The Canadian War Musem

I took some time off from the kids last weekend to visit the new Canadian War Museum on the anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge. I must say I came away very impressed.

The external view of the building looks like a ship that has flipped upside-down and is interesting but not particularity attractive. The inside however is fantastic. The permanent exhibits are extremely well done and take you through Canada's history of war from early aboriginal warfare right up to the present role in Afghanistan.
At the time of my visit there were 2 special exhibits on:
Afghanistan: A Glimpse of War
and
Canada Under Attack: 1942 - 1944

CUA tells the story of German U boats foray into the Gulf of the St. Lawrence during WWII.











Twenty-three ships were sunk and 375 lives lost in the battles.

Canada also had to deal with German spies on our shores.

Werner von Janowski
































Alfred Langbein
































These, along with the many other displays, made this exhibit well worth a look.

"Afghanistan: A Glimpse of War" shows Canada's involvement in the war in Afghanistan. The exhibit begins with a display portraying the events of 9/11 and moves on to Canada's role in military and humanitarian efforts.

One display that caught my eye was this sniper rifle below.













Further along in the exhibit was a glass wall where people posted their comments. See the red post-it note on the lower left...













Here is what it said:

















I saw this gentleman sitting alone looking quite reflective to me. I had to wonder if he had lost someone over there.














This shot of him was through the broken windshield of a Canadian military vehicle that was destroyed by an IED.

After spending several hours in these 2 exhibits I realized I had very little time left for the permanent exhibits. I did go through them but did not give them the attention they deserve. I will be going back the next chance I get.

5 stars.