My name is Harold (Hal) Aage Skaarup, CD3, BFA, MA in War Studies.
"Back in the day" as my generation likes to say, I served as a Canadian Army Paratrooper and Military Intelligence Officer. I have had the great good fortune in having a military career that gave me a chance to see some interesting parts of the world while on duty with NATO in Germany, with the UN in Cyprus, with SFOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with NORAD in Colorado, with ISAF in Afghanistan and of course here at home and across Canada.
During those 40 years with the Canadian Forces, I had the privilege of taking part in history making events and having interesting experiences with incredibly talented people from many different countries. As a result, I believe that I have a bit of insight into some of the military history that Canadian soldiers, sailors, airmen and women have made in the past, are making in the present and will make in the future, both here at home and overseas. I have written and researched a fair number of our military stories and recorded some of those experiences. If you have similar interests, you will find a good deal of it here, shared from my perspective.
When I retired from the Army in August 2011 at 5 Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, New Brunswick, I took an interest in the New Brunswick Military History Museum (NBMHM) on base. Now settled down at our home in Fredericton, I became a volunteer researcher and tour guide at the museum. I also currently serve on the Board of Directors of the York Sunbury Historical Society as their President, and oversee the activities taking place at the Fredericton Region Museum (FRM), as well as the New Brunswick Aviation Museum in the Miramichi. Along the way, I was inducted into the group of RCAF Associate Historians. In the process, I have met some wonderful people and heard many of their stories, fielded questions from a myriad of visitors and continue to learn something new about our history every day. The aim, therefore, of these pages, is to share some of these stories with you. I have collected a fair amount of data that will be of interest to military historians and like-minded enthusiasts, but I am not the expert on all things military. What I do have is a wonderful collection of colleagues who do have some expertise in specific military subjects, and if I can't find an answer to your question, I may know someone I can refer you to, who can help.
The subject material is generally divided into Army, Navy and Air Force sections, and if those are your interest, jump to the Search section of this page. I have a wide variety of general interests as well, and hope you find something that will catch your attention. Good hunting.
For those of you with an interest in Canadian military aviation, I highly recommend the well-researched data base provided by the staff and volunteers at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM) who have compiled detailed loss reports of RCAF and Canadian casualties in the RAF during the Second World War. These records can be found by examining the specific aircraft of interest in the Canadian Aircraft Serials Personnel Information Resource (CASPIR) files here.
Things of interest you will find on these pages: Military artillery, Military aircraft, Military intelligence, First World War, World War One, Second World War, World War Two, Tanks, Artillery pieces, Armoured Fighting Vehicles, Military Transport Vehicles, Bombers, Fighter planes, Warships, Military strategy, Military tactics, Naval battles, Air battles, Intelligence operations, Espionage, Codebreaking, Secret weapons, Military innovations, Military technology, Aerial reconnaissance, Military history, Naval history, Aviation history, World War I battles, World War II battles, Axis powers, Allied powers, Military museums, Military archives, Military medals and decorations, Military heroes, Military leaders, Military weapons, Military equipment, Military training, Military education.
