Relaxing

Great yarns are told of squadrons bold'

In the great tradition of stirring naval poetry, Lieutenant-Commander Hugh Campbell wrote this tribute to the men and ships of the 31st Canadian Minesweeping Flotilla while serving on HMCS Fort William. The 31st operated off Omaha and Utah beaches during the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944.

Hockey Night in ... Scotland

Early 1945 saw Canadian military and local teams battling on the ice at Paisley, with the Canadian teams featuring talent from the NHL.

Musical Propaganda

A pamphlet sold on the home front for 25 cents with sheet music and lyrics for the song "Hitler on the Run!" by Neil MacDonald.

Making use of available materials

A letter home to Canada written on birch bark.

Birch Letter.pdf (3.97 MB)
Birch Letter.pdf (3.97 MB)
Birch Letter.pdf (3.97 MB)

"Smiles will never be rationed"

The Happy Gang was one of the most popular entertainment groups of the 1940s, and considered its material to be ammunition for the "'second front' at home, the Fun Front."

Happy Gang.pdf (3.87 MB)

A cartoonist goes to war

Arthur LeMay was better known for his comic strip "Aventures de Timothée," but during the Second World War he turned his hand to propaganda cartoons to support the war effort.

LeMay.pdf (4.66 MB)

Graduating navigators and bomb aimers

The wings ceremony was an important milestone for airmen in training, a public acknowledgement that they had mastered their trade. This course, at a school operated by Canadian Pacific Air Lines, was unusual in having so many Polish airmen.

1AOS.pdf (8.04 MB)

To my Dear Family

Pte. Albert James Tufford was conscripted into the Canadian army early in 1918; by March, he was on his way overseas. Through the eleven months that he was in Europe, he sent dozens of postcards home to his family in the Niagara Falls region (his mother and younger sister) and the United States (his grandmother). In September 1918, he was sent to France; less than a month later, he was shot in the left arm and brought back to England. Tufford spent most of his eleven months at Witley Camp in Surrey, but traveled while on leave to Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

Field Day

A program for a Field Day held "somewhere in France", containing competitors and events, held on the 30th of June 1917.

Patriotism on show

This printed fabric calendar, with a typical patriotic motif and slogan, was displayed in a house in New Brunswick - at least until September 1917.