Let’s face it, the most pervasive and persistent perceptions of history revolve around the stuff that gets talked about.
Did Tom Hanks invade Normandy, liberate France, and save Private Ryan? Well, not exactly. But America won the Second World War, right? Well, not exactly, but they sure as heck helped.
It’s only natural that most people “learn” from what they see and hear and read the most, and it’s only natural that what they see and hear and read the most is shaped by what sells the most. That’s why the kinds of stories that resonate with audiences get re-resonated over and over. And every marketing guru will tell you, over and over and over, that it’s repetition that hammers home perceptions.
When I wrote my recent novel, EO-N, I wasn’t thinking about any of that, I was only thinking about creating a unique and compelling and entertaining story. The central events in EO-N revolve around a relatively un-talked-about segment of the Second World War—the allied attempt to disrupt the shipping of iron ore and other resources from occupied Norway to Germany. And one of the book’s lead characters, Squadron Leader Jack Barton, is a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot engaged in that effort.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised (but I guess I am a little surprised) that so many readers of World War Two era fiction have let me know how much they appreciated learning something new about the conflict from the book, especially the fact that Canadians participated in such a way.
As a Canadian, I’d have to characterize Canada as a pretty low-key country, not perfect but always trying, not really a chest-thumping place, but quietly confident in itself. So let’s look at a few historical facts relative to the country’s role in just one of the major events of the 20th century.
Canada today has a relatively small military for a country with more than 38 million inhabitants, 243,042 km of coastline, and 8,891 km of borders (a topic for another day), but at the end of 1945, it had the world’s fourth largest air force and fifth largest navy. Out of a total population of only about 11.5 million or so at that time, more than a million Canadians served in the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, and in the forces of other allied nations including those of England and the United States. For example, the two Canadian fighter pilots I was fortunate enough to get to know during the research phase for EO-N both served in Britain’s Royal Air Force, and records show that one out of six RAF Bomber Command groups flying in Europe was Canadian. On the home front, Canada was also the site of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, a program that trained more than 130,000 Allied pilots and aircrew from Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and many other nations, and the 12,000 members of the Canadian Merchant Navy made more than 25,000 U-boat infested trans-Atlantic crossings to help keep England afloat during its darkest hours.
Seems there’s probably no shortage of history there, eh? I chose the settings and characters for my novel because they fit the story I wanted to tell. I’m thrilled that so many people have enjoyed the read, and more than happy to have enlightened a few of them about the contributions to a massive effort made by some of the typically unsung.
It’s probably also worth noting that while Tom Hanks and friends were storming Omaha Beach on June 6th, 1944, just up the coast a little, out of camera range, 14,000 Canadians were doing the same thing at Juno Beach. All he had to do was stand up and wave!
Dave Mason is the author of EO-N which is available now.
Aspects of History Issue 7 is out now.
