Landmine removal efforts lagging
in Afghanistan as casualties mount

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

Old landmines, unexploded ordnance and abandoned munitions claimed more than 20,000 casualties in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2018, the vast majority of them civilian, says a new report that serves as a damning indictment of coalition pledges to clean up the detritus of four decades of war in the beleaguered country.

READ MORE

RCAF’s first Distinguished Flying Cross

Story by Sharon Adams

On Oct. 22, 1940, Squadron Leader Ernest McNab of Saskatoon was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the first member of the Royal Canadian Air Force to be decorated (excluding those Canadians serving with the Royal Air Force).

Commanding officer of Canada’s first fighter squadron, McNab was also the first to see combat. He shot down a German Dornier bomber on his first foray with the RAF during the Battle of Britain on Aug. 15, 1940, during a training mission to gain battle experience.

READ MORE

October 24, 1962

HMCS Iroquois is paid off at Halifax.

READ MORE

A war of bread and potatoes

Story by Sharon Adams

When fighting drew near to the small village of Montigny-en-Ostrevent, France, near the end of the First World War, civilians wisely evacuated.

When they returned home, many found their houses and cottages occupied by Canadian liberators—squatters who were nonetheless warmly welcomed.

READ MORE

CP bulletin, Oct. 16, 1942: U-boat sinks
SS Caribou in Cabot Strait

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

To many Canadians and Newfoundlanders alike, the sinking of SS Caribou and the death of 137 people were the clearest sign to date that the war had actually arrived on the home front. Many historians cite it as Canada’s most significant sinking in near-shore waters of the Second World War.

Written by Canadian Press staff writer Bob Daldorph in an age when agency news was actually disseminated by telephone cables (or wires—hence, the wire service), the story was sent in bite-sized takes, the first of which is the single-sentence bulletin sent at 10:50 p.m.

READ MORE

October 15-17, 1970

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau proclaims the War Measures Act and the Canadian Army is ordered into Montreal, where hundreds are arrested and thousands searched before the body of Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte is discovered Oct. 17.

READ MORE

#DidYouKnow? Hearing well has its own benefits…and rewards too.

It helps you stay connected with your loved ones, enhances the quality of experiences, reduces mental fatigue and improves the quality of life.

Hearing better ensures you enjoy life without limitations.

That’s why HearingLife is bringing you an exclusive opportunity to experience better hearing all the way. We are offering FREE hearing tests and the opportunity to try the latest, futuristic hearing aid technology. Make hands-free calls from your smartphone, or stream audio from your phone, stereo, TV, or other Bluetooth® enabled devices. Connecting to your modern lifestyle is easy with these ground-breaking hearing aids.

Come, get tested and try our new devices for a 14-day free trial & Get 50 AIR MILES^® Bonus Miles. 

BOOK NOW

Filmmaker Garth Pritchard: The good fight

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

“F/8 and be there” has been Garth Pritchard’s camera-ready mantra over more than 50 years as a journalist, rancher and raconteur. And the robust Alberta-based filmmaker has been all over the world with Canadian troops, from Africa and Burma to Afghanistan and the Balkans.

Beloved by soldiers from one end of Canada to the other, Garth made it his life’s mission to tell their stories. Now, as the outspoken 75-year-old struggles to overcome the debilitating physical legacy of that quest, the Canadian War Museum has announced it has acquired the bulk of his work, a legacy for all Canadians.

READ MORE

The law reaches Fort Whoop-Up

Story by Sharon Adams

In 1873, the people of what is now southern Alberta and Saskatchewan had a serious complaint. With no police force, traders and outlaws who had fled prohibition in the United States had established a well-defended fort where they traded buffalo robes and sold U.S. whiskey, largely to First Nations people, and spread criminal chaos throughout the countryside.

Even though it was in Canadian territory, an American flag was said to fly over Fort Whoop-Up, near modern-day Lethbridge. Violence and criminal activity seeped from this criminal cul-de-sac into surrounding territory.

READ MORE

October 9, 1958

The last CL-13 Sabre jet rolls off the assembly line at Canadair for delivery to the German air force.

READ MORE