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The Ottawa Military History Club

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Are you interested in Canadian Military History?

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Military

Your Motivation?

 

Are you one of the many Canadians with a growing interest in Canadian Military History?

 

  • Canada has a remarkable military history and reputation. Do you have a general interest in Canadian Military History?

 

  • Do you have a specific interest in a specific aspect of Canadian Military History?

 

  • Were you moved and intrigued by the recent 2025 events of the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II, and the celebrations of the Canadian role in the Liberation of the Netherlands?

 

  • Are you interested in what it was really like for young Canadians who fought in war? Or the impact on their Canadian families?

 

  • Do you have family members who fought, and perhaps died, in the world wars and other world conflicts that Canada was part of? Are you interested in guidance and/or assistance in getting more information on them?

Do you want to learn more?

 

Or do you have interesting relevant information to share with others?

  

Then consider attending these local Ottawa military history events.

It's one thing to read books and watch documentaries. It's another to meet with a group of people in a social setting, and listen to thought provoking military history relevant presentations, followed by engaging discussion.

The Ottawa Military History Club

(Manotick Legion)

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Terry Hunter is the primary organizer and contact person for the Ottawa Military History Club, including Sunday Afternoon History Events, and History on Film Nights.

Terry's email contact is:

​​ 

peilighthorse@hotmail.com

"Webmaster" (for any website issues) - Jim Morris: canadianmilitaryhistory77@gmail.com

Who Attends These History Events?
Attendees have ranged from military veterans to high school students.

They have included Canadian historians with expertise on Canadians in both world wars, who have published books and documentaries on Canadian battlefields, Military Units and cemeteries.

Attendees have also included some who have had family who were involved in the Canadian military in the wars, and have come to share their stories, and to learn more from others.

One regular attendee lived in the Netherlands during WW2, and recalls what it was like as a young child living there during the war years.

And some attendees have brought some really interesting specific information and/or artifacts to share.

Many just come to listen and learn about Canadian Military History. “We will remember them.”
You do not need to be a member of the Legion to attend these history events.

Next Sunday Afternoon History Event Meeting Agenda
Manotick Legion
Sunday 22 February 2026
12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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Next History on Film Night Movie
Manotick Legion
Wednesday 4 March 2026
Doors open at 1815 hrs.

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Greyhound (2020)
 

"Greyhound" is a ​​2020 film based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester (author of the Hornblower series), and follows a US Navy commander on his first assignment commanding a multi-national escort destroyer group of four, defending an Allied convoy from U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic.   

 

In February 1942, Allied convoy HX-25, consisting of 37 merchant and troop ships en route for Liverpool, enters the "Black Pit", the Mid-Atlantic gap, where they will be out of range of protective air cover from the RCAF.  The convoy's escort consists of the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Keeling (DD-548), radio call sign "Greyhound", captained by Commander Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks) of the United States Navy; the British Tribal-class destroyer HMS James, call sign "Harry"; the Polish Grom-class destroyer ORP Viktor, call sign "Eagle"; and the Canadian Flower-class Corvette HMCS Dodge,call sign "Dicky".

 

The Escort group encounters a U-Boat Wolf Pack which begins their hunt against the Merchant ships of the Convoy.

MOVIE & HISTORIC TRIVIA
 

  • The fictionalized Polish Grom-class destroyer ORP Viktor was based on scans taken of the real Grom-class destroyer ORP Błyskawica, a museum ship in Gdynia, Poland;

  • Canadian content and assistance was heavily present in the film -  Pre-production photography took place in January 2018 at sea aboard the present day Royal Canadian Navy Frigate HMCS Montréal.    HMCS Sackville, the last surviving Flower-class corvette, was used as the model for the film's corvette, HMCS Dodge.  Producers took numerous 3D scans of the restored ship's exterior at Halifax, Nova Scotia to create the CGI version of the corvette.

  • "Greyhound" was initially scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on June 12, 2020 but release was delayed indefinitely and then canceled because of widespread disruption and shutdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

  • One historically inaccurate scene occurs at the end of the film when a troop ship carrying several thousand men cheer the Greyhound and its captain as they break off screening the convoy. No troop ship would ever sail in a convoy. Troop ships were usually passenger liners which could travel at 25-30 knots. This speed meant that U-boats usually could not target them, most troop ships travelled solo. A convoy could only travel at the speed of its slowest ship which sometimes was only 8-10 knots. 

  • When the Captain refers to "Huff-Duff," he is referring to high-frequency direction-finding. This was a key method of how Allied naval forces detected and tracked German U-Boats.  The Kriegsmarine's U-boat fleet maintained a high amount of radio traffic with its shore command and with each other for their Wolfpack tactics against Allied shipping. Huff-Duff allowed Allied naval ships to detect those radio transmissions and determine the location of those transmitting ships to attack them.  CFS Leitrim (specifically its predecessor listening posts in the Ottawa area, including HMCS Gloucester) played a critical, top-secret role in Canada's efforts to combat German U-boats in the Atlantic. 

  • The North Atlantic convoy system was 75% Canadian in 1942 later becoming 90%. By 1945 Canada had the third largest Navy in the World.

MOVIE TRAILER

Greyhound - Official® International Trailer [HD]

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