What about the Canadians? artwork

What about the Canadians?

21 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago -

A podcast where rookie historians bring you the Canadian history you should know

History Education
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Episodes

S1E15: The 1918 Spring Offensive

September 15, 2023 13:00 - 56 minutes - 77.5 MB

The Eastern Front has fallen so all eyes are on the Western Front. The Germans are pushing hard to break through the lines and the Canadians are resting and raiding.

S1E14: Dogs & Horses & Bears, oh my!

April 17, 2023 13:00 - 52 minutes - 71.5 MB

This episode we’re talking about the wonderful, brave, good boys and girls that went to war without a choice. No not conscripts but animals!

S1E13: Crisis on the Homefront

March 01, 2023 14:00 - 1 hour - 125 MB

With the war raging on in Europe, a national crisis was brewing on the Homefront. The call for conscription was not a mere question of duty, but a direct challenge to the Quebecois and their values. Meanwhile, the women of Canada are facing their own challenges to a changing way of life.

S1E12: The Battle of Passchendaele (Part III)

December 15, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 88.7 MB

The mud had taken it's toll but the men could finally call Passchendaele a success, or at least they could call it finished

S1E11: The Battle of Passchendaele (Part II)

November 01, 2022 12:00 - 52 minutes - 72.5 MB

The opening battle begins at Pilckem Ridge, with the British II and V Army, and the French First Army charge to capture the dreaded Ypres Salient. Pocked with craters and shell holes, no-man's land on the Salient had become a graveyard of all that had been lost. Despite receiving warnings, Haig pushed for an assault in the midst of rainy season, hoping to push through to Passchendaele before the plains egin to flood. Meanwhile the CEF launch a diversionary assault on Hill 70 under the new ...

S1E10: The Battle of Passchendaele (Part I)

September 15, 2022 12:00 - 55 minutes - 76.8 MB

An update on the world activities that affect our Canadians was very necessary so we'll talk about the Russian Revolution, a bit about Marxism and the French. Our old frenemy Sam Hughes is back and our boys get started at Passchendaele in 1917.

S1E10: The Battle of Passchendaele

August 01, 2022 12:00

S1E9: The Battle of Vimy Ridge (Part II)

July 01, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 97 MB

In part two of our podcast covering the Battle of Vimy Ridge, we explore the new technologies and strategies employed by the Canadians in their preparation for battle. Then given a tight deadline to achieve their objectives, the Canadians emerge from tunnels and go over the top. Are the Canadians doomed to repeat the same mistakes, or does shedding the weight of British influence finally lead the Canadians to an unmitigated victory?

S1E8: The Battle of Vimy Ridge (Part I)

June 01, 2022 12:00 - 52 minutes - 71.9 MB

In November 1916, the Canadian 4th Division is moved from the Somme to Vimy, a ridge overlooking the Douai plain located in the Pas-de-Calais region of France, to rejoin the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions. For the first time, all four divisions would prepare and fight together to overtake territory that had been under German control since the outbreak of war. Over 150,000 French and British soldiers lost their lives trying to retake the ridge. Are our 100,000 Canadian soldiers bound to the same ...

S1E7: The Battle of the Somme (Part III)

May 16, 2022 02:52 - 48 minutes - 67 MB

Was this battle a success? The Allies suffered over 614,000 losses including 24,700 Canadian men . Leadership of the British Expeditionary Force, which was also in charge of the Canadians, especially Douglas Haig, was heavily questioned and criticized. But if there were any positives sides to the slaughter it would be that officers were forced to assess their strategies and tactics to overcome not just the Germans but also the sinking landscape.

S1E6: The Battle of the Somme (Part II)

April 15, 2022 11:59 - 1 hour - 85 MB

This long offensive finally has a place for the Canadians but the costs are high and the success are minimal, but on a positive note we have tanks!

S1M4: Heroes on the Somme

March 16, 2022 12:00 - 42.8 MB

In the face of the enemy, four exceptional young men made extraordinary sacrifices for those that served alongside them, and their bravery earned them the British Commonwealth’s highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross. Join us as we explore the men behind the medal and help us ensure that the names of Lionel Beaumarice Clark, James Cleland Richardson, Thomas Orde Lawder Wilkinson, and John Chipman Kerr are not lost to history.

S1E5: The Battle of the Somme (Part I)

March 01, 2022 13:00 - 57 minutes - 79.6 MB

The Allies are growing desperate to break through the German frontlines on the Western Front. To alleviate pressure on the Russians in the east and to turn the tides after the disastrous operations conducted in 1915, a plan for a new offensive is drafted by French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre. Now fully drawn into the war, the British take the lead in planning the offensive at Somme. Have the British learned from their past mistakes? Or will the stubbornness of its generals push their so...

S1M3: Canadian Internment Camps

February 16, 2022 13:00 - 34 minutes - 47.8 MB

Something many of us never learned in Social Studies was the internment of many nationalized Canadians, Canadian citizens and recent immigrants that were from the enemy nations of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire.

S1E4: St Eloi Craters and Mount Sorrel

February 01, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 88 MB

Throughout 1915 and early 1916 the Germans maintained their strongholds on the western front making it extraordinarily difficult for the Allies to launch an offensive attack. To cope with the mundaneness of war, there was little for the soldiers to do but man the lines, smoke a cigarette, and perhaps put on a good drag show! Despite efforts to ease their stress, many could not escape the impacts of shell shock, especially as offensive campaigns resumed at St. Eloi and Mount Sorrel. Do we f...

S1E3: Festubert and Givenchy

January 01, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 86 MB

After a disastrous offensive at the Battle of Auber’s Ridge, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Sir. John French ordered General Haig to deploy troops from the First Corp to Festubert and Givenchy in May and June of 1915. The Canadians are called to aid the Allies in their hurried plans to overrun enemy lines, as German soldiers are being actively redeployed to Turkey to join the Gallipoli campaign. Join us as we explore what happened during these lesser-known battles.

S1M2 Christmas at the Front

December 15, 2021 13:00 - 18 minutes - 25.9 MB

Men all across the Western Front were sitting in muddy, cold trenches wishing they could be back home for Christmas. The Canadians spent their first Christmas of WWI in the wet, snowy lines that were drawn across Belgium and France. Despite the no fraternization rule that had been cemented the year before, many still hoped for a holiday truce like there was in 1914. Others hung their cleanest socks on the barbed wire hoping Old St. Nick would stop by.

S1E2: The Second Battle of Ypres

December 01, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 84 MB

The Canadians were sent into the fire when they joined the French, British and Algerians at the Ypres salient. The allied forces were being overrun on 3 sides and everything was about to get a exponentially worse. The Germans had a chip on their shoulder because of their losses during the First Battle of Ypres and decided to fight back with chlorine gas.

S1M1: John McCrae

November 11, 2021 13:00 - 47 minutes - 64.8 MB

Overlooking the bloody battlefield at Ypres, John McCrae silently penned “In Flanders Fields,” which became the immortal words of the dead, and inspired one woman to sell silk poppies to raise funds for disabled veterans. The poem may be recited around the world, but how well do we know the man behind the words? More than a poet, learn about the brilliant, patriotic, and lovely man that is John McCrae.

S1E1: A not so Warm Welcome to the War

November 01, 2021 18:14 - 42 minutes - 57.7 MB

We find out about the boots, guns, mud and bad reputations all before the Canadian boys even got to France.

Season 1 Trailer

October 27, 2021 20:11 - 1 minute - 2 MB