Forward

 Canadians fought in the Afghan War from 2001-14, a guerilla war that was infinitely complex.

Insurgents used an IED on this Canadian military transport, destroying the front end. The armour within the rest of the vehicle protected the occupants.

This is a typical uniform for Canadian soldiers of that conflict.

I've always been drawn to this photograph of a soldier interacting with an Afghan child. Now that the Taliban have returned to power, one wonders what became of the child, and what it was all for.

Coming out of the permanent galleries brings us into a space which deals with commemorating the fallen and those who have served in Canadian military history. This stained glass window, which once resided in a Dutch consulate, now resides here.

The heart of this space is occupied by a scale model of the National War Memorial.

The path led me on. Moriyama Regeneration Hall makes an impression all by itself, and is one of two architectural focal points of the entire Museum. Raymond Moriyama was the Canadian architect who designed the building.

This hall houses several plaster casts from Walter Allward's work on the Vimy Memorial, and is aligned to look directly towards Parliament Hill. During construction, while this portion was still being worked on and open, Moriyama noticed the whistling sound made by the wind, and had it recorded. It plays on a continuous loop, a lovely but haunting sound.

Up above, a WWI era painting on the theme of sacrifice.