By Joe Corrigan
In planning the topics for my contribution to “Village Vignettes”
for the year it occurred to me that 2016 marks a number of milestone
anniversaries for battles with significance to our military history. Over the
last 150 years, Canada has enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence.
None-the-less, this year will see the 150th, 100th, 75th,
65th and 25th anniversaries of some pivotal moments in
our collective experience.
The months of April and June will see the 150th Anniversary of the Fenian Raids. The Fenians were an Irish brotherhood
dedicated to the cause of Irish independence during the 19th century. Shortly after the American Civil War, the Fenians numbers in the U.S.
swelled to 60,000. Most of these men were Civil War veterans from both sides of
that conflict. When they were discharged from the Union and Confederate Armies,
most were allowed to keep their rifles (in keeping with the U.S. 2nd Amendment rights it would appear). The Fenians decided to flex their muscle and
influence international politics by invading Canada and seizing it as a
bargaining chip with Great Britain to gain Ireland’s freedom. Typical of most
American invasion plans, the Fenians thought it was, as Thomas Jefferson
implied in 1812, “just a matter of marching”. Their first “raid”, if you can
call it that, took place in April 1866 at the border between Maine and New
Brunswick. Despite its small scale and comic opera quality it served to
galvanize pro-Confederation sentiment in New Brunswick and thereby helped bring
about the union of the British North American colonies just over a year later.
A much larger and more successful raid took place on the Niagara frontier, the
traditional American invasion route, in June of that year. Lang Pioneer Village
has been staging a Fenian Raid re-enactment at our Dominion Day event on July 1st each year since 2009. In 2016, the re-enactment will be an event of its own and
will take place on Sunday, July 3rd, 2016. You can check our website
www.langpioneervillage.ca for
further details.
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| Lang Pioneer Village's Dominion Day Re-enactment. Photo by Dawn Knudsen |
100 years ago, the Canadian Expeditionary Force was engaged
in combat on the Western Front as part of the British Army. After their baptism
of fire in Flanders in the spring of 1915, the Canadian Corps (as now our
troops numbered up to four divisions) had been moved to a relatively quiet
sector. They were fortunate not to be chosen for the initial wave of the Somme
Offensive which began on July 1st, 1916. This became known as the blackest day
in British military history as over 50,000 of the troops who went over the top
on the first day of the battle were either killed or wounded. The Canadians
would participate in the battle but not until September. The Royal Newfoundland
Regiment (Newfoundland was a separate British Colony at the time and did not
become part of Canada until 1949) did take part in the initial attack and were virtually
wiped out. Of the 780 men who went
forward at Beaumont-Hamel that morning, only 68 were available for roll call
the following day. The effect on Newfoundland was
devastating. In some communities, every soldier who went overseas was either killed
or wounded. In Newfoundland today they temper their Canada Day celebrations with
the commemoration of Memorial Day. This year, Newfoundland’s provincial museum,
The Rooms, will be marking the 100th Anniversary with events and
exhibits. I’d invite you to visit their website www.therooms.ca
for more details.
Later this year, we will be marking the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the Bismarck in May and the Battle of Hong Kong
in December. The defense of Hong Kong from Japanese invaders marked the first
major combat for the Canadian Army in WWII. Despite a dogged defense, our
troops were forced to surrender and spend almost four years in captivity under
brutal conditions in prison camps. The 24th and 25th of
April will mark the 65th anniversary of the Korean War’s Battle of
Kapyong in which the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry held their
position against overwhelming odds and helped prevent a rout of UN forces. Finally,
2016 will mark the 25th anniversary of the 1st Gulf War
in which Canadian air and naval units supported the coalition forces in driving
the Iraqi army from Kuwait.
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| The Bismarck |
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| Sherman Tanks- Korea |
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| Gulf War |
Over the course of the year the “In Flanders Fields” series
will explore each of these events in greater detail.
Joe Corrigan has been Museum Manager at Lang Pioneer Village since February of 2003. He has been a lifelong student of history. His specific areas of interest are Canadian and world political, military and sports history with a particular focus on biographical works. Joe has been interpreting Sir John A. Macdonald at the Museum's Historic Dominion Day event since 2007.
Joe Corrigan has been Museum Manager at Lang Pioneer Village since February of 2003. He has been a lifelong student of history. His specific areas of interest are Canadian and world political, military and sports history with a particular focus on biographical works. Joe has been interpreting Sir John A. Macdonald at the Museum's Historic Dominion Day event since 2007. 