History

 We continue today with some more of the firepower inside Lebreton Gallery.

This one has a story as to why it looks so beaten up. The Valentine was designed by the British, and Canadian factories built a large number of them for the Second World War. Most of those were shipped to the Soviet Union. This one broke through the ice on a frozen river in Ukraine. The crew got out safely, but the tank sank into the water. Decades later, it was recovered, and the Ukrainian government gave this back to Canada.

One last look at the gallery.

The path out leads up a long ramp, and war art is found on the wall on one side. This massive canvas is The Taking Of Vimy Ridge, Easter Monday 1917 by Richard Jack, painted in 1919, depicting that monumental battle in which Canadian soldiers won a decisive victory.

The angles of the architecture are fascinating in their own right, and perfectly in keeping with the theme of the museum.

Here we have Canadian Foresters In Windsor Park, by Gerald Moira, circa 1917. He depicted the 224th Canadian Forestry Battalion on the grounds at Windsor Castle.

World War Two saw a lot of nose cone painting of fighter and bomber planes. Some of those were saved, and hang here. Some of them are patriotic, some are humorous, and others, well, these were young pilots and crewmen, thinking of young women. They make me smile.