Archives

RCAF fighter pilot Jim Ashworth of British Columbia wanted to fly so badly that when the Royal Air Force ordered him to become a flight instructor, he deliberately failed the test – twice!

My mother played wartime music on the piano when I was a kid, just as we were falling asleep. So my fascination with that era first began with its wonderful, evocative music: lilting love songs, morale-boosting melodies, big band swing and sweet songs of separation that wring your heartstrings. Click on the title to hear […]

Fearing an enemy invasion, thousands of Canadian girls as young as sixteen joined volunteer militia groups in wartime, learning how to conduct air raid patrols, use firearms and incredibly, how to handle bombs!

Fifty thousand Canadian women in uniform served during the Second World War. Even while battling the Third Reich, they still wanted to look their best. Since they were forced to wear the same hat every day for years, style was crucial. So which branch of the armed forces had the most flattering headgear? You be […]

When Janet Mears of Australia started searching for information about her great-uncle Maxwell Cassidy, killed in a 1944 training accident in Canada, the results were astonishing. Not only did she discover that Max had been in love, she found the Canadian girl he left behind – alive and well, and eager to share her memories.

No wonder thousands of wartime weddings and passionate love affairs took place during those heady years. Was there ever a period in history when romance was so exciting, so terrifying, and yet so wonderful as during wartime? Here are photographs of some lovely wartime weddings, just in time for Valentine’s Day. I included all the […]

Air force accidents in wartime involving new recruits training under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan were almost commonplace in Canada. Here’s one example. On September 8th, 1944, a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft was flying near the air training base at North Battleford, Saskatchewan when it went into a spin. Killed was Flight-Sergeant William […]

“I won’t go! I’m not going!” Lancaster pilot Edmund Kluczny (nicknamed “Captain Cool” by his crew) was horrified when he heard his bomb aimer’s outburst. Tonight’s target would take them deep into Germany’s heavily-defended industrial area. The pilot needed his crew inside their Lancaster and ready for takeoff, but the bomb aimer was refusing to get on board. This was a problem that Captain Cool needed to solve, and fast.

Wartime fiction makes great reading. Since I’m less concerned with military strategy, and more interested in how war affects people’s hearts and minds, my best wartime fiction is laden with drama and romance. This is by no means a complete list. I’ve included some oldies but goodies along with the best of the new novels. […]

For almost one hundred years, a story has circulated in our family about these two World War One soldiers. My grandfather Charlie Light, right, was saved from certain death on a French battlefield by his younger brother Jack Light, left. But several family members have expressed skepticism about whether it really happened.