I’ve only visited Canada once – a road trip in 1999 to the Canadian Rockies. Memorably, I decided early one morning to leave the main highway in heavy snow to take a scenic route to my final destination. The moment I moved onto the slip road covered with virgin snow, I realised I’d been foolhardy. I drove at snail’s pace, convinced some terrible fate was about to befall me. There was no sign of a car or a human being, but no shortage of birds and animals and although my nerves were shredded, I tried to enjoy what I thought might prove to be my last moments, before I slid into a deep snowdrift to await the arrival of a serial killer.
After about half an hour, out of the whiteness came my knight in shining armour. Well, I couldn’t actually see if he was wearing armour as he was hidden inside the cab of the enormous snow plough he was driving.
I heaved a huge sigh of relief and proceeded on the cleared road.
Half an hour later, out of nowhere a moving grey shape appeared in the middle of the empty road. I slowed down. It was a wolf.
A big wolf. A scary wolf. A hungry wolf - examining a discarded banana skin – presumably chucked there by the knight in the shining snow plough. (Instant loss of brownie points, mate!). I glided to a stop and waited as it prowled around my car sniffing the tyres and staring up at me. Evidently deciding I was less appealing than the banana skin, he shuffled off into the wilderness.
After ten miles or so the sun emerged and I pulled off the road thinking it would be nice to go for a walk in the woods. The off-roading and the encounter with the wolf hadn’t taught this idiot a lesson. I started to walk until I saw the sign suggesting that it would be unwise to proceed without a bear whistle. Rapid retreat to the safety of my hire car.
I intended to return to Canada to visit Ontario when I was writing my trilogy The Canadians. But life got in the way, and I had to manage without a field trip. Instead, I read books set in Ontario, watched YouTube videos about farming, haunted Google Earth to explore models for my imaginary town of Hollowtree, researched the movements of the Canadian army in WW2 and watched movies about war brides. I took to dowsing bacon with maple syrup and tried my own version of poutine. By the end of it I felt I’d actually been to Ontario. I had a wonderful group of three retired Canadian librarians to fact check the books for me and answer any questions. During this process I built up a huge affection for Canada and ever since have wanted to go back. I’m tentatively planning a trip this year or next – a holiday not a research trip.
I also feel an affinity for Canada because my dad used to talk about it fondly, He was a pilot in the RAF during World War 2 and learned to fly in Canada. The Canadian based British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) went from producing 125 pilots a year before the war to almost 1500 a month – the largest air force training scheme in history. Canada’s contribution during the war was massive. They declared war just eight days after Hitler invaded Poland. As well as training British and Commonwealth pilots, they were the vital link in keeping hungry Britain fed and armed via the Atlantic convoys –making over 25,000 dangerous crossings through U-boat infested seas. They also made war loans of more than $1 billion to Britain.
Over a million Canadians served in the forces – representing around ten percent of the total population at the time. 42,000 were killed and 55,000 wounded. Initially they were held in reserve, as the British were reluctant to deploy them. This features in the first book of The Canadians – The Chalky Sea where Jim spends frustrating months stuck in barracks in Aldershot and Eastbourne until eventually sent to fight in Sicily in 1942.
Canadians fought bravely in every theatre they were deployed in. They had a bloody battle where they were massively outnumbered in HongKong – many killed and others put in Japanese POW camps where more died. They were victims of the botched plan to invade Dieppe in 1941 where 60% of the 5000 inexperienced Canadian soldiers and 1000 British commandos were killed. Canada then fought bravely in the bloody battles for Italy and led on Juno beach in the D-Day Landings.
So, I’ve been perplexed and angry about the nonsense being spouted from he who shall not be named about subsuming the glorious nation of Canada into the USA as the 51st state. While he may not value his northern neighbour, we here in Britain have cause to be grateful for Canada and its contribution to the defence of democracy. Based on Canadian fighting spirit and dogged determination, this wonderful and friendly nation make loyal friends but dangerous enemies – as is becoming clear in their principled stand against the threat to their sovereignty.
What better way to end this post than with the words of the Canadian national anthem:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
The Canadians comprises three novels: The Chalky Sea is set between 1940 and 1942 – with Jim, a young farmer from Ontario. He and his colleagues are based in England and later participate in the Dieppe raid and the invasion of Sicily. The Alien Corn is set immediately after the war with flashbacks to the Italian campaign. The series ends in Canada with The Frozen River as the characters build their lives in the aftermath of war.
Click on the book covers below to buy the individual books, or the box set featuring all three novels!
IMAGE CREDITS
Author’s own, except for:
Lance Corporal E A Harris fires at a German position in Ortona Italy on 21st December 1943 via Wikimedia Commons
Thanks for your comments about Canada. We have always been staunch allies to all our friends but we have had especially strong ties to Britain since so many of our early immigrants (all my grandparents included) came from the British Isles. My father was a navigator in the RAF during the war and made many friends in the families where he was often billeted. His middle brother was one of the instructors here in Canada who would have trained your dad and their younger brother was an officer in the Royal Navy. I'm glad you survived your first road trip adventure here in the Rockies! And, hopefully, when you come to visit again, you will get to enjoy more of…