CANADA:

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THE SPIRIT OF CANADA:

On the morning of March 3rd, 2014 Royal Canadian Navy Veteran Larry Costello of Windsor, Ontario was in line to pay for his groceries.

As usual the Second World War Veteran had his walking cane with him, which he received from the Windsor Wood Carving Museum.

While waiting to pay, a younger gentleman noticed the Canadian Beaver on the top of Larry’s cane and started to ask him about the pictures of the War medals that were depicted on the cane’s staff.

After listening to Larry explain what each medal meant and his military service, the gentleman then proceeded to pay for Larry’s entire grocery bill and thanked him for his service.

This greatly touched Larry and made him feel extremely good to know that future generations appreciate what our Veterans did.

That mystery gentleman deserves great thanks himself and should know that he touched all of our hearts.

THE CANADIAN SPIRIT

This story came from The Windsor Historical Society in Windsor, Ontario

© 2014 The Windsor Star
© 2014 Canadian Heroes
© 2014 The Windsor Historical Society

Via: Thomas Joseph Simpson FB LINK

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Minister Fantino Presents First British Arctic Star Medals to Second World War Veterans:

The Arctic Star medal recognizes Allied Veterans serving in the Arctic during the Second World War

VICTORIA, May 22, 2014 /CNW/ - The Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of Veterans Affairs, today presented the first British Arctic Star medals to Canadian Armed Forces Veterans Norman George Alex Anderson, Edward Earl Dallin, Roland Jacques Lavallee, and James S. Russell at a ceremony in Victoria, British Columbia.

The Arctic Star, a military honour unveiled by the Government of the United Kingdom in 2012, is granted for operational service of any length north of the Arctic Circle from September 3, 1939, to May 8, 1945. It is available to all Commonwealth Forces, including members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Merchant Navy. The Government of Canada recently accepted the addition of the British Arctic Star to the Canadian Order of Precedence.

Many Canadians served on Allied convoys as they sailed across the Arctic Ocean during the Second World War to deliver vital supplies to the Soviet Union. Commonly known as the Murmansk Run, ships departed from North American ports and sailed to the northern Soviet Union in an effort to assist them in their fight against Germany. The mission is renowned for the brutal conditions and heavy casualties endured by the troops who served.

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War veterans honoured for Arctic service:

Nearly 70 years after the Second World War, four Canadian veterans awarded the British Arctic Star were the first to be presented with their medals in Victoria Thursday. “While Canadians, the British and all Allied nations have long recognized your role in serving north of the Arctic Circle during the Second World War, it is still only right and proper that you should have our own military honour for such bravery,” Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino said to the men during a ceremony at the Lodge at Broadmead. The Arctic Star medal is a British honour announced in 2012 and granted to Commonwealth forces members for operational service north of the Arctic Circle from 1939 to 1945. -

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'Canada's Titanic' finally getting its due On May 29, 1914, the Canadian Pacific:

Steamship, the Empress of Ireland, collided with a Norwegian freighter near Quebec, sinking in 14 minutes and killing 1,012.

Report follows: (The Canadian Press)

Clinging to the side of a doomed ocean liner, Leonard Delamont wrapped his lifebelt around his mother, kissed her goodbye and jumped into the glacial waves of the St. Lawrence River. The young man, never to be seen again, was among 1,012 killed that foggy night when the Empress of Ireland was hit by a freighter near Rimouski and plunged beneath the surface in just 14 minutes. Dubbed "Canada's Titanic," the sinking on May 29, 1914, stands as one of the country's worst maritime disasters, though a surprising number of Canadians have never heard of it.

Compared to the famous story of the Titanic luxury liner that sank two years earlier, the Empress of Ireland's tale has remained in the shadows. 100th anniversary approaches But experts on the ship's history believe the Empress is finally getting its due as the 100th anniversary of the tragedy approaches. The vessel will be commemorated in the coming days with the release of Canada Post stamps, a pair of silver coins from the Royal Canadian Mint, the launch of an exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History, the unveiling of a monument and several memorials around the country. Descendants of those aboard the Empress, like Delamont's niece, hope the centenary will help further boost public awareness about the liner and its victims. "A lot of Canadians don't know about it and I guess I would be one of them if I didn't have a family connection," said June Ivany, who plans to attend Empress events this week in Rimouski, Que., near the wreck site. "It is part of Canadian history and so much is played up about the Titanic. Why not make people aware of our maritime disasters?" The deadly collision represents only part of the historical significance linked to the steamship, which played a key role in Canada's immigration boom during her years in service, from 1906 until the 1914 tragedy.

Sailing for a new life in Canada Over those years, around 120,000 European immigrants sailed on the prestigious liner to a new life in Canada. The federal government has estimated about a million Canadians today — or about one in 35 — can trace an ancestor to this ship. Others believe the number is a more modest ratio of one in 60. But despite its importance the Empress has long been overshadowed by two higher-profile transatlantic sinkings of the same era that also claimed more than 1,000 lives: the Titanic and the Lusitania. The Titanic struck an iceberg in 1912, killing around 1,500 people, while a German Uboat torpedoed the Lusitania in 1915, killing nearly 1,200. The horror of the Empress disaster and the tales of survival were splashed on front pages around the world, but weeks later international attention had shifted to the outbreak of the First World War. As the years passed by, families affected by the Empress disaster — like Delamont's clan — avoided discussing the incident to spare themselves from the painful memories. "When I was growing up, you didn't talk about it," said Ivany, who also shared her family's story in a posting on a website dedicated to the anniversary. All four of Delamont's relatives aboard the Empress, including his mother Seraphine, were among the fortunate 465 who survived. Ivany said aside from hearing about her uncle's sacrifice, she also learned about her aunt Elizabeth's experience amid the chaos that surrounded the sinking ship. "(She) had her hair ripped out by other people in the water," Ivany said of an experience that haunted Elizabeth for the rest of her life. "She would never even get in a bathtub and was terrified of water." Changed the course of history.

The sinking also changed the course of history for victims' families. Donna Parker says she wouldn't be alive if it weren't for the Empress disaster. Parker's grandfather, Will Clark, lost his first wife, Lavinia, and their nine-year-old daughter, Nellie. She said they had been travelling without him because he had stayed home to work. Her grandfather later remarried and had two children, eight grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. "I guess the thing that really affects me is that it's a terribly tragic story, and yet my family would not be here if it weren't for that," said Parker, an Ancaster, Ont., resident who also plans to participate in memorial activities in Rimouski. "It was our early history ... I just think those people shouldn't be forgotten." Source : CBC

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Two years after the Titanic disaster of 1912, the trans-atlantic ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank with 1,012 of those on board.

She was gone in 14 minutes apparently.

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Full Text RE: The Tragic Story Of The Empress of Ireland:

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September 3, 2014 is Merchant Navy Memorial Day in Canada, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

"In memory of 2,200 known Canadian Merchant Seamen and 91 Canadian vessels lost by enemy action and those who served in the cause of freedom - World War I 1914-1918; World War II 1939-1945; Korean Conflict 1950-1953".

The Canadian Merchant Navy was key to resupplying the United Kingdom with North American natural resources and equipment during the early stages of World War Two. Many men and ships were lost during those opening years of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Within hours of Canada's declaration of war on September 10, 1939, the Canadian government passed laws to create the Canadian Merchant Navy setting out rules and controls to provide a workforce for wartime shipping. The World War II Merchant Navy greatly expanded a similar effort in World War I known as the Canadian Mercantile Marine.

The Canadian Merchant Navy played a major role in the Battle of the Atlantic bolstering the allies merchant fleet due to high losses in the British Merchant Navy. Eventually thousands of Canadians served aboard hundreds of Canadian Merchant Navy ships, notably the "Park Ships", the Canadian equivalent of the American "Liberty Ships".

T. J. Simpson.