Bruce Ricketts – President of Canadian at Arms Inc.
Bruce is a proud Military BRAT (Born, Raised And Transferred), and is the proponent of this project. He is also the creator of the widely popular web site, Mysteries of Canada, which he operated for almost 12 years before selling the site and licencing his content to a new owner.
This is Bruce’s take regarding Canadians at Arms: “My father was a Canadian soldier, one of the D-Day Dodgers, who served in Sicily and Italy during World War II. He was one of the many who returned to Canada after the war, but thousands did not. One who did not return was Sergeant Harold “Buster” Brown; my father’s best friend. “
“During the war, my father joined the Royal Canadian Corp of Signals while Buster joined the Ontario Regiment as a tanker. Buster was killed during the push to Cassino, Italy on 14 May 1944. He is buried at the Cassino Arms Cemetery. Buster’s story has never been told and neither have the stories of thousands of young men who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
“I want to tell those stories.
“I am a researcher, author and student of history. In 2012, armed with only two sets of Boer War medals and some old photographs, I researched and told the stories of both of my grandfathers. My research took me to the British National Archives, the Royal Army Archives and the Royal Horse Artillery Archives in London and resulted in a story that even amazed my family; many of whom thought there was nothing new to learn. “
Mark Zuehlke – Historian
Mark is an award-winning author generally considered to be Canada’s foremost popular military historian. His Canadian Battle Series is the most exhaustive recounting of the battles and campaigns fought by any nation during World War II to have been written by a single author. In recognition of his contribution to popularizing Canadian history, Mark was awarded the 2014 Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media: The Pierre Berton Award. The Canadian Battle Series “Holding Juno” captured the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize in 2006. His most recent book, The Liri Valley: Canada’s World Arms II Breakthrough to Rome, was released in 2017.
Tony Battista – Technical and administrative advisor
Tony was the former Canadian Defence Attaché to Italy, past CEO of the Conference of Defence Associations, and served 40 years in the Canadian Military. Tony has led numerous commemorative projects in Italy and maintains a network of academic and amateur historians across Sicily. He was the lead into the Canadian and Italian Governments for Operation Husky 2013.
Steve Gregory, MSM – Technical Advisor
Steve is Honorary Lt-Colonel of the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment of Montreal. He is the founder of Operation Husky 2013/2018 commemorative projects that retrace the 1st Canadian Division’s path across Sicily to honour the sacrifice of those who fought and those who died in the battles of 1943.
He is a tireless professional dedicated to the welfare of our troops and veterans.
Paulo Pedulla -Website Designer and Technical Advisor
Paolo is a designer, producer, and developer with a passion for translating original ideas into engaging, user experiences. Paolo’s 20-plus years of experience, in both design and production of interactive media, has earned him a multidisciplinary skill set and a wide range of business and client management insights. Most recently, Paolo is also a business owner and entrepreneur, and Principal of Engine Media Inc. Engine Media is a new media design firm based in Toronto, proficient in all digital media across the online, broadcast and video mediums, and especially focused on that evolving space where all these mediums begin to merge.
Garry Tutte – Film Maker and Technical Advisor
Garry is the President of Morro Creative and is an award-winning photographer and film and video director, producer and editor. His work is also found on garrytutte.com.
Based in Toronto and Peru, his most recent short production, “Nests of Gold”, filmed in the Philippines and Hong Kong, has won awards in Asia and North America. He is also a licenced drone pilot.
Max Fraser – Film Maker and Technical Advisor
Max is a Canadian filmmaker whose work focuses on Yukon and World Arms II remembrance topics. He recently released his remarkable Bond of Strangers, an unprecedented series of commemorative events and walking tour that took place over three weeks in July 2013 in Sicily, on the 70th anniversary of the original Operation Husky in 1943.