Music

"They fly, they sing, as they rise on the wing"

This song probably reached Canadian stores during the Battle of Britain in 1940, when the defence of the British Isles from German bombing attacks fell to fighter pilots from Britain and the Empire.

The grandest war song ever written

The fortunes of Britain's war effort were low when this song was published in 1941, and they would get lower the following year - no matter how proud the world was of England.

V for Victory

"Dot dot dot dash" became one of the most recognizable identifiers of the Allied war effort, and could be found on countless kinds of consumer goods - including sheet music.

From a mother to her son

In its sentiment and language, this sheet music could easily have come from the First World War - only the faint image of the tank on the cover places it in the Second World War.

"Hitler - you'll feel much littler"

This song version of the famous military march "Colonel Bogey" was recorded by the Happy Gang, one of the most popular entertainment acts in Second World War Canada.

Good Luck.pdf (26.17 MB)

"We're off to finish Hitler"

Although it was probably written in 1939, this song, with its professed joy at the coming of war, sounds more like 1914.

For Freedom.pdf (16.92 MB)

Singing on the road to war

This songbook, donated to soldiers by a Hamilton, Ontario, businessman, including selections ranging from "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" to "Stop Yer Tickling, Jock."

Music of the Cape Breton Highlanders

This collection of specialty pieces and old favourites includes songs in two languages - English and Gaelic.

Music of the New World

Broadcast on the CBC from 17 August to 5 October 1944, this weekly program highlighted the work of Canadian composers such as Healey Willan, J.J. Weinzweig, J.J. Gagnier, and Alexander Brott.

How to listen to a military band

University professor John Daniel Logan offered a critical appraisal of the brass band of the 85th Battalion, surely the only First World War military band to receive such scholarly attention.

85th Bn band.pdf (3.16 MB)