Saturday, May 2, 2015

Battle of the Atlantic 70th Anniversary


Every year, on the first Sunday in May, Canada and the Canadian Maritime community commemorate the longest single campaign of the Second World War – the Battle of the Atlantic.

During the 2,075 days that the battle raged, members of the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, Royal Canadian Air Force, Merchant Navy and Royal Canadian Artillery Gunners assigned to the protection of merchant ships took the fight to the enemy whenever and wherever possible.

The price of victory, when paid in full, would cost the Navy 33 warships and over 2,000 dead, the Air Force 350 aircraft and over 900 dead, the Merchant Navy of Canada 73 ships and over 1,700 dead. Let us remember them for their selfless contribution to international peace and security.

Services commemorating this year’s 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic will be held at naval facilities across Canada on Sunday, May 3, 2015, and everyone is encouraged to participate.

For those of us in the National Capital Region, the National Battle of the Atlantic commemoration will commence at 10:30 at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

If you want to read more about the Battle of the Atlantic, you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Atlantic



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Friday, May 1, 2015

100th anniversary of the poem In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


In Flanders Fields, John McCrae (1872-1918)

The year 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the poem In Flanders Fields, which was written by Canadian physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae amid the horrors of the Second Battle of Ypres in May 1915.

The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has honoured McCrae by releasing a blog posting  about the poem – how it was never really proven how it got printed in Punch in December 1915 (did he send it or someone else send it, for example).

The LAC has one of the copies on hand at the archives, and you can see the copy if you go to the blog at http://thediscoverblog.com/2015/04/30/100th-anniversary-of-the-composition-of-the-iconic-poem-in-flanders-fields/

Additionally, the Royal Canadian Mint has minted 1,500 5 oz. Fine Silver Coloured Coin to honour Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae and the poem.

You can visit the McCrae’s home in Guelph at http://guelph.ca/museum/?page_id=186plus, there will be a statue of him unveiled on June 25th in Guelph.



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.
 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
 
It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012