Getting the Truth About Canada's Military Past
Jennifer Chen, in the Ottawa Citizen (Nov. 8, 2004):
These are two stereotypes Norm Christie hopes to shatter in For King & Country, a six-part series that begins tonight on the History Channel.
"A lot of the preconceived notions are just complete nonsense," said Christie, a military historian and the show's host.
While other countries such as Australia and the United States are hyper-aware of their military history, Canada is "way, way behind," he added.
For King & Country is the sequel by Breakthrough Entertainment to a 2001 series on Canada's involvement in the First World War.
Canadians, Christie said, should know more about their own country and the cost of war.
"When they see what we have done in the past, it will serve to rekindle some of the nationalism that seems to have gone dormant."
The series visits locations around the world, from lesser-known battlefields such as Hong Kong to more infamous campaigns in Europe.
Through interviews with Second World War veterans, viewers get an understanding of the "essence" of a battle. Ottawa resident Peter Cock was First Lieutenant on an anti-submarine corvette, which escorted supply ships across the Atlantic to Iceland.
In the series' first episode, he recalls the Canadian navy's fierce defence against a "wolf pack" of German U-boats in September 1941. When Cock joined the navy reserves in 1939, he was 20 years old and training to be an artist.
In a time of renewed interest in war, it's important for Canadians to understand our military involvement, the 86-year-old said. "It's part of our history."
Many probably didn't know, for example, that when the war ended, Canada had the third largest navy in the world. "If you're looking at TV or going to the movies, it's always the war the Americans are fighting," he said.
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