I agree with Hugh's list of books - there are some good sources out there, but we as a nation tend to downplay any facet of our character with would even hint at militarism. Have you noticed that the only entry for World War Two in the Heritage Moments series (hope I have the right name for the series) features a female aircraft ferry pilot. No mention of the million plus Canadian men who served in the conflict
A few months ago, as I sat in a local theatre watching "Saving Private Ryan", I wondered to myself if I was the only person in the building who was aware that on that same morning in June,1944, a few miles away, a battalion of my fellow New Brunswickers, the North Shore Regiment, was going through the same hell, or that more Commonwealth troops landed on D-Day than Americans..
One problem we as Canadians have is our proximity to the USA and its overpowering culture. We see revisionist history like "U-571" or "The Patriot" churned out by Hollywood, and our kids believe that it was the Yanks who captured the secret codes (not the Brits, who really did) or that the British army in the Revolutionary war was worse than the Nazis. I have even heard a rumour that Hollywood is going to do a movie on the escape from Colditz (WW2), but naturally with American POWs instead of Brits.
We can never hope to compete with our neighbours. Let's face it, American culture is the dominant one on the planet. But surely our government agencies like CBC,etc. could do more to promote our heroes instead of producing crap like "The Valour and The Horror" and the ridiculous
Billy Bishop efforts.