The Laurier Military History Archive – www.lmharchive.ca – is a project that was initiated in the Summer of 2013 by the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS), at Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario). It offers the public previously unavailable access to a variety of digitized materials from LCMSDS’ archival holdings, and will increasingly offer digitized materials in partnership with other archival institutions and private donors. At time of our official launch of the website we would like to draw your attention to four collections in particular which our dedicated volunteers have worked hard to make available to you.
The Ronnie Shephard Fonds
The Ronnie Shephard Fonds came to LCMSDS through Professor Terry Copp in the late 1990′s following a period of research conducted by Copp in the UK on tactical air power. The fonds consists of documents amassed by Professor Ronnie Shephard, a former member of the British Army Operational Research Group during the Second World War, and later Chair of Operational Research at the UK’s Royal Military College of Science (Shrivenham). The materials are wide-ranging, but are primarily focused on military operational research in the post-1945 period. One of the crown jewels of the collection is a draft manuscript of “Operational Research in Bomber Command,” a significant document describing the development of operational research and strategic bombing in the Second World War. The whole manuscript or select chapters can be downloaded by clicking on the preceding link. The LMH Archive has also digitized an extensive operational research bibliography compiled by Ronnie Shephard. We are also pleased to announce that LCMSDS Press is now offering one of its major publications on operational research, Terry Copp (ed.), Montgomery’s Scientists, Operational Research in Northwest Europe: The Work of No. 2 Operational Research Section with 21 Army Group June 1944 to July 1945 (LCMSDS Press, 2000), as a free download for the public. The book is available as a full manuscript or can be downloaded by individual chapters. The book was published utilizing documents from the Shephard Fonds.
Second World War Canadian Army Air Photos Collection
Totaling some 130,000 photographs, the First Canadian Air Photo collection offers extensive coverage of First Canadian Army’s area of operations throughout Northwest Europe, and especially Normandy. The collection is currently organized by country and region – just click on a box number to view the photos. High resolution versions of the photographs can be purchased directly from the LMH Archive. All proceeds go to supporting the activities of the LMH Archive Team and LCMSDS. Please inquire at admin@canadianmilitaryhistory.ca.
The George Lindsey Fonds
A selected collection of digitized materials written and collected by Dr. George Lindsey during and after his career at the Canadian Department of National Defence. Materials include reports, papers, articles, and other publications on a variety of topics related to Canada’s security and defence policy between 1945 and 2005.
The Canadian War Diaries of the Normandy Campaign Collection
This collection consists of the official war diaries from every Canadian unit involved in the Normandy Campaign (6 June – 25 August 1944). We will be adding additional diaries as digitization process continues.
Further accruals and updates will be made to all three collections over the coming months. The Robert Borden wartime diaries will be uploaded shortly, along with new materials from the Ronnie Shephard Fonds and the No Price Too High Collection.
Portions of the LMH Archive website remain under development and will continue to be updated as our time and resources permit. We are currently working on developing a more robust search function, finding aids, and other features that will be enhance the user experience.
Our staff is always interested in working with the public to obtain, organize, and digitize existing or new collections. If you would like to get involved with the LMH Archive we encourage you to contact LCMSDS directly at admin@canadianmilitaryhistory.ca
We hope that you enjoy the LMH Archive and will visit us regularly!
Sincerely,
LCMSDS & the LMH Archive Team
