Category: History

The First World War: Canada Remembers

The First World War: Canada Remembers

They called it “The Great War” and “The War to End All Wars” – though of course it didn’t. When hostilities erupted in Europe in 1914, Canadians rushed to Britain’s side. But the cost was terrible: more than 60,000 were killed, 172,000 wounded. There are no more Canadian combat veterans alive to recall the horrors of the First World War, but their voices and memories live on in the archives of the CBC. Lest we forget, here are some of their stories. Continue reading The First World War: Canada Remembers

Cold War survival: Life in a fallout shelter

Cold War survival: Life in a fallout shelter

Broadcast Date: Sept. 17, 1961

Before a crowd of anti-bomb protesters, the McCallum family emerge from their week-long stay inside a fallout shelter located on the Toronto CBC grounds. “We not only survived, we thrived,” says a relieved but tired McCallum. Conditions inside the 13-foot-long shelter are primitive. Ventilation is confined and the only source of light and heat is via open flame.
More on Cold War culture

The Emergency Measures Organization has laid out 11 steps for survival which McCallum and other pro-shelter families are taking to heart. The EMO advises that Canadians must know how to eliminate radioactive dust, prepare a two-week emergency supply of food and provisions, and know how to prevent and fight fires. CBC Television features this report on the McCallum family and how to survive a nuclear disaster.