No description available.

No description available.

Canadian ground troops took an active part in United Nations operations during the Korean War. Although the Army's contribution of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade Group was small by First and Second World War standards, only the Republic of Korea, the United States and Great Britain fielded larger contingents. The core of the 25th Brigade consisted of three infantry battalions. They contained most of the Brigade's effective manpower, and bore the brunt of the fighting. Despite the infantry's pre-eminent role in Korea, their experiences up to now remain forgotten. This thesis examines the ordeal of Canadian combat soldiers in the Far East and shows how they suffered horrendous, often unnecessary, hardships at the hands of an indifferent high command. From the outset, Canadian infantrymen were neither properly trained nor equipped for the combat conditions they encountered. Battlefield performance and combat motivation suffered accordingly. The infantry's problems extended into other areas. Insufficient indoctrination left soldiers poorly prepared for the non-combat aspects of service in the Far East, leading some to question the purpose of Canadian involvement in Korea. Medical preparations were also inadequate, making soldiers susceptible to a variety of infectious diseases. In the combat zone, little regard was shown for soldiers' welfare. Infantrymen lived like beggars without even the most basic comforts and amenities, relying on alcohol to assuage the discomforts of life in the field. Clearly, the Canadian infantry was plagued by problems in Korea. These problems shaped the experiences of Canadian combat soldiers, making their Far Eastern tours far more difficult and dangerous than they need have been. / Graduate

Military Preparedness in a New Security Environment: The Canadian Army Reserve's Contribution to Public Safety and Domestic Security addresses the Reserve's response to Canada's domestic security needs in the current security environment. The security environment is evolving, which has led to increasing constraints and the search for evolving security solutions for Western national governments, including a greater use of the Reserve. However, certain tensions inhibit the twin-track contributions of the Reserve to both domestic and international operations, arising from issues such as role definition, buy-in, and resource commitment. The "Canadian solution" o f having the Reserve "muddle through" these issues and follow both roles will inevitably need to change if the Reserve is to effectively serve Canadians in the future, be that internationally or domestically. The methods employed include the analysis of existing literature addressing the evolving security environment, concepts of civil-military relations, and recent Canadian national security policies, combined with a presentation of the Army Reserve, and a comparative study with key Commonwealth counterparts. Thus, at a conceptual level, at the Canadian level, and at the level of Canada's international partners, it became apparent that there are tensions between a domestic and international role for the Reserve which could create problems for the Reserve's future. In practice, the methodology consisted of the analysis of academic and government primary and secondary sources as well as drawing upon the author's interviews with individuals of relevant expertise or experience. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

Canada's volunteer military faces a major manning problem. High attrition rates reflect youth indifference to military service, and research indicates that the manpower pool from which recruits are drawn will shrink significantly in the next two decades, exacerbating an already difficult situation. / This thesis reports on the first part of a two phase study investigating some of the variables and the dynamics underlying training attrition. In this phase three personality inventories, Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI), Levenson's Locus of Control Scale (LCS), and Super's Work Values Inventory (WVI) were related to four discrete categories of attrition and to several composite attrition criteria. In addition, Holland's personality-environment congruence hypothesis was tested. / Two distinct samples were used: military recruits, and their supervising Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs). The recruit sample consisted of 795, 17-25 year old, males who successfully completed Canadian Forces Basic Training without being recoursed, as well as 185 recruits grouped into four discrete and three composite attrition categories. The NCO sample consisted of the 30 Squad NCOs in charge of training the recruit sample. / Both recruit and NCO samples were administered questionnaires prior to the start of training. The questionnaires, contained the personality inventories indicated, as well as measures of variables to be analyzed in the second phase of this study. / Statistical analysis was carried out using (chi)('2), ANOVA, and point biserial corrrelations. Since this was a field study, the level of significance utilized was p < .05. / Three of four hypotheses were supported: (a) Recruits who share congruent LCS personality types with their Squad NCO and the modal squad personality type had lower attrition rates, supporting Holland's congruency hypothesis. (b) As a group, recruits with Realistic, Investigative and Conventional personality types, were more congruent with the squad environments, and exhibited significantly less attrition than Artistic, Social and Enterprising types, supporting the congruency hypothesis, and the use of Holland's theory in the analysis of vocational change. (c) A postulated difference in attrition between LCS personality types, Internals, Externals-Chance and External-Powerful Others, was not supported by the data. However, recruits in one of the composite attrition categories scored significantly higher on the External-Chance sub-scale of Levenson's LCS, suggesting poorer adaptation among those who believe that chance has a controlling effect on their lives. (d) Several work values were negatively correlated with the various attrition categories, possibly an outcome of the modal "blue collar" orientation of the sample. However, the "life style" value correlated positively with those who were passing and requested release and the "surroundings" value correlated positively with those who were failing and requested release, suggesting a consistent relationship between certain work values and attrition categories. / Overall results confirm the usefulness of utilizing multiple, discrete, and composite attrition criteria and of investigating attrition from a micro-environmental perspective. The study also supports Holland's personality-environment congruence hypothesis, and suggests a consistent relationship between personality variables and attrition.

Faced with the great and expanding volume of modern records created by government and other bodies, archivists have necessarily had to make choices about what to preserve and what to destroy. The conceptual basis for appraisal and practical implementation of appraisal in any given body of records are still matters not thoroughly worked out by archivists and archives. This thesis examines the conceptual basis of appraisal as it has been revealed in the literature on the subject, and applies to concepts found in the literature to appraisal of World War I military personnel files. The research strategy involves a reading of the professional literature on appraisal to determine the concepts which have been developed to rule the appraisal process, a survey of the disposition of military personnel records by several combatant states during World War I, and an analysis of Canadian military personnel records of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I. Some attention has been paid to the military historiography and in particular to studies that appear to be relevant to a discussion of appraisal of military personnel records. It was found that by and large military personnel records were not treated as are other personnel or case files, which have rarely been preserved in their entirety by archives. Although the reasons for this are not entirely clear, a study of the CEF military personnel records suggests that they can be objectively analysed in the way archivists have proposed for other records. It is proposed that an initial analysis based on standards contemporary with the records can be undertaken, and a further, later appraisal can be made based on the research use to which the records are put in the interval. As well, the various options open to the Public Archives of Canada, which holds the CEF military personnel records, are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

No description available.

During the Second World War, training was the Canadian Army’s longest sustained activity. Aside from isolated engagements at Hong Kong and Dieppe, the Canadians did not fight in a protracted campaign until the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The years that Canadian infantry units spent training in the United Kingdom were formative in the history of the Canadian Army. Despite what much of the historical literature has suggested, training succeeded in making the Canadian infantry capable of succeeding in battle against German forces. Canadian infantry training showed a definite progression towards professionalism and away from a pervasive prewar mentality that the infantry was a largely unskilled arm and that training infantrymen did not require special expertise. From 1939 to 1941, Canadian infantry training suffered from problems ranging from equipment shortages to poor senior leadership. In late 1941, the Canadians were introduced to a new method of training called “battle drill,” which broke tactical manoeuvres into simple movements, encouraged initiative among junior leaders, and greatly boosted the men’s morale. The Canadians participated in numerous military exercises of varying sizes that exposed problems with their senior leadership. The replacement of unsuitable officers greatly enhanced the fighting potential of Canadian units and formations. As time went on, infantry training became more rigorous and realistic, and tactical concepts became increasingly sophisticated. By the time of the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, infantry training was intense, suited to units’ assigned tasks, and highly technical, which belied the false prewar assumption that the infantry was an unskilled arm. By the time Canadian divisions entered battle, they were as prepared as they would ever be. The exception to this was the training of the overseas reinforcement units, which reached an acceptable standard only in the last months of the war. This study ultimately represents a substantial contribution to understanding the history of the Canadian Army and its role in the Second World War.

This study examines some of the ways in which Second World War veterans helped shape Canadian society in the years after 1945 by using the life experience of one of their number, Major-General Daniel Charles Spry, as an interpretive model. Just over one million Canadian men and women re-entered civil life after their wartime military service. Representing approximately 35 per cent of Canada’s adult male population aged 25 to 49 in 1951, and found in nearly every facet of Canadian life, Second World War veterans possessed social importance that extended far beyond their experience of the Veterans Charter. Using Dan Spry’s documented thoughts and actions in war and peace, this study argues that a number of these individuals learned lessons regarding leadership, character, citizenship, and internationalism during their wartime military service and – finding them useful – applied such lessons to various aspects of their lives after the war’s end. In so doing, Second World War veterans helped to influence the character of postwar Canada’s institutions, workplaces, and the lives of many Canadians by providing societal leadership, moulding children’s character, developing future citizens, and trying to build a better world. Appreciating their varied contributions provides new insight into both veterans’ attitudes and the sort of place that Canada was after the guns fell silent in 1945.

This study examines the five American Legion battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force formed in 1915 specifically to recruit American volunteers for the Canadian overseas contingent of the First World War. This study reviews the organization of Canada's militia and Anglo-American relations before examining the formation of the American Legion, the background of its men, and the diplomatic repercussions it sparked. This study is based largely on material in the Public Archives of Canada including war records and the personal papers of several participants. During its brief existence, the American Legion precipitated constitutional, diplomatic, and political problems. The issues the American Legion raised were mostly solved by America's entry in the war. The episode hastened the maturity of Canada as a nation.