North Bay, Ontario Military History: Canadian History in Vintage Postcards

Have a seat and relax! Here are some interesting vintage Canadian postcards about North Bay, Ontario’s military history. These old postcards from the Nipissing District are shown for educational purposes. If you have images or historical information which you’d like to share with our digital virtual museum, feel free to do so. You might also enjoy visits to our Alderdale, Bonfield and Rutherglen, Callander and Corbeil, Commanda, Dokis, Ferguson Highway (Highway 11), Lavigne and Verner, Marten River, Mattawa, Monetville and Noëlville, Nipissing and Restoule, North Bay, Powassan and Trout Creek, South River, Sturgeon Falls, Sundridge, Temagami, Tilden Lake, Trout Lake and Trout Mills pages. Enjoy the story of Antoine’s Moose-Yard.

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This is an ongoing project, and comments and questions to the webmaster are welcome. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image. Close the larger image before opening another thumbnail. The occasional duplicates for sale can be found using the search box on the main (home) page of VintagePostcards.org.

Below are three vintage postcards related to Canada’s World War II military efforts. The first view, dated 26 June 1941, shows soldiers from N.P.A.M. (Non-Permanent Active Militia) Camp No. 22 in a parade in front of St. Andrew’s. The second view is of a low-slung series of NPAM barracks. NPAM’s function was to prepare recruits for further training in the active army. The site of the camp is now the Major Leo Troy Armouries, an obsolete Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) office, two homes for the elderly, Chippewa Secondary School and some residential and park land. Speaking of Chippewa Secondary School, many thanks to Bill Alexander of Chippewa Secondary for providing information as to the purpose and location of the No. 22 Training Center. No. 22 was also known as Chippewa Barracks, or Fort Chippewa, and was distinguished by the fact that it had no stockade, as forts usually do. The third postcard shows one of Camp 22’s dining halls.

The 1944 view to the left also shows barracks and is captioned as the “interior of one of the huts, C.A.R.T.C., North Bay.” The only heat appears to be from the wood or coal-burning stove in the back of the room. C.A.R.T.C. was an acronym for Canadian Army Reserve Training Corps. To the right is an image of trainees drilling on a snowy day at CARTC (NPAM) No. 22.

Part of the World War II efforts included an agricultural campaign called “Bacon for Britain.” A North Bay example, in the form of a “tall tale” or exaggeration real-photo postcard, is seen to the left. Tall-tale postcards which have a political overtone are uncommon. More information about the tall tale genre can be found below. The “Bacon for Britain” efforts originated with the Canadian Swine Breeders Association and was further publicized by Harry William Hays (1909 - 1982), a Canadian politician and Minister of Agriculture under Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Born in Carstairs, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Hays was a rancher and auction before becoming mayor of Calgary. His biography can be found at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Bacon for Britain was one of Canada’s most important contributions to the war effort; altogether from 1940 to 1945, 3.5 billion pounds of pork, mostly bacon, was shipped to Britain, to German-occupied Denmark and to troops in the field. At the same time, the campaign provided better farm incomes on the home front.

From the time of the 1884 Nile Expedition when Britain tried (and failed) to rescue a general stranded in Khartoum, North Bay area residents have loyally served the cause. At least two area residents participated in that expedition, with others serving in the Boer War of 1899-1902. Almost 2,400 area residents fought in World War I. The embroidered silk postcard to the left saying “Honneur au Canada,” loosely translated as “Honor to Canada,” dates to 1915. (Learn more about silk postards on the reference page, in the postcard history section.) To honor these veterans, plans for a war memorial were undertaken in 1918 which would eventually lead to the purchase of land in the Normal School block and unveiling of the War Memorial in late 1922, with dedication by Henry Cockshutt, later a mayor of Toronto.

School children voted on the form the monument was to take. The sculpture, depicting a Canadian soldier with a laurel wreath in his right hand and a bowed head, was an all-Canadian undertaking. The sculptor was C. D. McKenzie of Toronto, and the contractors were Andrew Craig of North Bay and the McIntosh Granite Co. of Toronto. It cost $15,500 and was the largest cast bronze statue in the country. On 11 November 1922, North Bay celebrated its first Armistice Day in the new park, officially named Memorial Park during the 1923 Armistice Day ceremonies. In the c. 1922-1923 image below and to the left, published by Pugh, one can see a gazebo and cannon. Senator George Gordon, who lived at the corner of Murray and Copeland Sts., donated trees and sidewalks for the park in Summer 1923.

Over 7,000 more area residents served in World War II, and more than 175 served in the Korean War and other military undertakings. Their names are inscribed on the North Bay and Area Wall of Honour in Memorial Park, which was dedicated on 12 November 2000 and is Canada’s largest municipal memorial, containing 14 granite panels which are each seven feet in height and weigh several tons each.

See our aviation history page for related content.

Learn more about collecting vintage postcards on the reference, Northern Ontario Postcard Photographers, and Canadiana pages, and more about the author on the page About Us. We’ve also hand-selected postcard reference books which are available for sale; you can see them on our Postcard Books page.