Canadian War Museum receives major gift to support youth educational programs

Ottawa, Ontario, September 5, 2019 — The Friends of the Canadian War Museum has generously given $100,000 to the Canadian War Museum in support of educational programs for the 2019–2020 fiscal year. This is the first year since the organization was established in 1985 that the majority of the Friends’ gift will support projects dedicated to educating the next generation about our military heritage.

“The Friends has supported the Museum in a variety of ways for many years,” said Caroline Dromaguet, Acting Director General of the Canadian War Museum. “Our educational programs are an invaluable way for us to keep youth connected with Canada’s military history, and this gift enables us to continue to share that history in a number of meaningful ways.”

The Friends of the Canadian War Museum was established to support and assist the Museum in its mandate to educate, preserve and remember. The Friends donate their time and expertise through their active involvement in the collection of oral histories, in-gallery visitor interaction, and hands-on restoration projects.

The Friends’ 2019–2020 contribution will further the ability of the Museum to engage and inspire youth at the Museum and all over Canada. Within the walls of the Museum, the donation will support the School Access program, the World at War International Speaker Series and the enhancement of programming materials for in-gallery activities. A portion will also fund the creation of a signature Remembrance Day event for youth groups visiting the Museum. 

“The Friends is excited to be participating with the Museum in enhancing understanding of Canada’s military history,” said Commodore (Ret’d) Robert Hamilton, President of the Friends of the Canadian War Museum. “We are especially delighted to make this contribution toward inspiring youth.”  

The Friends of the Canadian War Museum is also one of the supporters of the soon-to-be-launched Second World War Discovery Boxes to schools throughout the country. This is a new addition to the Museum’s highly successful Supply Line travelling educational program, available free of charge to Canadian schools, following the launch of the First World War Discovery Box in 2014. The Supply Line Discovery Boxes provide students with hands-on curriculum-linked materials, complete with authentic artifacts and reproduction objects, for in-class exploration. 

https://www.warmuseum.ca/s1/supplyline/second-world-war-discovery-box/

You are invited to a Friends Forum:

As For the Canadians: The Remarkable Story of the RCAF’s Guinea Pigs of World War II
Presented by Rita Donovan

Thursday, September 26, 2019
Atelier “D”
Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy Place, Ottawa

Presentation: 13:30 pm         Refreshments: 14:30 pm

Price: Donations will be accepted at the door in cash or by cheque.  Receipts will be issued for donations of $20 or more.

RSVP: By Thursday, September 19, 2019

If you wish to attend, please telephone the Friends Office at 819-776-8618 or email 

This event will also be live-streamed on the FCWM Facebook page.

The August 2019 edition of the Torch is now available. Click the front page thumbnail below left for a realistic "flip book" presentation. If you wish to download a pdf version, click the info icon within the presentation.

If you would like to submit an article for publication, you can forward it to , attention: Torch Editor.

If you have problems displaying the Torch with the Edge browser, please use a different browser. We are working to resolve this issue. For questions about the "flip book", please contact us

The 18-pounder Field Gun

The 18-pounder Field Gun in Canadian Service by Doug Knight relates the career of the 18-pounder gun in the Royal Canadian Artillery, from the first order from Vickers in 1903 until its retirement during the Second World War. The emphasis in the book is on the gun and, in addition to its service overseas, describes its service in Canada during the First World War, mechanization in the 1930s, and traces the individual history of some of the surviving guns. The text is well illustrated by colour and black and white photographs.

 Click here to view The 18-pounder Field Gun in Canadian Service

The "Friends-Only" Adopt-A-Book Campaign 

After a successful 2018 campaign, Friends are again sponsoring the Adopt-a-Book campaign for 2019.

The titles the MHRC Library wishes to acquire are listed below.   Interested Friends are invited to indicate on the form below the title they wish to sponsor, together with a second and third choice.   The form should then be forwarded to the Friends office with a cheque.

Alternatively, sponsors may leave the title selection to the Library if their first, second and third choices have already been adopted.   They may also simply leave the selection of the title to the Library in the first instance.

The Library will then acquire the books and inscribe the name of the sponsor on a bookplate in each volume.

It is requested that Friends be cognizant of the desire of other Friends to adopt titles, and thus to restrict their initial adoption to no more than one or two titles.   If all titles are not taken up, then the remaining titles to be adopted will be published in the next edition of The Torch.

If the form is not already visible, click READ MORE below to see it.

Read more: THE “FRIENDS ONLY” 2019 ADOPT-A-BOOK CAMPAIGN

Getting it Right - Optimizing FCWM Support to The Museum

In supporting the War Museum, it is vital that the Friends limited financial resources be invested where most needed. To this end, integrated planning led to a contribution agreement setting out the needs and expectation of both parties; this agreement embraces support to the Mons Autocar Project (https://www.warmuseum.ca/collections/artifact/1035821/ ), the January 2019 Historical Conference ( https://www.warmuseum.ca/event/country-shaped-by-war-canada-1919/) and the Supply Line 2 Project – WW2. 

The Mons project is behind us now and was by all accounts an unmitigated success. The Friends investment supported actually getting the Autocar from Canada to Belgium and its presence in the parade in Mons in running condition was a credit to the Museum and to our support. This success reinforces the importance of co-operative planning and putting our financial support where it is most likely to strengthen reputation and build constituency.

Pictures of the Autocar and Autocar in Mons, Belgium below.

Looking ahead we are confident that the Historical Conference and the Supply Line 2 projects will reinforce the benefits of this approach and the importance of the Friends support to the Museum. It is vital that we remain an essential resource and to this end strengthening the Friends financial resource base is vital. We need your support; indeed, without it we will fail in our mission! Click here to donate to this worthwhile cause and enjoy a charitable receipt. 

Read more: Getting it Right - Optimizing FCWM Support to The Museum

Attention all book lovers with an interest in military history! You are invited to visit the Friends of the Canadian War Museum “BookRoom” where hundreds of lovingly used titles covering the full spectrum of military subjects are offered for sale at very reasonable prices.

Often referred to as a little-known treasure, the “BookRoom” is a significant fundraiser for the Museum and is staffed by a team of volunteers whose knowledge of the collection is only surpassed by their motivation! The “BookRoom” is open daily between 1100 and 1500 (except Sunday) and is located adjacent to the Museum Research Library - just follow the signs!

For those delivering donations to the FCWM used military Book Room, the CWM now affords courtesy underground parking. Parking vouchers are available through the Book Room staff or the Friends' Office Supervisor.

LeBreton Gallery Catalogue

Experience the LeBreton Gallery and the Canadian War Museum’s superb collection of military technology. Get an up-close view of imposing tanks, artillery and other machines of war, and learn about the military technology used by and against Canadians in times of both peace and conflict.

This souvenir catalogue was produced with funding from the FCWM and is available at the CWM lobby or online (CLICK):

Title: The LeBreton Gallery: The Military Technology Collection of the Canadian War Museum
Authors: Andrew Burtch and Jeff Noakes
ISBN: 978-0-660-20309-6
Retail price: $9.95

This souvenir catalogue presents a wide variety of vehicles and equipment used in warfare over the past 300 years, such as a Voodoo fighter jet, 19th century artillery pieces, tanks and other vehicles drawn from one of the most extensive collections of its kind in the world. Each tells something about the human ingenuity and intent in their creation and use, and the human experience of facing them on the battlefield.

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