History Browser

A new rifling system was developed at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, consisting of five deep grooves that could withstand the intense heat generated by the cordite. The result was the .303 Lee-Enfield Mark I rifle, introduced to the Canadian Army in 1896.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the struggle for control of the sea routes between the Americas and Europe and Africa. German forces attempted to break Britain’s vital supply link from the United States and Canada. During this six year conflict both sides suffered losses of personnel and materials.

Stories of the contributions of the industrial centre of Hamilton to the war effort, both through military might and industry, make up a large part of the Spectator clippings in this collection.

On 6 June 1944, Allied forces invaded Western Europe along an 80-kilometre front in Normandy, France. Of the nearly 150,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted into the invasion area on D-Day, 14,000 were Canadians.

The Royal Canadian Navy grew rapidly during the Second World War. The roles it played in military actions ranged from acting as an escort force for merchant ships to fighting German submarines and landing on the coast of German-occupied France as part of major operations. Some of the experiences of the Canadian Navy were recorded in newspapers of the time.

The 12-pounder breech-loading gun that equipped the Brigade Division, Royal Canadian Field Artillery in South Africa replaced the 9-pounder rifled muzzle loading guns that had equipped Canada's field artillery units since the 1870s.

The RCAF ran the vital British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during World War Two, but it also sent nearly 94,000 personnel overseas. It also played a major role in the Battle of the Atlantic. .

The growth of Canada's shipbuilding industry from three shipyards to 90 plants during the Second World War was documented in newspaper accounts of the day.

Major Arthur L. (Gat) Howard accepted the position of machine gun officer in the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (later called the Royal Canadian Dragoons). Instead of returning home from the South African War with his unit in December 1900, Howard organized the Canadian Scouts and took command of the unit.

The Canadian Department of Militia and Defence would equip and train the new regiment for South Africa, and the British would pay its costs. When the unit finally sailed from Canada in January 1902, it was a six-squadron regiment of 901 officers and men. Together with the 10th Canadian Field Hospital, it formed the third Canadian contingent of the Canadian Mounted Rifles.