Yule

 Christmas is coming, and for the next few days we'll have Christmas in the blog. I do this for my readers, and not for myself. This is a difficult time of year for me that brings out a depression- what I call my black wall- that doesn't lift until after December 27th or so. I've had it going on for weeks, and it's guaranteed each year. Anyway, these first shots are taken around the Glebe neighbourhood.

I took this one close to home- this angel is inside a florist's shop.

Another day, I passed through the Delta hotel lobby, where they had decorations out.

On another evening, I was passing by the World Exchange Plaza, where I took this shot.

Across the street, more Christmas lights. A careful eye might pick up the statue of the First Nations hunter at street level.

I came by the War Museum one day earlier this month for lunch, and took a photo of the Christmas tree in the lobby.

Finale

 Canadians Arriving On The Rhine was painted by Inglis Sheldon-Williams from 1918-19.

Another work by him is this one. The Return To Mons dates to 1920.

It was at Mons that Canadian soldiers ended the First World War. They gave two field guns to the town, saying they were the last to fire on the enemy. With the centennial of the end of that war, Mons gave one of the guns back to the people of Canada. It is entirely fitting that its final resting place is right here, where a visit to the Museum's permanent collection both begins and ends. 

Outside, this screen usually has projected images from Canadian military history on it. However, in the runup to Remembrance Day, something else was being projected. The World Remembers was the concept of two Canadians during the centennial years, 2014-18. The names of all Canadians who died in the First World War were projected onto the War Memorial at night in the nights leading up to Remembrance Day. Afterwards, the same concept was projected onto the Government Conference Center, but with all of the names of those who died fighting in that war- country by country, including the other side. I found the concept entirely fitting.

One last space to visit. I always leave it for last. The Memorial Chamber is down this way.

It has one exhibit inside- the gravestone that once stood at the grave of an unknown Canadian soldier who fell at Vimy Ridge in France. His remains were re-interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the War Memorial, and the gravestone was brought here, where it is mounted on a wall that has the feeling of gravestones. Visitors on Remembrance Day leave their poppies on the stone.

I mentioned some days ago about how the Museum has two focal points in architecture. This is the second of them. The entire museum was designed with this room's placement and the overhead window in mind. On November 11th, at 11 in the morning, if it's a sunny day, the sun will shine through that window and onto the stone itself.

I departed the Museum to a glorious sky and a setting sun. We'll see another take from this for my last post of the year. The plan is to come back before Christmas- I want to see the temporary exhibit one more time, and take another stroll through the Lebreton Gallery. Tomorrow we move onto other things.

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.

Gallery

 More today inside Lebreton Gallery, with its impressive collection of tanks.

The Voodoo is quite a sight.

This is another of my favourite artifacts in the Museum. This collection of barrels and instruments is Weather Station Kurt. During the Second World War, a German u-boat landed at the northern end of Labrador, a remote area, and set up a weather station. It worked for a short time before ceasing to function. It then went forgotten, until the late 70s, when a German researcher going through wartime naval records found mention of it. Given the remoteness of its location and the fact that it looked like a Canadian government installation, it's not surprising it went unnoticed. Kurt was brought here.

The tanks resonate with power.

These are examples of helicopter nose art, painted by Corporal Richard Aucoin during the Afghan War.

We'll continue here tomorrow.