Episode 36 continues our three-part series on French-Canadian participation in Canada’s world wars, with historian Julien Lehoux joining us to examine Hong Kong as Québec’s forgotten battle.

We revisit how “C Force” was assembled as a symbol of a united, bilingual Canada, including the Royal Rifles of Canada: an officially English-language regiment drawn largely from Eastern Québec, with a significant Francophone contingent. From the first shells to the Christmas Day fighting at Stanley Village, Hong Kong was Canada’s first land battle of the Second World War against impossible odds, ending in surrender, captivity, and silence.

We also discuss how POW censorship pushed Francophones to write home in English, and how veterans’ associations became their refuge decades after the war. Julien then explains how sparse Francophone press coverage, Dieppe’s emotional pull, and the Conscription Crisis redirected Remembrance, leaving Hong Kong’s volunteers outside Québec’s public memory.

For additional resources, check out Julien's paper "« Souvenons-nous de Hong Kong » : la bataille de Hong Kong et son absence mémorielle au Québec de 1941 à aujourd’hui" here and don't forget the Je Me Souviens website for their interactive online exhibition about the Canadians at Hong Kong titled “Impossible Odds.”

Episode 32 kicks off a three-part Rum Ration series that shatters the myth that French-Canadians were unwilling to serve in Canada’s wars.

Hosts Rejoy Chatterjee and Colin Robinson sit down with historians Richard Garon (First World War) and Julien Lehoux (Second World War/Hong Kong) to explain why the story is less about “reluctance” and more about barriers.

They unpack the pre-1914 climate: an English-only military culture, limited advancement for Francophones, and political flashpoints like Ontario’s Regulation XVII. Then they follow the call to arms, from the hard-won creation of the 22nd Battalion (“Van Doos”) to strong volunteerism again in 1939, even as “one-way bilingualism” persisted.

The episode also confronts the bitter legacy: conscription, riots, and how collective memory elevated Dieppe while Hong Kong’s Quebec volunteers faded from view. Next up: stay tuned for episodes that will focus on Richard’s new numbers for WWI participation, and Julien’s deep dive on Hong Kong: Québec's Forgotten Battle.

Rum Ration turns one!

In Episode 33, former infantry officers Rejoy Chatterjee and Colin Robinson celebrate together a full year of rum, banter, and battlefield history, plus their ongoing hunt for a sponsor.

Listen in as they revisit Canada’s early conflicts, from Queenston Heights to the 1775 march on Quebec, then fast-forward to Paardeberg’s “Bloody Sunday.” The First World War dominates a lot of their episodes: the grind of trenches and logistics, the Ross Rifle’s failures, and the shock of chlorine gas at Second Ypres, where Canadians and their beloved unit, The Royal Montreal Regiment (RMR), helped hold a collapsing line. Vimy Ridge returns as a turning point, alongside lessons from General Sir Arthur Currie at Vimy and in a separate episode about Hill 70.

The recap also ranges across Hong Kong, Canadian volunteers for the Vietnam war, the Sten gun, the RMR’s fight for an armory (and survival!), Hannibal’s Cannae, and the Avro Arrow vs Bomarc missile debate, before landing on the show’s core theme: selflessness, remembrance, and camaraderie, plus a teaser of what’s ahead in 2026.

Cheers to history!

In this special Christmas episode of The Rum Ration, Colin and Rejoy head to Ortona, December 1943, the “Italian Stalingrad,” where Canadians fought for every doorway. A minor port guarding Highway 16 became a fortress held “at all costs” by the German Fallschirmjäger “Green Devils,” as record rain and the Moro River’s mud turned approach routes into misery. Inside Ortona, the Loyal Edmonton Regiment and the Seaforth Highlanders improvised “mouse-holing,” blasting through adjoining walls to stay off kill-zone streets.

The cost was savage: leaders exposed, buildings booby-trapped, civilians trapped in cellars, and over 1,300 Ortonesi killed. Yet on Christmas Day, the Seaforths staged a proper dinner in a ruined church, officers serving troops, while machine guns rattled outside, a moment that even impressed nearby Germans. Days later the enemy slipped away, leaving “Bloody December” and a legacy of resilience, ritual, and hard-earned truth about the famous Ortona Dinner photo, for Canada today.

Shout out to Petula Clark for her musical inspiration!

In this episode of The Rum Ration, Colin and Rejoy head to the Ardennes in December 1944 for Hitler’s last desperate Western gamble: Wacht am Rhein. With Allied supply lines stretched and American units recovering in a “quiet sector,” the assault on 16 December erupts under fog, snow, and frozen rifles. The green US 106th Division is mauled and surrounded, while stubborn holds at St. Vith and Elsenborn Ridge bleed away the Germans’ one resource they cannot replace: time (okay, and fuel - the Germans couldn't replace that either!).

They also unpack the psychological chaos of Otto Skorzeny’s Operation Greif—Germans in U.S. uniforms, rumours of assassinations, and checkpoints quizzing GI's on trivia. The turning point comes at Bastogne: “Nuts!”, a Christmas airlift, and Patton’s dash north to break the siege.

We close with why the attack on the Bulge failed—logistics, terrain, delays, Allied airpower—and the brutal cost that made it one of the U.S. Army’s deadliest battles. Episode suggested (and birthday-dedicated) by friend of the show, Simon McLean.

In this episode of the Rum Ration Podcast, we tackle one of the most decisive half-hours in North American (and global) history: the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 13 September 1759.Colin and Rejoy are joined by Professor Hal Klepak, Professor Emeritus of History and Strategy at the Royal Military College of Canada, to unpack how a global struggle between empires—fought in Europe, India, on the oceans, and in the forests of North America—came to a head outside Quebec City.

We explore the wider Seven Years’ War, why the conquest of New France was increasingly inevitable, and how a sickly young James Wolfe and battle-hardened Louis-Joseph de Montcalm approached command in utterly different ways. From the brutal, fumbling siege of Quebec to the daring night ascent at L’Anse-au-Foulon and the disciplined British volleys that shattered Montcalm’s line, we dig into tactics, luck, and consequences.

Listen in as we trace how this brief clash reshaped Canada—and helped set the stage for the American Revolution.

📬 Have Questions or Suggestions? Send us a message at info@rumration.ca.

Support the Podcast - If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends. And as always...

Cheers to history! 🥂

Every war leaves names etched in stone, but what about the ones who never came home at all?

In this episode of Rum Ration, we trace the story of the Unknown Soldier, the man without a name who came to stand for hundreds of thousands lost in the mud and chaos of the First World War.

We follow his journey from shattered French battlefields, to a midnight selection in a quiet chapel, to a gun carriage rolling through silent London streets toward Westminster Abbey.

Along the way, we look at how other nations, including Canada in 2000, created their own tombs of the unknown. Then we shamelessly bring the story home to The Royal Montreal Regiment and the rediscovery of Captain Richard Steacie’s long misidentified headstone, a powerful reminder that behind every “unknown” are individuals, families, and stories.

Join us as we raise a glass to them all and reflect on why remembrance never really ends.

📬 Have Questions or Suggestions? Send us a message at info@rumration.ca.

Support the Podcast - If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends. And as always...

Cheers to history! 🥂

Remembrance Day is more than a moment of silence—it’s a story, and the poppy is its narrator. In this episode of The Rum Ration, Colin and Rejoy trace the red flower from the churned mud of the Western Front to today’s lapels.

We begin with Lt.-Col. John McCrae at Ypres and the poem that launched a symbol, move to American educator Moina Michael who vowed to “keep the faith,” and meet Anna Guérin—the French organizer who scaled the idea into an international movement. Along the way, we unpack how post-war veterans’ groups competed to own remembrance before unifying around the poppy.

Finally, we compare how Canada, Britain, and the United States run their campaigns today—different designs and calendars, same mission: honour the fallen, support the living.

If you’ve ever pinned a poppy to your coat, this is the story behind that simple, powerful act—and why it still matters today.

Support the Podcast - If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends. And as always...Cheers to history! 🥂