Portal:Canadian Armed Forces
Introduction
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; French: Forces armées canadiennes, FAC), or Canadian Forces (CF) (French: Forces canadiennes, FC), are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."
This unified institution consists of sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Personnel may belong to either the Regular Force or the Reserve Force, which has four sub-components: the Primary Reserve, Supplementary Reserve, Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service, and the Canadian Rangers. Under the National Defence Act, the Canadian Armed Forces are an entity separate and distinct from the Department of National Defence (the federal government department responsible for administration and formation of defence policy), which also exists as the civilian support system for the Forces.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces is the reigning Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor General of Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces is led by the Chief of the Defence Staff, who is advised and assisted by the Armed Forces Council.
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The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft, designed and built by Avro Aircraft Limited (Canada) in Malton, Ontario, Canada, as the culmination of a design study that began in 1953. Considered to be both an advanced technical and aerodynamic achievement for the Canadian aviation industry, the CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 ft (15,000 m), and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond.
Not long after the 1958 start of its flight test program, the development of the Arrow (including its Orenda Iroquois jet engines) was abruptly and controversially halted before the project review had taken place, sparking a long and bitter political debate. The controversy engendered by the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production, remains a topic for debate among historians, political observers and industry pundits. "This action effectively put Avro out of business and its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered... The incident was a traumatic one... and to this day, many mourn the loss of the Arrow."
A replica Arrow built by Allan Jackson was used in The Arrow, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) production. He began building a full-scale replica of the Arrow in 1989, and was approached by the producers of the Arrow miniseries in 1996, then about 70% complete, who made an offer to complete the construction if the replica could be used for the production. It was used on the miniseries and several public appearances at air shows.
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The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought primarily as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps against three divisions of the German Sixth Army. The battle, which took place from 9 April to 12 April 1917, was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras, a diversionary attack for the French Nivelle Offensive.
The objective of the Canadian Corps was to take control of the German-held high ground along an escarpment at the northernmost end of the Arras Offensive. This would ensure that the southern flank could advance without suffering German enfilade fire. Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge during the first day of the attack.
The town of Thélus fell during the second day of the attack, as did the crest of the ridge once the Canadian Corps overcame a salient of considerable German resistance. The final objective, a fortified knoll located outside the town of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, fell to the Canadian Corps on 12 April. The German forces then retreated to the Oppy–Méricourt line.
The battle was the first occasion when all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated in a battle together, and thus became a Canadian nationalistic symbol of achievement and sacrifice. A 250-acre (100 ha) portion of the former battleground now serves as a preserved memorial park and site of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Did you know?
- ... that HMS Ontario, an 80-foot sloop of war recently discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes?
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Canadian military history task force- Featured articles
Battle of Arras (1917)- Battle of Verrières Ridge
- Battle of the Cedars
- Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec
- Black Friday (1945)
- Isaac Brock
- Canadian National Vimy Memorial
- Canoe River train crash
- Operation Charnwood
- Falaise Pocket
- Ray Farquharson
- Operation Goodwood (naval)
- Halifax Explosion
- If Day
- Operation Inmate
- Angus Lewis Macdonald
- John A. Macdonald
- Manhattan Project
- Melville Island (Nova Scotia)
- Montreal Laboratory
- Pontiac's War
- Battle of Quebec (1775)
- Quebec Agreement
- Mark Satin
- Laura Secord
- Surrender of Japan
- Operation Tractable
- Operation Varsity
- Victoria Cross (Canada)
- Battle of Vimy Ridge
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2nd Canadian Regiment- 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron
- Edwin Alderson
- Battle of Amiens (1918)
- Liberation of Arnhem
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Avro Canada CF-103
- Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow
- Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar
- John Babcock
- Battle of Hill 70
- Battle of Bloody Creek (1711)
- Battle of Fort Cumberland
- Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial
- John Braham (RAF officer)
- British cavalry during the First World War
- Hubert Brooks
- C and D-class destroyer
- Moro River Campaign
- Canadian Afghan detainee issue
- HMS Comet (H00)
- Convoy Faith
- HMS Crescent (1931)
- HMS Crusader (H60)
- HMS Cygnet (H83)
- HMS Decoy (H75)
- HMS Diana (H49)
- Operation Dragoon
- E and F-class destroyer
- John Emilius Fauquier
- SS Fort Stikine
- HMS Fortune (H70)
- HMS Foxhound (H69)
- Franklin's lost expedition
- HMCS Fredericton (K245)
- G and H-class destroyer
- Gallipoli Campaign
- Mary Greyeyes
- Imperial Gift
- In Flanders Fields
- Invasion of Quebec (1775)
- Juno Beach
- Battle of Kapyong
- HMS Kempenfelt (I18)
- George Kenney
- Lachine massacre
- Frank McGee (ice hockey)
- Masumi Mitsui
- Battle of Mont Sorrel
- Leonard W. Murray
- NATO
- Normandy landings
- North-West Mounted Police
- Operation Backstop
- Operation Overlord
- First Battle of Passchendaele
- Francis Pegahmagabow
- Battle of the Plains of Abraham
- HMCS Protecteur (AOR 509)
- Battle of Quebec (1690)
- Quebec Expedition
- Queen Anne's War
- Royal Canadian Air Cadets
- HMT Royal Edward
- Second Battle of Passchendaele
- Siege of Fort St. Jean
- Conn Smythe
- Operation Totalize
- Battle of Trois-Rivières
- Operation Windsor
- World War II
- Yukon Field Force
- Walter Zinn
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