Tory Redux

Category: Canadian history

  • Remembering The Battle of Vimy Ridge


       Battlefield, France.Vimy Ridge Canadian Memorial.

     

     

    As a former student and History Major, I always mark April 9th as a special day of remembering Canada’s contribution and sacrifice of the Canadian troops who gave their lives during the second world war and therefore allowed the people like myself and my sibling to have the freedoms and luxuries to enjoy almost 100 years later! This day should never go by unacknowledged by the hard-fought war of these soldiers, on the Battle of Vimy Ridge; I just wanted to recognized their sacrifice for our freedoms!

  • Sir Isaac Brock

     by Sean_Marshall
     Today marks the bicentennial of the Battle of Queenston Heights and the death of Sir Isaac Brock. I still remember the day trips with my family to the Niagara region when I was a young impressionable boy .   We did a complete circuit of Fort George and Fort Niagara of course ending off at Brock’s monument and learning about the battle at Queenston Heights. These trips were an important part of sparking a lifelong love of history in me that continues to this day.
    An excellent Bicentennial blog 1812 now has an in-depth post on the battle of Queenston Heights using primary sources; which gives you the sense of what it felt like to be there.
    Putting aside the solemn remembrance of heroes who have long passed away this is for me at least one of the reasons Canadian history has a personal connection!

  • War of 1812 Bicentennial

    In the first of many retrospective articles on the war of 1812 .Author Tom Taylor make the case that we won the war.
    He closes with these words .

     John Donne, the great English writer, in his famous essay/eulogy, First Anniversary, points out that it is our duty not just to the dead, but to ourselves to remember the spirit of those who have passed.
    The notion holds true for individuals and societies. As a nation, we are greater knowing who we are and how we got here.
    The War of 1812 isn’t some distant boring history that we can’t understand. Stand in the gates of Fort Malden in Amherstburg, and look out across the river. What did Brock feel like when he ordered the invasion of the United States against a superior force in a fortified position? Climb the face of the Niagara gorge at Queen-ston Heights and imagine the Americans’ fear when they jumped to their deaths rather than face the tomahawks of native warriors.
    Breathe the fresh water smell of the Niagara River in the early morning. See, feel, touch and smell our history.
    The War of 1812 was the last foreign war fought on Canadian soil. As much or perhaps more than any other single war, this war and its myths defined who we are as Canadians. We owe it to ourselves to embrace and honour this great Canadian achievement.

    We’re still here. We won.

    I agree with Taylor that history is not just what we read on the page it is a living breathing part of our Canadian identity.

    H./T Trusty Tory