Warships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet blockaded Ukrainian ports and shelled cities before Ukrainian missile and drone attacks forced it into a withdrawal.(ALEXANDER DEMIANCHUK/TASS)

Russia’s Black Sea fleet falls back amid staggering losses

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

A third of Russia’s Black Sea fleet—more than 20 vessels—are believed to have been sunk or disabled in the 27 months since Moscow ordered its military to invade Ukraine.

The country of 38 million has no navy to speak of, yet Ukrainian drone and missile strikes have forced its formidable maritime foe into a strategic retreat.

“Most of the combat units, if you take the carriers of cruise missiles, have actually all been relocated, except for one loser who has not yet launched a single missile,” said Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk, apparently referring to a Karakurt-class corvette Tsiklon (Cyclone).

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Original film poster for The Devil’s Brigade by Sandy Kossin.(Wikimedia)

American versus Canadian bravado: The Devil’s Brigade on the silver screen

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

Historian Mark Zuehlke was no older than 13 when he watched the Canadians march onto the big screen in 1968’s The Devil’s Brigade.

He remembers seeing the Americans, portrayed as unruly no-goods, pause mid-brawl as bagpipe-playing Canucks made a memorable entrance.

“A war film in that setting was always thrilling,” Zuehlke recalls, “and I was favourably impressed that it at least depicted Canadians, despite the fact—even to my kid’s mind—they didn’t really seem like anyone I knew.”

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A skull and five skeletons, minus their hands and feet, were discovered at the site. (FUNDACJA LATEBRA)

Skeletons found buried inside Hermann Göring’s former residence

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

Amateur archeologists have found five skeletons buried at Hermann Göring’s former residence in the remote Wolf’s Lair, the Nazis’ Eastern Front headquarters where German military officers failed in a 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Missing hands and feet, the otherwise complete skeletons of three adults, a teenager and a newborn baby were uncovered Feb. 24, 2024, along with a skull underneath the brick building that served as the Luftwaffe chief’s on-site living quarters.

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Lieutenant-Colonel Jacques Dextraze. (THE MUSEUM OF THE MONT-ROYAL FUSILIERS)

Private to General: Remembering Jacques Dextraze

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

Lieutenant-Colonel Jacques Dextraze, having travelled more than three kilometres behind enemy lines, parked his Bren Gun Carrier outside the German headquarters in Groningen, Netherlands. He walked in alone.

Hands in pockets, the 25-year-old commander of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal (FMR) confronted the Nazi general in charge. The latter believed his Canadian counterpart had come to surrender—quite the opposite was true.

Dextraze lit a cigarette, careful not to offer one to the German officer. After a drag or two, he explained that the enemy force was surrounded.

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