FAYE
The Ottawa Military History Club
Are you interested in Canadian Military History?
Your Motivation?
Are you one of the many Canadians with a growing interest in Canadian Military History?
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Canada has a remarkable military history and reputation. Do you have a general interest in Canadian Military History?
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Do you have a specific interest in a specific aspect of Canadian Military History?
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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?
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Are you interested in what it was really like for young Canadians who fought in war? Or the impact on their Canadian families?
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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)
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:
"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.
Military History Items - Buy and Sell
Often meeting attendees bring military history related artifacts to our meetings for sale. These items include books, photos, paintings, posters, medals, pins, articles of clothing, badges, logbooks, etc.
If you are interested in browsing these items, or if you have items to sell, come on out to one of our meetings.
Here is an interesting email the club just received:
Book Collection For Sale
We have some war of 1812 books... many quite old. Is this something that someone in your club may be interested in purchasing. We are moving long distance and cannot take the collection with us. Please reach out ASAP and let us know if this is something you might be interested in. We could arrange a video chat for you to look at some of the things we have. We are in Cambridge Ontario.
Thank you
Phyllis and Steve Franklin
Email contact is:
Remembrance - Some Thoughts and Reflections
on the Impact of War Losses on Canadian Families
Next Sunday Afternoon History Event Meeting Agenda
Manotick Legion
Sunday 22 March 2026
12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Next History on Film Night Movie
Manotick Legion
Wednesday 1 April 2026
Doors open at 1815 hrs.
Die Brücke (The Bridge) (1959)
"Die Brücke (The Bridge)" is a 1959 West German anti-war film directed by Austrian filmmaker Bernhard Wicki. It is based on the 1958 novel of the same name by journalist and writer Gregor Dorfmeister. The story was based on an actual event, upon the personal report of a surviving veteran who in his own youth experienced a similar situation during the Second World War.
In the closing days of the Second World War, a small German town comes into focus as U.S. Army forces advance in its direction. In the town's school, seven boys—each about 16 years old—are oblivious to the seriousness and dangers of the war, feeling excitement about how close the fighting is getting to them, and they live their lives as normally as they can.
Unexpectedly, the boys are recruited into the Volkssturm (People’s Army) , but after only one day in the barracks, the commanding officers receive news that the Americans are approaching, and the garrison is called out. As they prepare to move out, the Kompaniechef (Company Commander), who has been asked by the boys' teacher to keep them out of action, arranges for the youths to be placed in 'defense' of the local bridge (which is strategically unimportant, and which is to be blown up anyway to spare the town the direct effects of the war), under the command of a veteran Unteroffizier (Senior Non-Commissioned Officer).
MOVIE & HISTORIC TRIVIA
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The film was timely in West Germany as the Bundeswehr had only recently been created in 1955 with conscription in Germany beginning in 1956;
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The film received several international prizes, notably the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film, also a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.;
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The author, Gregor Dorfmeister., wrote the novel based upon his own experiences. On 1 May 1945—the day after Hitler’s suicide and a week before Germany’s surrender—Dorfmeister and four other 16-year-old draftees were ordered to defend a bridge in the forest 12 miles south of town and fired upon approaching American tanks resulting with his four comrades being killed;
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The bridge used in the movie was called Florian-Geyer-Brücke in Cham, Bayern. It was torn down in 1991 and replaced by a new one in 1995. There are now several plaques as a reminder of this popular movie;
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None of the American tanks shown in the movie are real. Since the West German army still did not have any tanks in 1959, the director, Bernhard Wicki, had to have wooden models constructed. The models were then placed on top of a truck chassis. The wheels can clearly been seen under the "tank" body.
MOVIE TRAILER
(1) Die Brücke (The Bridge, 1959) unofficial trailer - YouTube