Fearlessness

Gordon Fennell was one of the lucky ones, surviving the war after serving throughout.

His luck extended to a particular pair of dress shoes, displayed here in the exhibit, and kept for years after the war. They were kept in his tank where they probably saved his life.

Officers were, by and large, sharing the risks with the men they commanded in each branch of the services. Such was the case with John Mahony, who would be decorated by a king and end up a lieutenant-colonel.

This is his medal set.

Among those medals, the Victoria Cross, for his actions over five hours on May 24, 1944.

And here's him getting it, from King George VI.

As was the case elsewhere, generations of Canadians served. Fathers who had served in the First World War saw sons do the same in the Second World War.

Included below are the medal sets of father and son: Harry Campbell, who served in the South African and First World Wars and died in the second of those conflicts, and those of his son Alex Campbell, mentioned yesterday, who was driven by the death of his father.

Letters by Alex to his mother are included here.

Campaigns

This is the emergency life vest of a German pilot who was shot down in France during the Normandy campaign. Officers and men of the Royal Canadian Air Force signed it.

Here we have the standard helmet used by Canadian and British troops on D-Day.

Nearby, a bust of the man who started it all, brought back as a souvenir by a Canadian chaplain. What was it about this small, raging man that captured the hearts of an entire country and drove the world into a war? We may never know.

Major Alex Campbell led Canadian soldiers during the war until his death in battle, one of the extraordinary stories of the war. He was driven by the death of his own father during the First World War. And as you see below, he had something of a sense of humour.

Some Canadians were embedded with British forces during the North African campaign, including Campbell, who kept a journal, learned his lessons, and taught them well to those he commanded.

Canadians would become heavily involved in the campaigns through Sicily and mainland Italy.

This is Tank At Crossroads by William Ogilvie. We'll carry on here tomorrow.

Christine

Picking up where I left off yesterday, here's a look at Harold Beament, a senior officer and a war artist who saw service throughout the Battle Of The Atlantic. 

A husband and wife who both saw service: Robert Bush served in the Merchant Navy, and Evangeline Bush served in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service.

Their service dress caps are together, along with his medals.

Keith Jones served in the Navy at 17 and lived to tell the tale.

The story of H.M.S. Nabob, a British ship whose crew included Canadians, is shared here.

Most of the Canadian efforts through the war were made in the European theatre.

This is the only surviving example of this kind of rocket launcher, called a Land Mattress. It was used by Canadians starting in 1944, and designed to launch multiple rockets at once.

Nearby it is a panel with an artifact above it. Nose art, common in Allied planes during the war, often included women or some humorous touch. In this case the commander of a Canadian Lancaster bomber was looking more to home for his inspiration: his daughter Christine.

Personal

Robert Brett, a Canadian veteran of the First World War, was sailing in the British merchant navy during the Second World War and took part in the Miracle of Dunkirk, evacuating British and other Allied soldiers to safety.

Gwendoline Green would marry a Canadian serviceman after meeting him in her native Britain, and cross the ocean after the war to start a new life.

This was her outfit on her wedding day.

Here we have a guidebook written for British women who found themselves marrying Canadians, introducing them to some of the customs and ways of life they might expect after the war when they would be in a new world.

From the personal touch to the epic, the Battle of Britain, one of the pivotal moments of the Second World War. Canadians were part of the fight against the Luftwaffe.

One of them was Bill Sprenger, a pilot whose luck would run out.

Here we have a letter to his sister and his Memorial Cross.

The Battle of The Atlantic lasted the longest of the war. Canadians were heavily involved throughout.

Officer and war artist Harold Beament was part of that campaign. 

Burial At Sea is one of his works.