How to beat the bomber

Story by Sharon Adams

Ten years ago on Feb. 19, an improvised explosive device was found under a major road in Afghanistan.

The device was placed about 10 metres down a small culvert—out of reach of equipment, impossible to shield. A robot couldn’t finish the job. There was nothing for it but to send in someone—a volunteer—to defuse the nasty thing.

Corporal Dale Kurdziel put up his hand. He had only been in the country a few months, on his first tour to Afghanistan, working with the counter-IED task force.

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Art exhibition reflects a changing environment
and the military’s evolving role

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

A new exhibition of works by artists “commissioned” by the Defence Department reflects Canada’s changing environment and the evolving roles of the country’s military in the wake of an intense 13 years fighting a war in Afghanistan.

Six civilian artists made up the eighth group to participate in the non-paying Canadian Forces Artists Program since 2001. A selection of their work—22 photographs, three videos, and a drawing—is on display in the Canadian War Museum’s Exhibition Hall until May 18.

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February 18, 1942

Newfoundlanders rescue 185 from U.S. warships driven onto the rocks in a storm; 203 perish.

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Non-combatants accounted for the
bulk of Second World War deaths

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

The first casualty of war may be the truth, but the last and just as certain is the non-combatant.

As many as 85 million people were killed during the Second World War but fewer than 30 per cent were military. More of the dead were victims of war crimes than legitimate battle.

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The last of the U-boats is scuttled

Story by Sharon Adams

On Feb. 12, 1946, U-3514 was sunk off the coast of Northern Ireland in Operation Deadlight, meant to ensure elimination of the German submarine fleet after the war.

The sub was sunk at 10:04 a.m. by ship guns and depth charges, the last of 116 scuttled by the Royal Navy.

In anticipation of the end of the war in early May 1945, German U-boat captains began scuttling their own boats, preventing an estimated 200 from falling into the hands of the Allies. On May 4, the German Navy ordered all U-boats to go to ports in Norway. On May 8, there were 156 still afloat.

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February 13, 1969

The Front de libération du Québec bombs the Montreal Stock Exchange, injuring 27.

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