Curious Canadian History

In October of 2006 Jess Larochelle from Ontario was guarding an observation post near the Afghanistan village of Pashmul when dozens of Taliban insurgents attacked Jess’ position. The ensuing battle is almost unbelievable in what Jess did and how he did it. Bruce Moncour is a veteran of Afghanistan and for years has been leading the charge, through his organization Valour in the Presence of the Enemy, to get Larochelle awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest medal for bravery in the Canadian military. Recently Bruce’s organization has celebrated a couple major victories that are getting him and his organization ever closer to that ultimate goal. Bruce Moncur is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, advocate, and grade 5 teacher. In 2006, he deployed to Afghanistan with the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment and fought in Operation Medusa, the largest Canadian-led battle since the Korean War, where he was seriously injured in a friendly-fire incident. After a long recovery, he became a leading voice for veterans’ rights. He is the founder of Valour in the Presence of the EnemyDavid O’Keefe is one of the most engaging voices on Canada’s Second World War story, in the classroom, on the page, and on screen. A professor of history at Marianopolis College in Montreal, he’s the bestselling author of One Day in August and Seven Days in Hell, with a new book, Missing Presumed Dead, coming in late 2027. You can also see him right now in the new Tom Hanks World War II documentary, bringing fresh insight and energy to some of the war’s most hotly debated battles.Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast Hostile History!Hostile History on SpotifyHostile History on AppleHostile History on AmazonDon’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: AmazonIndigoDundurnGoodreadsIndiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our very own David Borys was flattered when recently he was made a fellow at the CDA (Conference of Defence Associations) Institute, Canada's leading think tank on defence and security issues. The Institute immediately put David to work interviewing Canadian veterans as part of a Remembrance Day special series titled "Remembrance in their Own Words." CCH felt like sharing one of those episodes. In this one, David interviews Vice Admiral Duncan "Dusty" Miller, CMM, MSC, CD (Ret’d). VAdm Miller served 38 years in the Royal Canadian Navy, with a distinguished career that included commanding two ships, leading the Canadian Naval Task Group during the Persian Gulf War, and serving as NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. He was also the NATO HQ commander overseeing AWACS surveillance of North America after 9/11.Follow the CDA Institute here and their podcast on Apple and Spotify Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On October 26th news broke of the passing of Canadian historian Tim Cook. Tim was a leading voice in the field of Canadian military history and the chief historian and director of research at the Canadian War museum. He is someone I personally have known for most of my academic career and he has been a mentor at times for me during a variety of ups and downs throughout my career. In August I had the pleasure of interviewing Tim about his most recent book The Good Allies, and with the news of his passing I thought it fitting to release this episode right away.When the Second World War broke out in 1939, it set in motion a deadly struggle between the Axis powers and the Allies, but also fraught negotiations between and among the Allies. On questions of diplomacy, economic policy, industrial might, military capabilities, and even national sovereignty, thousands of lives and the fate of the free world depended on back-room deals and desperate trade-offs between soldiers, diplomats, and leaders.In North America, Canada and the US strained to forge a new military alliance to guard their coasts and fend off German U-boats and the menace of a Japanese invasion. Wartime economies were entwined to produce a staggering contribution of weapons to keep Britain and other allies in the war. The defence of North America against enemy threats was essential before the US and Canada could send armies, navies, and air forces overseas For ad-free content sign up to Patreon today! The Conflict and Culture Podcast at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheConflictandCulturePodcast You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: AmazonIndigoDundurnGoodreadsIndiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sacred Band of Thebes was an elite military unit of 300 highly trained heavy infantry soldiers (hoplites), famously composed of 150 pairs of male lovers. Formed in the 4th century BCE the Thebans, who came from a uniquely gay-tolerant society, believed that soldiers would fight more ferociously to protect their partners and to avoid showing cowardice in front of them. They were not wrong. The Sacred Band quickly became the shock troops of the Theban army and one of the most dominant phalanx formations of the Ancient Greek world. While most people think of the Spartans when they think of Greek military excellence in the classical world most would also be surprised to know that the Sacred Band went on to not only defeat the Spartans but establish Thebes as a dominant, albeit short-term, power in Greece.James Romm is Professor of Classics at Bard College and author of numerous books on Greek history and culture, including, Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece's Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece (Norton). Most recently he has published his biography of Demosthenes as part of Yale's Ancient Lives series.  For ad-free content sign up to Patreon today! The Conflict and Culture Podcast at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheConflictandCulturePodcast You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: AmazonIndigoDundurnGoodreadsIndiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Illustration has been an integral part of human history. Particularly before the advent of media such as photography, film, television, and now the Internet, illustrations in all their variety had been the primary visual way to convey history. The comic book, which emerged in its modern form in the 1930s, was another form of visual entertainment that gave readers, especially children, a form of escape. As World War II began, however, comic books became a part of propaganda as well, providing information and education for both children and adults. Comic books were widely disseminated amongst soldiers and became an integral form of media consumption for much of the conflict and for decades after.To dive into this subject we have brought on historian Cord A. Scott. Cord has a Doctorate in American History from Loyola University Chicago and currently serves as a professor of history for the University of Maryland Global Campus for Asia. He is the author of Comics and Conflict, Four Colour Combat, and The Mud and the Mirth: Marine Corps comics of WWI. He has written for several encyclopedias, academic journals such as the International Journal of Comic Art, the Journal of Popular Culture, the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, and in several books on aspects of cultural history. He resides in Okinawa, Japan. Don't forget to follow The Conflict and Culture Podcast today!  You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: AmazonIndigoDundurnGoodreadsIndiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Borys has started a brand new podcast and we here at CCH are bringing you its very first episode. The Conflict and Culture Podcast explores everything and anything to do with military history beyond the battlefield. Please head on over to the show page on Apple and Spotify and click follow!For the first episode we look at the myth of the "clean Wehrmacht," the false belief that the regular German armed forces were not involved in Nazi war crimes or the Holocaust, but were instead a professional, apolitical body separate from the Nazi regime. This myth, propagated by former Wehrmacht officers and generals after World War II, was used to protect the institution's reputation and facilitate West Germany's rearmament during the Cold War. For decades since the war it has also contributed to wide spread misunderstandings about the war and about the Wehrmacht and Nazi war crimes. To unpack this complicated topic we have brought on historian Waitman Beorn.Waitman Wade Beorn, is a 2000 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and an Associate Professor in History at Northumbria University in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. Dr. Beorn was previously the Director of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, VA and the inaugural Blumkin Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. His first book, Marching Into Darkness: The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust in Belarus (Harvard University Press) Dr. Beorn is also the author of The Holocaust in Eastern Europe: At the Epicenter of the Final Solution (Bloomsbury Press, 2018) and has most recently published a book on the Janowska concentration camp outside of Lviv, Ukraine, tentatively entitled Between the Wires: The Janowska Camp and the Holocaust in Lviv (University of Nebraska Press, 2024). He is currently working on an AHRC-funded project that seeks to create a digital reconstruction of the Janowska concentration camp.            Dr. Beorn teaches courses in Holocaust History, Comparative Genocide, German history, Eastern European history, Antisemitism, Modern European history, Jewish history, Historical Methodology, Public history, and Digital history. He is also the Scholar-in-Residence for the Auschwitz Jewish Center’s American Service Academy Program where he instructs service academy cadets in military ethical decision-making using the Holocaust. Dr. Beorn’s work also forms the basis for the Ordinary Soldiers lesson program used by ROTC and the US Army. Dr. Beorn is also the host of The Holocaust History Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.