Filled with excellent historical articles it occurred to me that there may be genealogists and family historians that are not aware of this resource.

Legion Magazine is a remembrance and a celebration of our Canadian Soldiers both current and past.

Since 1928, Legion Magazine has honoured those Canadians who have served their country by publishing in print short death notices for Royal Canadian Legion members with military backgrounds, Canadian war veterans and Legion members with police service.  There is a searchable online database from 1987.

And with equal importance, the stories are being told.

Edward John Kerr’s War Medals, WW II, Canada

I share here a brief overview of the current issue.

• Navy 100th Anniversary 1910 – 2010  Launching the Service – complete with historic photos, a series of articles document the history of the Canadian Navy.

(Any Canadian sailors in your family history? This article can give you a lot of background material.)

• Canadian Reflections: Your Money or Your Life – a true story of a stagecoach robbed!  Held up at gunpoint on the Queen’s Highway.   Mid-1850s.

(Are you related to the robbers or heroes in this story?  Or perhaps your ancestors came from the same geographic area.  It is a fascinating story.)

• Canadian Military History in Perspective:  Army. Cold October Rain. Rimini, Italy on September 21, 1944.

(Did you have a relative there? )

• Canadian Military History in Perspective: Airforce. The Roar of The Meteor.  A story of historic jetfighter aircraft.
• Battle Honours of the Canadian Forces.
• Assignment Afghanistan. Field Notes from the front.  A prelude to a larger article to appear in the March/April issue about the brave men and women currently serving.
  

Articles such as the ones found in Legion Magazine can give you background into the times and conditions of the day and can enhance and enrich your genealogy and family history research.  Subscriptions can be obtained with a Legion membership and many of the articles can be found on line at Legion Magazine.

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[Editor: Joan supports Legion Branch #290, in Nokomis, Saskatchewan, in remembrance of her father Edward Kerr (1919- 1983)  who was a long time member.   In the Second World War, Ed served with the 27th Anti Aircraft Regiment, went into action in Italy with the 5th Division, 89th battery and the Lanark and Renfew Scottish Regiment of Canada. Go here to contact Joan or leave a comment below. ]

Genealogists in Canada and elsewhere will be interested to hear of the Canadian Headstone Photo Project. This looks like a worthwhile cause if you are interested in volunteering. 

“The mission of this project is to capture digital images of  headstones of our ancestors. As decades pass — many stones are becoming harder, if not impossible, to read the inscriptions they originally contained. By archiving the images, we can help save these important records and also assist researchers using this valuable resource.  This Headstone Photo Project is a privately sponsored, non-profit, educational site. Success of the Project depends completely upon the activities of many volunteers and other individuals who contribute photographs to the archive.”

If you enjoy photography and would relish a worthwhile volunteer project, consider helping with this one.  The Website is here: http://canadianheadstones.com/