly one kilometre across Baddeck Bay; first airplane flight in Canada by a Canadian; first powered flight in British Empire.

1917:  As British forces once more advanced up the Tigris towards Kut in Mesopotamia, Major Wheeler led a small party of nine Gurkhas across the river and stormed an enemy position.  The Turks reacted swiftly to this incursion, and dispatched a force well armed with grenades to retake the trench.  The Gurkhas met them with a bayonet charge, during which Wheeler received a severe bayonet wound to the head.  Nevertheless, he remained in command and consolidated his defences, having established through his initiative a valuable bridge-head on the enemy bank.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1943:  Naval Radio Station (NRS) Massett opens, one of 5 west coast relay stations for ship communications.

1945:  US Marines take Japanese island of Iwo Jima 1200 km south of Tokyo after severe fighting.

1945:  Captain Swales, South African Air Force, serving with 582 Squadron RAF, was appointed the Master Bomber to lead a raid on Pforzheim.  As he circled the target, controlling the bombing runs, his Lancaster was twice attacked by German fighters.  Swales chose not to take evasive action, since this would have interfered with his control of the raid.  Two of the Lancaster's engines were knocked out, as well as the rear turret.  Swales nevertheless continued to direct the bombing with great accuracy, and only turned for home once the raid was complete.  On the way back, the badly damaged aircraft hit turbulent cloud over Belgium, and became uncontrollable.  Swales ordered his crew to bail out, whilst he struggled to hold the aircraft steady.  They all parachuted safely, but Swales had no opportunity to escape before the Lancaster crashed.  He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, Bomber Command's last such decoration.

1951:   Canadian troops with 27th British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade make first contact with enemy.

1959:  Royal Canadian Air Force personnel build a flight-worthy reproduction of the "Silver Dart" aircraft in recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of powered flight in Canada.

1994:  Bosnia's government and separatist Bosnian Croat forces agree to comprehensive cease-fire under UN auspices.


BORN TODAY:  Marc Garneau 1949- 
engineer, soldier, astronaut, space scientist, born on this day at Quebec City in 1949. Garneau got his bachelor of science degree in engineering physics from the Royal Military College of Kingston in 1970, and a PhD in electrical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England, in 1973. He was a combat systems engineer on HMCS Algonquin, 1974-76, then taught naval weapon systems at the Canadian Forces Fleet School in Halifax, 1976-77, where he designed a simulator for use in training weapons officers in the use of missile systems aboard Tribal class destroyers. He was promoted to Commander and attended the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College of Toronto in 1982-83. Garneau was one of the first six Canadian astronauts selected in December 1983, and was the first Canadian to go into space, as a payload specialist on Shuttle Missions STS-41G Challenger (October 5-13, 1984) and STS-77 Endeavour (May 19-29, 1996), logging over 437 hours in space. Garneau has since served as spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control during Shuttle flights.


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## big bad john

1838:  Battle of Fighting Island. A force of 2,000 Canadian Militia and British regulars cross the frozen Detroit River in order to dislodge 150 ill-equipped republicans of William Lyon MacKenzie's "Patriot Army of the North-West". After a brief exchange of fire, the rebels flee over the ice to the American side of the border.

1900:  In South Africa, Sergeant Firth of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (British Army) twice braved enemy fire to rescue wounded men.  He was badly wounded in the face on the second occasion.  Elsewhere, near Colenso, Lieutenant Inkson of the Royal Army Medical Corps also rescued a wounded man, carrying a maimed fellow officer to safety for some 400 yards through heavy fire.  Inkson and Firth each received the Victoria Cross.

1901: Corporal Clements of Rimington's Guides suffered a bullet in the lungs during a skirmish with Boers.  Lying alone, the Boers called on him to surrender, but he instead chose to fight on, and killed three of his opponents at close range.  The others promptly chose to surrender to him instead.  Clements survived his wound and received the Victoria Cross.

1915:  Canadian Corps takes over 6.5 km section of trench line near Armentières.

1925:  Two Flying Officers were killed in a mid-air collision over Camp Borden, becoming the first casualties in the permanent RCAF.

1944:  The Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (CEME) are form from the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (RCOC) personnel holding specific trades.

1944:  U-257 sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the Canadian frigate HMCS Waskesin and the British frigate HMS Neme.

1944: Bomber Command attacked Schweinfurt, the main German industrial centre for ball-bearing production, perceived as a bottle-neck industry which could seriously affect armaments production.  734 aircraft took part, following up on a USAAF raid the previous day.  The RAF tried a new tactic, dispatching the force in two waves separated by two hours, in the hope that the Germans would exhaust their night-fighters against the first wave, leaving a clear run for the second.  This apparently worked, since of the 33 aircraft lost, only four from the second wave were thought to have fallen to fighter attack.  The bombing, however, proved relatively ineffective, with many aircraft dropping short. 

1991:  Saddam Hussein refuses Allied ultimatum to leave Kuwait; US and Allies begin ground war assault on Iraqi troops.

1991:  Air-to-ground missions are authorized and flown by CF-18's in the Persian Gulf.


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## big bad john

1787:  1st Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (Carleton and York), specific date of origin not known

1838:  Canadian militia routs American republican sympathizers on Fighting Island, in the Detroit River.

1870:  The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, now part of The Royal New Brunswick Regiment, organized as the '73rd "Northumberland" Battalion of Infantry'.

1870:  The "73rd Northumberland N.B. Battalion of Infantry" is authorized,  The Regiment will become the 2nd Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (North Shore), Spem Reduxit, (Hope Restored).

1917:  During fighting along the banks of the Tigris in Mesopotamia, troops from the South Lancashire Regiment (British Army) repeatedly attempted to advance along a gully, but suffered heavy casualties each time from a Turkish machine-gun.  Private Readitt took part in each of five attacks, and on each occasion was the only survivor.  However, the attacks slowly forced the Turks to give ground.  When the officer commanding the operation was killed, Readitt when forward once more, alone and on his own initiative.  He advanced right up to the Turkish position, and although he was unable to remain there for long, he inflicted damage with grenades.  He slowly retired, and located a good defensive position a short distance away, which he proceeded to hold on his own.  Eventually, other soldiers managed to advance and join him, and consolidate the position.  Readitt was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1940:  No. 110 (Toronto) Squadron, equipped with Canadian-built Lysanders, land in England, first RCAF squadron to go overseas on active service.

1944:  Bomber Command mounted a devastating attack on Augsburg, the first occasion it had attacked that city in strength.  Good weather and poor anti-aircraft defence contributed to a very concentrated attack by 594 aircraft carrying more than 2,000 tons of bombs.  The raid subsequently proved somewhat controversial, given the level of destruction in the old city centre.  Some 700 Germans were killed, but perhaps 90,000 rendered homeless.  An important aircraft component factory was successfully damaged, as well as factories associated with the MAN engineering works, which produced U-boat engines.

1991:  1 Canadian Field Hospital is fully operational in Saudi Arabia.

1991:  The Canadian government announces intentions to send a field hospital to the Persian Gulf theatre.


Born Today:  John Graves Simcoe 1752-1806 
British soldier and statesman, born on this day at Cotterstock Northumberland England in 1752; died Oct. 26, 1806 in Exeter, Devonshire. Simcoe attended Eton and Merton College, Oxford; commanded the Queen's Rangers 1777-81 in the American Revolutionary War; he was first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada in 1791 and founder of Toronto (York) in 1794. His wife Elizabeth kept a diary and painted scenes from their time in Upper Canada.

A.G.L. 'Andy' McNaughton 1867-1966
soldier, was born on this day at Moosomin, Saskatchewan in 1867; died in 1966. McNaughton headed the National Research Council, commanded the First Canadian Division in World War II, and was Minister of National Defence and Canada's Ambassador to the UN.


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## big bad john

1815:  Napoleon leaves Elba with 1,200 supporters to start 100-day re-conquest of France.

1838:  Four hundred republican supporters of William Lyon Mackenzie's insurrection cross frozen Lake Erie and capture Pelee Island. The "invaders" make prisoners of the few inhabitants on the island, and await reinforcements from Sandusky, Ohio.

1852:  The troopship HMS Birkenhead was en route to Cape Town when it hit an uncharted rock during the night, about three miles off the South African shore, near the appropriately named Danger Point.  Certainty is difficult given the loss of papers in the wreck, but the ship is believed to have had 638 passengers and crew aboard.  These included 476 soldiers, from a number of different regiments of the British Army, on their way to reinforce the garrison in the Cape Colony, but also 7 women and 13 children.  The rock tore open the hull, and about 100 soldiers asleep below were drowned immediately.  Everyone else mustered on deck, where it was clear the ship was sinking quickly.  Only three lifeboats could be used; all the women and children were placed in these, with a few crew to man them.  The senior army officer aboard, Lieutenant Colonel Seton of the 74th Foot, drew the soldiers up on parade on the deck, and emphasised the need for absolute discipline if the lifeboats were not to be swamped.  Some cavalry horses aboard were freed and driven into the sea in the hope that they might be able to swim themselves ashore.  The soldiers stood firm, even as a mast crashed down around them and the ship split in two.  She sank in less than 25 minutes.  Only 193 people survived the ordeal - although the weather was excellent, sharks claimed many of the men in the water, as well as most of the horses.  The tradition of "Women and children first" is popularly ascribed to have its roots in this incident; the bravery and discipline of the soldiers was admired around the world; indeed, an account was later read to every unit of the Prussian army, by order of the Kaiser, as an exemplar of military behaviour.

1903:  The Kano-Sokoto expedition was mounted to extend British rule thoughout the northern territories of Nigeria, and in particular to suppress the slave trade.  On 26 February, a small party of 45 locally recruited soldiers from the Northern Nigerian Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Wright, were attacked by no less than 3,000 tribesmen, including 1,000 cavalry.  For two hours, the soldiers beat back repeated attacks, until eventually the tribesmen started to withdraw in good order.  Lieutenant Wright then led his men forward in a charge, and succeeded in turning the withdrawal into a rout.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1915:  During the continuing efforts of the Franco-British naval force at the Dardanelles to destroy the Turkish coastal defences, a small party of seamen was landed under the command of Lieutenant Commander Robinson, to demolish a battery at Kum Kale.  They were met with heavy fire, and Robinson feared that the men's white uniforms made them too easy a target.  He therefore ordered them to remain under cover, and went forward alone.  Despite the enemy fire, he succeeded in reaching a gun whose crew had fled, and laid a demolition charge.  That gun destroyed, he returned to his men, collected a further supply of explosives, and returned alone to destroy a second position.  He subsequently played a leading role in four operations to clear minefields in the straits, and was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1942:  Government starts evacuating 21,000 Japanese Canadians from coastal regions of British Columbia to interior work camps; under War Measures Act.

1945:  Sergeant Aubrey Cosens, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, wins VC for bravery in Rhine fighting (awarded posthumously).  On the night of 25/26 February 1945 at Mooshof, the Netherlands, Sergeant Cosens assumed command of the four survivors of his platoon whom he placed in position to give him covering fire and then, running forward alone to a tank, took up an exposed position in front of the turret and directed its fire. When a further counter-attack had been repulsed and, on his orders, the tank had rammed some farm buildings, he went in alone, killing several of the defenders and taking the rest prisoners. He then dealt similarly with the occupants of two more buildings, but soon afterwards was killed by a sniper.

1945:  THE HOCHWALD, effective dates for battle honour start (to 4 Mar 45).

1953:  3 RCR embarks for Yokohama en route to Korea.

1971:  Ottawa starts program to raise Francophone numbers in the Canadian Armed Forces to at least 28%.

1990:  79 Communications Regiment.

1992:  The Canadian Government tells NATO it's cancelling plans to maintain 1,100 Canadian Forces in Europe after 1994.


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## big bad john

PAARDEBURG DAY - Regimental Day of The Royal Canadian Regiment

1881:  During an action with Boers, Lance Corporal Farmer, a medical orderly (British Army), stood exposed to enemy fire, holding a white flag over a group of wounded men, in an effort to spare them further attack.  The Boers kept up their fire, and Farmer was badly wounded in the arm holding in the flag.  However, he rose again to his feet, and continued to hold high the flag with his other arm, until he was shot in that limb as well.  His efforts to protect the men, at great personal risk, was recognised with the award of the Victoria Cross.

1900:  During the Boer War, troops from the West Yorkshire Regiment (British Army) attacked up the northern slope of Terrace Hill, near Tugela in Natal.  Their advance was met with a barrage of fire, and faltered.  Captain Mansel-Jones braved the enemy fire to remuster his men, and, despite suffering a very serious wound, led them once more up the hill in a charge which took the Boer position.  He received the Victoria Cross.

1900:  Surrender of the Boer General Cronje at Paardeburg, Boer War.

1930:  HMCS Thiepval is lost in Barkley Sound, B.C..

1941:  The Prince Edward Island Light Horse mobilizes the '1st Canadian Armoured Brigade Headquarters Squadron (The Prince Edward Island Light Horse)."

1941:  The 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade Headquarters Squadron (7th/11th Hussars) is mobilized.

1942:  Start of the Battle of the Java Sea; 13 US warships sunk, 2 Japanese.

1948:  Four companies of Canadian Rangers are authorized in Quebec Command.  These companies will be located at Mingan, Seven Islands, La Tuque, and Fort Chimo.

1951:  Canada posts army officer to staff of Supreme Allied Commander; first step in providing Canadian ground troops in Europe for NATO 

1961:  Four Canadian peacekeepers are relieved of their arms by Congolese soldiers and forced to run barefoot for a mile along a dirt road before being released. This is only one in a series of incidents against Canadians -- and UN peacekeepers in general -- by the Congolese against the very people trying to help re-establish order in the shattered country.

1985:  Hon. Erik H. Nielsen appointed Minister of National Defence (to 29 Jun 1986).

1991:  Coalition under US General Norman Schwarzkopf proclaims victory over Iraq in the six-week Gulf War; Canadian troops start to return home after combat operations cease; Canada sent a total of 2,400 troops, 26 fighter planes, 3 warships and a field hospital.

1995:  Federal Budget reaffirms the 1994 White Paper commitment to reduce the strength of the Regular Force to 60,000 by 1999.


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## big bad john

1838:  Robert Nelson raids Lower Canada from Vermont with Cyrille Cote;  Proclaims republic; stopped by militia.

1862:  "The 8th Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles, Canada" are authorized, the regiment will become The Royal Rifles of Canada, Volens et Valens.

1915:  Troops from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry engage in one of the war's first trench raids. One hundred of the Patricias set out in the hours before dawn to capture and destroy a German sap trench. They suffer 20 casualties for this effort, but the enemy trench is destroyed. As the war progresses the Canadians will become particularly adept at the trench raid.

1946:  HMCS Cornwallis is paid off (taken out of service) and new recruit training begins to be conducted at local naval depots.

1955:  The 28th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment is amalgamated with The Prince Edward Island Regiment (17th Reconnaissance Regiment) under the latter designation.

1991:  US and allied forces cease fire at 8 am Kuwait time, after 42 days of the Gulf War; Iraq tells its army to stop fighting.

1994:  NATO jets shot down four Serbian warplanes violating Bosnia's no-fly zone.


BORN TODAY:  Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm-Grozon (de Saint-Véran) 1712-1759
soldier, was born on this day in 1712 at Château de Candiac, France; dies of wounds suffered at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec Sept 14, 1759. Montcalm was Commander in Chief of French forces in Canada (1756-59) during the Seven Years' War.


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## big bad john

1755:  Jean-Armand Dieskau appointed commander of the French regular troops in Canada.

1815:  Disbanding of Lower Canada militia after War of 1812.

1819:  Plans for the strengthening of the fortifications around Quebec are approved. Construction of a new citadel will begin in May of the following year; it will be completed in 1831, at a cost of £236,500.

1858:  1858: During the Indian Mutiny, Lieutenant Aikman, commanding a force of 100 infantry, was alerted to the presence of some 700 mutineers, including cavalry and artillery.  Notwithstanding the odds, nor the fire coming from an enemy fort close by, Aikman led his men in an immediate attack, and comprehensively routed his opponents, capturing their artillery.  In the process, Aikman received a severe sword wound to the face, but survived to receive the Victoria Cross.

1896:  Hon. David Tisdale appointed Minister of Militia and Defence (to 08 Jul 1896).

1907:  The 1st Volunteer Troop of Calvary of Montreal is formed. This unit will become the 17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars, be designated the 7th (Reserve) Reconnaissance Regiment (17 Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars) in 1942, and be amalgamated in 1958 with the 6th Duke of Connaught's Royal Canadian Hussars to form "The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal)."

1912:   Captain Albert Berry of the U.S.Army Jefferson Barracks makes world's first parachute jump from a moving airplane; from an altitude of 1,500 feet at 50 mph.

1917:  Seventeen hundred Canadian troops advance against the German defences near Lens. For 37 German prisoners taken, the Canadians suffer 687 casualties, mostly when they are caught in the wire by enemy machine-guns. 

1919:  AFFAIRS ROUND VISTAVKA, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 4 Mar 19).

1920:  The '88th Regiment (Victoria Fusiliers)' and the '50th Regiment' are amalgamated to form 'The Canadian Scottish Regiment'.

1928:  HMC Ships Champlain and Vancouver are commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy, replacing HMC Ships Patriot and Patrician.

1932:  The Royal Canadian Engineers are redesignated "The Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers."  Regular and Reserve engineer units are now known by the same Corps title.

1938:  Western Air Command of the RCAF is formed with its headquarters in Vancouver.

1938:  The Canadian Tank School is moved to Camp Borden from London, ON., changing its name to the Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicles School (CAFVS).

1940:  The 1st Hussars, C.A.S.F. are redesignated the '1st Canadian Cavalry Regiment (Mechanized)."

1941:  RCAF Squadron 403 formed.

1942: The Canadian Women's Army Corps is granted full army status as a Corps of the Active Militia of Canada.

1943:  Founding of the Canadian Women's Army Corps as part of the Canadian forces; CWACs have full military titles and hold commissions.

1943:  Work begins on the Alaska highway.

1944:  The Canadian Government ends meat rationing.

1945:  Canadian Army Major Frederick Tilston wins VC for bravery in Hochwald Forest.  He was 38 years old, and an Acting Major in The Essex Scottish Regiment, Canadian Army during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 1 March 1945 in the Hochwald Forest, Germany, Major Tilston, although wounded in the head, led his company in the attack, through a belt of wire 10 feet deep, to the enemy trenches, personally silenced a machine-gun and was the first to reach the enemy position. Pressing on to the second line he was severely wounded in the hip but carried on, his unshakeable confidence and enthusiasm so inspiring his men that they held firm against great odds. Even when wounded for a third time and hardly conscious, he refused medical attention until he had given complete instructions for holding the position. Tilston lost both legs and an eye in this action.

In another infantry attack, this time at Kervenheim in the Rhineland, soldiers from the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (Brisih Army) were pinned down by heavy machine-gun fire from a farmhouse.  Private Stokes dashed forward alone and, despite being wounded, broke into the building, emerging shortly afterwards with twelve prisoners.  He refused medical attention and attacked a second building, where he took five more prisoners.  Although by now seriously weakened, he insisted on taking part in a third attack, but was killed twenty yards short of his objective.

Both Private Stokes and Major Tilston were awarded the Victoria Cross.

1946:  The Canadian Army (Active) Battalions of The "RCR", the "PPCLI" and the "R22eR" are disbanded.  The "Second Battalions", formed for the Canadian Army Pacific Force, become, respectively, "The RCR," the "PPCLI" and the "R22eR."

1957:  First flight of the McDonnell CF-101B Voodoo. After the Avro Arrow was cancelled, the Voodoo began to replace the aging Avro CF-100 Canuk in the RCAF.

1963:  714e (Sherbrooke) Escadron des Communications.

1986:  441 Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) flies the last operational mission at CFB Baden-Soellingen, marking the end of nearly 25 years of service of the CF-104 Starfighter.


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## big bad john

1729:  King Louis XV authorizes a new issue of playing card money in New France; not enough printed bills or coinage to pay the troops; Governor at Quebec allowed to sign playing cards as specie.

1782:  Sir Guy Carleton is appointed commander of British forces in North America. He assumes his new post as the War of Independence (1775-76) is drawing to a close.

1943:   Battle of the Bismark Sea rages; Allied planes sink 12 Japanese ships carrying reinforcements to New Guinea, killing nearly 4,000.

1945:  Naik (Corporal equivalent) Fazal Din of the 10th Baluch Regiment conducted a lone attack on a Japanese bunker, which was pinning down his section.  Having eliminated its defenders, he then attacked a second, from which six Japanese charged forth.  A Japanese officer ran his sword through Fazal Din's chest, but as he pulled the blade out, the mortally wounded Naik wrestled it from his grip, and killed the officer with his own sword.  He then killed a second Japanese soldier with the sword, as his men advanced to capture the bunker.  Fazal Din managed to stagger back to report the success of the attack, before dying from his injuries.  He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

Elsewhere in Burma, Gian Singh, a Naik of the 15th Punjab Regiment, single-handedly attacked a series of Japanese positions.  Despite being wounded, he cleared a series of trenches and a concealed anti-tank gun, then led his section forward to complete the reduction of the enemy position.  He received the Victoria Cross.

1949:  Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) are redesignated "Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)(2nd Armoured Regiment)."

1951:  National Defence publish first Canadian casualty list from Korea; six soldiers killed.

1956:  No. 4 Wing air display team "The Sky Lancers" crashes southwest of Strasbourg, Germany.  Four of the five Sabre pilots are killed.

1964:  439 Squadron, RCAF, is reformed as a 'reconnaissance/attack' squadron.

1991:  The first Canadian troops leave for home at the conclusion of Operation Desert Storm. No Canadians have been killed in the conflict between Iraq and the United Nations and all are relieved to be returning home safe.

1992:  MND the Honourable Marcel Masse announces that Canada will send another 100 CF personnel to Cambodia as part of the United Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia (UNAMIC).


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## big bad john

1813:  Admiral Cockburn's squadron arrives in Lynnhaven Bay

1838:  British regulars and local militia from Fort Malden (Amherstberg, Ont.) attack William Lyon Mackenzie's rebels on Pelee Island, on Lake Erie. About 400 of Mackenzie's republican supporters planned to use the island as a starting point for their "liberation" of Canada. Following a spirited bayonet charge by the British, the rebels abandon the island and cross the frozen lake back to the United States.

1895: On the North West Frontier, India , word was brought to the garrison at Chitral Fort that an officer had been badly wounded some 1.5 miles distant.  Surgeon-Captain Whitchurch immediately set out with a rescue party.  They reached the wounded officer, but as they were carrying him back, they came under very heavy fire.  Three of the stretcher bearers were killed, whereupon Whitchurch hoisted the officer onto his back, and carried him the remainder of the way to the fort, all the time under fire.  Sadly, the officer's wounds proved fatal, but Whitchurch was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1901: Lieutenant Dugdale, 5th Royal Irish Lancers, earned the Victoria Cross for his rescue under fire of two wounded and unhorsed troopers during a Boer War skirmish.  He dismounted and put one of the men in his own saddle, then caught one of the riderless horses, mounted it and pulled the second casualty up behind him.  He then took both horses and the wounded back to the British lines.

1915:  The First Canadian Division replaces the Seventh British Division on 6400 yards of front south of Armentieres.

1921:  HMC Submarines CH-14 and CH-15 are commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy

1942:  First combat flight of the Canadian-built Avro Lancaster bomber.

1942: Bomber Command launched its largest raid thus far of the war, in an attempt to conduct night low-level precision bombing against the large Renault factory at Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, which was an important source of trucks for the German military.  Some 235 bombers attacked, in an hitherto unprecedented concentration over the target - 121 per hour - which demonstrated that the risk of collision at night was lower than feared, no accidents being suffered.  The raid's great success - 300 bombs fell directly on the factory, causing an estimated loss of production of 2,300 trucks - was marred by heavy casualties amongst the French civilian population; 367 were killed.

1945: During an attack by the Green Howards (British Army) on Japanese bunkers in Burma, Lieutenant Weston distinguished himself leading the charge on a number of strong-points.  In the attack on the last and most difficult bunker, Weston fell wounded in the entrance.  He deliberately pulled the pin from one of his grenades, and blew up himself and the bunker.  He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1980:  Hon. Gilles Lamontangne appointed Minister of National Defence (T0 11 Aug 1983).


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## big bad john

1814:  Americans defeat British at Battle of Longwoods; between London and Thamesville.

1910:  Assent granted for creation of the portfolio of Minister of the Naval Service created by Statute 9 - 10 Edward VII.c 43.  The department of the Naval Service to be presided over by the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, who was to be the Minister of the Naval Service.

1910:  Hon. Louis-Phillippe Brodeur appointed Minister of the Naval Service (to 10 Aug 1911).

1918:  At 6:00 this morning German troops attack the Canadians holding Aloof Trench, at Lens. Although the German attackers gain a foothold on the Canadian line, counter-attacks drive the enemy from the trench, leaving behind many of their dead.

1941:  Five Royal Navy destroyers and two troop transports landed 500 British Commandos, Royal Engineers and Free Norwegian troops at dawn on the Lofoten Islands, in the first Commando raid, Operation Claymore.  In the eight hours they were ashore, the raiders took prisoner 200 Germans, and destroyed the oil factories on the islands.  However, perhaps the most significant haul was the capture of coding rotors for the Enigma cryptographic system, found aboard a German armed trawler.

1942:  The first Canadian 'Cruiser' tanks arrive in England.

1942:  The submarine HMS Torbay, under Commander Miers, followed an Axis convoy and succeeded in penetrating the heavily defended anchorage at Corfu.  Torbay proceeded to fire torpedoes at two large transports and a destroyer - both transports were reported sunk - then retreated out to sea under very heavy depth charge attack.  Torbay escaped successfully, and Miers was awarded the Victoria Cross for the exploit.

1943:  U-87 sunk west of Leixoes by the Canadian corvette HMCS Shediac and the destroyer HMCS St. Croix.

1945:  After five days of fierce fighting, German resistance in the Hochwald forest ends. The 2nd Canadian Division passes through the dense woods and emerges on its eastern edge to find abandoned German dead and equipment everywhere.

1946:  Communist MP Fred Rose and 13 others charged with spying for the Soviet Union; result of Gouzenko revelations.

1954:  First flight of the prototype Lockheed F-104A Starfighter.  This aircraft would be chosen in 1959 by the RCAF to replace the Sabre.

1964:  UN Security Council adopts resolution to appoint mediator and establish peace-keeping force in Cyprus.  United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) authorized.

1966:  Liberal Justice Minister Cardin breaks news of the Munsinger Affair scandal, involving former Diefenbaker Associate Minister of National Defence Pierre Sevigny 1917- and his relationship with Gerda Munsinger, known to the RCMP as a prostitute with East German contacts.

1969:  RCMP to replace remaining dog teams with snowmobiles.

1991:  Saddam Hussein releases 6 US, 3 British and 1 Italian POW.

1991:  1 Canadian Field Hospital ceases operations in Saudi Arabia.

1993:  Two Somali infiltrators shot by the Canadian Airborne Regiment, one dies.


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## big bad john

1814:  240 British and Canadian troops engage an American foraging party of 165 men at Longwood (about 30 km. south-west of modern London, Ont.) Although they try to dislodge the Americans, who are entrenched in a makeshift log breastwork, the Anglo-Canadian troops withdraw from the field, suffering 14 killed and 52 wounded.

1870:  Garnet Joseph Wolseley 1833-1913 chosen to lead military expedition to Red River; Deputy Quartermaster-General.

1919:  Canadian troops riot at Kimmel Park, England, over the slow pace of repatriation home.

1936:  Spitfire fighter plane unveiled for the first time.

1943:  British and Canadian bombers start Battle of the Ruhr; year-long bombing offensive against Germany.

1945:  18 of 185 Canadian aircrafts are lost in a raid on Chemnitz

1945:  Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles successfully hunted down a Japanese sniper who had kept his section under fire at Snowdon East in Burma.  He then went forward alone and killed the defenders in four enemy positions, including a machine-gun team in a bunker.  Supported now by three other Gurkhas, he defended the captured bunker against a Japanese counter-attack, driving the enemy back with very heavy losses.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1960:  Between 5 and 7 March a Royal Canadian Air Force transport aircraft, a North Star, flies 6,647 pounds of medical equipment and medical personnel to Agadir, Morocco, which had been struck by earthquakes.

1967:  Georges-Philias Vanier 1888-1967 dies at age 78; soldier, Royal 22ème Regiment; Canada's 19th Governor-General 1959-67, and the first French Canadian to hold the position.

1995:  Canadian Airborne Regiment officially disbanded at laying-up of the colors ceremony at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa.


BORN TODAY:  Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac 1658-1806 
soldier, explorer, and French colonial Governor, born on this day at Les Laumets France in 1658; died 1730 in France. Cadillac arrived in Canada in 1683, fought against the Iroquois.


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## big bad john

1814:  A British picket and several officers on the Niagara border capture an American deserter and the troops who had been sent to bring him back.

1858:  Lance-Corporal Goat of the 9th Lancers (British Army) won the Victoria Cross for his persistent efforts to recover the body of an officer killed in combat during the Indian Mutiny.  To do so, Goat had to dismount and work under enemy fire to hoist the body over his horse.  His first attempt had to be abandoned due to the approach of enemy cavalry, but he finally succeeded in retrieving the body for proper burial.

1902:  Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service was established.

1915:  2nd Canadian Division begin to land in England, the last part of it arriving in August, 1915.

1916:  During fierce fighting near the formidable Hohenzollern Redoubt on the Western Front, a shell blast severed the leg of Corporal Cotter, East Kent Regiment (British Army), just below the knee.  He was also wounded in both arms.  Despite his appalling injuries, Cotter managed to make his way to a large crater some fifty yards distant occupied by men from his battalion, and took charge of them, organising the successful defence of the crater against a German counter-attack.  For two hours he controlled the defenders' fire, changed their positions to deal better with fresh attacks, and only allowed his wounds to receive the most improvised of dressings.  It was fourteen hours before he could be safely evacuated to a dressing station, and he soon afterwards died of his wounds.  He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1929:  Death of Major-General Sir William Otter, KCB.

1940:  Founding of the wartime Agricultural Supplies Board.

1943:  Seventy-seven bombers from 6 Group, RCAF, join the 442-aircraft raid against Essen, Germany. The target for tonight is the Krupp factory in that city, which continues to turn out war material -- tanks, bombs, and artillery -- despite being hit twice already. The raid destroys large portions of the target factory.

1944:  U-744 sunk in the North Atlantic by HMS Icarus, the Canadian frigate HMCS St. Catherines, corvettes Fennel and Chilliwack and destroyers Chaudiere and Gatineau and the British corvette HMS Kenilworth Castle.

1945:  VEEN, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 10 Mar 45).


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## big bad john

1719:  Michel-Philippe Isabeau starts to build Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island; engineer under director of fortifications Jean-François de Verville, who recommended the site in 1716. The fortress takes 25 years to build.

1862:  "The 9th Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles, Canada (or 'Voltigeurs of Quebec')" are authorized, the Regiment will become Les Voltigeurs de Quebec, Force A Superbe Mercy A Foible (Violence to the strong, mercy to the weak).

1866:  Canada puts 10,000 militia on alert after Fenians hold meeting in New York and threaten invasion; as precaution against anticipated attacks on St. Patrick's Day.

1866:  10,000 Militia placed under arms against anticipated St. Patrick's Day outrages (Fenians).

1900:  Second (Special Service) Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment in action at Poplar Grove (Boer War).

1917:  A river crossing operation in Mesopotamia involving the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment (British Army) came under very heavy fire, and the first two boats were lost with their occupants.  The third boat was also raked by fire, and every man aboard killed or wounded, save only Private White, a signaller.  Unable to control the boat on his own, he improvised a towing line from a supply of field telephone cable he was carrying, then dived overboard, and slowly towed the heavy pontoon back to shore despite a continuing barrage of fire, saving the lives of all the wounded aboard, as well as a large quantity of equipment.  White was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1945:  U-1302 sunk in St. George's Channel, by depth charges from the Canadian frigates HMCS La Hulloise, Strathadam and Thedford Mines.

1945:  Allied forces cross the Rhine River south of Cologne, and take the city.

1951:  Two companies from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry are involved in the fighting for control of Hill 532 in Korea. The assault is difficult for the Canadians, as the Chinese are entrenched on the crest of the hill and the weather -- wet snow -- slows their uphill progress. Six Patricias are killed today; another 28 are wounded. Hill 532 will be captured tomorrow after the Chinese evacuate their position. 

1954:  Prime Minister St. Laurent arrives in Korea aboard an RCAF aircraft.  He will lay a wreath at the Korean War memorial on 8 March and visit with Brigadier Allard and representatives of the Commonwealth Forces.

1963:  FLQ starts campaign of violence by hurling Molotov cocktails at three Canadian Army armories.

1968:  Canadian External Affairs Minister Paul Martin says Canada to participate with US in developing airborne radar system to replace DEW Line.


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## big bad john

1666:  A French strike force, decimated by exposure and harrying Iroquois attacks, reaches Fort St. Louis (later Fort Chambly, east of Montreal) having lost 100 of its original force of 500 men.

1901:  Samuel Benfield Steele 1849-1919 commanding Lord Strathcona's Horse, arrives back in Halifax with his regiment after fighting the Boers in South Africa.

1916:  In an action in Mesopotamia, a battalion of the Manchester Regiment (British Army) succeeded in capturing a section of the Turkish lines.  However, a vigorous Turkish counter-attack threw the Manchesters back again.  Their safe withdrawal was made possible by the gallantry of one individual, Private Stringer, who had been posted on the extreme right of the line.  He held his ground as the rest of the battalion fell back, and, well supplied with hand grenades, single-handedly broke up the Turkish pursuit until all his grenades had been used up.  Only then did he retire to join his colleagues, who had been able to consolidate a defensive position a little way back.  Stringer was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1917:  After the disastrous attempt to cross the Dialah River in Mesopotamia on 7 March which had already seen the award of a VC to Signaller White, only Captain Reid of the King's Regiment (British Army) was left on the enemy side of the river, with a small number of troops.  For over 30 hours, Reid and his men held off constant Turkish efforts to eliminate them, with no ammunition or supplies able to reach them, and no possibility of escape.  Their continuing presence on the enemy banks proved the necessary advantage when, finally on 10 March, a successful crossing was made by the main force.  Reid was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1917:  In France, troops from the Rifle Brigade (British Army) were digging to repair a newly captured trench, when an unexploded bomb was unearthed, and its fuze was seen to activate.  Second Lieutenant Cates immediately threw himself on the bomb, and his body absorbed the blast, saving the lives of his men.  Cates' self-sacrifice was recognised by a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1918:  In Belgium, Lance Corporal Robertson, Royal Fusiliers (British Army), commanded a Lewis Gun team.  They succeeded in repelling a German attack, but Robertson realised that more enemy troops were mustering.  He therefore sent his men back with a warning to the main British positions, remaining behind with only one man and the Lewis Gun.  The two of them broke up a second German attack, causing large casualties, but Robertson then decided to withdraw some way, no reinforcements having reached him.  He continued fighting off further attacks, despite the death of his comrade, and finally reached the British lines severely wounded with all his ammunition used up.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1919:  AFFAIRS ROUND VISTAVKA, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 10 Mar 19).

1922:  First session of 14th Parliament meets until June 28; passes National Defense Act 

1945:  Canadian forces begin their advance on the western suburbs of Xanten. This town represents the last large urban obstacle to crossing the Rhine. The Canadians reach their objectives by midday and clear the town by the following morning.

1945:  Hon. Colin William George Gibson appointed Minister of National Defence for Air (to 11 Dec 1946).

1945:  Colonel the Honourable Colin Gibson is appointed Minister of National Defence for Air. 

1945:  XANTEN, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 9 Mar 45).

1954:  Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent visits Canadian brigade in Korea during world tour. 

1984:  First US cruise missile tested over western Canada; unarmed missile stays attached to B-52 bomber. 

1993:  Canadian Navy supply ship HMCS Preserver heads home after three-month tour of Somalia; her three Sea King helicopters airlifted 430 tonnes of supplies into Mogadishu.


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## big bad john

1815:  Treaty of Ghent proclaimed at Quebec; end of War of 1812. 

1831:  King Louis Philippe founds the French Foreign Legion, with headquarters in Algeria. 

1858:  At Lucknow, Lieutenant Butler of the 1st European Bengal Fusiliers swam across the Goomtee River under enemy fire to conduct a reconnaissance of the mutineers' positions.  Meanwhile, Lieutenant Farquharson of the Black Watch (British Army) led an assault on an artillery position which threatened the British advance.  Both officers were awarded the Victoria Cross.

1862:  Ironclads Monitor (Union) & Merrimack (Confederate) do battle. US Civil War.

1864:  Abraham Lincoln appoints General Ulysses S. Grant commander-in-chief of the Union armies.  US Civil War. 

1866:  7 Toronto Regiment (RCA)

1873:  John A Macdonald's government proposes establishment of a Mounted Police force for the North West Territories; act passed May 23. 

1885:  This is the final day of the contract signed by Canadian voyageurs to serve on the Nile River. Almost 400 of the rivermen volunteered to move British troops and supplies upriver to the relief of Khartoum. With the fall of the city and the expiration of their agreement, most will return to Canada to resume their lives in the timber trade. 

1916:  The 48th Battalion, CEF, commences service as the "3rd Canadian Pioneer Battalion (48th Canadians)", with the 3rd Canadian Division.

1916:  Mexican General Francisco Pancho Villa invades US, 17 killed.

1916:  Germany declares war on Portugal; accuses Portugal of seizing German shipping in Lisbon harbor. 

1944:  The German town of Veen falls to 4th Canadian Division, as the Battle of the Rhineland begins to wind down.

1945:  Cruiser HMCS Uganda arrives in Sydney, Australia, to join the British Pacific Fleet. 

1945:  Incendiary raid on Tokyo kills 84,000.

1945:  US 1st Army captures Bonn.

1991:  United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) authorized.


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## big bad john

1813:  Six companies of the 104th Regiment of Foot, plus 4th New Brunswick Regiment, start 52-day march overland to the St. Lawrence in winter; travel on snowshoes, pulling supplies on toboggans, lose only one man, arriving in Kingston April 12. 

1868:  The first contingent of Canadian Pontifical Zouaves arrives in Rome early this afternoon. There are 36 volunteers from Quebec in this group; in time, they will be joined by almost 500 more recruits. The troops have offered to serve Pope Pius IX in his defence of the Papal States against Garibaldi and the forces of Italian unification. Only two will be wounded in the fighting.

1900:  Second (Special Service) Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment in action at Driefontein (Boer War).

1915:  Canadians see action in Battle of Neuve Chapelle. 

1915:  Royal Flying Corps aircraft conducted early interdiction operations against railway facilities at Courtrai and Menin, in an attempt to disrupt German efforts to reinforce their front-line as the British offensive at Neuve Chapelle began.  On the ground, two VCs were won.  Private Buckingham, of the Leicestershire Regiment (British Army), was decorated for his repeated efforts to rescue wounded men from No Man's Land.  And Gobar Sing Negi of the 39th Garhwal Rifles was killed leading a bombing party along the German trenches; each time, he was the first man around a corner, the most dangerous manoeuvre, which eventually cost him his life.  The British offensive initially made good progress, but Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria's Sixth Army then stabilised their defences and held the line.

1917:  In the Atlantic, the merchant steamer Otaki, commanded by Lieutenant Smith, Royal Naval Reserve, ran into a disguised German raider.  The raider demanded that Otaki surrender, but Smith fought back, although his ship only had a single elderly 4.7" gun, against the raider's heavy armament of four modern 5.9" and one 4.1" weapons.  Despite the disparity in firepower, Otaki badly damaged her opponent before Smith ordered his crew to abandon ship.  He himself went down with the Otaki, and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1918:  In Egypt, Turkish forces mounted heavy counter-attacks on British troops who had successfully advanced.  Private Whitfield of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (British Army), attacked alone a Turkish machine-gun team that had set up in a dangerous position, and having eliminated them, turned the machine-gun on the rest of the Turkish force.  He then led a successful raid by a bombing party armed with grenades which helped further establish the security of the British position.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1941:  No. 2 Canadian Tunneling Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, arrives at Gibraltar.

1944:  A Sunderland aircraft from No.422 Squadron attacks and destroys the German submarine U-625.

1944:  HMC Ships St. Laurent, Owen Sound and Swansea assist Royal Navy warships sink the German submarine U-845 in the North Atlantic.

1945:  First Canadian Army forces Germans across Rhine opposite Wesel, ending month-long campaign west of the Rhine

1945:  Canadian forces begin their advance on the western suburbs of Xanten. This town represents the last large urban obstacle to crossing the Rhine. The Canadians reach their objectives by midday and clear the town by the following morning.

1945:  USAF sends 300 B-29 bombers to firebomb Tokyo; Great Tokyo Air Raid kills 100,000 people.

1992:  Operation Harmony - MND Marcel Masse announces Canada will send 1,200 peacekeepers to Yugoslavia and Croatia as part of the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR). 

2000:  Two CF Airbus flights leave Trenton to transport relief supplies to victims of the flooding in Mozambique.


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## big bad john

1666:  A French strike force, decimated by exposure and harrying Iroquois attacks, arrives in Montreal after having lost 100 men from an original force of 500.

1779:  US Army Corps of Engineers established. 

1858:  During the assault on the rebel-held city of Lucknow, no less than four Victoria Crosses were won.  Captain Wilmot of the Rifle Brigade led his company in fierce street fighting, and at one point found himself with only four men, facing a heavy Mutineer counter-attack.  One of his men fell badly wounded in the legs, whereupon Corporal Nash and Private Hawkes (himself badly wounded) managed to carry the casualty slowly back to safety, whilst Captain Wilmot used their rifles to cover the retreat.  Wilmot, Nash and Hawkes all received the VC.  The fourth VC was won by Lieutenant McBean of the 93rd Regiment, who killed eleven men in hand-to-hand fighting whilst storming a breach in the walls of the Begum Kothi, one of the main strong-points in Lucknow's defences.

1885:  Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier 1847-1901 warns Ottawa of danger of rebellion in Saskatchewan; NWMP Superintendent at Fort Carlton 

1908:  Laurier government creates National Battlefields Commission; partly to save Quebec's Plains of Abraham from property development. 

1917:  British, Indian and ANZAC forces captured Baghdad, having broken the Turkish defences along the Dialah River.

1938:  German troops enter Austria. 

1941:  US Congress approves Lend Lease to British; FDR's signature opens way for full aid to Britain, so she can buy food and arms. 

1942:  The Canadian Parliament passes legislation for full conscription for home defence.

1942:  General Douglas MacArthur leaves Corregidor for Australia, vowing "I shall return." 

1944:  In Burma, Nand Singh, a Naik with 1/11th Sikh Regiment, led his section in a counter-attack after the Japanese had succeeded in taking a British position on a ridge-line.  He led his men up a very steep and exposed hillside, in the face of heavy machine-gun fire, and despite being repeatedly wounded in the leg, face and shoulder, did not rest until all three trenches had been taken.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1945:  1,000 allied bombers harass Essen, dropping 4,662 ton bombs.

1949:  HMCS Crescent arrives at Nanking at 5:00 this evening. The warship has made the journey up the Yangtze River in case Canadian nationals need to be evacuated from mainland China. (Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces are at war.) The vessel's stay in these waters will be uneventful.

1949:  Canada helps draft North Atlantic Security Treaty with Britain, USA, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Norway; leads to creation of NATO. 

1968:  410 Squadron is reformed, after a four year disbandment, as an 'all weather operational training' squadron.


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## big bad john

1879:  Zulu forces surprised a wagon train escorted by men of the 80th Regiment (British Army) at the Ntombe River.  The commanding officer, Captain Moriarty, was killed in the first rush, and the other officer, Lieutenant Hayward, abandoned his men and fled.  The situation was only saved by Sergeant Booth, who rallied a few men and covered the retreat of the main party for more than three miles before the Zulus broke off their pursuit.  His action having saved at least fifty lives, Booth was awarded the Victoria Cross.  Hayward was tried by court martial for cowardice.

1915:  No less than seven VCs were won in a single day at the height of the British offensive at Neuve Chapelle.  Corporal Anderson, Yorkshire Regiment, repelled an enemy attack with grenades and rifle fire.  Guardsman Barber, Grenadier Guards, used grenades in a lone attack so effectively that large numbers of Germans surrendered to him; he was killed in action later in the day.  Lance Corporal Fuller, also Grenadier Guards, achieved a similar feat, taking 50 prisoners single-handed.  Company Sergeant Major Daniels and Corporal Noble of the Rifle Brigade cut paths through heavy barbed wire entanglements, fully exposed to enemy fire.  Both were wounded, Noble fatally.  Captain Foss, Bedfordshire Regiment, led just eight men to recapture a trench and take prisoner 52 Germans, who had previously wiped out a much larger British attack.  And Private Rivers, Sherwood Foresters, twice broke up German counter-attacks on his own ; he was killed on the second occasion.

Further north, in Belgium, Lieutenant Martin, Royal Engineers, despite already being wounded, led a small bombing party armed with large numbers of grenades in an attack on a difficult section of German trenches.  He and his men took the position, then held it for well over two hours against German counter-attacks, before being ordered to retire due to lack of progress elsewhere in the attack.  Martin received the eighth Victoria Cross of the day.

1919:  The '43rd Canadian Infantry Battalion' leaves Liverpool, England, for Canada aboard S.S. Baltic.

1930:  World War I air ace Billy Barker killed in a plane crash at Rockcliffe; shot down 53 enemy planes during the war, won Victoria Cross for a single-handed combat against some 60 German aircraft.

1940:  Ernest Frost of the RCAF is awarded the George Cross for his actions at R.A.F. Station, West Raynham, England.

1941:   James Garfield Gardiner cuts wartime wheat quotas to 65% of 1940 acreage.

1945:  An aircraft from No. 6 Squadron shoots down a Japanese fire balloon near Rupert Arm, B. C..

2000:  Official end of operations for members of the Royal 22e Regiment with the UN force in East Timor.


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## big bad john

1756:  William Johnson is granted a royal commission as "Colonel, Agent and Sole Superintendent of the affairs of the Six Nations, and other Northern Indians".

1858:  As British troops slowly penetrated deeper into the defences at Lucknow, Mutineer artillery shells set fire to a British sandbagged position.  Able Seaman Robinson, a member of the Royal Naval brigade serving ashore at the siege, leapt onto the sandbags, and despite heavy fire from enemy only fifty yards away, proceeded to beat out the flames or throw blazing sandbags clear.  He was seriously wounded in the process, but survived to receive the Victoria Cross.

1884: Major-General Sir Gerald Graham advanced from Suakin as the situation in Sudan worsened, encountering Mahdist forces at Tamai.  A ferocious Mahdist assault succeeded in breaking one of the two British squares, but the other held firm, and eventually prevailed.  Private Edwards of the Black Watch (British Army) won the Victoria Cross for his lone defence of a gun, despite a serious spear wound during a bayonet fight.  Lieutenant Marling, serving with the Mounted Infantry, was similarly decorated for saving the life of a wounded soldier at very close range with the enemy.

1892: During an expedition in the Gambia to suppress slavery, troops from the West India Regiment attacked a fortified gate at Toniataba.  As a major and twelve men worked to batter down the gate, several muskets suddenly appeared at a row of loopholes only a few feet away.  The major's back was turned and in the direct line of fire, but he was saved by Lance Corporal Gordon, who threw himself forward, pushed the officer clear, but took the full blast of the volley himself.  Gordon was shot through the lungs, but survived to receive the Victoria Cross.  His medal is proudly displayed in the Jamaican Defence Force Museum.

1900: Following the British victory at Paardeberg 18-27 February, Lord Roberts' troops managed to push through Boer delaying actions and took Bloemfontein, capital of the Orange Free State on 13 March.  As part of the operation, a cavalry raid behind enemy lines north of the town destroyed a section of railway to hinder Boer efforts at relief.  As the raiders headed back towards the British lines, under close pursuit, one of the horses, ridden by a Royal Engineer, failed to climb a very steep bank.  Sergeant Engleheart of the 10th Hussars turned back, despite heavy enemy fire, and used his expertise as a horseman to help the sapper and his horse up the slope and away to safety.  Engleheart was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1909:  Donald Alexander Smith, Lord Strathcona 1820-1914 sets up Strathcona Trust, a fund for military training and cadet corps in schools. 

1915:  No. 2 General Hospital crosses the English Channel to France. There are already 35 nursing sisters from the Dominion working with the wounded from the Western Front. The care given by these women will be a welcome relief to many allied troops.

1917: An attack by the 7th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment (British Army) was met by very heavy machine-gun and artillery fire, and ground to a halt in No Man's Land, with the survivors seeking what shelter they could in craters.  Private Cox, a stretcher bearer, went out into the barrage, and worked tirelessly to rescue casualties.  On four occasions, he managed to carry back wounded men on his own.  Once all the wounded from the Bedfordshires had been recovered, he made his way over to a flanking battalion and assisted their medical orderlies in clearing their wounded.  He continued in similar fashion for the next two days, and was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1940:  An agreement is reached for the Canadian army to provide coastal guns to protect Bell Island, Newfoundland.

1943:  U-163 sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the Canadian corvette HMCS Prescott.

1944:  U-575 sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the Canadian Armed Merchant Cruiser HMCS Prince Rupert, the US destroyer USS Hobson and destroyer escort Haverfield and depth charges from British Wellington and Fortress aircraft and aircraft of the US escort carrier USS Bogue.

1944: In Burma, Lieutenant Cairns of the Somerset Light Infantry, but attached to the South Staffordshire Regiment (British Army), led his platoon in an attack on a Japanese position on a hill.  As they closed the enemy, a Japanese officer attacked Cairns with a sword, severing his left arm.  Cairns, however, managed to kill his opponent, then seized the sword and continued to lead the attack, killing several Japanese with it before he collapsed from his wounds.  The ferocity of his courage induced the Japanese troops to turn and run - almost unheard of at that stage of the war.  Cairns died of his wounds, and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1961:  Major-General Allard the first Canadian to command a British army division.

1964:  Between 13 and 23 March Royal Canadian Air Force Yukon transport aircraft deliver troops and supplies to the newly-created peacekeeping force on the island of Cyprus as part of Operation "SNOWGOOSE".

1964:  Canada agrees to contribute to UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus. 

1978:  Death of Brigadier, The Honourable Milton F. Gregg, VC, MC, CD (The RCR).

1992:  300 Canadian engineers arrive in Duravar, Croatia. A brutal civil war has been tearing apart Yugoslavia and the Canadians are present to clear away minefields and build shelters for U.N. troops.


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## big bad john

1649:  Iroquois attack and destroy St. Ignace; Jesuit mission near Coldwater, ON..

1862:  "The 10th Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles, Canada" is authorized, to become The Royal regiment of Canada, "Ready, Aye Ready" and "Nec Aspera Terrant" (Difficulties do not daunt).

1915:  ACTION AT ST. ELOI, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 15 Mar 15).

1944:  Canadian aircrew from No.6 Group, RCAF, join two RAF bomber groups in destroying 800 freight cars and 15 locomotives at a railyard in Le Mans. The aircrew involved have been handed a safer job than flying into the heart of Germany, and casualty rates drop considerably in the squadrons involved in these short strikes across the Channel.

1946:  Labor-Progressive MP Fred Rose arrested for conspiracy to transmit wartime secrets to the Soviet Union; sentenced to 6 years in prison for spying; result of Gouzenko revelations.

1951:  United Nations forces recaptured Seoul during the Korean War.

1974:  The Canadian Forces officially adopt the 'Total Force' concept where Regular and Reserve armed forces units combine duties and equipment where possible


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## big bad john

1744:  France declares war on Britain, in War of the Austrian Succession; called King William's War in North America; to Oct. 14, 1748.

1900:  Canadian troops in South Africa enter Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State.

1918:  Troops from the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles carry out a "successful" raid against the German defences near Mericourt. For the loss of 32 men, Canadians kill 35 of the enemy and take 19 prisoners.

1919:  American Legion formed.

1920:  The Victoria Independent Squadron (British Columbia Horse), which was originally authorized as the "Victoria Independent Squadron," is amalgamated with the 30th Regiment, British Columbia Horse, through various redesignations the regiment will become "The British Columbia Dragoons" in 1958.

1920:  The 95th Saskatchewan Rifles, originally the 95th Regiment, is amalgamated with the 60th Rifles of Canada to form "The South Saskatchewan Regiment."

1920:  The South Alberta regiment, an antecedent of the South Alberta Light Horse is authorized.  The latter regiment, however, takes it date of origin from an older antecedent, the 15th Light Horse.

1920:  The 6th Regiment, 'The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles' is amalgamated with the 104th Regiment, Westminster Fusiliers of Canada and is redesignated the "1st British Columbia Regiment."

1939:  Hitler occupies the remnants of Czechoslovakia.

1942:  Japanese begin an intensive bombardment of forts guarding Manila Bay.

1943:  Canadian Pacific steamer, Empress of Canada, torpedoed by German U-Boat and sunk off the coast of West Africa, with the loss of 400 lives.

1944:  Abbey of Monte Cassino destroyed by Allied bombing.

1945:  The First Canadian Corps takes over the sector along the Waal River in Holland upon its arrival from the Italian theatre of war. As a result, both Canadian corps now form part of the First Canadian Army.

1945:  1st Canadian Corps HQ operational near Nijmegen.

1979:  In the Cabot Strait the British tanker Kurdistan breaks in two in heavy seas and ice. A Canadian Coast Guard vessel,Sir William Alexander,   rescues 40 seamen from the sinking ship.

1990:  Solicitor General Pierre Cadieux announces that Sikhs in the RCMP can wear turbans and other religious garb while in uniform.


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## big bad john

1606:  Samuel de Champlain c1570-1635 sets out on abortive expedition, reaching only as far as Port aux Coquilles on the Ste-Croix River; he returns to Port Royal when his party meets dangerous Indians.

1649:  Twelve hundred Iroquois warriors make a dawn raid on the French mission at St. Ignace (just south-east of Midland, Ont.). The Hurons lose 400 men, women, and children for 10 Iroquois killed.

1704:  A French-Indian force attacks and massacres the Massachusetts settlement of Deerfield, resulting in 47 killed and 111 taken prisoner.

1802:  U.S. Military Academy is established at West Point.

1855:  George-Etienne Cartier passes his Militia Act, constitutes all males between the ages of 18 and 60 as military forces of Canada; all men under 40 to be mustered once a year; Governor-General to be the Commander in Chief of the militia.

1900:  The Third Canadian Contingent, Lord Strathcona’s Horse leaves Canada for South Africa during the Boer War.  Samuel Benfield Steele commanding Lord Strathcona's Horse, embarks troops for South Africa; the regiment consists of 537 mounted troops recruited in Manitoba, BC and the NWT.

1915:  Second Canadian Division begins to arrive in England for service in World War I.

1943:  Climax of the Battle of the Atlantic: 38 U-boats attack two convoys, sinking 21 merchant ships (to 20 Mar 43).

1943:  In New Guinea, an aircraft from 22 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force flown by Flight Lieutenant Newton suffered multiple hits from anti-aircraft fire while making a bombing run on a Japanese target.  Despite the damage, Newton held the aircraft on course and conducted a successful attack.  He then nursed the stricken aircraft safely back to base.  The following day, however, his aircraft was shot down.  He and a crew member survived the crash but were executed by the Japanese.  Newton was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1959:  870 and 871 Squadrons, Royal Canadian Navy, amalgamate to form '871 Squadron'.

1964:  Canada's first peacekeepers arrive in Cyprus to help calm tensions between hostile Greek Cypriots and the Turkish minority.

1993: Shidane Arone, a Somali, beaten to death by soldiers of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, an incident which leads to the disbanding of the Regiment.

2000:  Sheila Copps, the Heritage Minister, announces plans to build a new home for the Canadian War Museum.


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## big bad john

PRINCESS PATRICIA'S BIRTHDAY - Regimental Day of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI)

1649:  Jesuits burn Ste-Marie mission to prevent it falling into the hands of the Iroquois.

1666:  Daniel de Remy de Courcelle returns to Quebec; lost over 60 men from exposure and hunger over winter campaign against the Iroquois.

1765:  First Canadian St. Patrick's Day celebrated by Irish troops serving in the British Army at Quebec.

1776:  British forces leave Boston for Halifax after General George Washington seizes Dorchester Heights in a night attack.

1814:  An American invasion force of 4000 troops leaves Plattsburg, New York for an attack on Lower Canada. The entire army will march into Quebec, make a half-hearted attempt against the British stronghold at LaColle Mills, and return to New York without achieving anything. It will be the last American threat to Montreal.

1858: Major Keatinge of the Bombay Artillery suffered two severe wounds leading an attack through murderous fire on the mutineer-held fortifications at Chundairee.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1861:  The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed. 

1879: In Afghanistan, a survey team came under attack and was forced to withdraw.  Captain Leach of the Royal Engineers led a small force of men from the 45th Sikh Regiment to their aid, attacking overwhelming numbers of tribesmen.  Leach was wounded but killed several opponents in close combat and the ferocity of the attack drove the tribesmen away.  Leach received the Victoria Cross.

1900:  Lord Strathcona's Horse and reinforcements for the Second (Special Service) Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, depart Halifax aboard the Monterey for South Africa.

1917:  The Newfoundland Regiment celebrates St. Patrick's Day on the Western Front with the help of the regimental band.

1942:  MacArthur flies from Mindanao to Australia in a B-17. 

1945:  HMCS Guysborough is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat off Ushant.

1951:  2nd Regiment RCHA fires its first operational round of the Korean War in support of the 28th Commonwealth Brigade (The redesignated 27th Brigade).


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## big bad john

1744:  France declares war on Great Britain, beginning the War of the Austrian Succession. Although French forces, operating out of Louisbourg, strike the first blow, in the end the great fortress will fall to an Anglo-American army. Despite all of the raiding and counter-strikes carried out, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle will restore the status quo ante bellum four years later.

1861:  Maoris successfully ambushed a party of skirmishers from the 40th Regiment (British Army), killing or wounding five men.  Colour-Sergeant Lucas sent one wounded man to the rear, aided by the only other uninjured soldier, whilst he himself remained alone guarding the other casualties, engaged in a firefight with the Maoris at only about 30 yards range until a relief party was able to reach him.  Lucas was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1863:  The "19th Battalion Volunteer Militia (Infantry), Canada" is formed.  This unit will become The Lincoln and Welland Regiment, Non Nobis Sed Patriae, (Not for ourselves, but for our country).

1918:  First session of 13th Parliament meets until May 24; will put 10% wartime luxury tax on cars, gramophones, records, player pianos, jewels.

1942:  The 15th Alberta Light Horse, in conjunction with other Alberta units, mobilizes the "31st (Alberta) Reconnaissance Battalion."

1942:  No. 413 Squadron begins its transfer from the Shetland Isles to Ceylon to strengthen Allied air defences in the Pacific. 

1942:  US Army Engineers start building Alcan (Alaska) Highway to supply the North West in case of Japanese invasion.

1942:  Free Netherlands resistance movement announces a boycot of theaters. 

1942:  Canadian forces establish unified military commands in Atlantic, Newfoundland, Pacific areas.

1943:  Central Burma" the "Chindits," raid across the Irrawaddy River. 

1945:  At Meiktila in Burma, Lieutenant Karamjeet Singh Judge, of the 15th Punjab Regiment, distinguished himself repeatedly leading his platoon in an attack on a cotton mill held by the Japanese.  He led his men in capturing no less than ten Japanese strong-points.  At an eleventh, he guided a supporting tank to bombard the bunker at point-blank range.  However, when he then went forward alone to complete the clearance of the bunker, he was hit and mortally wounded.  His gallantry throughout the day was recognised by a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1952:  Communist offensive in Korea begins. 

1957:  Canada takes part in disarmament conference with Britain, the US, the USSR and France.

1962:  Algerian War for Independence ends; c. 250,000 have died in seven years. 

1963:  The Lincoln and Welland Regiment: Non Nobis Sed Patriae (Not for ourselves, but for our country).


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## big bad john

1757:  A French strike force of 300 regulars and 900 Canadian militia arrive at Fort William-Henry (south end of Lake Champlain). The British commander of the fort refuses General Montcalm's early offer of surrender. The French will then take up limited night attacks for four days before eventually abandoning their siege.

1813:  Sir James Lucas Yeo appointed Commander in Chief of the Lake Squadrons.

1858:  During continuing fierce fighting at Lucknow, three Victoria Crosses were won.  Cornet Bankes of the 7th Hussars led three charges against fanatical resistance, suffering multiple sword wounds in the process; he died of his wounds several days later.  Sergeant-Major Rushe, 9th Lancers, drove defenders from a strongpoint, killing three of them in the process.  And Trooper Newell, of the same regiment, won the VC for rescuing under heavy fire a comrade who had been unhorsed.

1885:  Louis Riel seizes hostages and sets up Provisional Government of Saskatchewan; North West Rebellion begins. 

1919:  The PPCLI are disbanded following their service in the Great War.  The Regiment will be reconstituted in April.

1923:  The Royal Canadian Air Force officially adopts the uniform of the Royal Air Force as its own.

1953:  Regimental Depots for the PPCLI and the R22eR are established.

1964:  Sergeant Major Walter Leja awarded George Medal for heroic conduct while dismantling FLQ bombs in Montreal May 17,1963. 

1978:  United Nations Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) authorized.

2003:  Coalition forces commenced hostilities against Iraq on the night of 19/20 March.


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## big bad john

1686:  Pierre de Troyes plans expedition to expel English and capture traders in Hudson Bay working for Radisson.

1815:  Napoleon enters Paris after escape from Elba; The Hundred Days being.

1878:  Rumours of preying Russian naval squadrons prompt the manning of coastal batteries at St. Andrews, N.B. and Yarmouth, N.S. Eventually, no Russians appear and Canada will return to more peaceful pursuits.

1904:  Bruce Carruthers is appointed Inspector of Signaling.

1917:  Canadian and British artillery begin the preparatory bombardment of the German defences along Vimy Ridge in view of capturing the ridge one month later.

1917:  Whilst bombing Ottoman troops on the Egyptian border, an aircraft of 1 Squadron Australian Flying Corps was damaged by ground fire and forced to land behind enemy lines.  As Turkish cavalry closed in, another pilot, Lieutenant McNamara, decided to attempt a rescue, even though he too had been hit and wounded.  He managed to land his aircraft and picked up the pilot.  However, weakened by his injury and with the extra burden aboard, McNamara lost control of the aircraft and it overturned during the takeoff run.  Undaunted, he and his fellow pilot made their way to the first damaged aircraft, where McNamara once more took the controls whilst his colleague managed to start the engine.  This time, McNamara managed to hold the aircraft steady and flew the two of them back to their base, a flight of close on an hour, despite his loss of blood.  McNamara received the Victoria Cross, the first presented to an Australian airman.

1922:  First US aircraft carrier is commissioned: Langley (CV-1). 

1939:  Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King tells Parliament that Canada will consider any attack on Britain as an attack on the Commonwealth.

1939:  The US Naval Research Lab proposes research into nuclear power.

1942:  Gen MacArthur vows, "I shall return".  

1943:  Air Defence of Canada Plan states “maximum effort” to be made by the RCAF on the Atlantic coast to assist the navy in anti-submarine operations.

1943:  Montgomery launched Eighth Army in an assault on the formidable Mareth Line in southern Tunisia.  Built by the French to guard against the Italians in Libya, it had been taken over and improved by the Axis, stretching from the coast to the Matmata Hills.  The infantry made initial good progress in breaching the Line, but the armoured forces hoping to exploit their success ran foul of a combination of minefields and soft sand.  Lieutenant Colonel Seagrim, commanding the 7th Battalion of the Green Howards (British Army), distinguished himself leading his men from the front, in particular charging two machine-gun nests and killing twenty enemy troops.  He received the Victoria Cross.

1944:   Lt. Gen. Henry Duncan Graham Crerar 1888-1965 appointed to command of 1st Canadian Army; largest field formation ever formed by Canada; includes British, Dutch, Belgian, and Polish units.

1945:  HMCS New Glasgow sinks the German submarine U-1003 off Lough Foyle, Northern Ireland.

2003: 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines mounted an amphibious assault on the Al Faw peninsula during the night 20/21 March as the opening operation of the land campaign against Iraq.  Enemy resistance was light but eight British Servicemen were lost, along with four US aircrew, in a helicopter accident during the initial phase of the attack.  British and Australian frigates provided gunfire support to the Royal Marines, while Royal Navy submarines fired Tomahawk missiles at strategic targets.  RAF aircraft were also very active, with Tornado aircraft attacking key targets while Harriers provided close air support. 



BORN TODAY:  Wilfred 'Wop' May 1896-1952
pilot, World War I air ace, was born on this day in 1896; dies June 21, 1952. May was being pursued by German ace Manfred von Richthofen when the Red Baron was shot down.

1917 Dame Vera Lynn, who sang "The White Cliffs of Dover."  

Photo 1)  Commandos board Sea King helicopters on HMS Ark Royal for the night assault on the Al Faw peninsula in 2003


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## big bad john

1814:  Two hundred reinforcements for Lake Ontario's Provincial Marine squadron arrive at Kingston, Ont. from St. John, N.B., having lost 14 men from sickness and 3 from desertion.

1873:  Hon. Hector-Louis Langvin appointed (acting) Minister of Militia and Defence (to 30 June 1873).

1885:  Louis Riel demands surrender of Crozier's NWMP detachment at Fort Carlton; 32 km from Batoche.

1898:  The Yukon Field Force is organized to maintain order in Canada's north during the Klondike Gold Rush.

1916:   German army starts offensive on the Somme before American troops can arrive to join the War; Second Battle of the Somme ends in November, with one million casualties.

1917:  Robert Laird Borden attends Imperial War Conference; to April 27.

1918:  BATTLE OF ST. QUENTIN, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 23 Mar 18).

1918:  SOMME, 1918, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 5 Apr 18).

1918:  German forces launch a massive offensive against the Allied armies on the Western Front. The enemy assault falls mainly on British armies, although the Canadians in the Lens area and especially at Hill 70 repulse the enemy advance, sustaining and inflicting heavy casualties.

1918:  General Ludendorff unleashed the last major German offensive of the First World War - Operation Michael.  Named for Germany's patron saint, the operation planned to use the large numbers of German troops freed from duty on the Eastern Front, following the collapse of Tsarist Russia, in a massive assault to secure victory in the West before US troops could arrive.  It is also known as the Kaiserschlacht or Kaiser's Battle Three German armies hit a sixty mile long stretch of the British lines from Arras to St Quentin and south to La Fere.  The defenders were over-stretched, due to the horrendous casualties suffered during the winter at Passchendaele and the recent need to take over responsibility for a greater section of the front owing to the equal exhaustion of the French.  The Germans attacked in a heavy mist, which hindered the Royal Flying Corps in bringing to bear its expertise in close air support and prevented senior headquarters from developing a clear and timely picture of the situation.  Gough's Fifth Army effectively collapsed, whilst Byng's Third Army was swung back and northwards by the weight of the attack.  The German success is often attributed to their use of specialist assault troops, but these took very heavy casualties in the process, and no less than eleven Victoria Crosses were won that day as fierce defensive actions and counter-attacks were fought the length of the front.  It is worth remembering that most of the actions below were fought under heavy poison gas attack.

2nd Lieutenant Beal, for leading a counter-attack that captured four enemy machine-guns and rescuing a wounded man.  He was killed in action a few hours later.
Gunner Stone, for braving gas and artillery barrages to deliver an important report to the rear.  He then returned and single-handedly fought as an infantryman defending his gun battery to allow it to remain in action.
2nd Lieutenant McLeod, a Canadian pilot of an RFC observation aircraft; he and his observer shot down a Fokker Triplane, but were then attacked by another eight.  They shot two more down, but the fuel tank of their FK8 was set alight and both men were badly wounded.  Nevertheless, McLeod managed to crash-land his aircraft and dragged his observer clear from the blazing wreckage.
2nd Lieutenant de Wind, who held a vital position with a handful of men under continual attack for seven hours, despite himself being wounded twice.  A third wound finally proved fatal.
Captain Hayward, for continuing to lead his men despite being buried alive in the opening German artillery barrage, suffering a head wound which left him deaf, and having his left arm shattered.  He remained in action for three days, finally having to be evacuated after another head wound and complete exhaustion overtook him.
2nd Lieutenant Horsfall, who took command of a company after all the other officers had become casualties, despite himself suffering from a severe head wound.  He led two successful counter-attacks before being killed in action.
Lieutenant Ker, who led a small group of badly wounded men in a last-ditch defence after the Germans breached the British positions.  Fighting first with a machine-gun, then with bayonets and revolvers after the Vickers Gun was knocked out, he and his men held off an entire German battalion for three hours, only surrendering when they had run out of ammunition.
2nd Lieutenant Buchan, who refused to be evacuated despite serious wounds.  After distinguishing himself in a number of defensive actions, he was cut off alone by another German attack, and seen to fall fighting to the last against massive odds.
Lance-Corporal Sayer, who commanded a small garrison which defended a position for two hours, fighting off attacks in thick mist.  The garrison was eventually overrun and Sayer wounded and captured.  He died of his injuries a few weeks later.
Lieutenant Colonel Elstob, for leading his battalion of the Manchester Regiment in a determined defence.  When ammunition ran low, Elstob himself ran back through the barrage to carry up fresh supplies.  Twice wounded, he was eventually killed when German troops finally overran the position.
Captain James, who led a counter-attack which took some thirty prisoners and a couple of machine-guns, then held the position for two days against multiple attacks, despite twice being wounded.  When the Germans finally broke through, he remained behind to man a machine-gun on his own.  He was finally wounded a third time and captured.

1930: "A" Battery, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery conducts its last parade as a horse drawn unit.

1945:  Lieutenant Raymond of the Royal Engineers accompanied a reconnaissance patrol in Burma, which ran into a concealed Japanese position.  Despite coming under heavy fire, Raymond immediately charged forward.  He was hit first in the shoulder, then the head, and then the arm, but continued his attack regardless.  He broke into the enemy position, and, supported by the remainder of the patrol, managed to clear it.  He insisted that other men wounded in the action received priority for medical treatment, and died of his injuries the next day.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1951:  The federal government authorizes the enlistment of women into the regular RCAF.

1955: The Canadian government announced that a Distant Early Warning Line of radar stations was to be constructed in the northern portions of North America.

2000:  The Coastal Auxiliary Vessel HMCS Anticosti conducts her final sail-past and is 'paid -off'.

2003: The RAF used its new Storm Shadow stand-off missile for the first time, 617 Squadron conducting precision attacks against strategic Iraqi targets.  On the ground, 7th Armoured Brigade advanced towards Basrah while 16 Air Assault Brigade secured villages and oil installations in the desert and 3 Commando Brigade strengthened its position on the Al Faw peninsula.  Two Royal Navy helicopters collided during night operations, with the loss of the six RN and one US personnel aboard.


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## big bad john

1753:  Governor Peregrine Hopson requires all British subjects throughout Nova Scotia form militias. 

1814:  American raiders attack Philipsburg, on the northern tip of Lake Champlain (on Missisquoi Bay). The raiders loot and burn the area around the settlement, but achieve little of military importance, resulting in a mutual policy of reprisals.

1867  The 53rd Sherbrooke Battalion of Infantry is reorganized as two separate battalions, the '53rd Melbourne Battalion of Infantry" (which will become the 7th/11th Hussars) and the 54th Sherbrooke Battalion of Infantry ( later redesignated the 53rd Sherbrooke Battalion of Infantry).

1872:  The "62nd St. John Battalion of Infantry" is authorized.  Following various redesignations and amalgamations, this unit will be absorbed into the 1st Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment.

1885:  Canadian troops ordered mobilized because of the Northwest Rebellion.

1900:  Mounted Canadian troops arrive at the tiny village of De Naauwte, in South Africa. The column will be stuck here for 3 days as the region is hit with the worst rains in living memory.

1918:  A further five Victoria Crosses were won as the German Michael offensive continued to push relentlessly into the British positions south of Arras.

Lieutenant Colonel Collings-Wells began a dogged rearguard action that was to continue until 27 March, when he finally fell in action.  He was twice wounded during the period but refused to leave his men.
Lieutenant Colonel Roberts similarly distinguished himself during the retreat over the following twelve days, showing remarkable stamina and determination in numerous actions in difficult circumstances, inflicting serious reverses on the pursuing enemy.
Sergeant Jackson made a lone reconnaissance sortie into No Man's Land, through the German barrage, to gain intelligence on their preparations for the assault.  When later a section of trenches was captured by the Germans, Jackson counter-attacked on his own and drove them out by skillful use of grenades, then worked his way close enough to a machine-gun post to knock it out of action with another grenade.  He subsequently took command of his entire company, all the officers having been killed or wounded, and led them in a successful counter-attack.  In between all these acts of gallantry, he was notably active in rescuing wounded men.
Private Columbine headed a small machine-gun team that alone managed to hold up a German attack for four hours.  Eventually the German troops called up air support and managed to outflank the machine-gun post.  Columbine thereupon told his two surviving colleagues to retreat while they could, and remained at his post, giving them covering fire.  He was finally killed by a grenade.
Second Lieutenant Knox, a Royal Engineer, was given the task of destroying a dozen bridges to hold up the German advance.  Eleven were destroyed satisfactorily, but at the twelfth the time-fuse on the charges failed.  By now the area of the bridge was under very heavy fire, but Knox ran forward and made his way underneath the bridge, where he managed to light a short back-up fuse.  He just managed to get clear before it detonated and successfully brought the bridge down.

1930:  "B" Battery, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery conducts its last parade as a horse drawn unit.

1940:  Assent granted for the creation of the portfolio of Minister of National Defence for Air created by Statute 4 George VI, c. 1.  The portfolio will be abolished and recreated by Statute 4 George VI, c. 21, assented to 12 July 1940.

1942:  Department of Labour brings in National Selective Service Mobilization Regulations.

1944:  The Canadian Army reaches a peak strength of 495,804 soldiers and support personnel.

 1945: An attack by Australian infantry on the island of Bougainville was held up by a network of three Japanese bunkers.  Corporal Rattey charged forward alone and with a Bren Gun and grenades succeeded in knocking out each of the bunkers in turn.  Later that day, he succeeded in capturing another machine-gun post.  His heroism was rewarded with the Victoria Cross.

1948:  The Militia component "Canadian Chaplain Service" is redesignated "The Canadian Army Chaplain Corps."  The regular component of the Corps is also authorized on this date.


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## big bad john

1776:  A small group of 35 Canadian militia set out to surprise an American post at Pointe Levis and are themselves surprised when they are met by 80 Americans. Outnumbered 2-to-1, the Canadians are forced to surrender.

1815:  USS Hornet captures HMS Penguin in the last naval action of the War of 1812.

1865:  British Parliament votes £50,000 for Canadian defense.

1918:  The 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade is rushed to the front to help resist a major German offensive east of Arras.r (to 26 Nov 44).

1918: Three Victoria Crosses were won on the Western Front.  Lieutenant Colonel Bushell led a battalion of the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment in a counter-attack near the St Quentin Canal.  He suffered a severe head wound, but continued to lead his men from the front, walking through heavy machine-gun fire to encourage his troops and establish their positions, before eventually collapsing and being taken to the rear for treatment.  Captain Gribble of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and his men mounted a last-ditch defence against a German assault.  Surrounded, they were eventually overrun.  Gribble fell badly wounded and, taken prisoner, died of his injuries shortly afterwards.  Elsewhere, the Germans secured a river crossing, but Second Lieutenant Herring of the Royal Army Service Corps organised a counter-attack with a few men, and managed to capture no less than six machine-guns and their crews.  He and his men then held the position throughout the night against further heavy German attacks.

1940:  Hon. Charles Gavan Power appointed Minister of National defence for Air.

1942:  Air Vice-Marshal E.W. Stedman is appointed the first Director General of Air Research for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

1945:  THE RHINE, effective date for battle honour begin (to 1 Apr 45).

1945:  U-1003 scuttled in the Northern Channel 8 - 10 miles north of Inistrahull beacon (Malin Hd.) after colliding with Canadian frigate HMCS New Glasgow on 20 March.

1948:  Aircraft carrier HMCS Warrior decommissioned and returned to the RN.

1978:  Canadian peacekeepers arrive in southern Lebanon to establish a communications network for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

2000:  A Canadian naval convoy on the way to the Caribbean rescues 13 survivors from the wreck of bulk carrier LEADER L.


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## big bad john

1745:  William Pepperell leads expedition against Louisbourg, Nova Scotia; force composed largely of untrained Harvard students.

1871:  The '12e Régiment blindé du Canada' is first organized as the 'Three Rivers Provisional Battalion of Infantry'.

1871:  The St Hyacinthe Provisional battalion of Infantry is authorized.  Following various redesignations, the unit will become 6e Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment, Honeur et Devoir (Honour and Duty) and Je Me Souviens (I remember).

1915:  Formal constitution of 2nd Canadian Division, Major-General Steele in command while in England.

1918:  FIRST BATTLE OF BAPAUME, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 25 Mar 18).

1918:  ACTIONS AT THE SOMME CROSSINGS, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 25 Mar 18).

1918:  As British troops fell back in the face of a German attack, men of the South Lancashire Regiment had to negotiate both a swathe of barbed wire and a difficult river crossing.  To win them time, Corporal Davies stayed behind with a Lewis Gun.  His heavy fire held up the Germans long enough for most of the company to escape.  Davies received the Victoria Cross.

1941:  The Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817, which restricted the number of naval vessels allowed on the Great Lakes, is modified to allow both American and Canadian naval vessels to operate on the Great Lakes in greater numbers.

1944:  Nine Canadian prisoners participate in the “Great Escape” from Stalag Luft. 3 prisoner-of war camp in eastern Germany.

1944:  Maj Gen Orde Wingate, of the Chindits, killed in a plane crash in Burma.  

1945:  Corporal F.G. Topham, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, is awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in support of 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion east of the Rhine River, Germany.

1945:  The first Canadian troops cross the Rhine River, encountering only light opposition in their attempt, symbolically hitting at the "heart" of Nazi Germany.

1956:  Three CF-100 Canucks flown to the UK - the first Canadian designed jets to fly the Atlantic.

1958:  Elvis Presley inducted into the army in Memphis. 

1982:  US sub Jacksonville collides with a Turkish freighter near Virginia. 

1986:  US & Libya clash in Gulf of Sidra. 

1988:  Canadian military engineers arrive in Afghanistan to help clear landmines following that country's recent war with the Soviet Union. Canada is the only country sending female instructors to teach Afghani women about the mines as local custom will not allow men outside of the immediate family to address Afghan women. 

1999:  Four CF-18s from Aviano Air Base in Italy attack targets in Kosovo: the first mission of Canadian pilots during this conflict.

2003: British forces completed operations to secure Umm Qasr, Iraq's deep water port, while Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy minehunters and divers worked in very difficult weather to clear a safe channel into the port to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. 



BORN TODAY:  Paul Sauvé 1907-1960
military leader, Quebec Premier, was born on this day at St-Benoît Quebec in 1907; died at St-Eustache Jan. 2, 1960. One of the founders of the Union Nationale Party, he served in the Quebec Assembly from 1936-56 under Maurice Duplessis. Sauvé was second in command of the Fusiliers Mont-Royal during the Normandy landings. Chosen successor to Duplessis in Sept., 1959, he promised a program of reform with the one word - 'désormais' - 'from now on,' but he died four months after taking office as Premier.


DIED ON THIS DATE:

1945 Thomas Rennie, British Maj Gen, 51st Highland Div, KIA 
1953 Mary of Teck, Queen of Great Britain, at 85 
1976 Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, at 88


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## big bad john

1776:  American invaders win skirmish at St. Pierre.

1904:  722 (Saint John) Communication Squadron.

1916:  The Military Medal (MM) is instituted.

1918:  Four Victoria Crosses were won on the Western Front, as British troops fought to contain the German Michael offensive during the battles known as the Kaiserschlacht: 

Captain Toye distinguished himself in a series of fierce attacks and counter-attacks.  He recaptured three positions during the course of the day, and at one point had to fight his way back through the German lines at the head of a small party.  He then returned with more substantial forces and stabilised the line, despite being wounded twice.  
Lance-Corporal Cross volunteered to go forward on a lone reconnaissance to discover the whereabouts of two British machine-guns which were known to have been captured.  Armed only with a revolver, Cross located the guns, then proceeded to capture the Germans now manning them.  He forced his prisoners to carry the heavy machine-guns back to the British lines, then found crews to man them, and directed their fire to break up the next German attack.
Private Young, a stretcher bearer, braved continual enemy fire to venture into No Man's Land in broad daylight nine times to rescue nine wounded men.  Several had suffered serious wounds that needed attention before they could risk being moved, and Young ignored the barrage to dress their injuries before carrying them back.  All nine survived thanks to his efforts.
Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, commanding the battered remnants of the 12th Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry, led his men - well below half-strength - in a successful counter-attack on a wood which the Germans had just taken and which threatened the flank of the British positions.  The attack was made despite fire from a dozen machine-guns, all of which were captured along with a substantial number of prisoners.  Anderson led a second counter-attack that day which also proved successful, but cost him his life. 

1919:  No. 1 Wing Canadian Air Force (CAF) is formed to administer No. 1 Squadron (Fighter) and No. 2 Squadron (Day Bombing).

1941:  HMCS Otter burns and sinks in the approaches to Halifax.

1944:  Seventy-six Allied airmen escape from Stalag Luft III in Sagan, East Prussia. Today's adventure, however, ends in tragedy for 50 POWs when they are captured by the SS and executed by the Gestapo.

1945: Lieutenant Chowne, an Australian platoon commander in New Guinea, charged two Japanese machine-gun nests and destroyed them, then continued on to the main Japanese position.  He was twice hit and mortally wounded, but continued running and firing, killing several opponents before collapsing.  He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1953:  3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, replaces 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, in the Canadian forces fighting in Korea. 

1958:  The CF-105 Arrow interceptor aircraft makes its first test flight.


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## big bad john

1885:  Gabriel Dumont ambushes force of 98 NWMP officers and volunteers, led by Superintendent Crozier, at Duck Lake; forces police to retreat to Prince Albert with 12 dead; start of the Northwest Rebellion (Second Riel Rebellion).

1895:  The Honourable Arthur Rupert Dickey is appointed the Minister of Militia and Defence.

1918:  BATTLE OF ROSIERES, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 27 Mar 18).

1945:   Canadians part of five Allied armies now on the attack east of the Rhine.

1945:  Commonwealth Air Training Program ends after graduating 131,500.

1964:  Paul Theodore Hellyer Defence Minister announces plans to integrate army, navy, and air force into one service.

1979:  Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) authorized, a non-UN force to supervise the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Sinai.

1993:  United Nations Operations in Somalia II (UNOSOM) is authorized.

2002:  Hon. John McCallum appointed Minister of National Defence (to 11 Dec 03).


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## big bad john

1690:  A French-Indian force of 50 raiders attack the English settlement of Salmon Falls, Maine. At the end of the day the village is in flames, 30 settlers are dead, and 54 women and children are taken prisoner.

1756:  The French and the Canadians take Fort Bull, New York, with the help of Amerindians.

1814:  BATTLE OF HORSESHOE BEND

1916:  ACTIONS AT ST. ELOI CRATERS, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 15 Apr 16).

1916: At St Eloi on the Western Front, a mine packed with 30,000 tons of explosives was detonated under the German lines, tearing vast craters which subsequently became the scene for much heavy fighting.

The Reverend Edward Mellish, a Chaplain serving with the Royal Fusiliers, worked ceaselessly for three days 27-29 March to rescue wounded men in Belgium.  On 27 March, he braved artillery barrages and machine-gun fire to bring in ten casualties from No Man's Land.  The following day, he rescued a further dozen, then on 29 March he led forward a team of volunteers to save all the remaining wounded they could find.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1917: The Canadian Cavalry Brigade made a mounted attack at Guyencourt in France, as the German troops in the area withdrew to stronger defences, part of the Hindenburg Line.  The Fort Garry Horse captured Saulcourt, while Lord Strathcona's Horse took Guyencourt itself.  Lieutenant Harvey was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism; his men coming under heavy fire from a machine-gun nest protected by barbed wire, he jumped from his horse, threw himself across the wire and charged down the machine-gun team, killing its crew.

1918:  Second Lieutenant A.A. McLeod, a Canadian pilot with No.2 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, engages in the action for which he is awarded the Victoria Cross

1942:  Parliament passes War Appropriation (United Kingdom) Finance Act; $700 million British debt written off. The cost to each Canadian is $87.

1942:  Allies raid German submarine base in St Nazaire. 

1964:   First Canadians start duties with UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus.

1969:  Lance-Corporal Dwight Anderson, a native of Lynn Lake, Manitoba, returns from a routine patrol with his U.S. Marine platoon. Anderson is one of thousands of Canadians serving with United States forces in the Vietnam War. Anderson enlisted in the Marines to "fight communism"; other Canadians have enlisted to avoid the law, others to escape the boredom of home.

1998:  UN Security Council establishes a UN peacekeeping operation in the Central African Republic; the " Mission des Nations Unies en Republique Centrafricaine" (MINURCA).


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## big bad john

An administrative note for this thread, I will be observing a field exercise on Wednesday and Thursday this week so I will not be posting to the thread until Friday night for Saturday 1 April.  If anyone else wants to have a go at it, feel free.


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## big bad john

1814:  HMSs Phoebe and Cherub capture USS Essex off Valparaiso, Chile.  

1860:  Seaman Odgers was awarded the Victoria Cross for his leading role in an assault on Maori positions at Waireka, New Zealand.

1879: Whilst mounting an operation to relieve 1,700 troops besieged by Zulus at Eshowe, Lord Chelmsford ordered a diversionary attack on Hlobane by a small mounted force led by Lieutenant Colonel Redvers Buller.  The attack was beaten off with heavy losses as Zulu reinforcements rushed to the scene, but helped the relief force reach Eshowe on 4 April.  Buller and Major Leet were both awarded the Victoria Cross for their personal heroism in rescuing wounded men during the course of the day.  Two other Victoria Crosses were also won by Lieutenant Lysons and Private Fowler of the Cameronians during fierce fighting in mountain caves held by the Zulus.

1885:  Acheson Gosford Irvine withdraws NWMP force from Fort Carlton to Prince Albert, he had arrived with reinforcements to fight the North West Rebellion.

1885:  General Frederick Dobson Middleton leaves for the west in command of 5,000 troops to fight the North West Rebellion.

1918:  FIRST BATTLE OF ARRAS, 1918.

1918:  Anti-conscription riots break out in Quebec City.

1918: Heavy fighting continued on the Western Front as the German Michael offensive slowly lost momentum.  Three Victoria Crosses were won that day, by Lieutenant Colonel Watson and 2nd Lieutenant Cassidy, both killed during desperate rearguard actions, and Sergeant McDougall, 47th Australian Battalion, who single-handedly countercharged a wave of enemy infantry and put them to flight.

1939:  Spanish Civil War ends: Madrid falls to Francisco Franco's Nationalists. 

1942:  Perhaps the most audacious of all Commando raids, Operation Chariot, was mounted in the early hours of the morning against the Normandie dry-dock at St Nazaire, the largest in Europe and the only facility on the Atlantic seaboard capable of supporting the battleship Tirpitz.  The elderly destroyer HMS Campbeltown, formerly the USS Buchanan given to the Royal Navy 9 September 1940, led the attack, her bows packed with 4.5 tons of explosive to make her into a massive bomb.  Campbeltown's superstructure had also been modified, to give her the approximate appearance of a German Mowe class escort vessel, in the hope that uncertainty as to her identity would help her get past the formidable shore batteries guarding the Loire estuary.  Accompanied by a flotilla of 16 small and vulnerable Motor Launches, a Motor Gun Boat and a Motor Torpedo Boat, Campbeltown made her way up the Loire under heavy fire and rammed the dock gates at high speed at 0134.  An assault force of Army Commandos stormed ashore, with the task of destroying dockside facilities.  The Germans reacted swiftly and extremely fierce fighting ensued for several hours.  Only four of the 16 Motor Launches survived to get back out to sea.  The delayed action fuses in Campbeltown's bows detonated ten hours after she hit the docks.  360 German troops were killed in the blast - they had not realised the true purpose of the attack - and the dock was put out of action for the remainder of the war.  Of the 611 Royal Navy and Army personnel involved, 222 were brought out on the Motor Launches, five escaped on foot south through Occupied France and into Spain, 215 were captured, and 169 were killed.  Five Victoria Crosses were awarded:

Commander Ryder, who led the flotilla in MGB314.
Lieutenant Commander Beattie, commanding Campbeltown.
Sergeant Ryder, Royal Engineers, who died of his wounds sustained aboard ML306.
Able Seaman Savage, killed in action aboard MGB314.
Lieutenant Colonel Newman, who led the Commando force.

1945:  EMMERICH-HOCH ELTEN, effective dates for battle honour begin (to 1 Apr 45).

1945:  Last V-1 buzz bomb attack on London. 

1957:  First flight of Canadair CP-107 Argus.

1961:  The first CF-104 Starfighter interceptor aircraft are delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force from their manufacturer in Montreal.

2003: In Iraq, D Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment was conducting reconnaissance operations far in advance of the main body of 16 Air Assault Brigade.  A pair of Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles came under mistaken attack by Coalition aircraft.  The 18-year old driver of one of the Scimitars, Trooper Finney of the Blues & Royals, escaped from his burning vehicle, and successfully rescued the wounded gunner, trapped in the turret.  Having carried him to safety, Finney returned to the vehicle to use the radio to alert headquarters.  He then began carrying his wounded comrade towards a Royal Engineer Spartan vehicle which was coming to their assistance.  Unfortunately, the Coalition aircraft then mounted a second attack which wounded both Finney and the already injured gunner, and set fire to the second Scimitar.  Nevertheless, Finney got the casualty to the safety of the Spartan, and then attempted, in vain, to rescue a crewman trapped in the second Scimitar.  He eventually collapsed, overcome by smoke and his injuries.  He was awarded the George Cross for his heroism.



I will be back to continue my postings to this thread on Friday night for Saturday 1 April.


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## big bad john

1713:  Treaty of Utrecht returns Nova Scotia to Britain; France keeps Ile Royale (Cape Breton) and Ile St-Jean (PEI).

1882:  The Prince Edward Island Provisional Brigade of Garrison Artillery is authorized.  The unit will eventually become the 28th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment in 1946 and then be absorbed by the Prince Edward Island Regiment (RCAC) in an amalgamation in 1955.

1900:  At Korn Spruit, a Royal Artillery column ran into a Boer ambush.  The leading battery was destroyed, but a second - Q Battery - went into action to provide covering fire.  The guns were eventually dragged back to safety by hand, after a desperate action.  Major Phipps-Hornby, Sergeant Parker, Driver Glasock and Gunner Lodge of the Royal Artillery, and Lieutenant Maxwell of Roberts' Light Horse were all awarded the Victoria Cross.

1902:  Thirteen Canadians are killed and forty more are wounded at the Battle of Harts River, making this engagement one of the bloodiest for Canadians during the South African War.  Numbers 3 and 4 Troops of E Squadron, 2nd Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles, in action.

1914:  Canada now has 3,000 officers and men in the Permanent Force; 5,615 officers and 68,991 men in the militia.

1929:  Effective this date, the Corps of Guides is disbanded as a cost cutting measure.

1943:  Finance Minister J. L. Ilsley announces that wartime meat rationing by coupon will begin in early May.

1943:  US accidentally bombs residential area of Rotterdam, 326 die. 

1944:  Canadian aircrew take part in a disastrous raid over Nuremburg. Of the 786 heavy bombers sent against the target, 95 are lost (almost 700 men) and 26 are more heavily damaged.

1945:  HMCS Conestoga, the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service training establishment, is paid off.

1945:  British Commonwealth Air Training Plan officially comes to an end.

1949:  Newfoundland joins Confederation as Canada's 10th province;  The Royal Newfoundland Regiment becomes part of the Canadian Army.

1951:  The army is called in to help civil authorities battle a flood crisis in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

1957:  The 3rd and 4th Battalions, The Canadian Guards, are disbanded.

1965:  28 (Ottawa) Service Battalion.

1971:  Lt. William Calley sentenced to life for My Lai Massacre 

1991:  The Gulf War between Iraq and the United Nations coalition ends.

1995:  500 Canadian Forces personnel deploy to Haiti along with 100 RCMP officers in support of the "United Nations Mission in Haiti" (UNMIH).

1995:  No. 419 Squadron ceases CF-5 Freedom Fighter operations, the squadron will be disbanded 25 June 1995.


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## big bad john

I haven't been keping up this thread due to time constraints but I thought that one entry should be not forgotten today:

1941: During the continuing heavy fighting following the German invasion of Crete on 20 May, Second Lieutenant Upham of the New Zealand Canterbury Regiment repeatedly distinguished himself, despite being badly wounded and suffering from severe dysentery.  In particular, he rescued a wounded man on 22 May, and killed 22 Germans in a close-range firefight on 30 May.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross, and the following year in the Western Desert, on 14 July, became the only man to win the Victoria Cross twice in the Second World War, and only the third man ever to receive the VC and Bar.  HMS Gloucester, a cruiser, was sunk off Crete by dive-bombers with the loss of 736 crew.  The wreck has been designated Protected Place.


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## Jacktheknife

I felt that since one of our own on the army.ca site participated in the assault,I would write this for him. 
may 23 1944
 Having successfully broken the Gustav line. Allied troops now  must breach the Hitler line, The final obstacle lying between the Allies and the Rome.May 23 1944 is the day it will be assaulted. Canadian troops have been given the toughest part to crack; a barricade of steel, concrete and barbed wire 20 feet thick. The roar of 800 Allied guns lasted more than an hour. The Adolf Hitler line was a German fallback position a few kilometres north of the Gustav line. Its strong points were at Aquino and Piedimonte. If attackers got through the minefields and barbed wire, they faced fortified pillbox machine gun emplacements and crossfire from tanks, artillery and mortars. Soldiers from the Canadian First Infantry Division successfully attacked the line on this date, supported by a tremendous artillery barrage. Tanks from the Canadian Fifth Armoured Division then poured through to attack the waiting German Panther tanks.At a cost of 879 casualties.The line fell.


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## Jacqueline

*On This Day In Canadian Military History

Daily Military History and War Facts
http://www.warmuseum.ca Copyright 2004 Canadian War Museum http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/tih/tih_e.html  

Canadian War Museum - Today in History

24 November 1918

Canadian troops are at Namur, Belgium almost half way to their posting on the Rhine river. 
The soldiers are given warm welcomes as they march through each village, although in some 
areas the general mistrust of any soldiers keeps people indoors.

24 November 1978

The Canadian Armed Forces begin Operation Magnet, a two week plan designed to process 
and transport Vietnamese refugees to Canada.*


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## Edward Campbell

Just a reminder:


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## sandyson

Battle of Chateauguay  Just a reminder to those near by (Montreal etc.); this Saturday 26 August 2013, is the hundredth anniversary of the battle.  Here is Parks Canada web site description: http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/qc/chateauguay/index.aspx .  The anniversary will be a good excuse to visit the site.


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## PMedMoe

sandyson said:
			
		

> Battle of Chateauguay  Just a reminder to those near by (Montreal etc.); this Saturday 26 *August* 2013, is the hundredth anniversary of the battle.  Here is Parks Canada web site description: http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/qc/chateauguay/index.aspx .  The anniversary will be a good excuse to visit the site.



I'm going to guess you meant 26 October...


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## Pat in Halifax

sandyson said:
			
		

> Battle of Chateauguay  Just a reminder to those near by (Montreal etc.); this Saturday 26 August 2013, is the hundredth anniversary of the battle.  Here is Parks Canada web site description: http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/qc/chateauguay/index.aspx .  The anniversary will be a good excuse to visit the site.



...And, I think you meant 200th...but we got it...


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## sandyson

Ack.


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## mariomike

Noticed a discrepancy on "Today in Military History".

February 25

1867: 
A.G.L. 'Andy' McNaughton 1867-1966

I have read elsewhere that he was born 25 February 1887
http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Andrew_G.L._McNaughton


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## Old Sweat

It should be 1887 as he was 30 when he served as Counter Battery Staff Officer in the Canadian Corps at Vimy Ridge and on.


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## Blackadder1916

A couple of days often used as examples of military prowess, good and bad.

22 January 1879
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3x6RPJOkTs

22-23 January 1879
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1csr0dxalpI


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## jollyjacktar

An excellent show from the Secrets of the Dead series on the battle and why the 24th were wiped out.

https://youtu.be/3pQSwo6Dyjs


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## Old Sweat

A prime example of one of the few cases where a major characteristic of the British Army - the ability to win battles despite the best efforts of its senior officers - did not apply.


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## Blackadder1916

mariomike said:
			
		

> Noticed a discrepancy on "Today in Military History".
> 
> February 25
> 
> 1867:
> A.G.L. 'Andy' McNaughton 1867-1966
> 
> I have read elsewhere that he was born 25 February 1887
> http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Andrew_G.L._McNaughton



I noticed the same thing yesterday as Mariomike brought to attention five years ago.



> February 25
> 1867: A.G.L. 'Andy' McNaughton 1867-1966



My first thought was - "how old was Andy Leslie's father when he had him?" - then I shook my head and thought "that can't be right!".


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