11 iconic weapons of the Second World War

STORY BY LEGION MAGAZINE

Arguably one of the most terrifying weapons of the Second World War is the M1 flamethrower and its M1A1 variant.

The M1 and M1A1 were used primarily in the Pacific theatre for attacking pillboxes and other fortifications. It also saw use in Europe, most notably during the D-Day assault, where 150 were issued.

The weapons consists of two fuel tanks and a smaller propellent tank carried on the back of the user. A battery creates a spark and ignites a hydrogen igniter. Pressurized fuel (oil in the M1 and napalm in the M1A1) then spews from the weapons nozzle, up to 43 metres in front of the user.

This 32-kilogram weapon was extremely cumbersome and exposed the user to enemy fire.

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Author and journalist Linden MacIntyre explores the life of fallen hero Hugh Tudor in his latest book. [Tom Zsolt/Courtesy Penguin Random House Canada]

Author and journalist Linden MacIntyre on the life of a disgraced British officer

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

History will forever judge the judgeable, no matter where they’re laid to rest.

Such was the case of British Major-General Hugh Tudor, a once-hero of the Great War turned co-architect of some of the worst atrocities in the struggle for Irish Independence. While his enemies never exacted revenge upon him after he sought sanctuary in Newfoundland, the enigmatic former officer—who could have prevented much of 1920’s Bloody Sunday—failed to escape his tarnished reputation.

Where did it go so wrong for Tudor, a man mentioned in dispatches 10 times on the Western Front only for his name—and that of the infamous Black and Tans he commanded—to be reviled? This is one of many questions that renowned Canadian journalist and author Linden MacIntyre endeavours to answer in his latest book An Accidental Villain: A Soldier’s Tale of War, Deceit and Exile.

The biographer offered his insights in a Legion Magazine exclusive.

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Dennis Molinaro’s latest book explores Chinese interference in Canada. [Penguin Random House Canada]

China’s secret war in Canada

STORY BY DENNIS MOLINARO

The western world has been focused on the threat of terrorism for the past two decades and for good reason. The post-9/11 “war on terror” sought to combat and end a substantial peril to the West and prevent more large-scale attacks. It succeeded on several fronts, although the threat could never be completely eliminated. But when it came to the West’s interactions with nation-states such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC), they have been governed by a specific delusion for half a century. Canada, like the U.S., believed that if it did business with China, extended a hand of friendship, China would transform itself into a liberal-democratic country. Trade would lead to freedom. But Canada was wrong. Beijing never considered joining a liberal order and instead used Canada as a backdoor to the U.S. and as a means of exploiting resources and technology.

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Private George Lawrence Price. [Canadian Virtual War Memorial]

Historian Teresa Iacobelli on a Canadian tragedy in WW I’s final minutes

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

No one wants to be the last casualty of war.

It’s an inevitable, inescapable, reality of any conflict where blood has been spilled before, a looming eventuality that a final soldier must fall. It may well be days or hours prior to the end. For Canadian Great War Private George Lawrence Price, it was minutes.

In a sense, the Port Williams, N.S., native’s loss was no different than any that had preceded him. Price wore no Victoria Cross on his chest nor boasted a reputation becoming a glorified retelling in the history books. Prominence instead found the 25-year-old for being in the wrong place at the wrong time on Nov. 11, 1918.

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