Canadian War Museum
1 Vimy Place K1A 0M8 Ottawa, ON, Canada

Bakers! This coming Thursday, December 17 join us on Zoom to test your skills with a vintage holiday recipe, sourced from one of the Victory Cookbooks in the Museum’s rare books collection. The Museum’s own amateur baker and recipe tester, Kathryn Lyons, will demonstrate the steps, and share tips and tricks for cooking from old recipes. Museum historian Dr. Stacey Barker will talk about food and rationing during the Second World War. Recipe and registration link on our webs...ite (link in bio or warmuseum.ca/foreverchanged) This activity is part of the Museum’s new virtual Make Do and Mend workshop series, presented in conjunction with Forever Changed Stories From the Second World War. Inspired by the experience of rationing and resourcefulness on the Canadian home front during the Second World War, each workshop pairs a useful skill with its historical context, provided by a Museum expert. Stay tuned for more workshops! #ForeverChangedSWW #SecondWorldWar #WorldWarII #CanadianMilitaryHistory

Molly Lamb (later Bobak) joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps in 1942, dreaming of becoming a war artist. She got her wish: after VE Day, she was sent overseas to paint Canadian servicewomen. She painted a lasting record of the contributions of her fellow women in uniform. Many of Molly’s paintings highlight essential but unglamorous activities, including women working in laundries, kitchens, garages and communications huts like this. ... Learn more about Molly Lamb Bobak and many other Canadians in the new exhibition Forever Changed Stories From the Second World War, on now at the Canadian War Museum until September 2021. http://www.warmuseum.ca/foreverchanged Signal Corps Teletypists on Night Duty Apeldoorn Painted by Molly Lamb Bobak in 1945 Watercolour, ink, graphite and charcoal on paper Beaverbrook Collection of War Art Canadian War Museum 19710261-1632

Forever Changed marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and explores the firsthand impact of war on the lives of Canadians. Presented at the Canadian War Museum from December 4, 2020 to September 6, 2021. https://bit.ly/3lLVz9L

On November 24, 1956, the first Canadian troops arrived in Egypt to serve with the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF). The UN assembled UNEF to defuse the Suez Crisis by introducing a peacekeeping force to supervise a ceasefire in the Sinai peninsula. This photograph shows Canadian Major-General E. L. M. Burns (centre), the first commander of the UNEF, meeting with UN Secretary General Dag Hammerskjold and three members of the Canadian UNEF contingent in Egypt. It comes from an album in the Museum collection donated by Captain Ronald H. Thorn, who served with the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in the Second World War and in UNEF.

#MachineoftheMonth: The Soviet Union used the British-designed, Canadian-manufactured Valentine tank during the Second World War. The Canadian Pacific Railway’s Angus Shop in Montréal made 1,420 Valentine tanks. Canada shipped all but 30 of them to the Soviet army. During a Soviet offensive in Ukraine in January 1944, this Valentine broke through the ice covering a swampy river. All three crew members escaped, but the tank sank out of sight. Forty-six years later, residents ...of the nearby village of Telepino recovered it. In 1992, the government of Ukraine gave this tank to the Canadian War Museum. Valentine Mk VIIA Tank Used in the Soviet Union, 19431944 CWM 19920195-001

Trooper Johnston, buried as an unknown soldier in 1945 in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Mook War Cemetery in the Netherlands, was recently identified... through the Casualty Identification Program. Janet Young, curator of physical anthropology at the Museum, is one of many experts on the Casualty Identification Review Board. Her background in human remains identification supports members of the Program as they ensure the scientific rigor of the identification of unknown Canadian service members from historic battlefields and graves. To learn more, visit https://bit.ly/34XMIN8 Source: the family of Trooper Johnston

This work by Australian Captain William Longstaff depicts soldiers' ghosts marching up Vimy Ridge from the Douai Plain, returning to the memorial. The Memorial's designer, Walter Allward, noted in 1921 that he had been inspired by wartime dream in which dead soldiers "rose in masses, filed silently by and entered the fight to aid the living. So vivid was this impression, that when I awoke it stayed with me for months. Without the dead we were helpless. So, I have tried to s...how this in this monument to Canada's fallen, what we owed them, and we will forever owe them." Print by Captain William Longstaff Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19890275-051 #Museum30 #Dream #WarMuseum #FirstWorldWar #CanadaRemembers #Vimy #VimyRidge

Aerial view of the Canadian War Museum Canadian Aerial Photo Corporation, photo Canadian Aerial Photo Corporation/PCL Constructors

Gift ideas for the holidays! The War Museum’s Gift Shop offers a wide selection of books, models and commemorative products that the whole family will love. Find everything you need for the holidays, and more! The Gift Shop is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and until 8 p.m. on Thursday. You can also shop online: https://www.warmuseum.ca/boutique/

Opening December 4 at the Canadian War Museum: Forever Changed Stories From the Second World War. Visit http://www.warmuseum.ca/foreverchanged at 7 pm EST on December 3 to see the virtual opening!

#FromtheCWMVault: Tom Wood's 1945 painting captures the cozy, nautical atmosphere of the Crow's Nest Club in St. John's, Newfoundland. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, St. John's became an important port for convoy escorts from the Royal Canadian Navy and other Allied forces. The Crow's Nest was established in January 1942 to provide a club for seagoing officers, and soon became a popular establishment. Space on the walls was allotted to individual ships, whic...h provided crests, coats of arms, and other decorations. Crests for HMCS Trillium (top centre) and HMCS Georgian (top right) can be seen amongst them. The club is still in operation today. The Crow's Nest, St. John's Newfoundland Painted by Tom Wood in 1945 Beaverbrook Collection of War Art CWM 19710261-4856 #militaryart #secondworldwar

The Canadian War Museum is pleased to present the Legion National Foundation’s Poster and Literary Contest Winners 2020, a display of art and creative writing created by students to celebrate remembrance and honour Canada’s veterans. The winning entries eight posters and two literary pieces are now on display in the Museum Lobby until June 20, 2021 Image by Anna Mikhailov (Ottawa, Ontario) ... Winner, Intermediate Black and White Poster See more

Opening December 4 at the Canadian War Museum: Forever Changed Stories From the Second World War. A last letter penned by a parachutist before being dropped into danger. The photo album of a Japanese-Canadian teenager forced to move 600 kilometres from home. A hand-stitched blanket from a Hong Kong prisoner-of-war camp. These are just a few of the compelling objects and stories in Forever Changed that bring to life the impact of the Second World War on the lives of Canadi...ans. Mark your calendar now and come back to our Facebook page on December 3 at 7 pm EST for the virtual opening! #ForeverChangedSWW #SecondWorldWar #WorldWarII #CanadianMilitaryHistory

The Canadian War Museum is proud to partner with the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies for a special virtual conversation with Vera Schiff a Holocaust survivor, educator and award-winning author. On November 17 at 1 p.m. (EST), we invite you to join in as Vera shares her incredible story of survival and liberation during the Second World War. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer period. The program is free, but space is limited. Register soon on our website! https://bit.ly/3naYlqv Image: Vera Schiff and her sons

On December 6, 1917, the Mont Blanc, loaded with military explosives, was entering Halifax Harbour to join a transatlantic convoy when it collided with a second freighter, the Imo. Within minutes, flames from the Mont Blanc were reaching 100 metres into the morning sky and the crew had abandoned ship. As a volunteer crew dispatched from the Canadian naval ship HMCS Niobe rowed towards the scene to see what they could do, the explosives detonated. It was the largest man-made ...blast in history, prior to the 1945 detonation of the atomic bomb. All aboard the Canadian steamboat perished, as did all but one of the whaler’s crew. The blast laid waste much of Halifax, killing an estimated 2,000 people and injuring another 9,000. For their willingness to risk their own lives in the endeavour to save the lives of others, two of the Canadians Acting Coxswain Albert Charles Mattison (RCN) and Stoker Petty Officer Edmund Ernest Beard (RNCVR) were posthumously awarded the Albert Medal for Saving Life at Sea, conferred by the King. The lone survivor from the British whaler, Able Seaman William Becker, was honoured in the same way. The whaler’s officer in charge, Lieutenant-Commander Tom Kenneth Triggs, received the higher-ranking Albert Medal in Gold for Saving Life at Sea. In total, six Albert Medals were awarded for actions on that day in Halifax. Remarkably, all four medals described above are now held by the Canadian War Museum. Albert Medal for Saving Life at Sea awarded to Albert Charles Mattison Tilston Memorial Collection of Canadian Military Medals Canadian War Museum 20110038-001

The small-box respirator is a type of gas mask that was used by British Empire forces during the First World War. It protected soldiers’ lungs, eyes, and faces from chemical weapons. Soldiers always carried their small-box respirators when in the forward trenches, where there was constant risk of gas attacks. It was introduced in 1916 and was much more sophisticated than earlier anti-gas equipment. It consisted of a face piece and a filter box, connected by a corrugated tube.... Although gas was a common element in most operations during the second half of the war, its impact was increasingly limited by protective masks, such as the small-box respirator. CWM 19720102-061 #Museum30 #Mask #WarMuseum #FirstWorldWar #CanadaRemembers #militaryhistory #WWI

The illumination of the headstone of the Unknown Soldier in Memorial Hall, recorded on November 11, 2020

Every year on Remembrance Day, we invite veterans and currently serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces to come and share their lived experiences with visitors. For health and safety reasons, we can’t gather this year in the same way. Have you ever met one of our volunteers? What would you say to them this year? Leave a message in the comments and we will make sure to share it with them! #CanadaRemembers #RemembranceDay #LestWeForget #RemembranceDayCWM

On November 8, Indigenous Veterans Day, the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian War Museum honoured the service of Second World War veteran Mr. Philip Favel. As part of the ceremony, a portrait of Mr. Favel painted by Ottawa-based artist Elaine Goble was unveiled at the Museum. It was generously donated by the artist to the Museum. You can see the portrait, titled Normandy Warrior, on prominent display at the Museum until January 2021. Normandy Warrior ... Painted by Elaine Goble in 2020 Egg tempera on panel Beaverbrook Collection of War Art Canadian War Museum 20200359-001 #IndigenousVeteransDay #SecondWorldWar #MilitaryHistory #Canada

Listen to the 5th in our podcast series Beyond the Ridge, a partnership with the NFB. With the collaboration of Canadian War Museum, we are talking about Commem...oration and Veterans with Dr. Tim Cook, from the Canadian War Museum, and Prasanna Iyengar (#VPA2010). // Écoutez notre 5e balado de la série Par-delà la Crête, créée en partenariat avec ONF. Cette fois-ci, en collaboration avec le Musée canadien de la guerre, nous discutons (en anglais) de la commémoration et des vétérans en compagnie du Dr. Tim Cook (Mus. Can. de la Guerre), et de Prasanna Iyengar (Prix Vimy 2010). Listen on / Écoutez sur: Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/3lIGx5G Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2UAimKR More resources on our website: https://www.vimyfoundation.ca/beyond-the-ridge/ Plus de ressources sur notre site web: https://www.fondationvimy.ca/par-dela-la-crete/ ONF Éducation NFB Education