The Russian Krivak II-class frigate Pytlivyy sits at anchor in Sevastopol Bay in 2009. An unnamed frigate of this type was the last to leave the occupied port of Sevastopol on July 15. (WIKIMEDIA)

Last of Russia’s Black Sea fleet leaves Crimean base

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

“Remember this day,” was the July 15, 2024, declaration from Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk. The last remaining warship of Russia’s vaunted Black Sea fleet left its base at the occupied Crimean port of Sevastopol, apparently ending a battered Russian navy presence in the region for the foreseeable future.

“From a pure maritime perspective, this is the last in a long list of humiliations suffered by the Black Sea Fleet since the 2022 invasion,” Tom Sharpe wrote for the London Telegraph.

With no navy to speak of, Ukrainian military have launched land-based missile and drone attacks, as well as sea drones, to great effect against maritime targets. Almost a third of Russia’s Black Sea fleet—27 of 80 vessels, including a submarine—is believed to have been sunk or disabled since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

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Sub-Lieutenant Hampton Gray following his graduation as a pilot at Kingston in September 1941.(CFB ESQUIMALT)

The Last Canadian Victoria Cross?

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

On Aug. 9, 1945, 27-year-old Lieutenant Robert (Hammy) Hampton Gray of Trail, B.C., piloting a British Royal Navy Corsair above Japanese waters, became Canada’s last Victoria Cross recipient—depending on one’s perspective.

Gray’s flight of eight fighters had been on a sortie near Onagawa Bay, Miyagi Prefecture, when he spied a cluster of enemy naval vessels. Among them was the Etorofu-class destroyer escort Amakusa, two minesweepers, a training ship and submarine chasers. Gray targeted the 1,000-ton Amakusa.

Under a maelstrom of flak and tracer fire, he descended to within 12 metres (40 feet) of the waves and pressed home the attack.

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Owned by the Commemorative Air Force out of Mesa, Arizona, the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “Sentimental Journey” was built by Douglas Aircraft in late 1944. (STEPHEN J. THORNE)

B-17: A photo essay of the iconic daylight bomber of WW II

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

It was an iconic aircraft of the Second World War. Reliable, durable and instantly recognizable, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was a mainstay of the daylight bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe between 1942 and 1945.

Crewed by 10 and bristling with up to 13 .50-calibre machine guns, formations of as many as 2,000 “Forts” would fly long missions in tightly stacked nine- to 12-plane “combat boxes” designed to concentrate defensive and offensive firepower.

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Author Lech Kwasiborski in Eygpt in 1974, serving with the UN Emergency Force II. (LECH KWASIBORSKI)

Emergency Force II: Recollections from serving with the UN in Egypt 50 years ago

STORY BY LECH KWASIBORSKI

Each year as summer approaches, my memory takes me back to Aug. 9, 1974. It has taken me 50 years to memorialize this day in words. The framing of my experience that day led me into deep reflection. How do I tell this story without making it about me and some long-forgotten event and more about the self-sacrifice of others?

I realized that without mentioning myself, I would just be introducing historical fact without human feeling and, since we all share emotions, hopefully you will experience the underlining tone.

I joined The Royal Montreal Regiment army reserves in the spring of 1970 at the age of 16. In the summer of 1971, I was at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier for my infantry training. From February to April 1972, I was at CFB Edmonton (Griesbach Barracks) for additional training before deploying to Jamaica with The Canadian Airborne Regiment, 1 Commando, for a jungle warfare exercise named Nimrod Caper. In the summer of ’72, I was attached to NATO with the 1st Battalion of the Royal 22e Régiment in Europe at CFB Lahr, Germany.

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Members of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). (FRIENDS AND VETERANS OF THE MACKENZIE-PAPINEAU BATTALION)

Mac-Paps on the Ebro: The last Canadian battle of the Spanish Civil War

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

Jim Higgins, a British-Canadian soldier in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion (the “Mac-Paps”), watched in horror as Nationalist bombers pummelled Corbera d’Ebre. The Spanish community, already in friendly hands allied to the Republican cause, was clearly not safe from the enemy’s vengeful ire.

The Canadian formation—a part of the 15th International Brigade fighting fascism amid Spain’s civil war—was powerless to stop the carnage. On that unforgiving summer day in 1938, Higgins and his comrades could do little but stare as buildings, streets and people perished in the bombardment.

Finally, during an apparent window of respite, Higgins and his Spanish comrade José, entered the town to see if any civilians could be saved.

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