The tank? Forceful!

Grampa and me in front of his favourite tank.

. . . from the heartland!

Rations.

Darn straight we'll finish those subs!

I question whether anyone does.

The Enigma code machine that the Germans used in World War Two. The Allies actually decoded it, but often couldn't use the intelligence they gathered without making it apparent to the enemy that they had cracked the code. Hence the tragedy I described last year in my post about Coventry Cathedral.

(The whole Coventry series was posted last February.)

German spy captured in Nova Scotia during World War 2.

Hitler's Benz.
Seriously. This was the actual parade car he rode in.

The Conquerors by Eric Kennington.
I believe it was painted in 1919, so it's interesting to see soldiers from different ethnic backgrounds serving together.

The description says: "Both dead and living soldiers march over the remains of their fallen companions. The dead are distinguished by their white faces and dark-rimmed eyes. The Canadian advance in the Hundred Days was a brilliant, but costly, victory.

Grampa in Paschendaele (the mud battle).

Did you know that some Canadians of Austro-Hungarian and German descent were interned during WW1?
I didn't.

"We get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and work till 10 o'clock.
Such conditions we have here in Canada, I will never forget."
-Nick Olinyk

Gas masks used by troops against enemy gas attacks (chlorine, mustard).
"It is impossible for me to give a real idea of the terror and horror spread amongst us by this filthy loathsome pestilence."
- Major H. H. Mathews

The sun never sets on the British Empire!

For some reason I thought this flag projected with light in the entranceway to the World War One gallery was awesomely cool.

Apparently, soldiers in the First World War continued to use breastplates and sometimes shields, even though they were incapable of stopping "a high-velocity bullet at close range".

One thing that always kind of amazes me is that even as guns and bombs and tanks were developed, most soldier continued to wear what basically looks like medieval armour.

a foolproof strategy!

Grampa volunteers at the war museum on Tuesday mornings, so he took me in with him for a tour!
We covered a lot of ground (literally -- several kilometres), and I learned quite a few new things.
There were four main galleries; this first one was about the history of warfare in Canada up to the 19th century, including Native peoples.

The windows that are blocked off spell out "lest we forget" in Morse code.

day at the museum

the Canadian War Museum