Julien Olson, one of our deeply supportive and enthusiastic Ottawa-based radar veterans, led an entirely different sort of career following the war. In this Ottawa Sun article, from December 28, 2015, Julien shares his memories about working on the 1950-51 renovation of 24 Sussex as a young architect with the Dept. of Public Works.
Did you, perhaps, serve on one of Canada's three radar defence lines? We'd love to hear from you. We want to build our oral history library and permanent collection to include your experiences and artefacts. Get in touch!
Unissued / unused material. Radar Station in Northern Canada. Travelling shot across snowy countryside. Various shots of the radar station and surrounding building. Various shots radar aerial operating. CU radar screen in operation. MS operators at control panel. CU Radar screen. CU radar location chart, pan down to operations tables.
A silent glimpse into RCAF Station Foymount in 1955.
The early Pine Tree Line stations were more or less modelled on British WWII radar stations. A number of our membership served on these Cold War era stations and are more than happy to talk about their experiences when they're volunteering around the museum.
We wish you all a happy and healthy holiday and all the best for the coming year. We look forward to seeing you soon at the museum, when we return to regular open hours on January 2nd.
In this full colour "Star Weekly" cover from December 11th, 1943, a RCAF WAAF is enjoying a spirited snowball fight.
Remember, you can track Santa via NORAD. Check out their updated website and help them celebrate 60 years of sleigh-tracking! http://www.noradsanta.org/
Have you ever wondered at the extent of the damage inflicted on London during the Blitz? Museum intern, Michelle, stumbled on this fascinating website while carrying out radar related research. Visit Bomb Sight to learn more. It's fascinating.
The Bomb Sight project is mapping the London WW2 bomb census between 7/10/1940 and 06/06/1941. Previously available only by viewing in the Reading Room at The National Archives, Bomb Sight is making the maps available to citizen researchers, academics and students.
Members of the London Fire Brigade train their hoses on burning buildings in Queen Victoria Street, EC4, after the last and heaviest major raid mounted on the capital during the 'Blitz'. For six hours on the night of 10-11 May 1941, aircraft of the Luftwaffe dropped over 1,000 tons of ...
Sourced & Licensed from © IWM Imperial War Museum Non Commercial Licence
Michelle joined us in September through an internship program at Western University. Very quickly she made herself at home and has become an integral part of the curatorial team. Eager, dedicated, creative, and responsible, Michelle has continued work on an unfinished virtual exhibit initially researched and written by a previous intern. This includes editing segments of oral history from our archives, and sourcing photographs and artefacts. Her time with us has had her researching equipment necessary for the EMC Grant digitisation project, and digging through the collection for cool things to put on our Twitter. In a pinch, she can even give a tour. Michelle finishes with us in early December, but has promised to come back in January.
Thanks for all you do, Michelle!
Dr. Fred Hunt is all smiles after granting Curator Maya Hirschman a lovely interview in July, 2015.
Congratulations to Dr. Fred Hunt, radar veteran, on receiving the French Legion of Honour!
The ceremony was held on November 10, 2015, with French Ambassador Nicolas Chapuis presenting the medals. The veterans were honoured for the roles they played in France's liberation. Fred is one of our long-time supporters and an esteemed World War II radar veteran. We have numerous artefacts in the collection donated by Fred, including field maps from his time operating mobile radar in France and Belgium. He is also one of the veterans we profile in the In Harm's Way exhibit, currently in development, about radar on the front lines.
The full list of Legion of Honour recipients follows:
Acorn, Ivan
Bova, George
Bray, John Reynold Delmeigne
Bridgewater, Albert
Craske, Peter
Farley, Raymond
Fouchard, George
Fowlow, Gilbert
Hanley, Robert
Highley, John
Hunt, Frédérick
Huot, Marcel
Juneau, Gérard
Kaspar, Walter
Little, Ronald Joseph
McKechnie, Donald
Moore, William
Neatby, Herbert Blair
Notman, Allan
Scharf, James
Read more and view photographs from the award ceremony at the links below.
Manager Maya poses with the display before heading back outside for the ceremony at the Cenotaph. November 11, 2015
Remembrance Day, and the days leading up to and following it, is probably the busiest time for us. You'll find us attending events locally and outside the region, giving talks, offering outreach and tours. Of course, we do this year-round. Remembrance, for us, isn't simply a day in November, nor a few timely events linked to anniversaries, but it is for many others, and we understand that.
Yesterday was Remembrance Day and as usual, we were busy. Manager Maya and Volunteer Bethany set up the booth early at the Remember November 11 Association's reception and luncheon, held annually at Centennial Hall. They headed to the ceremony at the Cenotaph, and then promptly when it ended, trotted back up the street to meet and greet visitors to the reception. They met many people, civilians, veterans, cadets, enlisted, and talked about the our role in preserving the history of Canadians on radar.
One particular moment stood out amongst all the conversations and faces. A veteran of the Second World War strode up to the table and presented his tie, which had a pattern of De Havilland Mosquitoes on it, explained he used to fly them. Then he said something quite unique.
"I want to thank you." His jocular manner became more serious. "I want to thank you, your folks, for bringing me home. I used to fly Pathfinders. More than once we had nothing but radar to get us home again. Without it... well. Thank you."
At Radar, we usually do the thanking. Thanking veterans for their service. Thanking visitors for their donations. Thanking volunteers for their time. Yesterday, on behalf of all our radar operators and mechanics, we received the thanks of one grateful bomber crewman. It was deeply touching and came as such a surprise, Manager Maya completely forgot to get his name or a photograph.
So, to the mystery Mosquito veteran, thank YOU for making our day. And if you happen to see this post, please tell us your name.
The Secrets of Radar Museum is proud to announce it is the winner of $10,000 in EMC Corporation's 2015 Heritage Trust Project international competition. A total of three winners were selected from seven finalists following a two-week public voting period in August.
The prize recognizes and supports local organizations worldwide that advocate the digitization, preservation, and improved accessibility of significant cultural resources. The award will assist the Museum in the digitization of its WWII and Cold War archival collections and veteran oral histories through project staff funding, equipment, and online collection access.
Congratulations to Sunny Kim, our Summer 2015 Volunteer of note!
Sunny has been a dedicated member of the museum's collections management team, tirelessly pursuing our catalogue backlog. Aside from her attention to detail and diligence, Sunny brings cheer and humour to her work. Thank you, Sunny, for all your hard work!
