Colin Keith Lee Pyman, who was 30 years old with blue eyes, red hair, and a fair complexion, sailed with the 5th Battalion (Western Cavalry) to England on October 8th, 1914. He served briefly with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) in 1915 and was promoted...
In Part I, we reviewed definitions, descriptions of Canadian military decorations, and their qualifying criteria. This time we look closer at some examples from the First World War. According to our records, 20 men listed on Okanagan cenotaphs were decorated for...
When Canadians created cenotaphs and memorials to grieve the terrible losses of the First World War, they listed surnames and initials of the Fallen without abbreviations of ranks, decorations or units because they recognized that all are equal in death. It is the...
As the Canadians advanced into the German trench works on Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917, the hundreds of metres between the old and new frontline were occupied by parties gathering the wounded, reinforcements moving forward, and other soldiers searching for the enemy...
In our first article, Push On, the circumstances of the capture of the trophy machine gun were reviewed. This time, some of the features of the gun itself will be reviewed. What is a trophy? Anything that...
Sergeant Swanby looks out over the flat fields south-east of Bouchoir, France. Lieutenant Harris has positioned ‘C’ Company 400 yards in front of the day’s objective, Le Quesnoy-en-Senterre, as the pre-dawn light shines on its trees and houses. His platoon of thirty...