STEPHEN J. THORNE

The Calgary Mosquito project: Resurrecting a WW II legend in Nanton, Alta.

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

Deep in the recesses of a packed airplane hangar in Nanton, Alta., retired aeronautical engineers, aviation techs, carpenters and plain old aircraft enthusiasts are bringing a legendary warbird back to life, one wooden rib, brass screw and copper strip at a time.

Theirs is a meticulous labour of love, conducted by volunteers whose collective experience amounts to hundreds of years of pouring through voluminous manuals, amassing specialized tools and scrounging elusive parts.

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The many sides of Arthur Currie

STORY BY PAIGE JASMINE GILMAR

Arthur Currie just didn’t seem military enough. Labelled as “embarrassingly unassuming,” he didn’t fit the make of the moustachioed, macho general. Instead, he was pudgy, pale and prone to tantrums, especially when sleep deprived. He didn’t have a lot of friends, but he did have a couple of fierce enemies. Worse, he had a fraudster past, having once embezzling more than $10,000—about $255,000 today—of his reserve militia’s funds.

Currie didn’t seem like he had the build to become a great commander, but with the onset of the First World War, he strode onto the military scene, a dark horse presenting unique leadership that facilitated Canadian success in such famous battles as Vimy Ridge, Mons and Passchendaele. Hailed by politicians and officers alike for his tactful strategy and military knowledge, Currie created his own legend.

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STEPHEN J. THORNE

Recognizing Indigenous veterans: Foundation tracks down lost graves

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

For Métis veteran Floyd Power, trekking across Canada’s North searching for the lost graves of Indigenous veterans has become a life’s work.

Based in Yellowknife, the retired warrant officer finds no greater satisfaction than uncovering unmarked or incomplete graves, tracking down names, interviewing families, Rangers and Elders, and exploring service histories.

The payoff comes a year or more down the road when families, colleagues and communities gather to pay their respects as a familiar grey granite headstone—usually bearing appropriate Indigenous iconography—is placed on a plot, finally granting an oft-long-departed veteran their due, in perpetuity.

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The pied piper of Ancre Heights

STORY BY PAIGE JASMINE GILMAR

Throughout James Cleland Richardson service, he breathed life onto First World War battlefields by playing songs on his bagpipes.

None of his tunes, however, held such stock as those that he performed on the front lines during the Battle of Ancre Heights in early October 1916. His actions not only helped inspired his company to escape the shell holes of Regina Trench and attack the Germans, but earned him the Victoria Cross as well.

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