The taking of Monte la Difensa

Story by Sharon Adams

Lumberjacks, mountaineers, construction skywalkers, hard-rock miners, wilderness prospectors—only the hardiest men were sought for the First Special Service Force, a Canada-U.S. joint venture to deploy troops against the highest odds in the toughest terrain of the Second World War.

After a year, 1,400 hard-bitten commandos emerged from this rigorous training, 697 of them Canadian—the Devil’s Brigade. In early December 1943, they were tasked with capturing Monte la Difensa in Italy.
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Nelson expert exposes pro-slavery letter as fake

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

An 1805 letter purportedly exposing Britain’s most celebrated naval hero as a racist slavery advocate appears to have been proven a fake by a celebrated expert.

Martyn Downer says he has incontrovertible evidence the original letter written by Admiral Horatio Nelson aboard HMS Victory four months before he died at the pivotal Battle of Trafalgar was doctored by supporters of the slave trade to counter moves in the British Parliament to outlaw the practice.

“The letter is a forgery,” wrote Downer, a former director at Sotheby’s and leading specialist in the identification of Nelson- and Royal Navy-related artifacts.

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December 1, 1959

Twelve countries sign the Antarctic Treaty, declaring the continent a scientific preserve and banning military activity.

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Estate auction chronicles the colourful life
of war correspondent Bill Boss

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

Pierre Berton called him one of the toughest war correspondents he ever knew, a trusted and familiar newsman who “ate censors for breakfast.”

Recently, an Ontario firm auctioned off the estate of Gerard William Ramaut (Bill) Boss, 13 years after he died of pneumonia in an Ottawa hospital, age 90.

The collection of art, books, photographs, newspaper tearsheets, letters, telegrams, mementoes and press credentials showed the man known affectionately by his wire-service initials “bb” to generations of Canadian Press reporters and editors for what he was—a Renaissance man of the highest order. He was an eclectic, highly cultured, much-travelled and multi-talented writer and raconteur.

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The disappearance of HMCS Shawinigan

Story by Sharon Adams

After the ferry SS Caribou was sunk by a U-boat in October 1942 with a loss of 137, including many women and children, the navy provided escorts to ensure the safety of passengers.

Near the end of the war, HMCS Shawinigan was in Cabot Strait off Newfoundland. The corvette was not new to escort duty. Commissioned in late 1941, Shawinigan spent two years escorting convoys back and forth across the Atlantic. In 1944, it began escort duty in home waters, seeing East Coast ferries safely to and from port and patrolling for submarines.

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November 28, 1917

The Newfoundland Regiment is designated ‘Royal’ by King George V.

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