Displaced by war: Life on the edge

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

While the world fights the coronavirus pandemic, families displaced by war in Yemen are combatting malnutrition and rampant disease, most of which has long been eradicated in the West.

Recent reports from inside the embattled country say increasing numbers of children living in displaced-persons’ camps are coming down with malaria, cholera, polio and diphtheria—and often dying.

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Prisoners of Dieppe

Story by Sharon Adams

In June 1942, Canadian troops arrived for six weeks of combined operations training on the Isle of Wight in England in preparation for the raid on Dieppe, France.

Among them were a dozen men from the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, who were to deliver ammunition, help with the wounded, and transport German prisoners to ships waiting offshore.

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Military orders new boots; soldiers are skeptical

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

An army may march on its stomach but it’s the feet that take the heat—and if soldiers don’t take care of them, they aren’t going far.

For years, Canadian soldiers have complained about their army-issued footwear. It was so bad that many claimed to have bought their own. Since 2018, military members have been reimbursed up to $340 a year, depending on their branch of service.

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The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall

Story by Sharon Adams

After the Second World War, Germany was quickly occupied by the Allies, who divided it into four zones of occupation to be administered separately by the Soviets, Americans, British and French.

Berlin, the capital, was technically in the Soviet zone, but was also split; the Soviets administered what would become East Berlin and East Germany.

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Indigenous War Heroes

Written by Sharon Adams

Thousands of Indigenous people have served in all branches of the Canadian military, in both world wars and in other conflicts in distant lands. Some became decorated war heroes, receiving medals for valour and joining elite military units. Many paid the ultimate price. Those lucky enough to return home came back to a nation that still denied them equal rights.

Their service and sacrifice have gone largely unrecognized: from the deadliest sniper of the First World War to a reconnaissance sergeant in the infamous Devil’s Brigade, the exploits of these soldiers deserve to be heard. These are some of their stories.

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Diver discovers suspected wreckage of Halifax Explosion

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

Tufts Cove is a shallow, innocuous little inlet nestled at the back end of Halifax Harbour on the Dartmouth side between a power station and the abandoned military neighbourhood of Shannon Park.

Because of its proximity to the 56-year-old generating plant and what was once housing for Cold War-era sailors and their families, the cove is fenced off, blocking access to both the water and land. No one ever goes there, anyway; they have no reason to.

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Ambush in Afghanistan

Story by Sharon Adams

For Canadian troops in Afghanistan, 2008 was another year in hell.

Canadian soldiers had been in the wartorn country since 2001, helping to oppose Taliban insurgents, provide security while Afghans rebuilt, train members of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and support Canadian programs for political and economic reconstruction.

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