Israel Defence Forces take lessons from Ukraine war

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

Israeli forces massing on the Gaza border have apparently taken a lesson from the war in Ukraine, installing anti-drone cages atop their tanks as they prepared for an anticipated assault on Hamas fighters taking refuge in the Palestinian territory.

The so-called “cope cages”—sheets of improvised armour mainly designed to protect troops against bombs dropped from hovering unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones—were evidently installed after Hamas launched a sweeping surprise attack on Israeli soft targets, including almost a dozen kibbutzim and a music festival.

READ MORE

More from Front Lines

• Cordite, camel trains and General Allenby: Uncle Harvey’s war diaries
• Freedom is not free: Supporting Canada’s military
• Atrocious acts: Muddying the bloody waters of war

Wikimedia

Builders of the Alaska Highway

STORY BY PAIGE JASMINE GILMAR

Rarely does one of the world’s most popular magazines compare a construction project to a “task befitting Paul Bunyan,” but that was written in the August 1942 issue of Time magazine. And it indeed would’ve been easier if a giant-sized superhuman clad in plaid took on the project rather than the 26,000 Canadian and American civilians and soldiers who worked tirelessly to construct a 2,451-kilometre road from Dawson Creek, B.C., to Alaska in less than a year.

The most expensive Second World War project taken on by the U.S., and aided by Canada, the highway was completed on Oct. 28, 1942. It was “an enduring link to northern British Columbia and the Yukon,” C.W. Gilchrist wrote in a Canadian Encyclopedia article. “It contributed to the development of Edmonton which supplied the highway’s construction.”

READ MORE

More from Military Milestones

• Nellie McClung, a military mother
• Honouring the sacrifices of nurse Edith Cavell
• A Canadian earns a VC leading a British charge

Member Benefit Partner

Upper Canada Wills & Estates is honoured to partner with the Royal Canadian Legion to provide members with a 50% discount on standard fees for the preparation of Wills and Powers of Attorney

Learn more