Sheer Audacity

 Here we have a veteran of the Normandy campaign- Forceful III is a Sherman tank, a mainstay of Allied armies. This one survived the war and now resides here.

One of the Museum's great strengths is telling the story of individuals, from officers to soldiers.

After Normandy, the Allies kept driving the Germans back.

The Canadians were sent to drive the Germans out of the Scheldt estuary, in order for the port city of Antwerp to be useful to the Allies. The Germans blew up dikes, flooding the landscape, making the job a profoundly difficult prospect.

One of the weapons of that campaign is displayed here, the Wasp flamethrower.

It looks small for something that can wreck such havoc.

Once the Scheldt was secured, the effort pushed on. Canadians were among those pushing into the Rhineland. The German military was reaching its end.

More Canadian stories, each of them showing exceptional bravery.

One of my favourite artifacts in the Museum- this Luger, stolen by a wounded Canadian soldier taken prisoner, who then forced his German captors to take him back to his lines. Utter audacity, but marvelous.

The Jeep was a mainstay of the Allies.

Where the military went, organizations like the Red Cross followed in support.