Defeating the German Army in 1918 Presentation

Just in time for Remembrance Day, the Greater Vernon Museum & Archives will host a presentation by Prof. Howard Hisdal entitled “Defeating the German Army in 1918: The 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Hundred Days Campaign from Amiens to Mons” as part of the museum’s Speaker Series. The November 7th talk will also complement the museum’s latest exhibition, Finish the Fight! Vernon in the Great War. The presentation by Prof. Hisdal, CD, MA, Chair of the History Department of Okanagan College, looks at the last hundred days of the First World War which ended on November 11th, 1918. The viewpoint is that of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, a regiment recruited in the Okanagan and Victoria, and led by Lieutenant Colonel Chalmers Johnston, a militia officer from Vernon. Prof. Hisdal will look at the tactics and leadership that made the 2nd CMR and the entire Canadian Corps into a highly efficient fighting machine that drove back the German Army and helped win the war. Prof. Howard Hisdal, CD, MA, graduated from Royal Roads Military College, Victoria, and Royal Military College, Kingston. He earned his Master of Arts degree at Carleton University. He has 25 years of military service; 18 of those years as an officer in the British Columbia Dragoons, the descendant of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles. He retired as a captain in 2014. The “CD” stands for Canadian Forces Decoration for honourable service. Howard has taught history at Okanagan College since 2005 and is the chair of the History Department. He is also the Vice-President of the Okanagan Military Museum Society in Kelowna and on the board of directors for the Kelowna Museums Society. As space is limited in the museum, please call 250-542-3142 to pre-register for the November 7th presentation from 7pm to 9pm. Admission is $5/person, at the door. For more information, call, visit www.vernonmuseum.ca or find us on Facebook.