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Create AccountSir John Coape Sherbrooke, soldier, administrator, governor-in-chief of British North America (b at Nottinghamshire, Eng 1764; d at Calverton, Eng 14 Feb 1830).
John Matthews, army officer, farmer, politician (b probably in Eng c 1763; d probably in Eng 20 Aug 1832).
Just a few days before he and Prime Minister Stephen Harper made their surprise March trip to visit Canadian troops in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor tried to calm growing anxiety about the combat role Canada appeared to be taking on in Kandahar.
James Abercromby, army officer (b at Banffshire, Scot 1706; d at Glassaugh, Scot 23 Apr 1781). A career soldier, he came to North America in 1756 and was appointed commander in chief of British forces.
A band of Americans and pro-American Canadians living in Upper Canada, the Canadian Volunteers were a company-sized regiment that fought on the American side during the WAR OF 1812.
Jean-François Du Verger de Verville, military engineer (b at Paris, France c 1670-75; d at Valenciennes or Paris, France 1729).
The road they died on could hardly even be called one.
Their widows wept. A bagpiper played an old, sad song. The faces of comrades were ashen. Memorial services for fallen soldiers are, of course, painfully unique to the families and friends of the dead; but what they offer the nation is familiar ritual, perhaps a feeling of closure.
Henry Procter, army officer (b c 1763 at Kilkenny, Ireland; d at Bath, Eng 31 Oct 1822). Henry Procter was the son of a British army surgeon. He was considered by some as among the worst officers of the British forces in the WAR OF 1812.
Sherwood Lett, soldier, lawyer, chief justice of BC (b at Iroquois, Ont 1 Aug 1895; d at Vancouver 2 July 1964).
Maurice Baril, soldier (b at Saint-Albert de Warwick, Québec 22 Sept 1943). He enlisted in the Canadian Officer Training Corps, while studying at the University of Ottawa, became an officer in 1963, and was assigned to the Royal 22nd Regiment in 1964.
Sir Patrick Leonard MacDougall, military officer, author (b at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France 10 Aug 1819; d at Kingston Hill, Eng 28 Nov 1894).
Edward Michael Pakenham, British army officer, military figure in the WAR OF 1812 (b County Westmeath, Ireland, 19 Mar 1778; d near New Orleans, Louisiana, 8 Jan 1815). On 28 May 1794, at age 16, Edward Pakenham became a lieutenant in the 92nd Foot.
Sir William Pepperrell, commander in chief of New England forces at LOUISBOURG (b at Kittery Point, Maine 27 June 1696; d there 6 July 1759).
Sir William B. Thornton, soldier (b at Ireland 1778 or 1779; d at Greenford, Middlesex, England, April 1840). William Thornton entered the British army as an ensign in the 89th Regiment of Foot in March 1796.
Cree code talkers were an elite unit tasked with developing a coded system based on the Cree language for disguising military intelligence. They provided an invaluable service to Allied communications during the Second World War. Although their contributions remained hidden until recently, in part because the code talkers had been sworn to secrecy, their service helped to protect Western Allies and to win the war. Indeed, the Allies’ enemies were never able to break the code.
Mary Greyeyes Reid, Cree veteran of the Second World War (born 14 November 1920 on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation reserve, Marcelin, SK; died 31 March 2011 in Vancouver, BC). The first Indigenous woman to join Canada’s armed forces, Mary became a member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps during the Second World War. The military tried to boost Indigenous recruitment and demonstrate Canada’s military might by posing her in a staged photo that has since been widely circulated in Canada.
Gilbert Clarence Monture (Big Feather), OC, OBE (Order of the British Empire), Mohawk mining engineer, civil servant, army officer (born 27 August 1895 on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, ON; died 19 June 1973 in Ottawa, ON). Monture was a university student during the First World War and interrupted his studies to enlist in the Canadian military. After the war, he completed university and became a world-renowned mining engineer.
Charles Cecil Ingersoll Merritt, VC, barrister, soldier, Member of Parliament (born 10 November 1908 in Vancouver, BC; died 12 July 2000 in Vancouver). During the Second World War, Lieutenant-Colonel Cec Merritt was the first Canadian to earn the Victoria Cross (VC) in the European theatre, the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire.
Charles Cromwell Martin, DCM, MM, farmer, soldier, civil servant, author (born 18 December 1918 in Wales; died 13 October 1997 in Mississauga, ON). During the Second World War, Warrant Officer Class II (WO II) Charlie Martin was awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal and Military Medal. Martin’s "Battle Diary" memoirs, first released in 1994, remain among the most vivid portrayals of the lives of ordinary Canadian soldiers in the war.
