Show notes
In the summer of 1998, the epic war film Saving Private Ryan was in theatres. Its portrayal of the American landings at Omaha Beach on D-Day hooked audiences for a story underlining American exceptionalism in the “good” war. In reflection, one Canadian journalist asked what the film would have been like had Canadians made it about Juno Beach. He concluded that “the Allies would never have got off the beach. Private Ryan himself would have been flattened by a German Tiger tank and the rescue squad dead to the last man.”This may be a shocking statement for some but it reflected decades of failure in telling Canada’s story. This is a major theme in The Fight for History: 75 Years of Forgetting, Remembering, and Remaking Canada’s Second World War. The Fight for History is a new book by bestselling author and leading Canadian military historian Tim Cook. Professor Cook joins us to discuss the shifting ways in which Canadians have remembered the country’s role in the Second World War. For a time, subjects like the tragic disaster at Dieppe or the shameful treatment of Japanese-Canadians dominated the public narrative. Ultimately, veterans and their champions reclaimed their history in the 1990s and early 2000s. Projects like the new Canadian War Museum and the Juno Beach Centre are testaments to this. The Fight for History is a reflective reminder that we must continue to carry the torch forward as the living memory of the war fades. PatreonHelp keep us on the air! Become a patron for Juno Beach and Beyond for as little as $2 per month. Make your secure contribution through Patreon.com.All proceeds support the Juno Beach Centre, Canada’s Second World War Museum in Normandy, France and allow us to continue to offer this content to listeners across Canada!Time Stamps3:52 Why Write The Fight for History?Guest BiographyDr. Tim Cook is the Acting-Director of Research at the Canadian War Museum. He is the author and editor of 13 books, including his 3-volume history of Canada and the Second World War: The Necessary War, Fight to the Finish, and his new book, The Fight for History.NotesThe following links offer more information on the topics discussed in this episode:PodcastsCanada’s Finest Hour: A V-E Day 75 Historian RoundtableRemembrance Day 1944 with Matthew HaltonThe Power of Place with Graham BroadIn Their Footsteps: The Juno75 Student PilgrimageJuno75: Above & Beyond with Neil OrfordOSCVI’s War Dead with Dave AlexanderThe Summer Institute for Canada’s EducatorsEncyclopediaThe Battle of the AtlanticThe Dieppe RaidThe Liberation of the NetherlandsThe Battle of the ScheldtReturn to PeaceCreditsJuno Beach & Beyond is hosted and edited by Alex Fitzgerald-Black, the Juno Beach Centre Association’s Operations and Outreach Manager.Mackenzie King’s speech to British Parliament from the British Pathé YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SlEvclY5LE&t=48sArtillery firing sounds from the CBC News: The National YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsCSQ4uWR1YFemale veteran’s voice (Eileen Green, née Short) Courtesy of The Memory Project, Historica Canada: http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/383:eileen-green-nee-short/ Winston Churchill’s “Finest Hour” speech from Jonathan Thomas’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB5wZtV1MWMSpitfire sound effect from Jason Kirby’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgZI4tAoMN0Dramatic Interlude by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
