US Navy pre-dreadnaught Battleships: USS Kearsage (BB-5), USS Kentucky (BB-6)

US Navy pre-dreadnaught Battleships: Kearsage class: USS Kearsage (BB-5), USS Kentucky (BB-6) (U.S. National Archives Photo, 09-18-1899 – NARA – 535431) USS Kearsarge (BB-5), port bow, at wharf, 18 September 1899. USS Kearsarge (hull number: BB-5), was the name ship of the Kearsarge class of pre-dreadnought battleships built during the 1890 for the United States … Read more

US Navy pre-dreadnaught Battleships: USS Indiana (BB-1), USS Massachusetts (BB-2), USS Oregon (BB-3), USS Iowa (BB-4)

USN pre-dreadnought battleships Indiana class: USS Indiana (BB-1), USS Massachusetts (BB-2), USS Oregon (BB-3), USS Iowa (BB-4) (Naval History and Heritage Command Photo, NH 73975) USS Indiana (BB-1), c1895-1900. USS Indiana was the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time. Authorized … Read more

US Navy Battleships: USS Texas (1892)

US Navy Battleships: USS Texas (1892) (NARA – 512957 Photo) USS Texas (unnumbered), later renamed the San Marcos. Port bow, underway, ca. 1900. The United States Navy began the construction of battleships with USS Texas in 1892, although its first ship to be designated as such was USS Indiana. USS Texas and USS Maine, commissioned … Read more

Women General Officers of the Canadian Army

Women General Officers of the Canadian Army General Marie Annabelle Jennie Carignan, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD (Patrick Woodbury/Archives Le Droit) General Marie Annabelle Jennie Carignan, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada in Engineering, General Jennie Carignan was commissioned into the Canadian Military Engineers in 1990. Since then, she commanded two Combat Engineer … Read more

PTSD (Shell Shock)

PTSD (Shell Shock) When I was a boy (ca 1960s) visiting my Grandfather Walter Estabrooks on his farm in Carleton County, New Brunswick, my brother Dale and I would often find ourselves sitting on a couch near the kitchen table when visitors dropped by. Both of my grandfathers had fought in the First World War, … Read more

Women Flag Officers of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN)

Women Flag Officers of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Rear-Admiral Jennifer Bennett, RCN, Chief of Reserves and Cadets Rear-Admiral Jennifer J. Bennett, CMM, CD Rear-Admiral Jennifer J. Bennett is a retired Canadian Forces Naval Reserve officer. In 2011, she served as Chief of Reserves and Cadets. As such, she was the highest ranking reservist in … Read more

Women General Officers of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

Women General Officers of the RCAF Lieutenant-General Frances Allen, RCAF Lieutenant-General Frances Jennifer Allen, CMM, CD is a senior officer serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force. On 28 June 2021, she assumed office as Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Allen’s prior roles included serving as … Read more

New Brunswick, Provincial government, 1843 penny tokens and 1854 penny currency

New Brunswick, Provincial government, 1843 penny tokens and 1854 penny currency (Library and Archives Canada) New Brunswick, which was originally part of Nova Scotia, was established as a separate colony in 1784. For several decades thereafter, a mixture of foreign coins obtained in trade provided an adequate circulating currency for the new colony. By the … Read more

Warplanes of Australia: Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-15 Kangaroo, RAAF

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-15 Kangaroo (CAC Photo) Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-15 on a test flight, 1946. The CAC CA-15 was an Australian propeller-driven fighter aircraft designed and built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) during the Second World War. Due to protracted development, the project was not completed until after the war, and was cancelled … Read more

Élisa Léontine Deroche: France: brevet de pilote n° 36, the first woman to fly solo

Élisa Léontine Deroche Élisa Deroche, known under the pseudonym Baroness Raymonde de Laroche, was a French actress and aviator born on 22 August, 1882 in Paris (4th arrondissement). She died on 18 July 1919 in a plane crash at Le Crotoy (Somme). She was the first woman in the world to obtain her pilot-aviator license … Read more