peter monahan

I heard a short piece on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News on Friday: the Ontario town of Ajax, a large munitions manufacturer in WWII and named after H.M.S. Ajax, is re-naming one of it's streets in honour of Hans Langsdorf, captain of the German ship Graf Spee. The ceremony was to be October 6 and the captain's daughter was to be present. A British member of the Royal Canadian legion, interviewed about it, said he opposed the idea and would not attend the reception to be held at the Legion after the naming. The mayor of Ajax said that the captian had always been careful to ensure the safety of Merchant Navy crews of the ships his cruiser attacked. No other info. was given on the radio and my morning paper is inexplicably missing, but I thought this might be of interest to the members. Peter Monahan

I heard a short piece on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News on Friday: the Ontario town of Ajax, a large munitions manufacturer in WWII and named after H.M.S. Ajax, is re-naming one of it's streets in honour of Hans Langsdorf, captain of the German ship Graf Spee. The ceremony was to be October 6 and the captain's daughter was to be present. A British member of the Royal Canadian legion, interviewed about it, said he opposed the idea and would not attend the reception to be held at the Legion after the naming. The mayor of Ajax said that the captian had always been careful to ensure the safety of Merchant Navy crews of the ships his cruiser attacked. No other info. was given on the radio and my morning paper is inexplicably missing, but I thought this might be of interest to the members. Peter Monahan

I've often wondered, wandering through the 'war surplus' shops, the purpose of jungle-cammed underwear! Seems to me that if you're a strapping great 'paleface' running through the jungle in just yr gotchies, what colour they are would be the very least of yr worries. Or am I takng all this too seriously? Or maybe it's for the Sheila's? "Yes, these are my lucky undies. Wore them when we were hunting Osama." But then they'd have to be littoral underwear, wouldn't they?

Many years ago I read of a case - 1870-80's, as I recall - of a serving NCO, quite senior, who was charged because he was wearing someone else's medals. He had done what was apparently common practice: bought a set from a time-expired soldier or a pawn shop to stitch to his second best tunic. From the context it sounded like somebody 'shopped him', because this was clearly common practice. However, the charges rested on two pillars: his wearing them, contra King's Regs, and the fact that it the medals had been name erased and therefore were believed to be those of some other serving or recently discharged soldier, also illegal or against King's Regs. I don't know whether it would in fact have been illegal for an ex-soldier to sell his own medals (as oposed to an Order like the Bath, property of the sovereign), but I can easily imagine an old sweat not wanting it known he'd done so out of shame at having to pawn or fear of prosecution. My tuppence 'orth Peter

Would the ship be camo-ed too? Or are these for wear ashore when the dry season beaches the Fleet? Of course the reflector stries are the crowning touch: somebody out der is weak on da basic concept of 'camo', no? Peter

Another angle to try on these guys is to google the units and see whether there is a re-enacting group who portrays one or more of them. These groups often have a lot of info on the units and individuals they portray. I've done this for one unit and got nominal rolls (on line) of the whole unit. Worth a shot, anyway! Good luck. Peter

When he does wear them... HOW? Does he have someone run alongside holding up one end, overlap or 3-4 rows? Even overlapped they must run for over a foot!

Megan Yes, 'Aussie Rules Footba' is sorta like rugby, only without the girly-man rules about biting or eye-gouging and none of those poofy pads the North americans wear in what they call 'footbal'. In fact, I believe it was footage of AFL games and (incoherent) interviews with former players which finally convinced the NHL - National (ice) Hockey League - to water down Canada's unofficial sport by introducing a mandatory helmet rule! Fewer concussion, sure, but just not the same somehow! (BTW, Canada' official national sport is lacrosse, known to our Native brethren as 'the little brother of war'. A real man's sport!) Peter (I favour chess and poker, myself - I only lose blood when the bottle opener slips!)

And "The Drums" : Drum Major Ross Flowers and some of his "men". Lots of comments about the height of his cap and his plume. "D'ya think he might be compensating for something?" Obviously, these were not thrown together from old tunic sleeves!

Another shot

1st Reg't of Foot - Grenadier Company - forage caps (the "baker's cap was the Lt Coy.) The num,eral 1 is stiched on, as is the "band" - it is a false cuff on the bottom, though some units make them so that the band is the top od a large turn-up and the top can be tucked into the side of the turn-up. There is a small tassel in the facing colour on the end of the cap

Stuart Many of our units now wear the "night cap" in a number of (minor) variations. I'll try to find some photos for you. BTW, where is your book available to buy? Peter

Ed There were about 1600 Mac-Paps in all and somewhere between 30-50% were killed/died in Spain. Many did eventually enlist for War Two and obviously didn't all survive that, so 700-800 by 1945 is probably a safe bet. There were about 40 alive in Canada a decade ago when the Cdn Federation of Labour launched a campaign (abortive, i think) to put up a memorial to them. So, call it 25-30 today, if that! Peter

Stuart Two shots (I hope) of members of the Light Company, Royal Scots (1st Foot) c. 1814, wearing what we believe was the general issue forage cap for infantry at this time. Sorry the qulity isn't better! Peter

Stuart Can I ask where this illustration is from? Forage caps have been a source of great interest and even controversy among the Napoleonic War / 1812 reeanacting communities: here in Canada many of us wore the type illustrated in #3 for years until evidence - contemoporary prints, mostly - suggested that they were worn only by cavalry. The newest version, which letters show were shipped out to the Canadas and therfeore must have been ubiquituous in England first, are a really ugly bakers cap: a straight side (1 band of cloth) in white, with a blue top, no decorations and no regimental distinctions. We know 6000 were shipped out to Quebec in 1813-14, enough for every man in the Canadas. However, being hobbiests, with different levels of commitment to absolute historical authenticity, many of the units won't "re-cap" to something so ugly (though cheap)! So, we also have references to some reg'ts wearing their own patterns, modelled on the French "cap de police". Here's a link to a very good article. (Robert Henderson is generally held here to be pretty expert on this period. ) "An Item of Comfort" http://www.warof1812.ca/foragecaps.htm If I can find a photo of some of our guys in the 'baker's cap' I'll post it. All the best TTYL peter

Great photos , Bob! thanks for sharing. Yes, #30 is a Priest (armoured, self-propelled), named for the "pulpit" look of the front. I believe #39 may be a Walker "Bulldog", a mid-generation US tank named for the famed Korean War general. Don't know that they ever saw much action, though some must have made it to 'Nam. Could be wrong on this, though - haven't cracked the armoured books in some time. Please share more! peter

The Canadians who fought Franco - none I've ever heard of ton the other side, though possible, I suppose - called themselves The Mackenzie-Papineau Brigade, after two Cdns. who led our 1837 Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario & Quebec) for responsible government. I believe they were, at least initially, brigaded with the American volunters of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The "Mac-Paps" not only didn't get medals but were regarded with deepest suspicion by the Cdn authorities and in many cases were not allowed to join the Cdn, Army because of their alleged infection by Communism! As far as I know, none has been given any formal recognition by our government - I could be wrong - but their place in history is now recognized a little bit in text books. (For eg, I spent the winter writing a new grade 10 History course for the Ontario Ministry of Education and made sure the Mac-Paps figured in the section on WWII). My tuppence worth.

Rick and Robert Rick I did wonder, but this looks as if the Russians may be changing that policy/reality: the size of the "coffins" suggests incomplete skeletons or bones "piled" as opposed to laid out anatomically, but OTH, they seem to be putting each set of remains into its own container with an ID number on it. That and, perhaps, the presence of a Russian soldier (as opposed to a labourer) suggests to me that someone is trying to do the right thing by these remains. I wondereed if anyone else over there had heard anything on this topic, as it suggested to me - if accurate - a surprisingly open and heartening attitude on the part of the current administration in Russia, as well as on the part of the individual Russians of the sort Robert references. Peter

Today's Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) has an interesting photo in the "World News" section. The title reads: "All That Remains": Some 43,000 German soldiers killed in World War II near Leningrad have been reburied so far in Russia. The photo shows a pile of wooden caskets - perhaps 1 meter long - each with a number on it - all in the 36400-36800 range. The caption reads "A Russian soldier carries the remains of a German soldier to a final resting place at the German military cemetery in Sologubovka, northeast of St. Petersburg, Russia. About 95,000 soldiers died in the region, but only about 70 per cent of the remains have been identified." Unfortunately there is no acompanying story! Sounds intriguing. Does anyone know more? Peter Monahan

Sorry 'bout the multiple post!

Yes, the gasses will vent, but not till after they've filled up the inside and done whatever damage/left whatever deposits they can. BTW, "damage" is a relative term: for professional curators, any change is bad, even at a microscopic level, so tarnish from case chemicals or sunlight on air, surface dirt deposits from uncased display, etc etc all count as damage, though not as serious as say abrasive cleaning or acid-full paper rotting ribbons and so on. One can get anal about it all and everything does degrade at some rate whatever we do, but if the aim is to preserve "old stuff", then anything we can do to help is good: acid free papers, vented cases, etc. My tuppence worth, Peter

Yes, the gasses will vent, but not till after they've filled up the inside and done whatever damage/left whatever deposits they can. BTW, "damage" is a relative term: for professional curators, any change is bad, even at a microscopic level, so tarnish from case chemicals or sunlight on air, surface dirt deposits from uncased display, etc etc all count as damage, though not as serious as say abrasive cleaning or acid-full paper rotting ribbons and so on. One can get anal about it all and everything does degrade at some rate whatever we do, but if the aim is to preserve "old stuff", then anything we can do to help is good: acid free papers, vented cases, etc. My tuppence worth, Peter

Here's a tuppence worth from somebody who's recently taken a course on "Artifact Preservation" as part of getting a Museum (worker's) Certificate: All wood's give off some gases; oak is the worst (most acidic) and the description of the effects of Blue Eyc. on steel and skin sounds BAD! Any wooden case should, according to museum types, sit empty for a year to let it "outgas" !!! All glued substances, but espcially modern laminates, also outgas, some a LOT, as they dry and cure. Again, a process which takes months, not days! Cover the poly foam with archive grade "inert" paper to protect medals from chemicals too. Sorry to be a wet blanket, but there it is! Use metal cabinets lined with paper and get the magnicent looking TO case and wait till it "cures" if you really want to protect the medals. Peter