A feather in your cap

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

Celebrated officers wore the feathered crowns of egrets. British infantrymen wear “hackles.” Italian shock troops, known as Bersaglieri, rather flamboyantly sport the feathers of a particular wood grouse known as a capercaillie.

Military tradition has spawned a bizarre menagerie of headgear, both for dress occasions and battle. The practice is virtually as old as warfare. It knows no borders and, at times, it seems to defy logic.

The traditions have given birth to phrases such as “a feather in your cap” (an accomplishment one should be proud of) and “a brass hat” (a person of high position).

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Canadians take Fresnoy

Story by Sharon Adams

After taking Vimy Ridge in early April 1917, Canadian Corps’ success in France continued with an attack on the Arleux Loop on April 28-29 that drove the Germans to Fresnoy-en-Gohelle.

General Sir Douglas Haig then had two objectives: to secure a more defensible position and draw German attention away from the Aisne sector, where the French Army was fighting to capture a strategic ridge with the hope of an advance to Laon.

Haig planned a new attack by three armies across a 22-kilometre front, aiming to consolidate a good defensive line by mid-May. Fresnoy was the Canadian target.

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May 3, 1915

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae writes “In Flanders Fields.”

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