Browse "Military"

The 107th (Timber Wolf) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, known officially as the 107th (Winnipeg) Battalion, was an infantry battalion established during the First World War. After it arrived in Britain, the unit was converted to a pioneer battalion and served on the Western Front in France and Belgium. It was later absorbed into an engineer brigade. About half the unit’s soldiers were Indigenous Canadians.

Acheson Gosford Irvine, soldier, police officer, prison warden (b at Québec C 7 Dec 1837; d there 9 Jan 1916). The third commissioner of the NWMP, Irvine's reputation was ruined by the North-West Rebellion.

Adam Dollard Des Ormeaux, soldier (b in France 1635; d at Long Sault May 1660). In late April 1660, 17 Frenchmen with Dollard in command left Montréal to ambush Iroquois hunters returning by the Ottawa River. They were joined by 44 Hurons and Algonquins.

Adam Charles Muir, military officer (b at Scotland 1766 or 1770; d at William Henry, Lower Canada, 11 May 1829).

Alan Arnett McLeod, aviator (b at Stonewall, Man 20 Apr 1899; d at Winnipeg 6 Nov 1918). He received the Victoria Cross for heroic action, in which he received 5 wounds, against 8 enemy aircraft. He was injured again rescuing his observer, A.W. Hammond, after their aircraft crashed.

​Joseph-Henri-Albiny Paquette, soldier, doctor and politician (born 7 October 1888 in Marieville, QC; died 25 September 1978 in Mont-Laurier, QC).

Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane, naval officer (b at Scotland 23 Apr 1758; d at Paris, France 26 Jan 1832).

Alexander Roberts Dunn, VC, army officer (born 15 September 1833 in York, Upper Canada; died 25 January 1868 near Senafe, Abyssinia). During the Crimean War, Lieutenant Dunn was the first Canadian ever to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire.

Alexander George Edwin Smith, Cayuga contractor, soldier, war hero (born 14 August 1879 on the Six Nations Grand River Reserve, ON; died 21 August 1954 in Buffalo, New York), was a veteran of the First World War. He served as an officer in the pre-war Militia, was commissioned as an infantry lieutenant in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and received the Military Cross (MC) for his heroic actions on the Western Front.

Andrew George Latta McNaughton, army officer, scientist, diplomat (b at Moosomin, NWT [Sask] 25 Feb 1887; d at Montebello, Qué 11 July 1966).

Andrew Hamilton Gault, army officer (born in England 18 August 1882; died at Montréal 28 November 1958). Of Canadian parents, he attended McGill University. Commissioned in the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, he served in the South African War and joined the Canadian Militia on return to Canada.

Growing up in north Winnipeg, one of my most poignant memories of Remembrance Day was attending a school assembly at Andrew Mynarski VC Junior High. On that day, I watched tears of pride stream down the cheeks of Mynarski's mother as the principal told us the story of her son's sacrifice.

The crew took off on its 13th sortie on 12 June 1944 to bomb a German supply line at Cambrai, France. Just after midnight, they were fired on by a German JU-88 fighter, sustaining heavy damage. The pilot ordered the crew to bail out.

John Archibald (Archie) MacNaughton, soldier, farmer (born 7 October 1896 in Black River Bridge, NB; died 6 June 1944 in Normandy, France). Archie MacNaughton fought in both the First World War and Second World War. MacNaughton rose to the rank of major and was a well-respected officer with the North Shore New Brunswick Regiment. When he was 47 years old, MacNaughton led North Shore’s “A” Company into Normandy on D-Day. He was killed in action while pushing inland from Juno Beach.

The British land forces that defended British North America during the War of 1812 were drawn from a number of organizations. The British "army" of the time consisted of the infantry, cavalry, the Royal Waggon Train and the Royal Sappers and Miners.

Between 1942 and 1947, the Canadian government brought 47,783 "war brides” and their 21,950 children to Canada. Most of these women were from Great Britain, where Canadian forces had been based during the Second World War. Although the voyage and transition were difficult for many war brides, most persevered and grew to love their adopted homeland.

Arthur Brooke, career soldier (b at Ireland 1772; d at London 1843). Colonel Arthur Brooke is best remembered as one of the two key British commanders during the Battle of North Point (part of the Battle of Baltimore) in the War of 1812.

Arthur Herbert Lindsay “Tappy” Richardson, VC, policeman, soldier, war hero, labourer (born 23 September 1872 in Southport, England; died 15 December 1932 in Liverpool, England). Richardson served in the North-West Mounted Police from 1894 to 1907 but took leave in 1900 to fight in the South African War. He was the first member of a Canadian unit to receive the Victoria Cross.

Arthur Roy Brown, fighter pilot (b at Carleton Place, Ont 23 Dec 1893; d at Stouffville, Ont 9 Mar 1944). A flight commander with 209 Squadron, Brown has often been credited with killing Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, the famed "Red Baron".

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought during the First World War from 9 to 12 April 1917. It is Canada’s most celebrated military victory — an often mythologized symbol of the birth of Canadian national pride and awareness. The battle took place on the Western Front, in northern France. The four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting together for the first time, attacked the ridge from 9 to 12 April 1917 and captured it from the German army. It was the largest territorial advance of any Allied force to that point in the war — but it would mean little to the outcome of the conflict. More than 10,600 Canadians were killed and wounded in the assault. Today an iconic memorial atop the ridge honours the 11,285 Canadians killed in France throughout the war who have no known graves.