Legion Magazine

08/07/2025

No known grave?
Tracking the final resting place of Canadian Battle of Britain casualty John (Jack) Benzie

Tracking the final resting place of Canadian Battle of Britain casualty John (Jack) Benzie

08/07/2025

https://iris.ca/en/pages/programme-avantages/legion

08/06/2025

Humanizing the enemy: author shines new perspectives on 1945 bombing of Japan

It’s no surprise that the devastation the August 1945 atomic bombs brought to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has continued to be investigated by authors and academics alike. One of those authors, British historian Iain MacGregor, has chosen a surprising way to approach the much-discussed topic in his new book The Hiroshima Men: The Quest to Build the Atomic Bomb, and the Fateful Decision to Use It.

The narrative details the decades-long journey toward the detonation as much as the detonation itself. Moreover, instead of focusing solely on the U.S. perspective, MacGregor delivers a groundbreaking exploration of the Japanese experience so often missing from western discourse.

It’s no surprise that the devastation the August 1945 atomic bombs brought to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has continued to be investigated by authors and academics alike. One of those authors, British historian Iain MacGregor, has chosen a surprising way to approach the much-disc...

08/06/2025

For the purposes of an invasion—or, in this case, a raid—nautical twilight is an opportune time of day just before dawn when the sun is between six and 12 degrees below the horizon. It’s called nautical twilight because the brightest stars can still provide peacetime—and wartime—mariners with points of navigation.

On a typical pre-dawn morning along France’s Alabaster Coast, at Dieppe in particular, it’s often foggy. The twilight is just enough to give inbound vessels a shadowy land reference but, looking out from shore, there’s not much visibility.

For the purposes of an invasion—or, in this case, a raid—nautical twilight is an opportune time of day just before dawn when the sun is between six and 12 degrees below the horizon. It’s called nautical twilight because the brightest stars can still provide peacetime—and wartime—mariners w...

08/05/2025

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08/05/2025

🎉 Congratulations to the winners of The Legion National Foundation’s 2025 National Youth Remembrance Contests! 🇨🇦✨

Students from across Canada were recognized for their powerful essays, poems, posters, and videos honoring Remembrance Day. From heartfelt reflections on sacrifice and PTSD to vivid stories from the trenches and beautiful artwork, these young voices remind us of the importance of remembrance and gratitude.

🏅 Highlights include:

First place senior essay: Brooklyn Stanford from Gull Lake School, Sask.

Inspiring poems and essays across all grade levels

Stunning poster winners from Calgary, Waterloo, Burnaby & beyond

National-level winners eligible for prizes and a trip to the Ottawa Remembrance Ceremony

Check out their incredible work and celebrate the talent and dedication of our youth in preserving the memory of our veterans. 🌺✍️📚

Read more & see all winners here: https://legionmagazine.com/2025-legion-remembrance-contest-winners/

“Hearing The Last Post and The Rouse for the first time, I learned about the true power and emotion that music could convey,” wrote Oluwadarasimi David Oketona of Kelowna Christian School in B.C. “The sounds of those pieces stayed with me and I gained new thoughts and perspectives about the pu...

08/05/2025

Cumulogranitus: Air force slang for one of those pesky clouds with a mountain inside.

Stan Heather of Toronto sends this story. In June 2012, 34 WW II veterans flew to Britain for the dedication and unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial in London.

On their first evening, four of them decided to go to a fine dining establishment. They found a beautiful restaurant and listened as the waiter outlined the specials. One of the patrons mentioned, “I’d love fish and chips.” Everyone, including the waiter, laughed.

Cumulogranitus: Air force slang for one of those pesky clouds with a mountain inside. Stan Heather of Toronto sends this story. In June 2012, 34 WW II veterans flew to Britain for the dedication and unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial in London. On their first evening, four of them decided to g...

07/31/2025

Canadian naval historian speaks out about retrieving shipwreck artifacts

More than 80 years after HMCS Trentonian sank in U.K. waters resulting in six deaths, a British diver has recovered—or removed—its bell from the wreck site.

Not everyone, suffice it to say, is happy about it.

The Canadian Flower-class corvette, launched in 1943, had an arguably short yet nevertheless storied wartime career, contributing to the 1944 Normandy invasion and additional Allied convoy es**rt duties before it was torpedoed and sank on Feb. 22, 1945.

Five went down with the ship, a sixth later succumbed to his wounds.

More than 80 years after HMCS Trentonian sank in U.K. waters resulting in six deaths, a British diver has recovered—or removed—its bell from the wreck site. Not everyone, suffice it to say, is happy about it. The Canadian Flower-class corvette, launched in 1943, had an arguably short yet neverth...

07/30/2025

Canadian homeowners aged 55+ can access up to 55% of their home’s value without having to sell. As a proud partner of the Royal Canadian Legion, HomeEquity Bank offers Legion members $500 cash back* upon funding their CHIP Reverse Mortgage. Learn more at https://shorturl.at/jK1O0

07/30/2025

The summer of ’44: Canadians from Normandy to the Dutch border

Eighty-one years after Allied forces hit the beaches of Normandy and launched the campaign to liberate Europe from six years of N**i tyranny, the history still lives.

The bunkers and fortifications that formed Hitler’s Atlantikwall still cast a weary yet ominous presence over the English Channel. The wind, rain and ominous skies that clouded the beaches on June 6, 1944, still rage. The walls of courtyards, houses and 1,000-year-old churches still bear the scars of WW II battles.

And, of course, the cemeteries are sobering testament to the cost.

The history is not all visual, either.

Eighty-one years after Allied forces hit the beaches of Normandy and launched the campaign to liberate Europe from six years of N**i tyranny, the history still lives. The bunkers and fortifications that formed Hitler’s Atlantikwall still cast a weary yet ominous presence over the English Channel. ...

07/29/2025

Canadian war photographer Ken Bell returned to European battlefields several times after the Second World War to reshoot some of the people and landscapes captured during the conflict.

07/24/2025

The trials and tribulations of the Canadian Army Occupation Force in Germany in 1945-46

As the end of the war in Europe neared, the Liberal government had to decide on several critical military issues. What would Canada’s role be in the war against Japan after Germany was defeated? How would soldiers be repatriated and in what order? What part, if any, would Canada have in the occupation of N**i Germany?

An answer to that last question came in December 1944. Canada would create an infantry division and assign 13 Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons to contribute to the occupation of the fallen Reich. Much like the infantry division that was to be formed to fight in the Pacific, the Canadian Army Occupation Force (CAOF) was intended to be made up of volunteers who planned to make the army their career. If, as anticipated, too few men stepped forward, then key personnel and soldiers with low repatriation points would be assigned to the division.

The trials and tribulations of the Canadian Army Occupation Force in Germany in 1945-46