World War II concluded more than 75 years ago, and although there have been regional conflicts where Canadian soldiers have served since then, there’s been no war that tested the willingness of all young Canadians to go to the front lines to defend freedom if called upon.
Retired Lt.-Col. John Selkirk, who spent decades in the reserves and also taught at the Royal Military College of Canada, expressed confidence that Canada would respond to a contemporary threat.
Acting on a tip about stolen Nazi art, German investigators raided a home near the northern German city of Kiel in 2015. Instead, they discovered an underground garage containing a World War II-era Panther tank, a torpedo, mortars, anti-aircraft guns, more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition and other weapons.
I posted on this previously but have come across some interesting history about the tank’s origins. Seems it was one of several cobbled together by the British in German factories at wars end and transported to the UK for evaluation. See the video below. I follow historian Mark Felton on YouTube, he posts a lot of interesting stuff.
In a virtual meeting, Trudeau confirmed the date of the apology with some family members of Canadians of Italian background who were interned during the war.
The Daily Caller’s Lisa Bennatan went to Paris, France, and asked Parisians whether they are grateful for the United States’ help during World War II.
The poster is from Vichy France, referencing de Gaulle, then of the Free French forces, it translates roughly as “He embraces us only to slaughter our sons and companions”
Captain Robin Rowland was 22 when his regiment was deployed to the north-eastern Indian town of Kohima. It was May 1944, and a small group of British-Indian soldiers was under assault by an entire division of Japanese forces.
Capt Rowland, now 99, vividly remembers approaching the town, following a trail of devastation to the front line.
“We saw abandoned trenches and destroyed villages, and as we moved forward the smell of death was everywhere,” he said.
The battle was a major feat of arms for the vastly outnumbered British and Indian troops but also for the Japanese if you consider the terrain they had to cross and the fact that their generals lied to them about resupply. They really did starve and the author provides an excellent glimpse into the Japanese view of things much of which was every bit as rancid as we’ve come to understand. I was surprised to discover the “Traitorous General” Kōtoku Satō who ignored his commanders and ordered his soldier’s to retreat back into Burma was not executed though he did endure bouts of public shaming initiated by the truly guilty long after the war. His post-war personal journey of atonement to his troops for having lead them to a disaster he foresaw is recounted revealing him to be anything but typical of Japanese militarism.
“Face” and emperor worship played such a significant influence in Japanese lives that the depth of belief is difficult for me to grasp. In another book dealing with the battle of Okinawa I read in disbelief that a Japanese army officer held on to the hope that the Imperial Navy would arrive to blast the American fleet laying siege to the island. He had never heard of Midway or knew that the Japanese Navy was long defeated by that stage of the war. A stranded naval officer he befriended told him the truth of Japan’s situation. Still he fought on to the bitter end surviving only because he was captured having passed out from wounds.
The book gives a good sense of the pending collapse of Britain’s empire in India. Many saw it coming others not so much. The common soldier seemed to understand better than most that Indian independence was a foregone conclusion and they simply weren’t wanted there. In fact the Japanese had their own “Indian Army” on their side. Still they fought and triumphed against great odds because they were good soldiers fighting not for ideology or empire but only to get it done and go home.
By December 22, Mount Cameron, several miles north of Reid’s Regimental Aid Post, had become the linchpin of West Brigade’s defensive line as the Japanese forced their way from the east. The position was held by only 100 Winnipeg Grenadiers, reinforced by a platoon of British Royal Engineers — all that could be spared. After raining Mount Cameron’s defenders with artillery and mortar fire, the Japanese attacked during the evening with 1,000 troops. The Grenadiers and Royal Engineers fought back ferociously, but a Japanese breakthrough on their right flank threatened to encircle their position and forced their withdrawal northward to Wan Chai Gap. In his postwar debriefing in October 1945, Reid recalls the confusion of this night…
