Question of the Hour

[armchair]

Let's see,

The Ram variants that saw combat: OP, Kangaroo, Wasp, and gun tower.
Other tanks made in Canada:
The Valentine, Sexton (SP Gun), Sherman Grizzly, (might be some other limited production ones like the Skink)


(edited to fix typo)
[/quote
Great answer it looks like you got all of them.

 

[redleafjumper]

What is an M-13 launcher?  What were two commonly used names for this device?

 

[armchair]

Who was the first Canadian to command the Canadian Corps (WWI)?
What date did he take command?
Were was his first victory?

 

[redleafjumper]

General Alderson was the first commander (British) then, Lt. Gen Sir Julian Byng (British), and then LGen Sir Arthur Currie (Cdn) took command on June 23, 1917.  His first victory was  Passchendaele, October 1917.

Have you had a go at my previous question?

 

[armchair]

What is an M-13 launcher?  What were two commonly used names for this device?

It is a Soviet rocket system first used July of 1941. Were either mounted on trucks or one system fire from the ground
The Soviet troops had a number of names for it(ar-esses RS this was an Russian acronym for Rocket Launch System)
BM-13 Katyusha  was know as Kate or Little Kate this was diminutive Katyusha

 

[armchair]

General Alderson was the first commander (British) then, Lt. Gen Sir Julian Byng (British), and then LGen Sir Arthur Currie (Cdn) took command on June 23, 1917.  His first victory was  Passchendaele, October 1917.

Have you had a go at my previous question?
[/quote
Yes I have
Passchechendeale was his first campaign victory I was thinking more of a battle

 

[redleafjumper]

... and it was also called "stalinorgel" or Stalin's Organ.

What unit made up the majority of volunteers for the "Yukon Field Force"?  How many troops made up that force and who commanded it?

armchair, I took your question to mean his first Corps Commander campaign victory.  He also did pretty well in the battle to keep the corps together.

 

[armchair]

I should have been a little more clear on the question. I was thinking the battle for Hill 70
The Yukon Field Force was made up 12 officer and 191 men of the Canadian Militia.Most came from Royal Canadian Regiment.
The left Vancouver May 6 1898 they took all Canadian route to the Yukon.They brought with two Maxim Machine Guns

 

[redleafjumper]

Your answer is close, but not correct regarding the Yukon Field Force.  According to George Stanley in Canada's Soldiers, the force was made up of 203 volunteers commanded by LCol T.D.B. Evans.  One hundred thirty-three of the members were from the Royal Regiment of Canada (RRC, not the RCR).

What was the purpose of the Yukon Field Force?

 

[Edward Campbell]

I think Stanley (or his editor) made a minor SD (abbreviation) error.

I'm in the wrong place but someone with a copy Vol 1 of the The History of The RCR or the RCD History can (hopefully) verify that the Yukon Field Force was drawn from the ranks of the permanent militia - mostly from The RCR (then still, actually, The Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry, I think) but with detachments from The RCD and RCA.

 

[Old Sweat]

Edward,

You are absolutely correct about the composition of the Yukon Field Force. The mounting and deployment of the force was quite an accomplishment for the tiny permanent force; that it worked at all is a tribute to the professionalism of the army despite the political meedling and financial neglect that plagued military life in Canada a century ago.

 

[redleafjumper]

Edward and Old Sweat, your comments do make much more sense than what is written in Stanley's book. I will investigate some other sources on this issue.  If in error, then armchair's answer is even closer to correct than it was.

 

[Edward Campbell]

This is from DND’s archives at: http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/community/mapleleaf/html_files/html_view_e.asp?page=Vol4_09____EntreNous_14-15

March 21 1898: In Ottawa, the Government of Canada authorizes the Yukon Field Force, a 203-man contingent selected from The Royal Canadian Regiment, The Royal Canadian Artillery and The Royal Canadian Dragoons, and commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel T.D.B. Evans of the Dragoons, a former RCR officer. The force will be accompanied by five women-four nurses and reporter Faith Fenton of the Toronto Globe. The mission is to assert Canadian sovereignty and help the North West Mounted Police keep order in the gold fields.

They face a real threat. The Canada-Alaska boundary is still not completely explored, let alone surveyed, mapped or marked. What's more, the territory is full of lawless, gun-toting, gold-fevered "foreigners"-most of them Americans.

The Klondike Gold Rush is going full blast, and people are pouring into the Yukon Territory. Most come by the White and Chilkoot passes from Alaska, but a few take the terrible "all-Canadian" route, by boat up the Stikine River to Glenora and then on foot for 230 km through forest and swamp to Teslin Lake, the headwaters of a Yukon River tributary, where they can get another boat to Dawson. For political reasons, the Yukon Field Force takes the all-Canadian route.

The Yukon Field Force takes two weeks to travel from Ottawa to Glenora, where they prepare for the trek to Teslin Lake. On June 9, the first trail parties head out from Glenora. Each mule carries 200 pounds and each man carries 50 pounds.

The terrain is a wilderness of boulders, huge fallen trees and waist-deep swamps. It's very hot, and everyone is tormented by huge, blood-thirsty mosquitoes. The food is dreadful-hardtack, rancid strong bacon and black tea. The march takes each party about six weeks, and the last soldiers arrive at Fort Selkirk by boat from Teslin Lake on September 11, 1898.

The gold rush is almost over when they arrive. Half the contingent goes home late in the summer of 1899, and the rest follow a year later.

And I found this photo, too:

 

[Danjanou]

And I found this photo, too:

Is that Sapper Earl standing beside you there Edward? ;D

 

[redleafjumper]

Good work Edward, and thanks.  I just located that site myself and you beat me to posting it.  The uniforms are clearly RCR in that and in other pictures out there.  The Royal Canadian Regiment is correct, and there is an error in Stanley's classic work Canada's Soldiers.

And yes, your post also answers the part of the question regarding the purpose of the force.  

Here is a new question:  What was the first submachinegun ever made, and what Canadian company, among others, made them?

 

[armchair]

Villar Perosa Gun


Considered the world's first genuine sub-machine gun, the Villar Perosa (or VP) was introduced in the Italian army in 1915.

Used as an infantry weapon, the Villar Perosa utilised a nickel and steel twin-barrel mechanism, each of which fired a 25-round box magazine of 9mm Glisenti pistol ammunition - essentially a low powered 9mm Parabellum cartridge.

A rapid-firing device - it could fire 300 rounds per minute per barrel, requiring that it be recharged up to twelve times per minute - it was nevertheless chiefly used in support positions until 1918, when a modified Beretta version of the weapon was unveiled in the autumn.

It was thereafter deployed as an infantry assault weapon, although there is some dispute regarding the actual extent of its use.  Its theoretical range was 800 metres although in practice it was around 100 metres - which rendered

 

[armchair]

The Yukon Field Force was made up 12 officer and 191 men of the Canadian Militia.Most came from Royal Canadian Regiment.
The left Vancouver May 6 1898 they took all Canadian route to the Yukon.They brought with two Maxim Machine Guns
[/quote
This information of the number of officers and men was found on the RCR's website.They said they were called (Royal Canadian Regiment of the Infantry) at that time
.I found the story of the Maxim's on the Canadian War Museum's Website.

 

[redleafjumper]

Armchair, good answer on the first part of the Villar Perosa question, and a good answer on the Yukon Field Force.

But what about the Canadian connection to the Italian SMG?

(fixed typo)

 

[armyvern]

But what about the Canadian connection to the Italian SMG?

"In 1916, the General Canadian Electric Company Limited, of Toronto, Canada, initiated the limited manufacture of these arms by order of the Italian government. There "Revelli Automatic Machine Gun" was designated."

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.rs.ejercito.mil.ar/Contenido/Nro655/TD/armasanti.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3DVillar%2BPerosa%2BGun%2BCanadian%2Bcompany%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

 

[redleafjumper]

Very good Army Vern!  That's the rest of the story!  Here's a toughy:

Who was Cunningham's PSVO in the Mediterranean Theatre from '42-43?