A Tough Little Boat: The Pogo-HMCS Labrador’s Hydrographic Survey Launch

In the summer of 1995 the Canadian War Museum accepted delivery of the Pogo, the 36-foot aluminum sounding boat which had accompanied the voyages of HMCS Labrador, Canada’s first and last Arctic Patrol vessel. One of the considerations that led to its acquisition lies in the CWM’s mission statement, to document “Canada’s commitment to peacekeeping and maintenance of international security.” We have a tendency to speak of international security as a concept symptomatic of the Nuclear Age because, prior to the Second World War, countries could afford to take an isolationist stance and dismiss the tension between belligerents as “none of their business.” However, the long-range nuclear bomber and the subsequent introduction of the intercontinental ballistic missile made tensions everybody’s business. The early 1950s were the beginning of an era where Canada began to define its postwar image and the addition of this artifact to the National Collection is a physical reminder of Canada\u27s role in the achievement of Arctic sovereignty and the development of international security

Great War Legacy: A Drum from the 20th Battalion

During the First World War the Canadian Expeditionary Force recruited a total of 260 battalions for overseas service. Yet the four Divisions of the Canadian Corps maintained only 48 battalions at the front. The vast majority of the battalions sent to England were either broken up to supply reinforcements for units already at the front or reconstituted for duties such as forestry or pioneer work. But all these battalions went through the process of recruiting, training, and working up in Canada before going overseas, thereby developing their own unit personality, traditions, and esprit de corps. These were all lost when the unit was broken up. The drum, of course, had been a long standing part of the military retinue, used for beating time on the march and the drum corps formed an important part of a unit’s musical ensemble. The drums bore the unit’s crest and, stacked on top of one another, occupied a prominent place on such special unit occasions as church parade and the presentations of the colours. Thus, the drums were an important component of a unit’s symbolism and sense of tradition. Any that survive from the disbanded battalions would constitute a tactile reminder of fervently developed, but ultimately lost, traditions and esprit de corps. In June the CWM took possession of a drum from one of these lost units, the 207th Battalion, which is interesting not only for what it represents in itself, but for the poignant story associated with the drummer who originally played it—William Garvin

Great War Legacy: A Drum from the 20th Battalion

During the First World War the Canadian Expeditionary Force recruited a total of 260 battalions for overseas service. Yet the four Divisions of the Canadian Corps maintained only 48 battalions at the front. The vast majority of the battalions sent to England were either broken up to supply reinforcements for units already at the front or reconstituted for duties such as forestry or pioneer work. But all these battalions went through the process of recruiting, training, and working up in Canada before going overseas, thereby developing their own unit personality, traditions, and esprit de corps. These were all lost when the unit was broken up. The drum, of course, had been a long standing part of the military retinue, used for beating time on the march and the drum corps formed an important part of a unit’s musical ensemble. The drums bore the unit’s crest and, stacked on top of one another, occupied a prominent place on such special unit occasions as church parade and the presentations of the colours. Thus, the drums were an important component of a unit’s symbolism and sense of tradition. Any that survive from the disbanded battalions would constitute a tactile reminder of fervently developed, but ultimately lost, traditions and esprit de corps. In June the CWM took possession of a drum from one of these lost units, the 207th Battalion, which is interesting not only for what it represents in itself, but for the poignant story associated with the drummer who originally played it—William Garvin

“Treasures” from the Canadian War Museum’s Backlog

In the 1970s Canadian War Museum curatorial staff decided they needed to bolster the scope of the museum’s national military collection. Consequently, they placed ads in Legion magazine and enclosed flyers in veterans’ pension cheques inviting veterans to send in military or military related items they had in their possession that they thought would be of interest to the museum. The response was overwhelming. In the end, a grand total of 24,400 objects poured in; many more than was anticipated and much too large a number for the museum’s small staff to properly register and catalogue. The only option was to carry out a basic inventory and then pack the objects away in boxes (which occupied a total of 197 pallets) pending the day when sufficient resources would become available to process them adequately, so that they would become properly identified and usable museum artifacts