Normandy And Scheldt

This collage panel in the D-Day area includes quotes, newspaper headlines, and images from that day.

It also includes this panel, which some of you might remember.

A balcony in this section looks out over Lebreton Gallery, which is filled with military vehicles and equipment from multiple countries and eras. The Canadian fighter jet particularly stands out.

But for me, it was back into the subject matter at hand.

After the breakout from Normandy, and the pushing back of the German lines, there was still more to be done. Canadian troops would be sent to secure the Scheldt, an estuary that controlled the water route to Antwerp.

Seaborne Invasion

The Canadian military put much of its emphasis into the European and Atlantic theatres of operation during the Second World War. Yet the Pacific theatre was still part of the story. Canadian soldiers were garrisoned at Hong Kong when the Japanese unleashed their surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. It wasn't the only place they hit- Japan made coordinated strikes at various places across the Pacific, including Hong Kong. 

The Battle of Hong Kong was the first land based battle for Canadians during the Second World War, and it ended in defeat. Many were killed or wounded among all of the defenders. All survivors became prisoners of war.

While Canadian soldiers bided their time in Britain with other land troops, the Canadian navy and air force were busy. That included across the Atlantic, where engagements with German subs were a common occurrence. One of those moments is caught in this painting, The Boarding Of The U-744.

Along with other Allied forces, Canadians took part in the Italian campaign, which is covered here in the Museum, but which I didn't photograph this time out. The next section of course deals with the inevitable: D-Day and the Normandy campaign. Five beaches were invaded by Allied soldiers on June 6th, 1944, the greatest seaborne invasion in history. Juno Beach was the Canadian objective.

I mentioned a few days ago that the Canadian war artist Orville Fisher was the only artist who landed on the beaches of Normandy that day. This painting, D-Day: The Assault is drawn from what he saw that day.

Another D-Day painting, but from the air: Invasion Pattern Normandy, by Eric Aldwinkle.

These quotes were nearby. I continue with D- Day tomorrow.

From War To War

Throughout the War Museum, individual panels focus on people, from the enlisted ranks to officers. Such is the case with Lieutenant Samuel Honey, a winner of the Victoria Cross who would die in battle.

This haunting painting is called The Conquerors. Painted by Eric Kennington in 1920, it depicts both the living and the dead; Canadian soldiers on the march during the Hundred Days that would end the war. Those with pale faces and gaunt eyes are the ghosts alongside their still living counterparts.

Who was the last man killed in the war? Canadian private George Price is deemed to be the last of the Commonwealth forces.

The First World War section ends with memorial displays- a typical Commonwealth war gravestone, a stained glass window, and a cenotaph statue.

But of course the First World War only set into motion events that would lead to the Second World War. The next section opens with an examination of the rise of dictatorships that would become the Axis powers and the outbreak of war. Canadians would swiftly answer the call as part of the Allied effort.

Canada was a natural location for Allied air training, and panels and artifacts look at the BCATF program.

The Women's Royal Canadian Service was established during the war, and seven thousand women enlisted. One of them wore this uniform. Joan Thompson-Voller was one of the group called Wrens, and she was a regular fixture here at the Museum on Remembrance Day. I chatted with her on a number of such occasions. It's been some years though since I last saw her here, so I assume she's since passed away.

While Canada might have been far from the battlefields of Europe, it didn't mean dangers didn't find their way across the ocean. This map shows multiple attacks by German subs on merchant or military ships off the coast, some of them quite inland along the St. Lawrence River.

Hell On Earth

Dogfight is the title of this 1919 painting by John Armstrong Turnbull, depicting the fierce aerial combat of the First World War.

One of those combatants was Roy Brown, who came from Carleton Place, not far from here, and survived the war. His medals and logbook are part of the Museum collection. Brown has the distinction of being the man who downed the Red Baron- though there's some controversy to this day as to if the fatal wound came from Australian ground troops firing up at the Baron. Brown is still credited regardless, and in ending the Baron's life, he probably did him a favour. Had von Richthofen survived the war, he would have surely become a propaganda tool for the Nazis. This way the Red Baron's legacy is unstained, and he remains a highly respected aviator.

Before leaving this area, a panel examines the importance of Vimy Ridge. The battle can be said to be a pivotal moment in our history; the First World War and the tough reputation of Canadian soldiers throughout gave the country a place on the world stage. 

The home front is also examined with artifacts, panels, and photographs here. It includes family photographs- soldiers home from the war or soon to go back to it posing with their wives and children.

The path moves on to examine the Battle of Passchendaele, a hard fought victory for Canadian troops in 1917. From everything I've ever read or seen about it, if ever there was a hell on earth, it was Passchendaele.

A replica of an area of the battlefield has been constructed here- something that wouldn't be out of place in other parts of the front. Shell holes, equipment, and bodies pounded into the mud. 

This is the uniform of Alma Florence Finnie, a nursing sister from Bailieboro, Ontario. She went to France and tended to the wounded along with many other women. The blue colour got them the nickname bluebirds.

Arthur Currie was the senior Canadian officer of the war, a methodical general who proved more capable than many of his European counterparts, willing to adapt to circumstances and not stay true to the Napoleonic era tactics that for four years were doing little but getting masses of men slaughtered. His presentation sword is part of the museum collection.

Thomas Ricketts of Newfoundland was 17 when he won the Victoria Cross for bravery under fire in October 1918. Boys lying about their age and going off to war when they should have been chasing girls. And some of them never coming home.

Empires

The War Museum's story carries on after the War of 1812, dealing with other military issues of the 19th century in Canada. I'm picking up with the second gallery, which moves into the idea of fighting for Queen (or King) and country in two different conflicts. The first is the South African War, otherwise called the Boer War. Thousands of Canadians went far from home to fight in what would become a guerrilla war as the 19th century gave way to the 20th, battling the forces of Boer states in South Africa. This conflict is covered extensively.

One of the panels here looks at Georgina Pope, a nurse who would serve with distinction during this war and the First World War. She is among the figures of Canadian military history featured in the Valiants statues downtown near the War Memorial.

Of course the other war in question was the so called War to End All Wars. In 1914, Canadians rallied for the cause, not knowing what was to come in the battlefields of Europe.

Art is featured extensively through the museum, including this large canvas. Canada's Answer is the title of this painting by Norman Wilkinson, depicting the country's First Contingent, 32 000 soldiers heading for Britain in October 1914.

The 18 pounder field gun was the most common type used by Canadian and British military forces during the war. An estimated 100 million shells were fired from guns like this over the course of the war. 

Another prized artifact. This is the personal Colt pistol of Lt.-Colonel John McCrae.

A walk through reproduction of a trench is found here.

Canadians took part in multiple battles throughout the First World War, developing a fierce reputation along the way. Vimy Ridge would be a watershed moment in the country's history, with Canadian soldiers emerging victorious against a tenacious German force. Vimy Ridge is covered extensively in this area.

The First World War was the first time aircraft were used in combat. Tactics were invented as pilots went along. Many of them died. Others survived. One of the Canadian aces is William Barker, whose medal set is displayed here.