Léo Major: the one-eyed liberator of Zwolle
Speaker: Luc Lépine
When: Thursday, November 20, 2025, 19:30 - 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English, followed by a bilingual question period
Léo Major is the only Canadian and one of only three soldiers in the British Commonwealth to receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) twice in separate wars.
First DCM: Major lost the use of his left eye a few days after D-Day. However, he returned fighting with the Régiment de la Chaudière. In 1945 after a successful reconnaissance mission during the liberation of the Dutch city of Zwolle: He was sent to scout the city with one of his best friends, a firefight broke out in which his friend was killed. Major decided to liberate the town by himself. He captured the highest ranking German Officer and convinced him that the Canadian Army was surrounding the city. Thanks to his efforts, the city was spared the artillery fire that was planned the next day by the Allies.
Second DCM: During the Korean War, on November 22, 1951, the Chinese 64th Army (around 40,000 men) began their attack: over the course of two days, the Americans were pushed back from Hill 355 by elements of the Chinese 190th and 191st Divisions. The 3rd U.S. Infantry Division tried to recapture the hill, but without any success. Léo Major was asked by his commanding officer to retake Hill 355. With the help of 75 French Canadian soldiers, he held the hill for 72 hours against a force of 2000 Chinese soldiers.
Luc Lépine is a military historian and speaker. He studied at the Royal military College of Canada in Kingston. From 2003 to 2013, he taught history to officers of the Canadian Armed Forces. He has published books and articles on the French and Indian War and the War of 1812. Since 2015, he has been interested in the life of Léo Major. In 2019, he published the biography of Léo Major.
==========================================================
The Jerusalem Cyclorama, a tourist site of invaluable heritage and artistic value, continues to inspire admiration from visitors of all faiths. This cyclorama is the largest in North America, measuring 14 metres high and 110 metres long.
Montreal had very talented women painters in the 1920s, like those associated with the Beaver Hall group. Few people know that there were dozens of women painters in the late 19th century who regularly participated in the annual exhibitions of the Art Association of Montreal. Many of them had works which were included in the exhibitions of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Their work has been mostly lost and there is next to nothing written about them. New research tools in genealogy now enable us to learn more about them, a fascinating discovery. After sharing some rare photos of their works and the artists themselves, Lorne Huston will give an overview of the demographics of their situation and their careers.
Lorne Huston holds a PhD in history from Concordia University and a Master's degree in Sociology from the Université de Montréal. He has been doing research on the history of the arts sector in English Montreal since he retired from active teaching at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit in 2010. In addition to the book he co-authored with Marie-Thérèse Lefebvre on the Montreal musicologist, George M. Brewer, he has also written articles on the Art Association, and on Samuel Morgan-Powell, art and drama critic at the Montreal Daily Star (1913-1953).
Learn about indigenous people of Quebec with an archaeologist from paleohistoric to modern times through a hands-on interactive activity with artifact reproductions. This presentation based on current archaeological knowledge will offer an overview of the landscape, the lifeways and the main cultural traditions throughout paleohistory.
Charles Wilson (1808-1877) was a prominent Montreal businessman and politician, best known as the city’s mayor from 1851 to 1853. In 1852, he became the first mayor directly elected by those eligible to cast their votes. However, Wilson’s political success and popularity were short-lived. Governing Montreal during the 1850s was not an easy task and, in a city marked by intense ethnic and religious strife, Charles Wilson could not avoid becoming a polarizing figure. 
This illustrated presentation follows one of Canada’s most beloved characters, from his impoverished Montreal childhood to national recognition as an outspoken champion of modern Canadian art. Best known as a founding member of the Group of Seven and Beaver Hall Group, A. Y. Jackson spent nearly 70 years travelling across Canada to paint its vastly different landscapes, battling harsh weather and hostile art critics along the way.
Let us pause for a conference to look at the history of the main bridges that have contributed to making Montreal the important place of trade, cultural and social exchanges that it has become. Because, although they are often a source of irritation for motorists, they were and still are essential witnesses of the evolution of the city!
A graduate in Education Sciences from the Université de Montréal, Ginette Charbonneau was an animator for the Service des Arts et de la Culture of the City of Saint-Eustache for many years. History enthusiast, co-author of a book on genealogy and family history, coordinator for ten years and one of the contributors to La Feuille de chêne, the periodical review of the Société de généalogie et d'histoire de Saint-Eustache, she offers conferences and courses, meticulously documented and accompanied by relevant visual presentations. She has been teaching at UTA (Université du Troisième Âge, Faculté d’éducation, Université de Sherbrooke) since 2010. Her passion for history, as well as her experience and interest in research, documentation and communication, led to her desire to share the knowledge she had acquired.
Our speaker, Robert N. Wilkins, will highlight different events of 1885 in Montréal, including the Winter Carnival, the Election of Honoré Beaugrand as Mayor of Montréal, the Spring Floods, the Smallpox Epidemic and the Hanging of Louis Riel.