His/Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship. Precedes the name of Royal Canadian Navy ships (ex. HMCS Niobe). From 1910 to about 1970, HMCS and the ship’s name were inscribed in gold letters on a black ribbon and worn on the sailors’ uniform caps, but in wartime only HMCS was inscribed. The acronym stems from the British Royal Navy, which uses HMS (His/Her Majesty’s Ship), and other British Commonwealth navies use similar acronym in a like manner (ex. HMAS for His/Her Majesty’s Australian Ship).

War effort at home, such as war industries and devotion to support armies at the battlefront. During the First World War, Canada's employment in war industries rose as did production of goods to fight the war and supply the troops in the field, in the air or at sea. Agricultural production was also vitally important in Canada as much of it was exported to Europe. Women working in factories to replace the men gone abroad helped start a rapid social revolution. At the end of 1914, female labour in manufacturing had been unthinkable; a year later, tens of thousands of women worked in every field and especially at munitions factories.

The role of Canadian women in the war effort was even more important during the Second World War. Hundreds of thousands worked "men’s jobs'’ in war industries and many other homefront occupations. Those at home were asked to save and recycle all sorts of basic consumer goods such as metals, rags, paper, bones, rubber and glass to be used as war supplies under the coordination of the National Salvage Office. Many types of goods disappeared, such as women’s silk stockings, the materials being used in war supplies. In 1942, food rationing was introduced and every household had to have a ration book with coupons limiting the supply of tea, coffee, sugar and butter, followed by meat and preserves in 1943. Many types of canned foods practically vanished from store shelves. While this seems extreme, Canadian rationing was very generous compared to that in Britain and occupied Europe.

Another aspect of the Canadian Homefront were the ‘Victory Bond’ drives to help finance the war. Advertisements by government and private industries, in publications, radio and cinemas, were dominated by the war efforts to be achieved on the Homefront. Even comics featured ‘Johnny Canuck’ fighting Hitler while the National Film Board made many war propaganda documentaries and newsreels that were shown with feature films in cinemas. Publicity notices stressed such subjects as enlistment into the services and the importance of being discreet in case of spies listening.

In Vancouver and Victoria, Homefront activities extended to preparing for possible bombing attacks from Japanese aircraft carriers, something that might have happened had they won the battle of Midway. Much like in Britain, Neighbourhood Air Raid groups were organized in preparation for such an event, their members wearing helmets and arm bands. Many citizens in those cities carried gas masks in 1942. Cities and towns on both of Canada’s coasts turned out their lights at night because of enemy submarines. It was all part of life on the Canadian Homefront in the Second World War.

See also: War Industries and Commerce, Women

Field artillery piece capable of firing at angles greater than 45 degrees and fires a heavier expolsive shell than a cannon, although it has a lower muzzle velocity and shorter range. Not used by the French artillery in Canada but widely utilized thereafter by British and Canadian artillery units.

Light cavalry unit.  Originated in Hungary and appeared in western European armies at the end of the 17th century. The British 7th Hussar was the first regular hussar unit in Canada and served in the Montréal area between 1838 and 1843. From 1863, nearly all cavalry units in Canada were to be hussars and the cavalry uniforms supplied volunteer militia units by the Canadian government were similar to the British 13th Hussar, which was posted in Canada between 1866 and 1869. In 1871, some units recognized as heavier cavalry and mounted rifles were changed, but there remain several regiments in the Canadian Forces that carry on the traditions of hussars.