Camping Haida Gwaii A Small Vessel Guide Revised Second Edition

Boat Camping Haida Gwaii A Small Vessel Guide Revised Second Edition

by Neil Frazer

978-1-55017-487-8 • 1-55017-487-8

$29.95 • Paperback 8.5 x 11 • 176 pp • March 2010

With information on ancient native settlements, hidden campsites and everything in between, Boat Camping Haida Gwaii offers a fascinating and comprehensive marine guide to the wild beauty of the Queen Charlotte Islands for kayakers and other small vessel operators. The book has a wide range of informative maps and numerous photographs of the Queen Charlotte coast; offering meticulously field-tested paddling and boating routes to the islands’ majestic attractions. Detailed descriptions are given of each campsite and special appendices are provided with helpful hints on bear safety, tides and currents. The book also contains invaluable information about the history and culture of the Haida, the indigenous people of the Queen Charlotte Islands. This guide’s comprehensive information will be valuable to kayakers, canoeists, those in small motorboats and everyone interested in exploring this unique area.

This book is finished in Harbour’s usual high quality standard and at first glance looks very nice. The format is similar to a number of coastal sailing and boating references published over the years but ultimately disappoints.

Unfortunately the author ascribes to the “natives are one with nature and all non-natives are inherently evil” camp which puts an unfortunate spin on the book which means it should not be used as a meaningful reference work. This is a real shame as obviously a lot of work was put into this book. An example of this is an illustration on page 76 showing the (now scrapped if the author had done his research would have known) Haida Brave with the caption “A log carrier with the gratuitously insulting name Haida Brave self loads at Ferguson Bay….”

The author sets a bad example for boaters by including a photo of his boat on page 29 with the occupants not wearing lifejackets.

Author Frazer should determine if he wants to have his writings in the “New Age” section of the book store or “Local Interest” or “Boating.” The biases in this book ultimately are its demise and resultant lack of recommendation.

Politics of Procurement: Military Acquisitions in Canada and the Sea King Helicopter

The Politics of Procurement - Military Acquisition in Canada and the Sea King Helicopter

By Aaron Plamondon


UBC Press 2010 978-0-7748-1715-8 Soft Cover


The Canadian Navy in the late 1950s realized it would never be able to provide the ASW escorts they had pledged to NATO. So to fill this gap, it was decided to introduce a large shipborne helicopter onto its destroyer and destroyer escort sized ships that were capable of autonomous operations. This was in fact several years before other nations followed suit; they believing that a smaller airframe, acting as an extension of the ship's weapon system was preferable. Canada introduced the Sikorsky HSS-2 Sea King, an aircraft originally designed for operation from aircraft carriers. The Sea King was purchased in the early 1960s from United Aircraft in Quebec who built them under license, a program that saw the last delivery in 1969. Replacement planning was planned to begin in 1975 but this convoluted program is still going on today (2010) with deck trials of a replacement S-92 recently taking place in Halifax. The book goes into great detail on the behind the scenes machinations of the workings of Ottawa and the intrigues. One aspect missed that I would have like to see was the purported deal between Maritime Command head VADM Douglas Boyle handing over control of the Sea Kings to the Air Force in exchange for the latter's support in maintaining the current surface fleet. The eventual choice of the EH-101 to replaced the Sea King in the 1980s would have provided an up to date successor but this being Canada, was not to be. After calling the EH-101 an "attack" helicopter and promising to scrap the program if elected. He eventually was and he cancelled the program, an act costing almost half a billion dollars in termination fees. The program was dragged out again and the specificaitons constantly changed to preclude the EH-101 to avoid political embarrassment to the Prime Miinster. One small research error was noted: describing the post-World War Two fleet as containing four Tribal Class destroyers when in fact it was only three (HMCS Athabaskan was sunk in the English Channel in 1944). After he finally left office the inferior S-92 was selected from Sikorsky which should hopefully be operational by 2015, fully 40 years after the original replacement specification. Writer Aaron Plamondon is commended for his excellent research and narrative skills and I sincerely hope he focuses his next work in the military field.

Conflict In The North

Conflict in the North

By Daniel L Little


iUniverse New York 2009 978-1-4401-7674-6 Soft Cover

This book is the second effort to date from Nova Scotian Daniel Little on novels based on the Canadian military. Not since the 1970s efforts of Richard Rohmer has this been done. While Rohmer's work started well and later descended to unreadable, we certainly hope Mr Little continues to improve. With his second book, improvement is certainly evident. The story takes place during 1966 when Soviet submarines, aircraft and Spesnatz support a secret base in Labrador with the intent of undermining the Pinetree radar defense network. A combination of naval, army and air force assets from Canada are employed to take out the base with the effort being lead on the ground by an army sergeant and a squad of Canadian Rangers, a group of volunteers from the Arctic native population. Little brings these elements together along with an attempt at American intervention to a conclusion that makes sense but lacks a little in suspense. Apart from that the book was an enjoyable read.

The Lost Flight of Amelia Earhart

The book is actually a screenplay and as such is not really suitable as an authoritative work of history.

Upon Their Lawful Occasions: Reflections of a Merchant Navy Officer During Peace and War

By Vernon G.A. Upton



Paperback 444 pages Matador 2008 978-1904744252

Vernon Upton served in the Merchant Navy from just before the outbreak of World War II. His experiences of life in peace and war are vividly described in this comprehensive history.
 
One of the nice features of this book are the plethora of tables and photographs. While nice, at times the tables distract from the narrative and might have been better served with being placed in appendices.
 
This book is an excellent narrative and is recommended to studies of the Second World War.

THE WHEEZERS AND DODGERS: The Inside Story of Clandestine Weapon Development in World War II

By Gerald Pawle

304 pages Seaforth Publishing April 2009 978-1848320260 Paperback

This is the story of the Admiralty's Department of Miscellaneous Weapon Development, the so-called 'Wheezers and Dodgers', and the many ingenious weapons and devices it invented, improved or perfected.

The author was one of a group of officers with engineering or scientific backgrounds who were charged with the task of winning the struggle for scientific mastery between the Allies and the Germans in what Churchill enthusiastically called 'the wizard war'. Their work ranged from early stop-gap weapons like the steam-powered Holman projector, via great success stories like the Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar, to futuristic experiments with rockets, a minefield that could be sown in the sky, and the spectacularly dangerous Great Panjandrum, a giant explosive Catherine-wheel intended to storm enemy beaches.

The development of these and many other extraordinary inventions, their triumphs and disasters, is told with panache and humor and a diverse group of highly imaginative and eccentric figures emerge from the pages.

First published in 1956, this book is welcome reprint and is a highly worthwhile read.

Avoiding Armageddon Canadian Military Strategy and Nuclear Weapons, 1950-63

By Andrew Richter


9780774808880 UBC Press


$32.95 224 Pages


Published in association with the Canadian War Museum as part of the Studies in Canadian Military History series

The advent of nuclear weapons in the 1940s brought enormous changes to doctrines regarding the use of force in resolving disputes. American strategists have been widely credited with most of these; Canadians, most have assumed, did not conduct their own strategic analysis. Avoiding Armageddon soundly debunks this notion.


Drawing on previously classified government records, Richter reveals that Canadian defense officials did come to independent strategic understandings of the most critical issues of the nuclear age. Canadian appreciation of deterrence, arms control, and strategic stability differed conceptually from the US models. Similarly, Canadian thinking on the controversial issues of air defense and the domestic acquisition of nuclear weapons was primarily influenced by decidedly Canadian interests.


Avoiding Armageddon is a work with far-reaching implications. It illustrates Canada’s considerable latitude for independent defense thinking while providing key historical information that helps make sense of the contemporary Canadian defense debate.


Nuclear weapons were long the untold element of Canada’s military in the 1960s and 70s with the BOMARC surface to air and GENIE air to air missiles as part of NORAD, the RCAF CF-104 purchased for the NATO nuclear strike role in Europe and the RCN’s purchase of the ASROC nuclear ASW torpedo launching system. The most famous result of these programs was the still controversial cancellation of the Avro Arrow jet interceptor by the Deifenbaker government.


Canada has traditionally thought small in defense matters but occasionally aspired to greatness. This book covers well the behind the scenes planning and thought processes behind thoughts on what was and still is a controversial topic.


I was quite happy to see the UBC Press publish this work by Andrew Richter. Although the finished product would have been much improved by the inclusion of illustrations, it is still recommended.