1997
CANADIAN MILITARY HISTORY CALENDAR
PREPARED BY MICHAEL O'LEARY

The Canadian Military History Calendar is a ‘page per day’ calendar displaying significant military occurrences for each day of the year. The majority of events noted are Canadian (or British Commonwealth in context), some, to round out the calendar, identify other significant occurrences in military history. Additionally, every day features a military oriented quote or anecdote which will appeal to soldiers, historians and researchers alike. The included quotes and anecdotes are offered as review items from the various texts and readers are encouraged to seek out and enjoy the full volumes wherever possible. Principal features of the calendar include full representation of possible Canadian Battle Honours and Victoria Cross Winners, both by Canadians serving with Canadian units and others with Canadian connections.

Canadian battle honours are shown in capitals on the date which was selected as the start of the battle for awarding of a battle honour. Dates for battles were taken from General Orders, 1 Feb 1928 (for WWI), Canadian Army Orders, Issue No 508, 10 Sept 56 (for WWII), and Canadian Army Orders, Issue No 589, 31 Mar 58 (for Korea).

Canadian VC winners are identified on the day (or first day) of the award. Canadian VC information is from DUCIMUS, The Regiments of the Canadian Infantry, and Hakkert, Valiant Men.

During the creation of this calendar a great many sources were consulted. As best as possible quotes and anecdotes are referenced to source, while the daily events (due to lack of space) could not be. I thank those who, knowingly or otherwise, contributed material, and the errors, in transcription or through failure to cross check data, are all mine. I welcome comment and corrections, those applicable to daily events will go toward a future edition (if there is one), those regarding quotes and anecdotes will be used to update my own files.

The study of military history is rich in detail and scope. My personal interests lie in the areas of sociology and soldiers. Tactics are often determined by the capabilities of the era’s weaponry, but the life of the soldiery has timeless parallels. From Marius’ Mules to the overburdened troops at Juno beach, the soldier’s individual experience at the hands of his own officers runs on common threads of loyalty and bravery sometimes flavoured with a healthy serving of disbelief and distrust. It is this identity I want to portray, and also to send others in search of further detail when some anecdote spurs the imagination.

Calendars are available by mail only from:

In Canada, the price of the calendar is $10.00 plus $5.00 postage and handling. Reduced postage rates for larger orders (2 and up) and rates for orders to locations outside Canada can be requested through internet E-Mail to "MOLEARY@GREYSPACE.COM".

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