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Authorities struggle over what to do with Nazi relic

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

South American authorities are struggling over what to do with a Nazi relic from the first major naval battle of the Second World War.

Treasure-hunters recovered the 350-kilogram bronze eagle from the wreck of the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee in 2006, but it was not until last year that a court ruled it belonged to the country in whose waters it was found: Uruguay.

That left authorities with a conundrum—what to do with a two-metre-tall bronze eagle sporting a wingspan of 2.8 metres and clutching a large swastika. It had lain at the bottom of the River Plate since December 1939, when Kapitän zur See Hans Langsdorff scuttled his damaged ship to prevent it from falling into Allied hands.

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WordPress

A gigantic job

STORY BY SERGE DURFLINGER

During the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Air Force was an English-language institution. The squadrons needed to be interoperable. In fact, many Canadian airmen served in British squadrons.

This did little to help the air force recruit French Canadians, even with the promise of language training. The RCAF simply did not have the equivalent of the army’s French-language battalions, in which members could operate in French and use English when dealing with other units. This changed 81 years ago, in 1942.

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