News Release

2009-11-04 09:32:36

Experts to discuss Niagara Region's rich military history at event

WATERLOO, Ont. (Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009) - Does the Battle of Stoney Creek, the Treaty of Versailles, the Battle of the Rhineland or the battle for Kandahar have much to do with the people of Niagara Region? Yes, and a symposium to be held just before Remembrance Day will review Niagara's rich, if not always appreciated, military past.

An annual symposium, entitled Niagara's Military Past and Present, will explore the area's contributions on Nov. 6 and 7 at the historic Lake Street Armouries in St. Catharines. Now in its third year, the symposium is attracting an impressive line-up of historians and authors to share their insights.

"Thousands of men and women from the Niagara area have served overseas in war and peacekeeping, and still do today. Some, of course, never return," said Geoff Hayes, a military historian at the University of Waterloo and author of a book on the Lincoln and Welland. "Canadians should find out why their governments send soldiers into danger. We should understand what challenges these people faced and were willing to die for. Only then will Remembrance Day continue to have meaning."

The symposium begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. with a keynote address by Terry Copp, professor emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University and a leading scholar on the Second World War. He will deliver a lecture entitled The Last Great Battle: The Canadians in the Rhineland, February-March 1945. Copp is well known for his many books, including Fields of Fire (2003) and Cinderella Army (2006), which both detail the First Canadian Army's role in the liberation of Northwest Europe in 1944-1945. Copp is also a regular columnist in Legion Magazine, and the co-author of several battlefield guides of Northwest Europe.

Saturday morning, the symposium will explore Niagara's early military roots. David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, a historian at Brock University, will discuss Robert Rogers: The Original Ranger. Heather Moran will offer a digital tour of the battlefields of the War of 1812, while author James Elliott will discuss the subject of his new book, Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek, 1813.

Several presenters will turn their attention to the earliest 20th century. James Wood from the University of Victoria will explain the long-standing militia links between Canada and the US. Mike Bechthold, from Wilfrid Laurier University, will focus on an important, but lesser known battle of the First World War, the battle of Fresnoy. Then Elizabeth Vlossak of Brock University will explore why the treaties that ended the First World War haunt us still.

Two afternoon sessions will feature Hayes on the contributions of local military regiments. The author of The Lincs: A History of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment at War (1986, 2007), Hayes will introduce the fourth generation of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, who fought through the Rhineland and into Germany in 1945.

The symposium will conclude with a look at contemporary warfare. Lee Windsor, a scholar from the University of New Brunswick and author of Kandahar Tour (2008), will discuss current Canadian deployments in southern Afghanistan.

The symposium is jointly sponsored by the Lincoln and Welland Regiment; the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University; as well as the history departments at the University of Waterloo and Brock University.

Members of the public are welcome at all sessions. Admission is free, though there is a small cost for those attending a luncheon. For more information, please visit www.canadianmilitaryhistory.com www.canadianmilitaryhistory.com.

About the University of Waterloo

In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's Technology Triangle, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 28,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For further details, visit www.uwaterloo.ca.

Resources

Contacts:

Geoffrey Hayes, University of Waterloo, 519-888-4567 ext. 35138 or ghayes at uwaterloo.ca

Captain R. Bruce Mair, Lincoln and Welland Regiment, 905-321-4082 or 9663 at nrps@on.ca

Michael Strickland, Waterloo media relations, 519-888-4777

Waterloo release no. 107

2009-11-04 09:32:36