WWI & WWII images of Canadian and British military history from a private collection. Will sometimes sidetrack into insignia and ephemera. Pause and reflect.
Vancouver Island, Canada
Joined June 2023
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The Royal Canadian Navy's only loss in WWI--HMCS Galiano, sunk in a terrific storm off Vancouver Island. #OTD in 1918 she sent her last message: "Hold full of water, for God’s sake send help.” There were no survivors. @CraigBaird @RoyalCdnLegion
Fancy dress at St Dunstan's Hospital for Blinded Soldiers, founded in London to help sight-impaired soldiers adjust and learn a trade. The good work continues as Blind Veterans UK. Donations may be made at blindveterans.org.uk/ @BlindVeterans @PoppyLegion
Silk card sent to a cousin from Arthur Austin Gale, a farmer from Shedden, #Ontario. Gale was wounded through the left calf on Oct. 30, 1917 at Passchendale. He was discharged as 'medically unfit' in April, 1919.
Cheap tobacco and cigarettes could be sent to soldiers at the front, often through funds that could purchase smokes at a steep discount. This music hall 'artiste' loaned his image to the cause. #WWI #tobacco #musichall
"Pete" an English Bulldog mascot of the 172nd (Rocky Mountain Rangers) Battalion gets protection from the summer sun in Vernon training camp, British Columbia, 1916. #Canada #Bulldog #doglovers
#OTD in 1944, Canadian destroyer HMCS Skeena dragged her anchor and wrecked in a massive storm off Iceland with the loss of 15 crew. First photo shows the ship in better days, shortly after commissioning in 1931. @RoyalCanNavy #Canada #WW2
An interesting mix of Empire servicemen in 1918 London: two Australian infantrymen, a British Army Pay Corps corporal and a Royal Air Force officer. #England #Australia #London
Funeral of Lt Roy Gzowski, Queen's Own Rifles of Canada; died of complications of typhus while the Regiment was visiting the UK in 1910; buried in #Aldershot #Hants. His great-nephew would become #CBC's famed host Peter Gzowski. #CanMilTwitter @CBC
Two matelots of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve (Pacific Division), likely in #Esquimalt, B.C. Photo circa 1915. @RoyalCanNavy @mapleleafnavy #WWI #FWW #Navy
Ralph Pearson was a prewar Canadian Militia soldier and high school teacher from Nova Scotia. In WWI he joined the field artillery. Returning from England, he died at sea of bronchial pneumonia #OTD, 1918. #Canada #NovaScotia #WWI
#OTD 1939: British battleship HMS Royal Oak is sunk at anchor in the naval base at Scapa Flow, Scotland by German sub U-47. 835 crew are killed. The ship remains a war grave, with a new White Ensign placed on the wreck every year. #Scotland #RoyalNavy #WW2
This battered old postcard still has the power to charm, with these three children (two dressed like daddy) during the Great War. The boy at left *may* be wearing the badge of the 46th (Saskatchewan) Battn. #Canada #WWI #teddybear
