F-35A, the variant Canada is purchasing, flys from Eielson, Alaska, to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in 2018. [Darin Russell/Lockheed Martin]

Canada’s connections to the F-35

STORY BY AARON KYLIE

“We are full steam ahead…focused on making sure we’ve got the infrastructure, the pilots, the training in place for the arrival of those F-35s,” Deputy Defence Minister Stefanie Beck told a House of Commons committee in early October 2025.

Despite more recent media speculation that Canada may abandon its $27.7 billion purchase of 88 of the fighter jets from U.S. defence company Lockheed Martin—seemingly sparked by mid-November discussions with Swedish government officials related to general military co-operation and the country’s Gripen aircraft built by Saab—details suggest the initial tranche of F-35s are still set to arrive as scheduled in 2028.

READ MORE

Latest Stories

• Remembering Stephen J. Thorne
• 11 iconic weapons of the Second World War
• China’s secret war in Canada

Australian arimen attend a training school in Saskatchewan in 1942. [Australian War Memorial]

Historian Karl James on the Australian-Canadian wartime bond

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

“In Australia, just as in Canada,” explained Karl James, head of military history at the Australian War Memorial, “there has been much political and popular discussion surrounding the stability and reliability of our great and powerful allies. Many of the assumptions and defence assurances that the western Allies have taken for granted in the years since the Second World War are being tested.”

The author and editor cited the works of his Canadian colleagues, Marc Milner’sSecond Front (2025) and the late Tim Cook’s The Good Allies (2024), as prime examples of recent discourse on such topics, notably within the context of Canada’s relationship with the U.S. and U.K.

READ MORE

More from The Briefing

• Historian Allan Levine on how Canada’s business leaders helped win WW II
• Author and journalist Linden MacIntyre on the life of a disgraced British officer
• Historian Teresa Iacobelli on a Canadian tragedy in WW I’s final minutes

Member Benefit Partner

Canadian homeowners aged 55+ can access up to 55% of their home’s value without having to sell. As a proud partner of the Royal Canadian Legion, HomeEquity Bank offers Legion members $500 cash back* upon funding their CHIP Reverse Mortgage.

Learn More

Stephen J. Thorne, Legion Magazine‘s late senior staff writer, enjoys a visit from the Canadian Veteran Service Dog Unit from nearby White Lake, Ont., at Ottawa’s Legion House in June 2024. [Aaron Kylie]

Remembering Stephen J. Thorne

STORY BY AARON KYLIE

“Stephen?”

“No, I’m Aaron,” I responded to the question from a Legionnaire at a hotel in Saskatoon in September 2025.

But I understood the confusion. After all, Legion Magazine’s senior staff writer Stephen J. Thorne was a regular, covering Royal Canadian Legion events across the country since he joined the publication in 2016. If there was a man with a camera roaming around, there was a good chance it was him.

“Oh, sorry,” said the Legionnaire. The apology, however, felt as though it had double meaning—sorry for the mistake; but also, a tinge of regret that I wasn’t actually Stephen. I get that, too.

After a sudden illness, Stephen died on Dec. 5, 2025, at age 66.

READ MORE

Latest Stories

• 11 iconic weapons of the Second World War
• China’s secret war in Canada
• The Nuremberg trials

Author Allan Levine profiles Canada’s dollar-a-year-men in his latest book. [Courtesy Allan Levine]

Historian Allan Levine on how Canada’s business leaders helped win WW II

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

“We’re always looking back on the Second World War and seeing it as an important time in Canadian history,” said historian Allan Levine, “but this is one story that’s never really been told.”

It has now, however, in the award-winning author’s most recent book The Dollar a Year Men, published by Barlow Books.

Rather than any battle blow-by-blow or front-line testimony, Levine’s narrative largely remains within the confines of Canada at a time when the country needed to mobilize its industry to support the Allied cause. Civil engineer-turned-politician C.D. Howe, then serving as minister of munitions and supply—and nicknamed the Minister of Everything for his far-reaching influence—took on that challenge, enlisting dozens of business leaders from across the country, their task to bring about the “greatest economic metamorphosis” ever experienced in Canada.

READ MORE

More from The Briefing

• Author and journalist Linden MacIntyre on the life of a disgraced British officer
• Historian Teresa Iacobelli on a Canadian tragedy in WW I’s final minutes
• The Canadians at Sword Beach: Part 1

Member Benefit Partner

This holiday season, stay close to the people who matter most, no matter where they are.
This season, members can enjoy exclusive savings on phone plans that make it easy to stay connected across Canada and beyond.
Reliable service
Hassle-free activation
Unlimited calling, texting, and data with no overage charges
No Setup Fee
Only available at Red Wireless, your exclusive endorsed Legion partner and authorized Rogers dealer. Not available in stores.
Call us at 1-888-251-5488 or visit us at www.redwireless.ca/legion to get started.

Learn More

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.

READ MORE

Latest Stories

• China’s secret war in Canada
• The Nuremberg trials
• Excerpt from O Canada: War & Hockey

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.

READ MORE

More from The Briefing

• Historian Teresa Iacobelli on a Canadian tragedy in WW I’s final minutes
• The Canadians at Sword Beach: Part 1
• Historian Fred Gaffen recounts Canada’s WW II story in a new single-volume book

Member Benefit Partner

Deep, restorative sleep is key to improved mental and physical health.

RCL members can now save on Sleep Products!

• 25% Off Pillows and Sheets
• $100 Off Mattresses, Adjustable Base Bundles, and Lift Chairs

Call 1-800-373-8887 or visit https://ultramaticsleep.com/

Learn More