3 In the Service of Canada Introduction Lest we Forget John Goheen and Markus Fahrner A message to our readers from author and editor, John Goheen and Markus Fahrner graphics and layout designer. The 2025 edition of the British Columbia/Yukon Command annual volume, In the Service of Canada is the first exclusively digital version we have produced since our initial involvement in 2014. Regardless of format, In the Service of Canada continues to share the stories of service by Canadian men and women, at home and abroad, in peace and in war. This year marks eighty years since the end of the Second World War. With more than a million Canadian men and women in uniform, roughly ten percent of the population, and almost as many working in war related industries, Canada’s contribution to the final victory in 1945 was enormous. In these electronic pages, readers will encounter stories from that bittersweet final year of war where more Canadian soldiers died in the war’s final three weeks, more than in Korea, Peacekeeping, and Afghanistan combined. From Thomas Big Canoe’s first and last action in Operation Blockbuster, to noted historian Mark’s Zeuhlke’s new history of Canadian Gunners in Afghanistan, to how the humble Canadian five cent coin once contributed to the war effort, to British Columbian Jim Barrett-Lennard’s recounting of his family’s proud military service to Canada, readers should find something that makes them recognize, honour, respect, and remember the men and women who served our nation.
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