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Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867
by David A. Borys
(Dundurn Press $42)
Review by Graham Chandler (BCBW 2024)
Canada is not a nation of pacifists. Far from it. So shows this welcome volume with its self-descriptive title page, which the rest of the book follows with over a century and a half of involvement in various domestic and international wars.
If you thought Canadian history (and especially Canadian military history) could be boring, read this book and you’ll have a re-think. David Borys, a faculty member at Vancouver’s Langara College and the host of the popular history podcast, Curious Canadian History, digs up many surprising facts. Those qualifications blend well in telling the stories behind the facts.
The following are a few examples of the little-known tales in Canada’s military history that Borys details: In March 1884, Mahdi forces (radical Muslims) were attacking the key city of Khartoum on the Nile River and the British were concerned that the fall of Khartoum would threaten their control of the region and the Suez Canal. To their rescue came veterans of Canada’s Red River Rebellion, who knew how to tackle such river-based skirmishes.
Assisting with quelling student and citizen riots is nothing new to Canada’s military. The Montreal Flag Riot of March 1900 saw a loyalist crowd of almost 2,000 made up of McGill University students and English-speaking Montreal residents celebrating Canada’s role in the recent Boer War victory at Paardeberg. Then the mob got sidetracked and attacked two French-language newspaper offices. The army was called in to settle down the brouhaha.
But most of the pages are filled with major battle action—often using descriptive quotes to put you there. Consider this one on the grim effects of chlorine gas faced by soldiers at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 during World War I: “Men barely accustomed to the wet and cold weather of Northwest Europe were now choking, vomiting, and dying as their faces turned from blue to a ghastly green. The effect of the gas caused the membranes in the bronchial tubes to swell, eventually turning to a liquid mass. A man effectively choked to death on his own insides.”
As well as the vivid descriptions, Borys provides stats to reinforce them. For the Battle of Vimy Ridge, synonymous with Canadian heroism, “The (Canadian) corps suffered 10,602 casualties, most of those on the first day. This gave April 9 the dubious distinction of becoming the bloodiest single day in Canadian military history. The fighting was so severe that three Victoria Crosses were awarded on that initial day alone, with a fourth bestowed on the second.”
Not all of Canada’s military activity covered in the book falls under the rubric of national security; some is related to the protection of Canadian private business such as this unusual use of our army: the year 1921 saw three Royal Canadian Navy vessels—nearly the entire fleet—sail to Costa Rica to strong-arm that nation into giving in to the Royal Bank of Canada’s oil concessions.
And most Canadians who are aware of our forces’ national reputation as peacekeepers would spout how it started with the Suez Crisis of 1956-57. However, that’s not so. The template for United Nations international peacekeeping was established nearly a decade before when, in 1948, the UN requested military observers to patrol the demarcation line between India and Pakistan in Kashmir after the two countries’ independence.
It was on a small Mediterranean island, though, that Canada committed to its longest peacekeeping operation. In 1963, Cyprus, which had received independence from Britain just three years earlier, was descending into chaos as Greek and Turkish Cypriots clashed over the political future of the island. Canada’s military kept the peace between the two sides for thirty years until the bulk of its forces were withdrawn in 1993. However, as Borys notes, Canada still has a small presence on the island as “a Canadian officer continues to be sent to Cyprus every year to support mission headquarters.”
Other contemporary war stories include Canada’s role in Afghanistan. In our longest war, between 2001 and 2014, 40,000 Canadians served in theatre. Nearly 2,000 personnel were wounded, 109 decorations for military valour were awarded, approximately 9,000 CAF men and women received treatment for PTSD and 158 Canadian soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice.
An attractive feature is Borys’ use of what appear to be vintage maps, showing advances and tactics where you can follow the action. Another is discussion of the politics behind those actions—how the soldiers, sailors and airmen got into all that fighting in the first place. And he doesn’t overlook the important role of Blacks, Chinese, Indigenous and other minorities.
But this book is not all about guts, glory and flag-waving. Borys doesn’t leave out the ugly stuff. Like the torture and murder of Somali teenager Shidane Arone by Canadian peacekeepers in Somalia that resulted in the disgrace and disbanding of the once-elite Canadian Airborne Regiment. Nor the morale-killing controversial stuff like the 1960s’ unification of the three services into one; and the 1970s’ favouring of Francophones in promotions. Add to those controversies the current sexual harassment charges that are still cause for concern.
Read this book and see why Canadian military leaders are constantly forced to do more with less, “punching above their weight,” as many, like Borys, are apt to say.
9781459754126
Vancouver-based freelance writer Graham Chandler has written over 700 articles on various topics including military issues. He served in the RCAF and Canadian Armed Forces, and holds a PhD in archaeology from the University of London.
by David A. Borys
(Dundurn Press $42)
Review by Graham Chandler (BCBW 2024)
Canada is not a nation of pacifists. Far from it. So shows this welcome volume with its self-descriptive title page, which the rest of the book follows with over a century and a half of involvement in various domestic and international wars.
If you thought Canadian history (and especially Canadian military history) could be boring, read this book and you’ll have a re-think. David Borys, a faculty member at Vancouver’s Langara College and the host of the popular history podcast, Curious Canadian History, digs up many surprising facts. Those qualifications blend well in telling the stories behind the facts.
The following are a few examples of the little-known tales in Canada’s military history that Borys details: In March 1884, Mahdi forces (radical Muslims) were attacking the key city of Khartoum on the Nile River and the British were concerned that the fall of Khartoum would threaten their control of the region and the Suez Canal. To their rescue came veterans of Canada’s Red River Rebellion, who knew how to tackle such river-based skirmishes.
Assisting with quelling student and citizen riots is nothing new to Canada’s military. The Montreal Flag Riot of March 1900 saw a loyalist crowd of almost 2,000 made up of McGill University students and English-speaking Montreal residents celebrating Canada’s role in the recent Boer War victory at Paardeberg. Then the mob got sidetracked and attacked two French-language newspaper offices. The army was called in to settle down the brouhaha.
But most of the pages are filled with major battle action—often using descriptive quotes to put you there. Consider this one on the grim effects of chlorine gas faced by soldiers at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 during World War I: “Men barely accustomed to the wet and cold weather of Northwest Europe were now choking, vomiting, and dying as their faces turned from blue to a ghastly green. The effect of the gas caused the membranes in the bronchial tubes to swell, eventually turning to a liquid mass. A man effectively choked to death on his own insides.”
As well as the vivid descriptions, Borys provides stats to reinforce them. For the Battle of Vimy Ridge, synonymous with Canadian heroism, “The (Canadian) corps suffered 10,602 casualties, most of those on the first day. This gave April 9 the dubious distinction of becoming the bloodiest single day in Canadian military history. The fighting was so severe that three Victoria Crosses were awarded on that initial day alone, with a fourth bestowed on the second.”
Not all of Canada’s military activity covered in the book falls under the rubric of national security; some is related to the protection of Canadian private business such as this unusual use of our army: the year 1921 saw three Royal Canadian Navy vessels—nearly the entire fleet—sail to Costa Rica to strong-arm that nation into giving in to the Royal Bank of Canada’s oil concessions.
And most Canadians who are aware of our forces’ national reputation as peacekeepers would spout how it started with the Suez Crisis of 1956-57. However, that’s not so. The template for United Nations international peacekeeping was established nearly a decade before when, in 1948, the UN requested military observers to patrol the demarcation line between India and Pakistan in Kashmir after the two countries’ independence.
It was on a small Mediterranean island, though, that Canada committed to its longest peacekeeping operation. In 1963, Cyprus, which had received independence from Britain just three years earlier, was descending into chaos as Greek and Turkish Cypriots clashed over the political future of the island. Canada’s military kept the peace between the two sides for thirty years until the bulk of its forces were withdrawn in 1993. However, as Borys notes, Canada still has a small presence on the island as “a Canadian officer continues to be sent to Cyprus every year to support mission headquarters.”
Other contemporary war stories include Canada’s role in Afghanistan. In our longest war, between 2001 and 2014, 40,000 Canadians served in theatre. Nearly 2,000 personnel were wounded, 109 decorations for military valour were awarded, approximately 9,000 CAF men and women received treatment for PTSD and 158 Canadian soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice.
An attractive feature is Borys’ use of what appear to be vintage maps, showing advances and tactics where you can follow the action. Another is discussion of the politics behind those actions—how the soldiers, sailors and airmen got into all that fighting in the first place. And he doesn’t overlook the important role of Blacks, Chinese, Indigenous and other minorities.
But this book is not all about guts, glory and flag-waving. Borys doesn’t leave out the ugly stuff. Like the torture and murder of Somali teenager Shidane Arone by Canadian peacekeepers in Somalia that resulted in the disgrace and disbanding of the once-elite Canadian Airborne Regiment. Nor the morale-killing controversial stuff like the 1960s’ unification of the three services into one; and the 1970s’ favouring of Francophones in promotions. Add to those controversies the current sexual harassment charges that are still cause for concern.
Read this book and see why Canadian military leaders are constantly forced to do more with less, “punching above their weight,” as many, like Borys, are apt to say.
9781459754126
Vancouver-based freelance writer Graham Chandler has written over 700 articles on various topics including military issues. He served in the RCAF and Canadian Armed Forces, and holds a PhD in archaeology from the University of London.
