iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Alex Black

Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Today is the day! ‘Star Wars: Star Pilots’ has officially published by @dkbooks.bsky.social in the UK! Only a few more days to wait across the Atlantic! I am so excited for you all to now get the chance to go on this reflective adventure with Wedge Antilles & a whole bunch of new & familiar faces!

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Chris Camfield (AlliedArmour) @alliedarmour.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I'm no air historian, but I very much enjoyed this book by @alexfitzblack.bsky.social

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Looking for ideas for Canadian #WW2 stories set in 1942, not including Dieppe. Any ideas, Canadian military historians and buffs?

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

One of the best descriptors of the PIAT I've ever heard: "Absolute British-guy-in-a-shed energy." - John Keess, RMC of Canada Things heard at the 36th Canadian Military History Colloquium.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Today is Battle of the Atlantic Sunday in Canada. We remember the sailors, aircrew, and merchant mariners who kept the lifeline to victory in Europe open. Please consider supporting my fundraiser to keep this story alive through the Alberni: the-juno-beach-challenge.raiselysite.com/a-fitzgerald...

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Visited friends in St. Catharines, Ontario today and stopped to explore the local cenotaph. The tulips symbolizing Canada's role in the Liberation of the Netherlands aren't quite in bloom yet, though a few bulbs have shown their colour. #LestWeForget

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Oof! It's not every day you are examining a service file and come across a report that the poor bloke's wife cheated on him back in Canada with an RAF trainee. I wonder if L/Cpl Herman ever found out before he was killed in the D-Day landing on Juno Beach.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

New warplane on display in my office: 430 Squadron RCAF Mustang Mk I (AG 455) as flown by Francis Goring when he was shot down and killed by anti-aircraft fire near Falaise on 12 August 1944. Built by @flypastrush.bsky.social for a recent Juno BeCh Centre exhibition on the RCAF and #WWII.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

What a brilliant concept for a book! An in-universe collection of starfighter pilot memoirs by the pre-eminent rebel pilot of the Galactic Civil War. Wedge Antilles was always a survivor, both in Legends and Canon. Great to see him used here. I can't say I've had a more anticipated #StarWars book!

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Am taking bets on whether the Canadians will even Garner a mention. Still, I missed the stage play so I am looking forward to this.

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Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 24/01/2026

“Get it all on record now — get the films — get the witnesses — because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.” Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Finished @alanallport.bsky.social's Advance Britannia this weekend. Quite the achievement (him, not me). I would have liked a bit more about certain Dominion contributions - including to help the Britain financially at the end of the war. But at almost 500 pages of text there's so much there.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

When researching Canadians who fought and died in WW2, I want to learn their backgrounds. To help the audience connect. To humanize the story. As a historian, one thing that troubles me about recent events in the US is how many use the victim's background to villianize rather than empathize.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

I thought @alanallport.bsky.social's latest wasn't out in North America for another week. Glad I was wrong. Britain still seems to be at bay in the first 75 pages or so. Really in need of a win in mid-1942. And Dieppe mk I still hasn't been "postponed indefinitely". #HolidayReads

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

With a slight respite in the Canada Post strike, I finally got my contributor's copy of @mike-bechthold.bsky.social's Airpower and the Normandy Campaign! Looking forward to reading the contributions of @boneyabroad.com, @heatheratacts.bsky.social, @smoorebofb1940.bsky.social and many others!

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

If the Rogers Centre was closed, the roof would have blown off today.

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Tim Renneberg @timrenneberg.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

A group of Yankees hasn’t been beaten in Canada that bad since 1812.

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Alan Allport @alanallport.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

Thinking of pitching a book about US military history the thesis of which is that when America has won wars in the past it has had less to do with ‘warrior ethos’ than with some grown ups in charge who knew what they were fucking doing. Apparently this is an urgent thesis to restate.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

My current read. The 80th anniversary of the end of the Asia-Pacific War nears. It ended in a cacophony of violence. And how it ended may not perfectly link to why it ended.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

I watched The Last Rifleman last night. It was heartfelt, straightforward, personal, and handled some difficult moments well (12th SS veteran encounter). Have you seen it? If so, what did you think?

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Quick stop last week in Whitby, ON at the former site of Camp X, a #WW2 training facility for Allied agents and a comms relay station that lasted into the 1960's. There is also a bust of Sir William Stephenson and a stone commemorating the local historian who helped unearth and keep the story alive.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

I'm not much of a collector, but this one caught my eye. Front and back of my new Mark II helmet, named to a Pte. Sovereign (ID disc attached to the chin strap), who served with a Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps unit at 2nd Canadian Corps.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

#CanadaDay "The job of clearing the approaches to Antwerp was given to the First Canadian Army. What Copp dubbed 'The Cinderella Army' was habituated to doing much with little and getting even less credit for its efforts. And so it would be in the Scheldt."

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

"... it is a central tenet of this phase of the Normandy narrative that the British were running low on infantry. But somebody's infantry had to maintain pressure south of Caen, at least until the Americans launched their attack. That task fell to the Canadians." Result: bloody Verrieres Ridge.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

"Much of the angst over the slow pace in Normandy emanated from SHAEF itself: 100 sea-miles from the action, besieged by idle and frustrated journalists, and much less well informed than it ought to have been."

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

"Between their role in the deception campaign and the tenacious defence of their positions [on 7-10 June 1944]..., the Canadians had defeated the threat of a Panzer counterattack in the opening phases of Overlord. ... [T]hey changed the course of history."

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Venting frustration: Apparently the strain between Canada and the USA right now is all in my head. And Everything will go back to the way it was after Trump is gone. Also, I am told a monument is only a good monument if it has a realistic-looking Canadian soldier featured. Vimy stinks I guess?

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Dr Ross Mahoney @airpowerhistory.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

@balloons2drones.bsky.social – 9 years on. Thanks go to those who have supported the site, especially @brianlaslie.bsky.social, Mike Hankins, @alexfitzblack.bsky.social, @luketruxal.bsky.social, @spitfirefilly.bsky.social, @mariaeb.bsky.social, drrossmahoney.wordpress.com/2025/06/16/f...

drrossmahoney.wordpress.com

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History Rage Podcast @historyrage.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

🗓️ #OnThisDay 6 June 1944: Operation Overlord, the invasion of France, begins. In S5, @alexfitzblack.bsky.social of the Juno Beach Centre 🇨🇦 rages against the idea that this was the largest invasion in history. Listen now at: pod.fo/e/161258 #OTD #OnThisDate #History #Podcast #WWII

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

"No British politician, official or military officer who had to deal with Canadians in the early 20th century ever found them tame, humble, or lacking in independence."

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

I came for #DDay and #Normandy, am fascinated by the insights into how Canada was sandwiched between two great powers jostling for dominance, but I'm staying for the subtle parallels between the interwar period and today.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Big day in Hamilton at HMCS Haida meeting up with a good friend, who happens to be a modern RCN Veteran, and his family. This destroyer is the only one remaining in the world of its class (27 built) and is known as "Canada's fightingest ship."

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Reflecting on an incredible week commemorating the 80th anniversary of VE Day and the Liberation of the Netherlands. Honoured to have represented the #JunoBeachCentre at these events with some incredible #WW2 and modern Veterans. Plenty of laughs + tears wrapped around feelings of intense gratitude.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

The Juno Beach Centre's He Lived Where You Live postcard campaign is back for a third time. Find out why we sent 1,945 postcards to Canadian homes across Canada. www.junobeach.org/he-lived-whe... #VEDay80 #CanadaRemembers #LestWeForget

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Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦 @mike-bechthold.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

On this day in 1917 the Canadian Corps advanced together into battle and captured Vimy Ridge. It was easily their most famous (but not most important) victory of the First World War. A thread on the myths and reality of this celebrated battle: 1/

Vimy Memorial. Photo by @mike-bechthold.bsky.social

The Taking of Vimy Ridge, Easter Monday 1917
Richard Jack was the first Canadian official war artist, appointed in 1916. In this painting, he depicts the crew of an 18-pounder field gun firing at German positions on Vimy Ridge. To the left, wounded soldiers move past the gun towards the rear.

Painted by Richard Jack
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-0160

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

"I've been called a socialist, also a conservative. I've always thought private industry could do anything better than public or government enterprise. But some things need to be done by the nation as a whole, and we did them the best we could." - C.D. Howe, Canada's "Minister of Everything"

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Mark Carney @mark-carney.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Our response is to fight, to protect, and to build.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Grateful to have access to discussions about new historical works like this on this app. Thanks, @alanallport.bsky.social!

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

The art of the deal: bitch and whine when your victim finds a soft spot in your armour and hits back.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

It's incredibly depressing to see the vitriol on display in many responses to a pair of national heritage institutions marking the end of Prime Minister Trudeau's tenure as Prime Minister on social media. If you don't have anything nice to say... Shut up!

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

A reminder that doing the right thing can include some fairly selfish acts. The USA has Ukraine over a barrel, as they had the UK in 1940-41. The difference today seems to be a willingness to support the aggressor due to personal, not national self-interest.

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Alan Allport @alanallport.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Much talk of FDR, Churchill, Lend-Lease, 1940 and so on at the moment. It is probably important to remind ourselves that the Roosevelt administration flirted with the idea of abandoning Britain in the early years of the Second World War and might have done had events worked out differently. 🧵

Churchill and FDR on the deck of HMS Prince of Wales during the Placentia Bay conference in August 1941.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Arsehole. While we're at it with trolley problems, how about one with Putin? Or another with Putin having started the tram in the first place?!

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Imagine where we would be in the world today if Roosevelt had treated Churchill in December 1941 like Trump treated Zelenskyy during his visit today. I shudder at the thought.

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Alex Black @alexfitzblack.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Proud of this statement and proud of our country on this, the 60th anniversary of our flag. The 🍁 has represented Canada on battlefields for over 100 years. It could never be replaced with the Stars and Stripes! www.junobeach.org/dispatch-on-...

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