Soldiers and a nurse at No. 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station somewhere on the Western Front. The uniform and medical tags on the soldier in the foreground identify him as a new arrival.
[CWM/19920044-385]

Picking up the pieces: A Canadian casualty clearing station at the end of WW I

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

The war diary of the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station (CCCS) depicts the end of the First World War in November 1918 as a time of chaos, joy, fatigue and frustration.

Judging by the traffic descending on the medical unit closest to the Canadians’ front lines, at Auberchicourt near the Belgian border in northern France, the end of the war to end all wars was a ragged affair, fraught with uncertainty and new obstacles.

“News of ultimatum and possible cessation of hostilities received,” wrote Lieutenant-Colonel A.E.I. Bennett, officer commanding. “Hospital very busy. No particular jubilation.”

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• A Happy New Year 1945

[CAF]

Bullets, beans and mouse holes: Talking urban operations with Major Jayson Geroux

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

Major Jayson Geroux is an infantry officer with The Royal Canadian Regiment, an urban operations instructor and an urban warfare historian. He served in Bosnia-Herzegovina (in the former Yugoslavia) and Afghanistan, where he participated in the April 2012 Battle of Kabul.

Geroux is recognized as a leading voice in urban warfare training. His expertise extends to academics, having received an master’s degree in military history from the University of New Brunswick. His thesis discussed the 1943 Battle of Ortona.

Here, Geroux offers his insights on the world of urban operations.

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More from The briefing

• Exhibit on WW II’s Dutch liberation unveiled at the Canadian War Museum
• Ted Barris talks Canadian airmen at the Battle of Britain
• Punching Above Our Weight: David Borys on the Canadian military’s evolution

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