The day we earned seven Victoria Crosses

Story by Sharon Adams

On Sept. 2, 1918, Day 26 of the Hundred Days Offensive, the objective was to breach the Drocourt-Quéant Line, a heavily fortified German front stretching about 25 kilometres between the two towns in northern France.

Seven members of the Canadian Corps earned the Victoria Cross that day as they overran the line across a front of six kilometres and penetrated nearly 10 kilometres into enemy-held land.

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German Red Cross to continue
tracking WW II disappearances

Written by Stephen J. Thorne

For many outside the battle zones of Europe, the Second World War is a matter of textbooks and faded black-and-white photographs.

But for those whose roots lay in the paths of Adolf Hitler’s conquest, the war remains close, a tactile connection to tragedy and loss even 75 years and three generations removed from 85 million deaths and untold suffering. Siblings, children, grandchildren feel the pang of lost relatives many never knew.

In Germany, where the war began and ended, the fate of more than a million soldiers and citizens remains unknown. Many were taken prisoner by Red Army troops, never to be seen again.

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September 2, 1945

Japan signs terms of surrender on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, bringing an end to six years of war.

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Judging a book by its cover

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

Don’t judge a book by its cover, goes the adage. But magazine readers do it all the time.

In the highly competitive periodical industry, the cover is all-important. It’s that hook that can make a publication stand out from all the others on crowded newsstands, inspiring potential readers to pick it up and, hopefully, buy it.

The cover, say marketers and editors alike, is the most important page of the magazine. If it doesn’t grab a shopper in three seconds, goes the rule, it won’t grab them at all.

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“A good way to start off”

Story by Sharon Adams

In Afghanistan in August 2006, the Taliban wanted to take back their spiritual home in a massive attack on the city of Kandahar, but their plans were disrupted by nearby troop movements around a Canadian change of command.

Shrapnel from a mortar shell peppered Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie’s vehicle during a familiarization tour near Masum Ghar, a peak about 30 kilometres from Kandahar.

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August 19, 1942

Some 6,000 Allied troops, including 5,000 Canadians, raid the port of Dieppe, France. The Germans are prepared for the attack and the raid is a complete failure, resulting in 1,946 Canadians taken prisoner and 907 killed.

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