Lost soldier found: The life, death and rebirth of Private John Lambert
STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE
He was just 17, a private in the Newfoundland Regiment killed during an all-but-forgotten battle of the First World War.
His name was John Lambert, and his remains lay undiscovered alongside those of a German and three British soldiers beneath Belgian soil near St. Julien for 99 years. He was the only one of the group identified.
“The fight to fight: Canada’s No. 2 Construction Battalion” is the eye-opening story of Black wartime service more than 100 years ago.
Black volunteers looking to serve overseas with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War had every reason not to. White battalion commanders didn’t want them, and recruiters were turning them away. Yet Black men continued to show up at enlistment stations from coast to coast—and not just Canadians.
How Master Corporal Harding earned a Medal of Military Valour in Afghanistan
STORY BY SHARON ADAMS
Master Corporal Christopher Harding had served three tours in Bosnia before he began the first of two tours to Afghanistan, with the 1st Battalion, Prince Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in January 2006.
26 years ago: CAF help Quebec residents in Saguenay floods
Wrens turn 80
Commemoration Calendar
VAC’s Pastoral Outreach Program is here for you
Togetherall: new discussion forum for those affected by military sexual trauma
Career Transition Services contract awarded to Agilec
Organizations do great work with support from VFWF
Recognizing LGBTQ2+ Veterans during Pride Season
Join the Navy Ride this summer
Veteran story: Dave Berry
Canadian Veterans in their own words
Test-drive the new My VAC Account
Let’s Talk Veterans allows more people to have their say on issues related to Veterans and their families. This consultation platform allows the Veteran community and Canadians to provide VAC with direct feedback that helps us improve our programs and services.
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Several weeks ago, the folks at Canadian Geographic reached out to us. It seems that they were working on a short one-minute educational video to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Canadian Citizenship Act as a part of their GeoMinute series, and had requested permission to use a 1945 photo of the Dieppe cemetery in the video to explain that the path to citizenship began in 1946 when Paul Martin Senior, while visiting Canada’s military cemetery in Dieppe, noticed that the graves of Canadian soldiers were identified as British. He believed these men should be recognized as Canadians and introduced the Act to establish Canadian citizenship separate from Britain. As the photograph was taken prior to 1949, it was in the public domain (i.e., not copyrighted), but the good folks at Canadian Geographic still reached out to us to ask for our permission to make use of it.
The video was posted on Friday and has been embedded below. Be sure to check it out.
Also, notice the photo credit that reads:
Canadian Cemetery in Dieppe, February 1945. Courtesy of Ron Watkins & the Royal Canadian Legion US Branch 25.
The late Ron Watkins was a proud World war II veteran of the Merchant Marine. Ron and his wife Ann were both active, longtime members of the branch.