Canadian Military History - a few of my books

This is a big website, but if you like military history, it may peak your interest.  Welcome to the SilverHawkAuthor web pages.

My name is Harold (Hal) Aage Skaarup, CD2, BFA, MA in War Studies.  Once upon a time, or "back in the day" as my generation likes to say, I served as a Military Intelligence Officer in the Canadian Army.  I have been fortunate in having a career that gave me a chance to see some interesting parts of the world while on duty with NATO in Germany, with the UN in Cyprus, with SFOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with NORAD in Colorado, with ISAF in Afghanistan and of course here at home and across Canada.  During those 40 years with the Canadian Forces, I had the privilege of taking part in history making events and having interesting experiences with incredibly talented people from many different countries.  As a result, I believe that I have a bit of insight into some of the military history that Canadian soldiers, sailors, airmen and women have made in the past, are making in the present and will make in the future, both here at home and overseas.  I have written and researched some of our military stories and experiences, and if you have similar interests, you will find a good deal of it here, shared from my perspective.

When I retired from the Army in August 2011 at 5 Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, New Brunswick, I took an interest in the New Brunswick Military History Museum (NBMHM) on base.  Now settled down at our home in Fredericton, I became a volunteer researcher and tour guide at the museum.  I also currently serve on the Board of Directors at the Fredericton Region Museum (FRM).  In the process, I have met some wonderful people and heard many of their stories, fielded questions from a myriad of visitors and continue to learn something new about our history every day.  I would like to share some of these stories with you here.  I have collected a fair amount of data that will be of interest to military historians and like-minded enthusiasts, but I am not the expert on all things military.  What I do have is a wonderful collection of colleagues who do have some expertise in specific military subjects, and if I can't find an answer to your question, I may know someone I can refer you to, who can help.

This initial web page has grown over time, and it tends to crash when it is overloaded with data, so the subject headings found here link to other pages to make it easier to navigate.  I have tried to collect the subject material into Army, Navy and Air Force sections, and if those are your interest, jump to the Index section of this page.  I have a wide variety of general interests as well, and hope you find something that will catch your attention.  Good hunting.

Hal sends

The author has grey hair, served with the Sky Hawks, and likes to write military history, hence the title "Silver Hawk Author".

Data current to 3 July 2021.

I continue to research and write history, and you will find some of it in my most recent books now available online.  Check them out in the web pages individually dedicated to each one:


Three Cast Iron 18-pounder Smoothbore Muzzle-loading Cannons, in front of the Blockhouse at St. Andrews Block House National Historic site.

Cannon preserved in Victoria Park, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Cannon preserved at York Redoubt, Nova Scotia.

Cannon at Ferryland, Newfoundland, Tony Merkle Photo.

Cannon at Fort Rodd Hill.  This book is currently in the production phase with the publisher.

Centurion tank preserved by the Armour School, 5 Canadian Division Support Base, (5 CDSB) Gagetown, New Brunswick.

                                       

Cover: German Second World War Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind (Whirlwind) self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, based on the Panzer IV tank.  This Canadian War Trophy is one of only two of its kind left in the world (one other is preserved in a military museum in Kiel, Germany).  It was brought to Canada by Captain Farley Mowat and his Intelligence Collection Team in the summer of 1945.  It is held in trust by the Base Borden Military Museum and is currently being restored after many years on display outside in the Worthington Memorial Park, CFB Borden, Ontario.

Canadian War Trophies is an informative and detailed synopsis of the carefully preserved and restored weapons and equipment of former adversaries on display in Canada. The war prize items described include 18 Russian cannon taken during the Crimean War and gifted to Canada by Queen Victoria, captured artillery from the Fenian Raids, the Second Boer War, German small arms, guns and aircraft from the Great War, Axis weapons from the Second World War, including tanks, artillery, aircraft, rockets and submarines and a few of the weapons from the Korean War and those representing the forces of former Warsaw Pact nations of the Cold War, the Yugoslav Wars and Afghanistan.

These War Prizes represent some of the difficulties Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen have had to face in order to protect our nation from the threats posed by numerous adversaries back to the days before Canada’s Confederation.  It has been an honour for those of us who have served in the Canadian Forces, but the task of keeping our nation safe is unlikely to ever be complete.  These weapons of war are preserved to remind us of what may come when opposition to our freedom and way of life stands unopposed.  We must choose to be well prepared to meet potential threats with vigilance, proper training and equipment, sound alliances and an understanding of what the cost may be.

In doing so, it is necessary to remember that the weapons of war are an integral part of what keeps this nation safe, although the examples that have been preserved in Canada to make it so are few and far between.  The descriptions of Canadian war trophies and the places where they can be viewed highlights the importance of the equipment that brought our nation forward at key turning points in history when our own weapons were in use as tools of war at home and overseas.  This guide book will show the interested reader where to find examples of the historical weapons and equipment used by former adversaries that have been preserved in Canada.  These weapons of war should help to serve as a window on how Canada’s military contribution to security in the world has had to evolve in order to meet the difficulties and increasingly dangerous challenges we have had to face both in peace and war.

The author, shown here with a German Second World War 17-ton 17-cm Kanone 18 (K18) Field Artillery Gun which was transported from Valcartier, Quebec to 5 Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, New Brunswick on 4 December 2012.  This gun was collected in Northwest Europe in 1944 and shipped to the USA.  It came to Canada in March 1945 from Aberdeen, and was tested at Valcartier.  The author, one of the Friends of the New Brunswick Military History Museum, was happy to see here as it arrived at the museum.  

The NBMHM would welcome volunteers interesting in helping with the restoration of this gun.  We also have a 155-mm medium gun that needs some attention.

25-pounder Field gun in front of the 2 RCHA HQ, 2 CDSB Petawawa, Ontario.

The history of those who have served Canada as soldiers, both in peace and war, predates Confederation. One of Canada’s oldest and amongst the most distinguished regimental families is that of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, whose gunners and their guns have been present and active whenever needed. Over the many years since Canadian gunners fired their first shot in defence of the nation, hundreds of thousands of eager and motivated young men and women have served with pride and enthusiasm while wearing the distinctive Royal Canadian Artillery hat badge. To the members of the larger artillery community the gun is the centrepiece of a long and rich cultural tradition bearing the Royal cypher, acting much like the regimental colours of the infantry regiments as the centre piece of pride and devotion. Gunners have been expected - and have - to fight to the death to protect their guns, and when on formal parade treat them with veneration and an intense degree of symbolism that is not readily understood by those who are not members of the artillery family. When guns become old they do not always fade away. In hundreds of cases they are carefully mounted and preserved as displays and memorial symbols, a tangible link to the thousands who fought our wars and paid the ultimate price. This guidebook is an informative and detailed synopsis of some of the carefully preserved and restored field artillery guns currently on display in Canada.

Major Hal Skaarup’s book is reflective of the passion that gunners have for their guns, and his descriptions of the Canadian guns and the places of honour where they can be viewed will highlight for the interested reader that military planners have had to be continuously creative in adapting to the changes necessitated by contemporary warfare, no matter what the era. Examples include guns that predate Confederation to those that saw action as recently as Afghanistan. It is important to recognise and remember the importance of the people and equipment that defended our nation forward and were present at all of the key turning points in history. This guidebook shows where to find examples of the guns that served, and are preserved, in Canada, and may serve as a window into our past while reminding us that there is a price to pay to preserve our society and values, and gunners and their guns have always done their duty.

Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) Andrew Leslie, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD.

Museum displays and Artillery monuments change, new ones are created, old guns are moved, refurbished, sold or in some cases disposed of.  If you know of artillery pieces and their locations not listed in Shelldrake please send me an e-mail (hskaarup@rogers.com), to update the list.  Photos of the guns and the weights, makers and serial numbers stamped on them would be a great help in identifying them for other historians tracking down the gun's history.  Ubique!

In an effort to help maintain the record of Canada's artillery history and artefacts, my colleagues and I have documented all preserved artillery on display in Canada, with details, photos and research in the links listed here.  If you know of any we may have missed, please let us know and we will update the list.

Out of Darkness - Light

A History of Canadian Military Intelligence,

Volumes 1, 2, and 3

   

   

Intelligence is a key element of operations, enabling commanders to successfully plan and conduct operations. It enables them to win decisive battles and it helps them to identify and attack high value targets. Intelligence is an important part of every military decision. Military intelligence is the knowledge of a possible or actual enemy or area of operation. It encompasses combat intelligence, strategic intelligence, and counterintelligence, and is essential to the preparation and execution of military policies, plans, and operations.

The objective of military intelligence is to minimize the uncertainties of the affects of enemy, weather and terrain on operations. The decisive factor in warfare has often been the utilization of good intelligence. A glimpse of how this has been done in the Canadian Forces is contained in this reference book on the Intelligence Branch history.

You can find some of the Canadian Intelligence Corps and Intelligence Branch here:

Canadian Intelligence Corps (C Int C)

About this book: Ticonderoga Soldier

This is Elijah Estabrook's story. He was a Massachusetts provincial soldier who fought Montcalm at Ticonderoga, a battle in the French and Indian War (1754-1763).  Elijah Estabrooks kept a journal between 1758 and 1760 covering his military service during the French and Indian War, a period that saw Canada ceded to Britain. Ticonderoga Soldier expands on the details of the people and events he mentions in his Journal. He was one of the earliest settlers on the Saint John River, and now lies buried near Jemseg, New Brunswick.  This book is a tribute from one of his many descendants.

Whiz-Bangs and Woolly Bears is a story about a soldier of the Great War and his experiences as an artillery gunner in France. I used to listen carefully to his stories while we worked on his farm in Carleton County, New Brunswick.  He had kept a diary during the war, and I later had a chance to look at it.

The short entries did not begin to describe the horrors of the Western Front in 1917 and 1918.  As I grew older, I began to write him to ask about the details.  He responded to questions about major battles in this example: "Passchendaele was just one glorious mudhole.  We were there 42 days.  Kept 24 men on the guns and lost 42 in the time, an average of one a day."  This is the essence of what "Whiz Bangs and Woolly Bears" is about.  It is a running discourse between a grandfather, Walter Ray Estabrooks and his grandson Harold Skaarup who later served in the Army as well.

Although the story is essentially about Walter Estabrooks and his experiences during the Great War, it is also about the fact that he lived to tell the tale.  So many did not.  

Both of my grandfathers served in the First World War - on opposite sides. Unteroffizier Frederick C. Skaarup served with the Westfälische Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 22 and Reserve Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 45.

Corporal Harold Jorgen Skaarup of Carleton County, New Brunswick was a Sherman tank commander in "A" Squadron of the 5th Armoured Regiment, 8th Princess Louise's New Brunswick Hussars during the Second World War.  On the morning of the 31st of August 1944, he and his tank crew were fighting the Germans in Italy near a hill known as Point 136.  His squadron had already lost 12 of 19 tanks, ten to German 88-mm anti-tank shells and two to breakdowns.  That morning, Harold's tank was also hit by a shell fired from a German 88-mm anti-tank gun, and Harold was badly injured.  Although he and his tank crew bailed out of the burning Sherman, mortar rounds began to land on them.  Harold was hit again, this time taking shell fragments in his chest.  He was evacuated to a field hospital in the rear area, but died later from his wounds on the 6th of September 1944.  He was 24 years old.  Today he lies buried in a Commonwealth War Grave in Montecchio, Italy.  He never got home to tell his story.  New Brunswick Hussar is a partial chronicle of his service, by his nephew.  We never met, but I do carry his name.

(Cover: Canadair CL-13 Sabre in Golden Hawks colours, photo courtesy of Peter Handley and Vintage Wings of Canada)

This aviation handbook is designed to be used as a quick reference to the classic military heritage aircraft that have been flown by members of the Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Canadian Forces. The interested reader will find useful information and a few technical details on most of the military aircraft that have been in service with active Canadian squadrons both at home and overseas. 100 selected photographs have been included to illustrate a few of the major examples in addition to the serial numbers assigned to Canadian service aircraft. For those who like to actually see the aircraft concerned, aviation museum locations, addresses and contact phone numbers have been included, along with a list of aircraft held in each museum's current inventory or on display as gate guardians throughout Canada and overseas. The aircraft presented in this edition are listed alphabetically by manufacturer, number and type. Although many of Canada's heritage warplanes have completely disappeared, a few have been carefully collected, restored and preserved, and some have even been restored to flying condition. This guide-book should help you to find and view Canada's Warplane survivors.

The author has compiled an extensive collection of Canadian Avation photographs to share with the interested historians visiting this site.  I try to use my own photos of each aircraft and you are most welcome to share them.  Many colleagues have shared photos of aircraft I have not seen, and are credited where you see them.  Most of the historic RCAF photos come from the Library and Archives Canada Photo collection and if used, should be credited as listed.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395330)

Kite balloon behind Canadian lines at Vimy Ridge, France, Dec 1917.

One never knows what will turn up when exploring the Library and Archives Canada files looking for aviation subjects.  This one is about kite balloons used for observation of the opposing German forces by Canadians on the Western Front during the First World War.

First World War balloon jump illustration...and how it's done now:

Author stepping away from a hot-air balloon for a parachute jump over CFB Lahr, Germany, on Canada Day, 1 July 1991.

(Author Photo)

Bell CH-146 Griffon, No. 403 Operational Training Squadron, RCAF, located at 5 Canadian Division Support Base  (5 CDSB) Gagetown, New Brunswick.

C

(CF Photo)

Boeing CIM-10B Bomarc nuclear-armed surface-to-air interceptor missile equipped No. 446 Squadron at CFB North Bay, Ontario and and No. 447 Squadron at CFS La Macaza, Quebec.

The author's father, Warrant Officer (Retired) Aage C. Skaarup was an Mobile Service Equipment (MSE Operator in the RCAF and CF from 1954 to 1974.  He trained at St. Jean, Quebec and served at Camp Borden, Ontario, 1955-1957, RCAF Station Trenton, Ontario, 1957-1959, No. 3 (F) Wing based in Zweibrucken, Germany, 1959-1963, CFB North Bay, Ontario, 1963-1966, CFS Gypsumville, Manitoba, 1966-1968, CFS Gander, Newfoundland, 1968-1971, and CFB Chatham, New Brunswick, 1971-1974, where he retired as a Warrant Officer in 1974.  Dad passed away in 2011 and is buried near his farm in Carleton County, New Brunswick.

Canadian Aerospace Artists Association

Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk. V, RCAF (Serial No. 23649), Golden Hawks colours, Acrylic on canvas, 24 X 36, 2016.

This book is a collection of "there I was" stories highlighting the experiences of Canadian Forces pilots who have had the opportunity of a lifetime to fly in the combat aircraft operated by former adversaries. Technical descriptions of key Soviet-built fighter jets such as the MiG-15, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29, Sukhoi Su-22 and Su-27 are included for general reference.The Canadian Fighter pilots mentioned in the story have generously provided their observations and comments on their specific experiences of flight in aircraft such as the MiG-29 (NATO codenamed Fulcrum), Sukhoi Su-22 (codenamed Fitter) and Su-27 (codenamed Flanker), both in Canada and overseas. The stories as told first hand by the pilots who contributed them should provide interesting reading for aviation enthusiasts of all ages.An Annex listing aircraft known to have been brought to the West by defecting pilots since 1949 is also included. The Annex briefly describes pilots and aircraft and the circumstances that brought the various defectors to the west, including the MiG-15 flown to South Korea by Lieutenant No Kum-Sok and the MiG-25 flown to Japan by Lieutenant Viktor Belenko. Brief details of Soviet-built aircraft later flown in NATO opposition force flight test programs are also included.

Axis Warplane Survivors is a guidebook to the preserved Military Aircraft of the Second World War Tripartite Pact of Germany, Italy, and Japan, joined by Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia; the co-belligerent states of Thailand, Finland, San Marino and Iraq; and the occupied states of Albania, Belarus, Croatia, Vichy France, Greece, Ljubljana, Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Manchukuo, Mengjiang, the Philippines and Vietnam.

This handbook concerns the collection of Air Technical Intelligence, and the test flying of war prizes carried out by two RCAF bomber pilots who were posted to the Royal Aircraft Establishment's Foreign Aircraft Flight, Farnborough, in the United Kingdom in May 1945. Their primary task was to visit former Luftwaffe airfields, and to find and fly back any aircraft they deemed worthy of evaluation.

As an RCAF Associate Historian and a member of the Canadian Aviation Preservation Association and the Canadian Aviation Artists Association, the author strongly supports the preservation of Canada's aviation heritage.  The primary intent of these artcles and illustrations is to provide information for aviation artists and enthusiasts looking for that unusual "never before painted" military aviation subject, and to support the efforts of those engaged in the search for those missing warbirds for which no examples currently exist.

(Author Photo)

Avro Lancaster Mk. 10, Canada Air & Space Museum, Ottawa, Ontario, 30 Oct 2017.

(Author Photo)

Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4Z, (Wk. Nr. 10132), Canada Air & Space Museum, Ottawa, Ontario, 19 Aug 2019.

(Arjun Sarop Photo)

Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1 (Wk. Nr. 790), earliest surviving 109 to have seen combat, - ex-J/88/2 (Condor Legion) "6-106", ex-Bf 109 E-3, ex-Spanish AF "C4E-106", Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany.

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport, an ex-Lebanese aircraft on display at the Museo Storico dell' Aeronautica Militare Italiana at Vigna di Valle, north of Rome, Italy.

(Toshi Aoki Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter, Zero-Sen, codenamed “Zeke” (Serial No. 5357), coded 61-120, this aircraft is the only airworthy example powered with an original Sakae radial engine.  It is on loan from the Planes of Fame Museum, on static display with the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum, Tokorozawa, Japan.  Airworthy.

(Author Photo, 2004)

Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter (Serial No. 22), mounted on pylons in front of the Afghan Air Force Station, Kabul.

Cover: Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress "Sentimental Journey".  (Author Photo)

This aviation handbook is designed to be used as a quick reference to the classic military heritage aircraft that have been restored and preserved in the state of Arizona. The aircraft include those fl own by members of the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Coast Guard, the Air and Army National Guard, and by various NATO and allied nations as well as a number previously operated by opposition forces in peace and war. The interested reader will find useful information and a few technical details on most of the military aircraft that have been in service with active flying squadrons both at home and overseas. 100 selected photographs have been included to illustrate a few of the major examples in addition to the serial numbers assigned to American military aircraft . For those who like to actually see the aircraft concerned, aviation museum locations, addresses and contact phone numbers have been included, along with a list of aircraft held in each museum's current inventory or on display as gate guardians throughout the State of Arizona. The aircraft presented in this edition are listed alphabetically by manufacturer, number and type. Although many of Arizona's heritage warplanes have completely disappeared, a few have been carefully collected, restored and preserved, and some have even been restored to flying condition. This guide-book should help you to find and view Arizona's Warplane survivors.

(Cover: Lockheed SR-71B Blackbird Photo courtesy of Judson Brohmer, USAF).

About this book: California Warplane

This is an aviation handbook designed to be used as a quick reference to the classic military heritage aircraft that have been restored and preserved in the state of California.  The aircraft include those flown by members of the US Air Force, the US Navy, the US Army, the US Marine Corps, the US Coast Guard, the Air and Army National Guard units, and by various NATO and allied nations as well as a number of aircraft previously operated by opposition forces in peace and war.

The interested reader will find useful information and a few technical details on most of the military aircraft that have been in service with active flying squadrons both at home and overseas.  150 selected photographs have been included to illustrate a few of the major examples in addition to the serial numbers assigned to American military aircraft.  For those who would like to actually see the aircraft concerned, aviation museum locations, addresses and contact phone numbers, websites and email addresses have been included, along with a list of aircraft held in each museum’s current inventory or that are on display as gate guardians throughout the state of California.  The aircraft presented in this edition are listed alphabetically by manufacturer, number and type.

Although many of California’s heritage warplanes have completely disappeared, a few have been carefully collected, restored and preserved, and a good number of these have been restored to flying condition.  This guide-book should help you to find and view California’s Warplane survivors (publication date April 2012).

(Cover: North American P-51C Mustang "The Macon Belle", Photo courtesy of Philip Makanna)

This aviation handbook is designed to be used as a quick reference to the classic military heritage aircraft that have been restored and preserved in the state of Florida. The aircraft include those fl own by members of the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Coast Guard, the Air and Army National Guard, and by various NATO and allied nations as well as a number previously operated by opposition forces in peace and war.

The interested reader will find useful information and a few technical details on most of the military aircraft that have been in service with active flying squadrons both at home and overseas. 160 selected photographs have been included to illustrate a few of the major examples in addition to the serial numbers assigned to American military aircraft. For those who like to actually see the aircraft concerned, aviation museum locations, addresses and contact phone numbers have been included, along with a list of aircraft held in each museum's current inventory or on display as gate guardians throughout the State of Florida. The aircraft presented in this edition are listed alphabetically by manufacturer, number and type.

Although many of Florida's heritage warplanes have completely disappeared, a few have been carefully collected, restored and preserved, and some have even been restored to flying condition. This guide-book should help you to find and view Florida's Warplane survivors.

(Cover: Consolidated B-24 Liberator, photo courtesy of the Collings Foundation)

This book includes 120 selected photographs illustrating a few of the major examples of surviving warplanes in New England, in addition to the serial numbers assigned to American military aircraft. For those who would like to actually see the aircraft concerned, aviation museum locations, addresses and contact phone numbers, websites and email addresses have been included, along with a list of aircraft held in each museum's current inventory or that on display as gate guardians throughout the New England States. The aircraft presented in this edition are listed alphabetically by manufacturer, number and type.

Although many of New England's heritage warplanes have completely disappeared, a few have been carefully collected, restored and preserved, and some have even been restored to flying condition. This guide-book should help you to find and view New England's Warplane survivors.

An updated list of New England Warplane survivors and other warplanes on display by state in the USA can be found in the links at the right of this page.

Warships of the Royal Canadian Navy

(PH2 David B. Loveall, USN Photo)

The Canadian frigates HMCS Restigouche (DDE 257), rear, HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259), center, and HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236), front, underway during CINCPAC Exercise FLEETEX '83.  The U.S. Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and the Canadian Navy were participating in the exercise near the Aleutian Islands of Alaska in 1983.

(USN Photo)

HMCS Restigouche (DDE 257).

My brother Lt (N) Dale R. Skaarup, served on HMCS Restigouche during his military service, so in keeping with the family spirit, this section is devoted to Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Warships,  The primary reference for the data presented has been gleaned from a number of resources, but with special recognition of the reference book The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910-1981, put together by Ken Macpherson and John Burgess, Collins Publishers, Toronto, 1981.

S

Women in the Canadian Forces

(DND Photo)

Canadian Nursing Sisters, Normandy, 1944.

Canadian Nursing Sisters

The RCAF has the distinction of being the first service to admit women beyond nursing sisters.  On 2 July 1941, an Order-in-Council granted it permission to establish the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (CWAAF), which would be modelled on and structured like Britain’s Royal Air Force Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.  In February 1942, it was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division (RCAF WD), and its members weere usually referred to as WDs.  A change in federal labour legislation paved the way for this breakthrough development. Included in the revised labour legislation, passed in early 1941, was a provision for the establishment of the Women’s Volunteer Services (WVS) and the National Selective Service (NSS) branch of the Department of Labour, which permitted the Canadian Army and the RCAF to employ women to ease their manpower shortages.

Nursing Sisters, Canada, Pararescue (Parabelles)

Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division (RCAF WD)

RCAF Women's Division (RCAF WD), Wing Officer Willa Walker, OBE, Commander

Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC)

Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS)

Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) Canada


Black Military History in the Maritimes


First Nation's Military History in the Maritimes

Surcouf, Loss of the French Cruiser Submarine, 18 Feb 1942

(Marine nationale Photo)

Canadian Steam Locomotives

My grandchildren, Cole, Ashley, Owen, Auli and Bauer, have taken an extreme interest in steam engines.  This page is for them!

Canadian National Railway Locomotive No. 2801, 1926.  (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3349126)

Suppose you could communicate with a visitor who was not from this place, time, space or even this dimension? What would you want to ask them? The answers probably lie in what our own response would be if we were them. Visitors, Questions & Answers is based on a collection of interviews I have had with a few individuals who may have actually had such an experience. The idea is that if enough of us are ready to ask the questions and gain the answers, then our collective knowledge and understanding of the "multiverse" about us can only continue to be enhanced. Sometimes the responses that you will read here are similar; often they are diametrically opposed to each other. An open but highly skeptical mind is extremely necessary if you are going to sift through the data that is presented in this book. The intent is that it should peak your curiosity to learn more about "visitors." In this way, we may be better informed and prepared, and thus in some sort of coherent shape to deal with their arrival.

If you only believe what you have been told to believe, this book may not be for you.  If you are open-minded and thing for yourself, this book might be of interest to you.  If you read Visitors, Questions & Answers, you must be well prepared to choose for yourself what you will or will not believe.

If you only believe what you have been told to believe, this book may not be for you.  If you are open-minded and think for yourself, this book might be of interest to you.  This is a book of "light" stories that are about the gift of choice we are given in this life. You can choose to live and be full of God's light, or spend most of your time in a very dark place. The dark doesn't like the light, because once it has been touched by the light, it isn't dark anymore. My intent is to tell you about dreams I have had, people I have met, and some of the gifts that have been granted to me because of them. Like so many of us, I have had the great privilege of meeting people whom I consider to be true "angels" in all senses of the word. Some of their comments, and in some cases "channelings" have been included in this collection of stories. It is my hope that you will draw a bit of pleasure from some of the information provided here, and perhaps learn something new. The stories are real enough, in that the ideas and thoughts behind them originate from my experiences. Anyone with an interest in Glastonbury, Oak Island, Rennes-le-Chateau, Capernaum and a hundred other places of legend, history and mystery, will find this an interesting book.  (...and can you see the ghost at the front entrance to the cathedral of Trier, Germany, on the cover of this book?)

If you only believe what you have been told to believe, this book may not be for you.  If you are open-minded and thing for yourself, this book might be of interest to you.  The Dream Seeker is a collection of stories, dreams, and "readings" which touch on the Light that shines within us. Those who have a strong faith and a loving heart radiate this Light, and one result is others are drawn to it. When you have this light, there should be no questions or answers that you should fear. Many of the answers to the questions in this book may surprise you. Have we been here before? Is it possible we have had past lives? Are there others visiting us? Can our future be understood? Can we be shown the way ahead?

You will find responses to these questions, based upon interviews with gifted people who believe that many things are possible. We are all given incredible gifts that seem to have been significantly enhanced with recent changes that have taken place around us. One must always honour such gifts or they will just as quickly be taken away. It is my hope that you will find something that resonates within you in this book, and that you too, will choose to "walk in the Light."

(Author Photo)

Fredericton Region Museum

The counter at the bottom of this page recorded 806,361 visitors as of 7 May 2020.  The company that provided the counter has ceased to exist, so the counter was reset to 0, and what you see on the current counter is the number of visitors since  21 June 2020.

 That's all.  Keep smiling!

...Oh, I wanted to ask, everyone has heard of the Super Bowl, but have you ever heard of the "Tea Bowl" football game between Canada and the USA in England, 14 April 1945?

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3211153)

Private First Class Frank Dombrowski (left) of the United States and Major William Denis Whitaker (Canada), rival captains of the teams playing in the Canada-United States "Tea Bowl" football game at White City Stadium, London, England.

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