Betty Metcalfe: “I lost my brother to a Nazi executioner”

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

The last words Betty Metcalfe’s brother Jack ever spoke to her still haunt her almost 80 years later.

It was 1940 and the Metcalfe family of Glace Bay, N.S.—mother, father, their two girls and two boys—had just spent their last Christmas together.

Betty and her younger sister Yvonne would join the Women’s Army Corps. The youngest, William (Bill) would enlist with the Cape Breton Highlanders.

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Canadians take Hill 70

Story by Sharon Adams

The Battle of Hill 70 was a 10-day Canadian Corps victory in the First World War that came at a terrible cost to both sides.

It began on Aug. 15, 1917, and by the end of the first day alone, 1,056 Canadians had been killed, 2,432 wounded and 39 taken prisoner. Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie had taken command of Canadian Corps in June, after the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He was ordered to take Lens, a French coal mining town that had been a German stronghold since 1914. But he believed capturing and fortifying Hill 70 was a necessary first step.

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August 13, 1941

The Canadian Women’s Army Corps is established.

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Escape from a burning Chinook

Story by Sharon Adams

On Aug. 5, 2010, a Canadian Chinook and two Griffon helicopters were flying typical supply missions ferrying troops and equipment between Kandahar Airfield and forward operating bases in the volatile Panjwaii district in Afghanistan.

Airborne mission commander Captain William Todd Fielding was doing pre-landing checks as they headed into the forward operating base at Ma’sum Ghar, situated near Taliban strongholds. There were 13 soldiers, six crew and two U.S. civilians aboard the Chinook, known as Blowtorch 61.

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A letter of marque from the king

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

It may have been the best investment Enos Collins, Benjamin Knaut and John and James Barss ever made.

The merchants of Liverpool, N.S., purchased Severn, a former American slave ship captured by the Royal Navy, in 1811 for a mere 420 British pounds (about C$53,000 today). Lucky for them, war broke out with the United States a few months later, and the boys were in business, big-time.

They renamed the Baltimore Clipper-style schooner Liverpool Packet, initially running mail between Liverpool and Halifax.

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August 6, 1945

The atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

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