Annual Report 2018–2019

The Last 100 Days: Closing Out a Four-Year Commemoration

Victory 1918 – The Last 100 Days

The Canadian War Museum closed out its four-year commemoration of the First World War Centenary with the major exhibition Victory 1918 – The Last 100 Days. Presented from October 26, 2018 to March 31, 2019, the exhibition brought the final harrowing days of the conflict into sharp focus through the stories of Canadians who took part in this costly combat.

Highlighting key battles from early August 1918 until November 11 that year, the exhibition concluded with a look at the aftermath of war, and its enduring physical and psychological scars. The exhibition was also supported by a major social media campaign, including a series of 100 daily posts describing each day’s military activity and its personal toll.

An important historical conference in January 2019 explored the human and political legacy of the First World War. Canada 1919: A Country Shaped by War featured some of the world’s top military historians and an opening keynote address by renowned author and historian Margaret MacMillan.

The Museum also presented a trio of art and photography exhibitions related to the First World War. Ready to Serve – Canadian Panoramic Photographs of the First World War featured 12 images from the War Museum’s collection of more than 450 photographs in this relatively rare format.

In a similar vein, The Great War in Colour – A New Look at Canada’s First World War Effort, 1914–1918, a touring exhibition from the Vimy Foundation, displayed a series of colourized historical images.

Rounding out its First World War exhibitions, the Museum also presented Resilience – The Battlefield Art of Mary Riter Hamilton, 1919–1922. The exhibition showcased paintings of post-war battlefields from the collection of Library and Archives Canada and commemorated the 100th anniversary of the War Amps of Canada.