Canadian War Museum visit, Ottawa, ON

[RCN]

Over the Sept Long weekend I paid a long delayed visit to the new Canadian War Museum(CWM) in Ottawa. My son & his family live in Ottawa & we spent the weekend with them, but this time I was determined to visit the museum.
I had heard a lot about the displays & had put off visiting so many times in the past I was determined to spent at least an afternoon there & I was finally able to accomplish that.

The museum is BIG & I found you need more than an afternoon to get thru it all. I was mainly interested in the insignia, medal & uniform displays but there is considerably more than those there. Actually insignia, badges, medals & uniforms are in the minority in the new setup, unlike the old building on Sussex drive. But I found the displays tastefully laid out & very interesting. Some were much better than others but in all they are visually attractive.
Its well worth the visit & I will return again soon to view the things I missed this time round
ie: I had not the time to walk thru the vehicle & aircraft display on the main floor, I only viewed it from the balcony.

So I took a lot of photos & would like to share those with our members who have been unable to attend the CWM due to distance or whatever reaons.

These will take me a while to post them all but I will do it on a gradual basis over a number of days as my time permits. I have over 100 photos to post.

Also I will try to keep a chronological order to the sequence of photos.

But one caveat - photos are permitted in CWM but some dispays are very hard to photograph & some are poorly lighted, so a few of the photos are not really great for clarity. & shooting thru glass presents a glare problem as well.

Something I might mention for those that qualify - Serving CAF members & former servicemen & veterans are entitled to free admission to the CWM at any time during opening hours. I understand this includes parking as well, altho I did not park when I attended. I was unaware of this until my son told me & I confirmed it ontheir website.

Sooooooo - will get this underway & hope readers find the "tour" enjoyable........

RCN Bryan

[RCN]

The big draw now at the CWM is the War of 1812 display.

You first experience this upon entry into the long main entranceway.
You have to be aware that there is more to the display than you first view on entry. I missed this & only found it after I had gone thru the other display areas, so I guess good idea to take the map when you check in to see what rooms are displaying what. The rooms are themed.

The displays in this area are somewhat diffcult to photograph due to lighting but I have a few to show.....

The Army Gold medal awarded to Lieut Felix Troughton for the Battle of Detroit.
This is a beautifully designed medal & very visually attractive.

[RCN]

The Companion of the Bath & Army Gold medal to Lieut Colonel Charles de Salaberry......

[RCN]

Military General Service medal to Noel Thomas, a Canadian Warrior, for the Battle of Chateauguay.
Together with his Cross belt plate.

This display was very hard to photograph as it was too far from the camera to get a decent focus.

[RCN]

To be continued............

[RCN]

Next...............

[John L]

Bryan,

looking forward to your picutures to see how of a change since I was there 20 years ago.

John

[Staffsyeoman]

The new (-ish) museum is a wonder and I love going around it when in Ottawa.

The only minor grumbles - the bookshop isn't quite as good as it was (for books) - I picked up Canadian publications very hard and expensive to get in, or to, the UK in its early days.

My good friend, who is a retired Colonel from Canadian Forces, does not like the vehicle hall as he thinks the shifting around due to event hire loses coherence at times and the labelling of exhibits suffers. The case in point was that of the Canadian style jeep, which had left and right patterned tyres - a logistical nightmare. Not explained on the vehicle, but thankfully I had first hand experience nearby.

But these are minor. It's a superb place and highly informative.

[RCN]

Continuing on the 1812 war exhibit ---

A Quebec City Militia Officer's Uniform. This uniform appeared to be in superb condition for its age.

Photo however not all that great due to lighting & shooting thru glass.

[RCN]

A Napoleonic War Naval rating's uniform.

I know in that time frame the naval ratings could wear pretty much whatever they wished &/or what the Ship's Captain perscribed for them to wear.

So how contemporary to period (or original) this uniform is I cannot say.

It appears as if the mannequin's face has goggles on - this is not the case, its just the way the photo shadows turned out (shooting thru glass again).

[RCN]

The next section is the Victorian Colonial campaigns specific to Canada, these being the Fenian Raids of 1866 & 1870, & the Riel Rebellion (Northwest Canada) campaign of 1885.
This period in history is represented but not well (my opinion), there were only three displays that I was able to photograph.

Sir William Otter's medal group is first up ......there was very little info on his participation in either campaign, only a medal listing, which is unfortunate as there is quite a story to Otter's career. .

[RCN]

The medals of James Richardson, RCHA - participant in the Riel Rebellion campaign of 1885 & the South African War.

Again, no description of his career, just medal listing.
Now this soldier's career would have been of interest! He must have seen a fair amount of service.

[RCN]

A very nice uniform display from the 1866-1870 Canadian Militia period.

This was the uniform of Justus Alonzo Griffin, a member of the 13th Hamilton Batt'n of Volunteer Militia.

Uniform & accoutrements all in superb condition.

[RCN]

The South African War exhibits were in my opinion one of the best displays in the museum.

The eye catcher is the first one you come to.....

[RCN]

The Leliefontein gun...............