Thursday, January 27, 2022

Cold War Twilight

 Here we have two standard uniforms. One dating back to the Cold War period is a field uniform, not really that different from what one might see today.


The other is a woman's headquarters uniform. Women started increasingly joining the Canadian forces during the Cold War.


The Canadian Rangers are reservists, an essential element of the Far North and some of the remote coastal regions. Many of them are Inuit or First Nations, working alongside regular forces on a frequent basis.


Reservists in general are also covered here, and a Howitzer like this one tends to be fairly standard in reserve units. Had the Cold War ever gone hot, reserve units in North America would have been sent overseas to Europe to reinforce against the Warsaw Pact.


The last decade of the Cold War was still a tense one, particularly its first half.


Photographs of some of the leaders of that decade- Reagan, Thatcher, and Gorbachev- are overhead as the path leads on. A  Warsaw Pact tank is at right.


It's a monster- a T-72 acquired from the former East Germany in 1992. Beside it is a display case with standard Warsaw Pact hand weapons among the artifacts.

34 comments:

  1. Well, it still can get hot with Putin going at Ukraine. When I saw all the tanks lines up, then the war ships... soldiers "practicing" near the border...
    I hope it´s but a bluff.

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  2. Looking back via the politicians of the era, is surreal.

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  3. ...I remember the Cold War well.

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  4. Speaking of going hot, it is beginning to ignite these days!

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  5. I think the cold war will really never end, just go underground for awhile.

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  6. We can feel the current political tension.

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  7. It can all be a bit depressing.

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  8. @Iris: it is worrying.

    @Francisco: thanks.

    @Maywyn: it can be.

    @Tom: it left an impression.

    @Marie: that's how it feels.

    @Jeanie: a good way to put it.

    @Denise: thank you.

    @Catarina: indeed.

    @RedPat: definitely.

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  9. Things are getting scary again.

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  10. I dare not think what will happen if there is war in this present time.

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  11. The heat is on now that Putin is playing tough man.

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  12. It really is horrifying that we amass these armies to fight eachother. When you really think about it, why do we do this?

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  13. Great post ~ had trouble commenting earlier ~ stay warm and cozy ~

    Wishing you lots of laughter in your day,

    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  14. Mucho hadado que de escribir y que hablar esa guerra fría.

    Buenos testimonio de ella hay en ese Museo.

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  15. Goodness, seeing those photographs of Reagan, Thatcher, and Gorbachev takes me back!

    All the best Jan

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  16. Some dapper uniforms here William.

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  17. Hard to believe Reagan, or any of them, was young once.

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  18. The Rangers in the north are a very proud group.

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  19. William - folks may disagree about the particular politics of that era, but I have tremendous respect for what was achieved during the era that Reagan, Gorbachev and Thatcher were around.

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