History
Camp Hughes helped train CEF soldiers for battlefields in France, Belgium
November 13, 2022
When Douglas celebrated its centennial in 1982, the book Echos of a Century listed 11 residents of the community who were killed in action or died of wounds during the Great War on a roll of honour. The cenotaph in Douglas you pass en route to CFB Shilo after coming off Hwy 1 and taking Hwy 340 south has 13 names listed on the plaque of “our glorious dead.”
Indigenous war stories ‘must be told’ says Quebec historian
November 12, 2022
A Quebec-based amateur historian has set himself the ambitious goal of documenting every North American Indigenous soldier who has served since Europeans first discovered the continent in 1492. In his role as president of Association de recherche des anciens combattants amérindiens, Yann Castelnot of Riviere-du-loup has already compiled the names and histories of some 150,000 Indigenous Veterans of Canada and the United States into an online database.
Battle of Vimy Ridge veteran photographed his time training at Camp Hughes before leaving for France
November 11, 2022
A veteran of the Battle of Vimy Ridge more than a century ago left his descendants a treasure trove of black and white photographs and memories he kept in scrapbooks. Using his trusty Kodak film camera, Bill May took photos at the now defunct Camp Hughes when it was a hive of activity as Canadian soldiers trained on the prairies before heading overseas as members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the Great War.
Private shares darker side of Great War with family in letters from France
November 11, 2022
Note from great-great-niece Kendra Mindary: this is one of the few letters describing a bit more in detail the darker sides of the Great War and Cecil’s experiences. Typically, he wasn’t able to write about this sort of thing as the letters would get censored before mailing back to Canada.
Spitfire pilot’s marked envelope ‘Not to be Read’
November 9, 2022
“It seems strange and useless that I should have to die for this,” Canadian Spitfire pilot William Fortt said in a heartfelt letter to his parents 16 months before he died in a fiery plane crash in Essex, England on April 12, 1942. Dale Murray donated to the RCA Museum the military medals of pilot William (Bill) Fortt, from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Bill was the son of Col Ronald Fortt, a Great War veteran out of Vancouver, BC.
Project ‘44 brings Canadian soldiers’ Second World War diaries, maps to life online
November 1, 2022
When Canadians marked the 78th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 1944, they now have a groundbreaking new interactive tool which they can use to gain insights into the lives of Canadian soldiers as they embarked on harrowing journeys across Europe and helped bring the Second World War to an end.
This day in PPCLI history
October 30, 2022
On Oct. 30, 1917 at Passchendaele, PPCLI’s Sgt George Mullin attacked a German pillbox and killed a sniper outside it. He climbed onto the pillbox’s roof and shot two machine gunners.
PPCLI soldier from Great War identified, 2PPCLI part of rededication ceremony in France
October 21, 2022
The Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) confirmed the identification of a previously unknown grave as being that of LCpl Morgan Jones Jenkins, a Canadian soldier of the Great War who was buried as an unknown soldier at the Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, in Haucourt, France.
Letter to Edna explains he avoided being seasick on trip across Atlantic Ocean
October 19, 2022
Dear Edna- Just received your welcome letter before supper and it certainly was a pleasant surprise, It happened to be the only letter tonight in No. 4 Platoons hut so I am the lucky guy today.
Military pioneer in Canada commanded C Bty on Vancouver Island
October 18, 2022
Who was Col Josiah G. Holmes? In 1871, Col Holmes was one of the founding officers of A Bty in Kingston, Ont. He had the distinction of being the first Commanding Officer (CO) of C Bty in Esquimalt, BC, from 1887 to 1893.
