“Few people know this even to this day. Many Japanese Canadians know it. The families of the veterans know it. The veterans know it. Somewhere among their possessions they have medals to prove it.” Years of Sorrow, Years of Shame [unattributed quote] Sgt....
BC Dragoons go to Czechoslovakia, 1945
During the Second World War, Prime Minister Mackenzie King aimed to manage the Canadian obligations to the war effort while balancing competing concerns from London and, later, Washington with Canadian needs. He foresaw Canada’s role as an emerging middle power after...
Reading a Location on a First World War Map
There is so much in the background about maps made in this era that we won’t delve into details, such as the conversion of coordinates to GPS or the theory of longitude and latitude here. [See notes for more resources.] However, we have several maps of different...
One Painting, Many Questions
Every so often, we come across an item that raises more questions than answers. For example, this painting apparently depicts a soldier in the 29th Battalion (Vancouver) Canadian Expeditionary Force training in Hastings Park, Vancouver, in early 1915. It shows the...
A Soldier With Soul
“I called him my Soldier with Soul.” - Anne Snyder1 Jonathan Sutherland Snyder UE, BA, S.M.V. was born Dec. 20, 1981, and raised in Penticton. From a young age, he always wanted to be a soldier. He became many things over his 26 years, starting as an Army Cadet...
Decorated Fallen of the Okanagan – SWW – Cpl F.A. Cherry MM K57783 1st Cdn Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary’s)
Frank Arthur Cherry was 4th child of seven by Winnifred A. (nee Jones) and Herbert Cherry; born in Prince Albert, Sk. April 28, 1924; grade 8 education; lived 3 yrs in Penticton employed as a sawmill planer or mill hand for Lear Planing Mill Ltd., Penticton; Frank...