The Snowbirds backstage

Story and photography by Stephen J. Thorne

It’s July 1. Nine pilots are seated around the table in a small boardroom at the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport, 18 kilometres from Parliament Hill as the snowbird flies. The room is a sea of Canadian red, for these are the iconic Canadian Forces Snowbirds, 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, and this is Canada Day 2018.

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July/August 2018 issue is now available!

The July/August 2018 issue of Legion Magazine is out today! Look for it on newsstands or check your mailbox if you subscribe already. Features include:

FOUR SOLDIERS, FOUR BATTLES
In the final 100 days of the First World War, Canada was called again and again to lead the offensive

DAM WARFARE
How a terror group used the apocalyptic properties of water in its global war

ATTACK ON ASSORO
On one of the toughest missions in the Allied invasion of Sicily, Canadians seized the pinnacle of Monte Assoro

And so much more…

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July 6, 1942

Anne Frank (pictured here in 1940) and her family hide in a secret annex in a workplace in Amsterdam. Discovered two years later by the Gestapo, they are sent to Auschwitz.

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 Happy Canada Day Weekend! 
Step into Canada’s rich history!
Have a look at our NEW Canadian Made products below!

Canadian Maple Woods Prints 
By Artist Jennifer Morse

“The sky in autumn is bluer than at any other time of year. On a perfect day in October, maple leaves are fluorescent against the sky. I woke up to that one morning two years ago. I dragged an 8’ x 4’ board into the woods, piled tubes of paints at my feet and started mixing and layering colours. The sunlight illuminated the leaves. It was like a cathedral, with light streaming through red, orange, gold, lime and blue stained glass.  I didn’t realize my feet were soaked until dusk forced me to stop. The next day the leaves fell.”

NEW IN SHOP!
O CANADA POSTERS!
Available in English, French and Bilingual!

O Canada is Canada’s national anthem. It represents all Canadians and all corners of our country. Display your Canadian pride by displaying one or more of our new O Canada posters in your home or workplace.

Of contemptible pirates and desert isles:
The saga of Captain Barnabas Lincoln

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

On Nov. 13, 1821, Captain Barnabas Lincoln and his crew, including a Newfoundlander, set sail from Boston aboard the schooner Exertion. They were bound for the Cuban town of Trinidad loaded with foodstuffs and furniture. They had no idea what they were in for, when his ship was boarded by armed pirates.

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Military Moments | Battle of the Somme

Narrated by Linden MacIntyre

It was the most tenacious, grim, futile and bloody fight ever waged in the history of war.

Legion Magazine and Canada’s Ultimate Story present Military Moments | Battle of the Somme.  Narrated by Canadian journalist, broadcaster and novelist Linden MacIntyre, the video explores the devastation of one of the bloodiest battles in history, where more than 1.3 million soldiers on both sides were killed or wounded. #LestWeForget #TheSomme

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Blood in the Mud | 360 VR-Experience

A new bilingual, interactive 360° VR-EXPERIENCE from Legion Magazine—“Blood in the Mud 360°”—examines the role of the Newfoundland Regiment and the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the monumental First World War battle that took place more than 100 years ago on both sides of the Somme River in France, from July 1 to Nov. 18, 1916. The assault at Beaumont-Hamel on July 1 saw the Newfoundlanders all but wiped out in only 30 minutes. The Battle of the Somme continued for more than four months, and more than 1.3 million soldiers on both sides were killed or wounded. Through a virtual battlefield tour, this video explores the sacrifices of the Newfoundland and Canadian soldiers, placing the events of Beaumont-Hamel into the context of the Battle of the Somme and the greater war.

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June 28, 1914

Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie are assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, setting off a series of events leading to the start of the First World War.

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Military Moments | Battle of the Somme
Narrated by Linden MacIntyre

It was the most gigantic, tenacious, grim, futile and bloody fight ever waged in the history of war.

In leading up to the 102nd anniversary of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, Legion Magazine and Canada’s Ultimate Story present Military Moments | Battle of the Somme. Written by Don Gillmor and narrated by Canadian journalist, broadcaster and novelist Linden MacIntyre, the video explores the devastation of one of the bloodiest battles in history where more than 1.3 million soldiers on both sides were killed or wounded. #LestWeForget #TheSomme

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Are you ready for Canada Day? 
Step into Canada’s rich history! Have a look at our collection of products below!

Performance enhancers and war go hand in hand

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

The use of performance-enhancing drugs has a long history in war, both as a product of state-sanctioned programs and illicit use by participants. Stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamines have been used to create better soldiers by improving stamina, overcoming sleeplessness, eliminating fatigue and boosting fighting spirit. Downers such as alcohol, opiates, morphine, heroin, marijuana and barbiturates have addressed with varying success the soldier’s greatest enemy—shattered nerves.

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Medical aid in the deep freeze

Story by Sharon Adams

Climate change has increased interest—and traffic—in the Arctic. This raises new threats to national security and sovereignty and increases chances of environmental disasters, shipwrecks and plane crashes, any of which may call for the scrambling of the Canadian Armed Forces, at any time of the year.

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June 19, 1917

King George V (right), seen here with his cousin Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, orders the royal surname changed from the Germanic Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.

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