Rum Ration

On 1 July 1916, the British Army suffered the bloodiest day in its history as the Battle of the Somme opened beneath machine-gun fire, unbroken wire, and shattered expectations. Yet the Somme was more than one catastrophic morning. In this episode, Rejoy and Colin examine why the offensive was launched, how the crisis at Verdun reshaped Allied plans, and why citizen soldiers were asked to solve a...

What makes someone a soldier: the name on the muster roll, or the hardship they endured beside their comrades? In Episode 54 of The Rum Ration Podcast, Rejoy and Colin explore the remarkable stories of women who disguised themselves as men to serve as soldiers, sailors, surgeons, and cavalry troopers in worlds officially closed to them. Using Canadian-born Sarah Emma Edmonds—who served in the Amer...

In 1943, the Allies faced a problem: everyone knew Sicily was the obvious next target. To make Operation Husky succeed, British intelligence needed the Germans to believe the real invasion would strike somewhere else. Their solution was audacious, macabre, and almost absurd: take the body of Glyndwr Michael, create a fictional Royal Marine officer named Major William Martin, attach forged invasion...

Rejoy and Colin tackle one of the darkest questions in modern warfare in our latest episode of The Rum Ration Podcast: Can bombing civilians actually break a nation's will to fight? Beginning with Colin’s visit to the haunting ruins of Hamburg’s St. Nikolai Memorial and Rejoy’s experiences living in post-war Germany, this episode traces the evolution of strategic bombing from the Zeppelin raid...

In March 1919, long after the guns had fallen silent on the Western Front, nearly 20,000 Canadian soldiers found themselves trapped in another kind of battlefield: Kinmel Park, a bleak repatriation camp in North Wales. In this episode of The Rum Ration Podcast , Colin and Rejoy unpack the forgotten and deeply troubling story of the Kinmel Park Riots, where frustration, poor leadership, broken prom...

At 4:20 a.m. on August 8, 1918, the silence east of Amiens shattered. No warning bombardment. No days of shellfire. Just fog, fire, tanks, and thousands of Allied soldiers moving forward behind one of the most carefully coordinated assaults of the First World War. In this milestone 50th episode of The Rum Ration Podcast , hosts Rejoy Chatterjee and Colin Robinson dive into the opening day of the B...

In this episode of The Rum Ration, hosts Colin Robinson and Rejoy Chatterjee tackle one of the most controversial, brilliant, infuriating, and undeniably influential figures in Canadian military history: Sir Sam Hughes. Teacher, newspaper editor, politician, militia fanatic, and unapologetic brawler, Hughes helped build the Canadian Expeditionary Force at breakneck speed in 1914, turning the wilde...

On the latest episode of The Rum Ration, Rejoy and Colin tackle one of military history’s most irresistible “what ifs”: what if Erwin Rommel had direct control of the German Panzer reserves on D-Day? Rather than drifting into fantasy, they ground the discussion in the hard realities of June 6, 1944: a fractured German command system, delayed decision-making, Allied air superiority, and the brutal...

In this episode of The Rum Ration, Rejoy and Colin explore one of the darkest and least understood chapters of Canada’s First World War: the 25 Canadian soldiers executed by their own side, “shot at dawn.” Through the story of Private Fortunat Auger of The Royal Montreal Regiment, we examine the brutal logic of military discipline in trench warfare and the impossible strain placed on ordinary volu...

On this episode of The Rum Ration , Rejoy and Colin take listeners into the life and legend of Billy Bishop, Canada’s most famous and most controversial First World War air ace. Beginning with his dramatic final patrol over the Western Front on 19 June 1918, the episode explores both the astonishing exploits that made Bishop a national hero and the lingering questions that still surround his recor...

On this episode of The Rum Ration, Rejoy and Colin take on one of the most revered and sobering subjects in British and Commonwealth military history: the Victoria Cross. Beginning with the astonishing story of Charles Upham, the only combat soldier to receive both a Victoria Cross and Bar in the same war, they explore what the VC is, why it was revolutionary, and why it still carries such weight....

In this episode of The Rum Ration, Colin and Rejoy explore the little-known story of the Canadian Berlin Battalion, a composite unit created to represent Canada in the Allied victory celebrations in Berlin in July 1945. Joined by historian Steven Bright, they unpack why this symbolic battalion mattered, how it was assembled from units across the Canadian Army, and what its presence said about Cana...

In this episode of The Rum Ration, Colin and Rejoy explore the story behind one of Canada’s most iconic wartime rifles: the Lee-Enfield No. 4. Joined by military industry researcher William Patterson, they look beyond the weapon itself to the vast Canadian supply chain that made it possible. From the rifle’s early roots in James Paris Lee’s design work to the industrial demands of the Second World...

In April 1951, the Korean War’s front lurches again as the Chinese Spring Offensive surges south and a South Korean division collapses, cracking the line. Suddenly, the narrow Kapyong Valley becomes the gate on the road toward Seoul. Two Commonwealth battalions are ordered to block it: the Australians of 3 RAR on Hill 504, and the Canadians of 2 PPCLI on Hill 677. When the Australians withdraw und...

At Waterloo, Napoleon’s Old Guard crested the ridge and met a silent wall of British red. In this episode of The Rum Ration Podcast, Colin and Rejoy unpack the real story behind that iconic colour: not vanity or intimidation, but logistics. Red had long signalled English authority, but in 1645 the New Model Army made it policy—cheap wool, durable dye, and easy mass production, with facing colours...

Canada’s 1950s defence sprint looked like science fiction: Arctic radar lines, a research reactor at Chalk River, and the Mach-2 Avro Arrow. In this episode of The Rum Ration, hosts Rejoy Chatterjee and Colin Robinson talk with Dr. Joanne Archibald to ask what that “blueprint era” can teach today’s Canada about NORAD modernization, Arctic posture, and industrial capacity right now. Dr. Archibald t...

On this special Valentine’s Day episode of Rum Ration, retired infantry officers Colin Robinson and Rejoy Chatterjee celebrate a different kind of “Valentine”: the Infantry Tank Mk. III. They start with the martial origins of February 14th, from Saint Valentine’s defiance on behalf of soldiers to wartime traditions that kept troops connected to home. Then the story shifts to steel and diesel as Du...

In this special Winter Olympics episode, Rum Ration heads to St. Moritz 1948, when Canada needed to fix the national bruise of 1936. But the enemy wasn’t another team, it was the IOC’s amateur oath. With senior clubs unable to pass the paperwork test, RCAF medical officer Squadron Leader Dr. Sandy Watson pulls a military loophole: airmen are paid for service, not hockey. In 48 hours he assembles t...

Episode 37, is the third of a three-part series where the Rum Ration Podcast works to correct the myth of French-Canadian reluctance in the world wars. Social scientist and Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Garon joins the hosts for this episode to explain how the record-keeping in the First World War itself made francophone service “invisible”: CEF attestation papers never captured first language, so re...

Episode 36 continues our three-part series on French-Canadian participation in Canada’s world wars, with historian Julien Lehoux joining us to examine Hong Kong as Québec’s forgotten battle. We revisit how “C Force” was assembled as a symbol of a united, bilingual Canada, including the Royal Rifles of Canada: an officially English-language regiment drawn largely from Eastern Québec, with a signifi...

Episode 32 kicks off a three-part Rum Ration series that shatters the myth that French-Canadians were unwilling to serve in Canada’s wars. Hosts Rejoy Chatterjee and Colin Robinson sit down with historians Richard Garon (First World War) and Julien Lehoux (Second World War/Hong Kong) to explain why the story is less about “reluctance” and more about barriers. They unpack the pre-1914 climate: an E...

Rum Ration turns one! In Episode 33, former infantry officers Rejoy Chatterjee and Colin Robinson celebrate together a full year of rum, banter, and battlefield history, plus their ongoing hunt for a sponsor. Listen in as they revisit Canada’s early conflicts, from Queenston Heights to the 1775 march on Quebec, then fast-forward to Paardeberg’s “Bloody Sunday.” The First World War dominates a lot...

In this special Christmas episode of  The Rum Ration , Colin and Rejoy head to Ortona, December 1943, the “Italian Stalingrad,” where Canadians fought for every doorway. A minor port guarding Highway 16 became a fortress held “at all costs” by the German Fallschirmjäger “Green Devils,” as record rain and the Moro River’s mud turned approach routes into misery. Inside Ortona, the Loyal Edmonton Reg...

In this episode of The Rum Ration , Colin and Rejoy head to the Ardennes in December 1944 for Hitler’s last desperate Western gamble: Wacht am Rhein . With Allied supply lines stretched and American units recovering in a “quiet sector,” the assault on 16 December erupts under fog, snow, and frozen rifles. The green US 106th Division is mauled and surrounded, while stubborn holds at St. Vith and El...

In this episode of the Rum Ration Podcast, we tackle one of the most decisive half-hours in North American (and global) history: the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 13 September 1759.Colin and Rejoy are joined by Professor Hal Klepak, Professor Emeritus of History and Strategy at the Royal Military College of Canada, to unpack how a global struggle between empires—fought in Europe, India, on the...