Military | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Sinking of HMHS Llandovery Castle

    On the evening of 27 June 1918, while sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool, England, the Canadian hospital ship Llandovery Castle was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat (U-86). Of the 258 crew and passengers, only 24 survived. Almost all the Canadian Army Medical Corps personnel were killed: six male officers, 64 enlisted men and 14 nursing sisters. Only one lifeboat escaped; the rest were either sucked under as the ship sank or attacked by the U-boat. The submarine’s officers were later charged with committing a war crime. 

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/ASW/VictoryBondsPosterLlandoveryCastle1918.jpg Sinking of HMHS Llandovery Castle

  • Article

    Sinking of the SS Caribou

    The SS Caribou was a passenger and train ferry that operated in the Cabot Strait between Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and North Sydney, Nova Scotia. On 14 October 1942, the German submarine U-69 sank the vessel, causing the worst loss of life in Canadian waters during the Second World War.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/Caribou/ss-caribou-1920-1940.jpg Sinking of the SS Caribou

  • Article

    Sixty Years On, Korean War Still Echoes

    When is a war not a war? For the Korean War, the answer is not always clear. This year, 2013, marks the 60th anniversary of the ceasefire of a war that not everyone describes that way. It had ambiguous beginnings, more than 20 participating countries, and still no formal end. But some things are evident. This year, Historica Canada is commemorating this sometimes-forgotten but still-resonant period of our recent history, and Canada’s role therein. Our country sent more than 26,000 members of our military to the Korean “theatre.” More than 500 Canadians died, and another 1,000 were wounded; 32 became prisoners of war.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Sixty Years On, Korean War Still Echoes

  • Article

    Snowbirds

    The Canadian Forces Snowbirds are a military aerobatics team. They are officially known as "431 Air Demonstration Squadron." Since 1971, the team has performed across North America before millions of people. The Snowbirds have been recognized as among the best in the world at precision formation aerobatics and stunning solo crosses with minimum separation between the aircraft.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/3d26459f-4f24-4f5c-a33b-b6d9ac0f4515.jpg Snowbirds

  • Article

    Somalia Affair

    In 1992–93, Canada contributed military forces to UNITAF, a United Nations–backed humanitarian mission in the African nation of Somalia. In 1993, Canadian soldiers from the now-defunct Airborne Regiment tortured and killed a Somali teenager named Shidane Arone. These and other violent abuses during the mission shocked Canadians and damaged the country’s international reputation. They also led to a public inquiry that revealed serious failures of leadership at the highest levels of the Canadian Armed Forces, kick-starting reforms aimed a professionalizing the officer corps. This article contains sensitive material that may not be suitable for all audiences.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/e002280232.jpg Somalia Affair

  • Macleans

    Somalia Affair: Chronology

    This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on April 15, 1996. Partner content is not updated. What began as a humanitarian mission quickly unravelled into one of the darkest chapters in Canadian military history (see Somalia Affair).

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Somalia Affair: Chronology

  • Macleans

    Somalia Inquiry's Damning Report

    This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on July 14, 1997. Partner content is not updated. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If only Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had not jumped at U.S. President George Bush’s request to send Canadian troops to Somalia in 1992.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Somalia Inquiry's Damning Report

  • Article

    Spanish-American War

    Spanish-American War, the 1898 conflict between the US and Spain, during which the US removed Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines from Spain, annexing the last 3.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Spanish-American War

  • Article

    St Albans Raid

    In the third year of the American Civil War, around 20 Confederate agents raided the town of St. Albans, Vermont. The raid was planned by Confederate spymasters based in St. Catharines and Montreal. On 19 October 1864, the men robbed the town’s three banks and killed a man, before crossing the border into Canada. Fourteen of the raiders were soon arrested. They were brought to trial three times and released each time by Canadian judges. The raid and court decisions worsened relations between Canada and the US, which were already strained.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Capt-Young.jpg St Albans Raid

  • Article

    St Laurent-class Destroyer Escorts

    The St Laurents were developed in the early Cold War as a high-speed, long-range antisubmarine frigate to counter the growing Soviet conventional submarine threat. They were the first major warship class designed and built in Canada and incorporated many ground-breaking features, earning them the nickname, the “Cadillacs.” Seven St. Laurents were built. The success of the design inspired a succession of follow-on classes: the Restigouche, Mackenzie and Annapolis classes. A total of 20 ships — all named after Canadian rivers — were built around the same hull configuration and propulsion plant. These iconic ships were the mainstay of the Canadian fleet from 1955 to 1995, including most of the Cold War.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/StLaurents/TCE St Laurent.jpg St Laurent-class Destroyer Escorts

  • Article

    Steele Narrows Battle

    Steele Narrows Battle, at Loon Lake, 95 km north-east of Lloydminster, scene of the last shots fired in the North-West Resistance on 3 June 1885.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/a64c2753-6c2c-4abe-a75b-d9e9202495e4.jpg Steele Narrows Battle

  • Article

    The Great War in the Air

    Airplanes became an important part of modern warfare during the First World War (1914–18). Aircraft technology developed rapidly and by war’s end, airplanes were involved in reconnaissance, artillery spotting, air-to-air combat, strafing ground targets, anti-submarine warfare, tactical and strategic bombing and home defence. More than 20,000 Canadians served in British flying services (Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force) during the war. Approximately 1,400 were killed or died from wounds or accidents. Canada did not have an air force during the First World War; a single-plane Canadian Aviation Corps was established in 1914, but never saw service and soon disbanded. Later, on 5 August 1918, two Canadian Air Force squadrons were formed in Britain, but were disbanded the next year when the British cut off funding. The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service was formed in September 1918 but lasted only three months before the war ended. Canada would not have a permanent air force until 1924 (see Royal Canadian Air Force).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/f864cf51-65b5-4803-85a1-a7908ffdc0aa.jpg The Great War in the Air

  • Article

    The Army Show

    The Army Show. At first a musical revue produced during World War II for the Canadian army, and later the operational name for entertainment units serving with the army.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 The Army Show

  • Article

    The Battle of Ogdensburg

     Prescott, located 112 kilometres downriver from Kingston, was an important transhipment point where merchantmen exchanged cargo with the bateaux from Montréal. Ogdensburg, New York, lay on the opposite shore.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/2cc6eb04-9958-4ee8-bd53-5e250021704c.jpg The Battle of Ogdensburg

  • Article

    The Bully Boys

    Eric Walters’s The Bully Boys (2000) is a work of historical fiction for young adults. It follows Tom Roberts, a young farm boy who aids and observes Lieutenant James FitzGibbon and his mercenary soldiers during the War of 1812.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/EricWalters/528px-Eric_Walters_-_Eden_Mills_Writers_Festival_-_2016_(DanH-0627)_(cropped).jpg The Bully Boys