The DEW LINE
Sites in Canada, Alaska & Greenland
The Diefenbunker maintains a collection of Cold War artefacts, an archives and a library as part of its mandate to preserve and promote understanding of Cold War history. These holdings are made accessible to researchers upon request, and to the general public through our exhibitions.
Audio-Viusual downloadable tourguide for The Diefenbunker:
The Diefenbunker Cold War Museum is located in the township of Carp about 20 minutes west of Ottawa, Canada.
The Diefenbunker museum is completely different from any other museum I’ve covered in this military museum directory. The Diefenbunker Cold War Museum is a subterranean reinforced concrete labyrinth of bunkers designed to house the most critical members of the Canadian government in the event of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. While very comprehensive in facilities and space, there was no provision for the personnel to bring their wives or children with them to survive the aftermath of the expected nuclear holocaust. The bunker complex was built during the term of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, and eventually was tagged with its current and very appropriate title. Our tour guide said that when Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau learned he could not bring his family with him in the event of a nuclear attack, he vowed never to set foot in the facility even if the worst were to happen. Continue reading Diefenbunker Museum
Broadcast Date: Jan. 22, 1994
For years, this emergency government hideaway was a top secret station designed to house political leaders in case of attack. But the Cold War has thawed into neutrality with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Now, the bunker is open for inspection. A bank of Canada vault, an operating room, the CBC announcer booth, and sleeping quarters fill the four floors of the underground Diefenbunker. CBC Television takes a close look inside this Cold War relic. Continue reading Opening up the Diefenbunker
This black-and-white newsreel from the Second World War describes the war on the information and propaganda fronts and the hopes for a future founded on cooperation. Part of the World in Action series.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/the_war_for_mens_minds
http://media1.nfb.ca/medias/flash/ONFflvplayer-gama.swf
Armies dissolve as soon as they are formed. Thousands of the Canadian volunteers sent to Valcartier in 1914 came home, some because they lacked their wife’s permission to enlist. Two hundred thousand more—sick, wounded or otherwise unsuitable for service—followed during the war, leaving about 450,000 soldiers for the postwar demobilization. Continue reading Epilogue Dissolving Canada’s Great War Army
This provocative documentary uncovers a lost chapter in Canadian military history: how the Armed Forces dealt with homosexual behaviour among soldiers, during and after World War II. More than 60 years later, a group of five veterans, barely adults when they enlisted, break the silence to talk about how homosexual behaviour “was even more unmentionable than cancer.” Yet amidst the brutality of war, instances of sexual awakening among soldiers and officers were occuring. Initially, the Army overlooked it, but as the war advanced, they began to crack down: military tribunals, threats of imprisonment, discharge and public exposure. After the war, officers accused of homosexuality were discharged. Back home in Canada, reputations and careers were ruined. For the young men who had served their country with valour, this final chapter was often too much to bear. Based on the book Courting Homosexuals in the Military by Paul Jackson. Continue reading Open Secrets