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Tales of Valour

Legion Magazine — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 15:15:10 +0000

Separating myth from man is difficult to do. Never is that truer than among those who have earned the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth’s highest military medal, in the face of immense odds. Of some 1,358 Victoria Crosses awarded, nearly 100 Canadians have received the distinguished honour. This special issue highlights the incredible tales of select Canadians who displayed valour in the presence of the enemy, revealing their stories, their legacies, and their humanity.

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O Canada: War & Hockey

Legion Magazine — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 16:45:29 +0000

Hockey seeps into virtually every aspect of Canadian life. The military and its heritage are no exceptions. The game and the country’s armed forces have been tied since Canada’s earliest days, from one of the first games on record in 1886 to the droves of players, pro and amateur, who volunteered for the Great War. Still more exchanged hockey sweater for military uniform in the Second World War, and the pursuit of pucks has been a welcome distraction for those in service all along.

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Sacred Canadian sites of the world wars

Legion Magazine — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 18:17:29 +0000

They are places big and small, hidden and magnificent, now quiet. They are the places where Canadians, and others, gave their all in the greatest conflicts ever fought. Battlefields still scarred by war. Cemeteries that testify to the losses. Landmarks that have survived the turmoil of history.These are the stories behind some of the most iconic sites in Canadian history, as told by historian John Goheen, who has guided tours through the battlefields and war cemeteries of Europe for 30 years.

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VICTORY! Canada and the end of WW II

Legion Magazine — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:36:24 +0000

The postwar story of victory over the Axis powers in 1945 was markedly different than the one written after the First World War ended in 1918. Justice for WW II criminals was swift and decisive, but it was humanitarian relief, reconstruction and reconciliation in Japan and on a devastated continent of Europe, not retribution, that forged a lasting legacy through an emerging Cold War and beyond.

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Liberation! Canada And The WW II Fight To Free The Netherlands

Legion Magazine — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 15:13:51 +0000

In the fall of 1944, Canadian troops led bitter fighting to secure access to the critical port of Antwerp, freeing the Scheldt estuary and the approaches to a key supply hub as Allied forces prepared to enter Germany and bring the Second World War to an end.

It was but a sliver of the occupied Netherlands. More epic combat lay ahead. Ultimately, the year 1945 will prove a happy one, as the sufferings of the Dutch populace, ravaged by almost five years of hardship and a bitterly cold winter of starvation, are brought to a bloody end.

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1944: Prelude to Victory

Legion Magazine — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 15:54:47 +0000

The year 1944 begins well for the Allies after German defeats in Stalingrad, North Africa and Sicily. Italy has been invaded and dictator Benito Mussolini deposed. The bomber offensive is dealing a mighty blow to the Nazi war machine. Allied fortunes in the Atlantic have shifted. And in the Pacific, the American island-hopping campaign is inching toward Japan. The war is […]

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RCAF 100: Celebrating the centennial of the Royal Canadian Air Force

Legion Magazine — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 13:53:49 +0000

On the wings of a burgeoning aviation culture of hinterland stick jockeys, airmail pilots and high-flying adventurers, the Royal Canadian Air Force emerges from 100 years of war and peace as a respected, if not feared, hunter, protector and humanitarian presence in troubled skies the world over. The fascinating story of the RCAF is one […]

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Operation Husky: The Allies take Sicily

Legion Magazine — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 18:41:31 +0000

For almost four years, the forces of Nazi Germany have occupied Europe while the Allies fought in Africa and the Pacific. Now, on July 10, 1943, Canadian, British and American forces invade Sicily, a hot, mountainous, enemy-occupied island off Italy’s south coast. The Allied liberation of the continent has begun.

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1943: The Allies gain the advantage in the Second World War

Legion Magazine — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 14:51:57 +0000

With Allied successes in North Africa and at Stalingrad, along with a building momentum against the Japanese in the Pacific, 1943 begins with unprecedented wartime optimism. American industrial production is building Allied might and troop convoys are bringing tens of thousands of personnel to Britain monthly. But Canada’s role and influence in the Second World […]

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Battle of the St. Lawrence: U-boats attack

Legion Magazine — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 17:52:52 +0000

Order your copy of the Battle of the St. Lawrence: U-boats attack special edition.

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