Canadian Heritage Renews The Memory Project Funding
July 12th witnessed a significant event for both The Historica-Dominion Institute and, for that matter, Canada. Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore was at the HMCS York in Toronto to announce new and expanded funding for The Memory Project Archive. This renewal will allow The Memory Project team to continue interviewing not only Second World War veterans, but Korean War veterans.
Continue Reading …The Memory Project Speakers’ Bureau Commemorates the 95th Anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont Hamel
The Memory Project Speakers’ Bureau hosted a special luncheon to mark the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont Hamel today at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 56, Pleasantville.
Continue Reading …Over The Wire
Having enlisted as an RCAF Bomber Pilot in June 1941 at the tender age of 18, Andrew Carswell found himself—two years and four sorties later—swinging from a parachute above Germany. His Lancaster Bomber had been shot down en-route to Berlin. A prisoner of war for the remainder of the conflict, interned in Stalag VIIIB prisoner of war camp before being liberated by Montgomery’s Second Army in April 1945, it is his time and exploits in incarceration that form the content of this memoire.
Continue Reading …Artefact Of The Week: This Week Meet The Navy!
This photograph was taken in February 1945 just months before the end of the war was announced. To see their smiling faces you would not guess that they were performing during the war as V-1 bombs and V-2 rockets fell around them in London, England. Blanche Lund and her partner and husband, Alan Lund, were dancers in the show, Meet the Navy, which was organized by the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) under the supervision of Captain John P. Connolly director of Special Services with the navy.
Continue Reading …Getting Riel With Veterans In Winnipeg
On May 28th I found myself in Winnipeg for the city’s inaugural Veteran Appreciation Day. An initiative designed to increase community recognition of local veterans, the jovial spring setting was a far cry from the sombre and reflective atmosphere of Remembrance Day. Indeed, it was much more a celebration of what Canadian veterans, both alive and dead, had achieved rather than what had been lost. Much as the Queen of England has two birthdays, to accommodate the weather, it is only fair that Canadian servicemen should have a summer event to further commemorate their service and sacrifice.
Continue Reading …The Historica-Dominion Institute and St. Boniface legion celebrate Winnipeg Veteran Appreciation Day
The Historica-Dominion Institute and the Norwood St. Boniface Legion branch 43 joined forces today to proudly celebrate Veteran Appreciation Day.
Continue Reading …Violence On V-E Day: Riots In Halifax
May 8th 1945 marked the official end of hostilities in Europe. After six long, hard years of fighting, Hitler’s Nazi onslaught had finally come to an end. Across the world, millions took to the streets to celebrate and relish this victory and the future peace it promised.
Continue Reading …The Memory Project: A British Perspective
I joined The Memory Project in February 2011; having recently immigrated to Canada from the United Kingdom. Armed with a History degree, and determined to continue on with my love and passion for history in a non-academic environment, the Project instantly captured my imagination. Maybe I watched too much Indiana Jones when I was a kid – I still have the hat and whip that composed a fundamental part of my homemade costume – but I always thought there was a more exciting and hands-on element to history than being constrained to dungeon-like archives. And it doesn’t get much more hands-on – until time travelling tours are invented – than physically talking to those who experienced firsthand the events and horrors of the brutal human conflict that was the Second World War.
Continue Reading …The Sinking Of Hmcs Esquimalt
On the evening of April 15, 1945, HMCS Esquimalt set out from Halifax on an anti-submarine patrol around the harbour approaches. It was a routine well known by her crew, the Esquimalt having been on anti-submarine duty in this part of the Atlantic since 1943. Routine it may have seemed, but little did her experienced crew know this would be her last such voyage. For lurking in those same depths of the cold northwest Atlantic was German submarine U-190.
Continue Reading …An Update From The Memory Project
The Memory Project: Stories of the Second World War has been busy criss-crossing the country in search of veterans who are interested in sharing their personal service experiences. Over the summer, we travelled as far west as White Horse, YT and as far east as St. John’s, NL.
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