Fighting

The formal group portrait was a ritual of service during the First World War. This draft of artillerymen, destined to reinforce units at the front, includes a number of men who appear far too young, and perhaps under the height restrictions, for military service.

CAM was a kind of bible for Canadian military mechanics during the Second World War - but it's equally notable for its fine graphic art covers.

In August 1943, Canada played host to US president Franklin D. Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill, and a host of important commanders and civil servants from the Allied nations to plan the next phase of the war against Germany and Japan.

Heavy losses among British infantry officers necessitated the creation of a program to loan trained Canadian officers, of which there was an ample supply, to British units in the field.

This recruiting card was typical in promising to get the volunteer to the front quickly, but unusual in offering valuable training for a postwar career.

For soldiers in training during the First World War, the gas mask was not so much a vital piece of battlefield equipment as an unusual accessory to be modeled in amusing photographs.

This speech by Lt.Col. James Mess tried to recruit young men to the Canadian Army.

After the city of Halifax was devastated by an explosion in 1917, all of the sights that had characterized the war in Europe - ruined buildings, wreckage-strewn cityscapes, rows of unidentified bodies - were seen in Canada.

This left-leaning pro-Soviet magazine for youth discussed Canada's war effort.

First published in August of 1940, the Canada at War series aimed to provide Canadians with the most up-to-date information on the war effort, both at home and overseas. This is the 42nd issue in that series.