Canadian War Museum

The Canadian War Museum was "kind of" on my radar, but I was very tempted to go to the National Gallery to see some of my favorite paintings. In the end, the War Museum won out on this rainy day. It was the right choice.

The address at 1 Vimy Place memorializes the WWI Battle of Vimy Ridge, a "defining moment" in Canadian military history, when Canada showed its military power, independently of Britain. At great cost, of course. When my grandparents lived in one of the Vetville apartments for veterans in Chateauguay in the late 1950s, the buildings were named after famous battles of the First World War. I think their building was "Arras", named for the Battle of Arras, which also figures prominently in Canadian military history. I can't seem to find an online reference to Vetville, but I think there was a Vimy building in that complex as well.

Wedidng pics at the museum

The foyer in the large building seems to be a site for wedding pictures. I saw two wedding parties while I was there, and the venue somehow seemed oddly appropriate for these young couples, who are of the age of many of the soldiers and their families featured in the exhibit.

The museum project must have been very daunting, as it covers five thousand years of Canadian military history, all the way back to First Nations warfare long before the arrival of Europeans. The guide advised me to start with the Peace Exhibition, a largely interactive exhibit that draws visitors of all ages. I saw children add ribbons to two panels decorated with ribbons of many colors of "peace".

I loved seeing Canadian military history integrated into the continuum of Canadian history. The fortress of Louisbourg, the Battle of the Plains of Abrahm, the War of 1812 all seemed so clear to me, probably for the first time. I felt that I understood the strategy and errors of Generals Montcalm and Wolfe, both of whom died in the battle that forever changed the history of North America.


The Bomber Command section (WWII) was a little disappointing to me, because there wasn't much on my dad's Wellington bomber. It was sobering to read that 25% of Canadian casualties were in Bomber Command, so it's no wonder that neither of my parents expected my dad's return from the war.

The museum's treatment of the Cold War communicated the deep Canadian yearning for peace, and Québec's longstanding distrust of the British war machine. Most interesting to me was the inclusion of the "Trudeau Years" and, especially, the imposition of the War Measures Act during the October Crisis of 1970. So long ago, yet still etched into my mind are images of soldiers on Mount Royal, and troups stationed on the street corners of Montreal.

I left the museum at about 4:30. It wasn't raining too much then, and I felt that I needed a walk. The sky soon emptied on me, leaving me with sopping hair and a wet jacket.