Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum ( CWM ) ( ) is Canada ’ s national museum of military history . Located in Ottawa , Ontario , the museum covers all facets of Canada ’ s military past , from the first recorded instances of death by armed violence in Canadian history several hundred years ago to the country ’ s most recent involvement in conflicts . It includes major permanent exhibitions on wars that have been fought on Canadian soil , the total wars of the twentieth century , the Cold War and peace support operations abroad , and Canada ’ s history of honouring and remembrance . There is also an open storage area displaying large objects from the Museum ’ s collection , from naval guns to tanks , from motorcycles to jet aircraft . The exhibits depict Canada ’ s military past in its personal , national and international dimensions , with special emphasis on the human experience of war and the manner in which war has affected , and been affected by , Canadians ’ participation . Much of the Museum ’ s public exhibition space is devoted to its Canadian Experience Galleries . These displays underline the profound effect that war has had on Canada ’ s development and the significant role Canadians have played in international conflicts . Their content is a rich mixture of some 2 , 500 objects from war art to armoured vehicles , as well as scores of audio - visual displays and many hands - on activities . A changing program of temporary or special exhibitions , plus public programs and special events , complement the experience offered in the permanent galleries . The CWM also houses the Military History Research Centre , a leading library and archival research facility , and a large collection of some 500 , 000 artifacts , including uniforms , medals , weapons , war art , aircraft , military vehicles and artillery . The CWM originated in 1880 . Its current building opened in May 2005 and is located less than 2 km west of Canada ’ s Parliament Buildings . The building ' s architecture has received professional and public acclaim . The CWM is part of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation , which also operates the Canadian Museum of Civilization , the Canadian Children ' s Museum , the Canadian Postal Museum , and the Virtual Museum of New France . History . The Museum originated in 1880 as a collection of military artifacts in the possession of the Canadian federal government , organized by militia officers of the Ottawa garrison . Its first facility was a series of rooms in the Cartier Square Drill Hall . The collection was later adopted by the Public Archives of Canada . The Canadian War Museum was officially established in 1942 . The collection of war artifacts gained its own dedicated facility in 1967 when it moved to the former Public Archives building on Sussex Drive in Ottawa ( currently the Global Centre for Pluralism ) . That location was too small for the Museum ’ s growing post - war collection , most of which was eventually stored at a west - end Ottawa warehouse known as Vimy House . New building . In the 1990s , the federal government made plans to relocate the War Museum to a new site east of central Ottawa , near the Canada Aviation Museum . The proposed site was criticized for its distance from the downtown core , and a more prominent location on the Ottawa River was later selected on LeBreton Flats , just west of Parliament Hill . The new location also allowed for ceremonial processions between the National War Memorial and the new War Museum , and was situated in an urban space soon to begin redevelopment . The new facility , designed by a joint venture of Moriyama & Teshima Architects of Toronto and Griffiths Rankin Cook Architects of Ottawa , opened on May 8 , 2005 , the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe , or V - E Day . The new , modern building emerges from the ground just west of Booth Street and rises progressively higher at its eastern end , closest to Parliament Hill . Its textured concrete walls and roof are somewhat reminiscent of a bunker , while a partially grass - covered roof is consistent with the Museum ' s theme of regeneration and its environmentally friendly design . The building rises in the east to a large fin , clad in copper that matches the rooftops of other prominent public buildings in the national capital . The small windows on the fin spell out in Morse code " Lest we forget " and its French equivalent , " " N ' oublions jamais " " . The copper used on the interior of the building was recovered from the Library of Parliament during refurbishment of the Library ' s roof in 2004 . On May 6 , 2005 , Canada Post issued a 50¢ stamp , designed by Tiit Telmet and Marko Barac , honouring the opening of the new museum . In its first year of operation the museum attracted 500 , 000 visitors and in 2010 there were 470 , 000 visitors . Permanent galleries . The Canadian War Museum contains several permanent galleries and other important display spaces . Battleground : Wars on Our Soil , from earliest times to 1885 . This gallery explores the history of war on Canadian soil and the way in which armed conflict affected the evolution of the country and its peoples . It includes First Peoples warfare , the alliances and conflicts that marked the relationship between First Peoples and Europeans , and the imperial rivalries that marked most of North America ’ s early history . Content includes the Seven Years ' War , the American Revolution , the War of 1812 , and conflicts in the Canadian West in 1870 and 1885 . For Crown and Country : The South African and First World Wars , 1885 - 1931 . Canadian forces went abroad in 1899 and again in 1914 to fight in wars as part of the British Empire . This gallery covers the South African War and the First World War , and ends with the Statute of Westminster ( 1931 ) , which granted Canada and the other dominions political autonomy within the Empire . The gallery covers the battles and campaigns of both wars , but especially the trench warfare in France and Belgium from 1915 to 1918 , and battles such as the Somme , Vimy , Passchendaele , and the Hundred Days . It also covers the home front , air and naval warfare , military medicine , artillery , the plight of enemy aliens , and strategy and tactics . Forged in Fire : The Second World War , 1931 - 1945 . This gallery starts with the rise of aggressive dictatorships in Germany , Italy , and Japan in the 1930s and follows Canada ’ s role in the ensuing world war until it ended in 1945 . Early displays cover Adolf Hitler and the rise of fascism including an infamous Mercedes limousine used by Hitler at Nazi rallies . The main exhibits cover Canada ’ s initial land , sea and air responses to the fighting in Europe , the costly Battle of the Atlantic , and the gradual mobilization of the Canadian home front for a total war effort . Later displays include Dieppe , the air war , the fighting in Italy , Normandy , and the Netherlands , and the eventual surrender of the Axis powers and the cost of war . Homecoming is the final exhibit in the gallery . A Second - World War era Sherman tank nicknamed " Forceful III " , is dedicated to the memory of the members of the Governor General ' s Foot Guards killed during the Second World War while operating as an armoured regiment . A Violent Peace : The Cold War , Peacekeeping and Recent Conflicts , 1945 to the present . This gallery covers the period from the immediate onset of the Cold War following the end of the Second World War to the present , detailing Canadian defence efforts at home and abroad , including those in NATO , NORAD , and the United Nations ; wars in Korea , the Persian Gulf , Kosovo , and Afghanistan ; espionage , domestic security , civil liberties , and popular culture ; and Canadian involvement in wars since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 . The material in this gallery ranges from Cold War comic books and board games to peace signs and the story of Nobel Prize winner Lester Pearson , and includes an interactive space for visitors to leave their own reflections on war , peace , and remembrance . The Royal Canadian Legion Hall of Honour . The RCL Hall of Honour chronicles Canada ’ s history of remembrance with a multi - media display of objects and stories from First Nations oral traditions to contemporary anniversaries and personal commemorative websites . It includes military honours , certificates of service , war art , Remembrance Day poppies , and other material used by Canadians to remember and commemorate their military past and to honour those who have served . Among the highlights is the original plaster model for the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa , site of the annual national Remembrance Day service . LeBreton Gallery . The multi - purpose LeBreton Gallery is a massive display area of large objects and a busy space for public programs , special events and private rentals . The artifacts on display include artillery , aircraft , armoured and non - armoured vehicles , and naval weapons . Among the gallery ’ s objects are : a CF - 101 Voodoo jet ; an M109 self - propelled howitzer ; an East German BMP infantry fighting vehicle ; tracked artillery from the First World War ; a Chieftain tank ; a Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer ; an M3 Lee ; a fully restored Panzer V Panther tank ; a Panzer II ; a Leopard C1 tank ; searchlights ; rare motorcycles ; Field Marshal Alexander ’ s staff car ; a Canadian Iltis jeep and other vehicles with service in the Balkans during the 1990s ; a Molch midget submarine ; underwater mines ; a T - 34 ; a Valentine tank recovered from a bog in 1990 [ 5 ] ; an Italian L3 / 35 tankette ; and Weather Station Kurt , an automated weather station planted by a German U - boat on the coast of Labrador in the 1940s . Regeneration Hall . This narrow , soaring hall with angled walls and a narrow triangular window that frames the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill is " a physical representation of hope for a better future . " High narrow windows spell out in the dots and dashes of Morse Code " Lest We Forget " and " " N ' oublions jamais " " . The ground floor features plaster casts ( maquettes ) used by sculptor Walter Allward in the design of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in Vimy , France . The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill is visible from the mezzanine level and is perfectly framed between two window mullions . The copper used to clad the interior surface of the tower ( seen from the LeBreton Gallery ) was reclaimed from the Library of Parliament after a roof renovation . Memorial Hall . Located outside the ticketed exhibition area in the Museum ’ s spacious foyer , Memorial Hall is a space for quiet remembrance and personal contemplation . The hall contains a single artifact : the headstone of Canada ’ s Unknown Soldier from the First World War . Sunlight through the Hall ’ s only window directly illuminates the headstone every Remembrance Day , November 11 , at precisely 11 a . m . , the moment the Great War ended in 1918 . The hall is also aligned on one axis with the Peace Tower of the Parliament Buildings . War Art Collection . The Canadian War Museum includes a large collection of war art . The collection of over 13 , 000 works of art from World War I to the present day was begun in 1916 by Max Aiken ( Lord Beaverbrook ) . It was transferred to the War Museum from the National Gallery of Canada in 1971 . Select works are displayed at the museum within the individual permanent galleries as well as in approaches to the Lebreton Gallery and the entrance lobby . Military History Research Centre . The Military History Research Centre ( MHRC ) houses the George Metcalf Archival Collection and the Hartland Molson Library . These extensive national collections of primary and secondary research material document Canada ’ s military history from the pre - contact period to the present . The Archival Collection contains unique documents including original letters , diaries , scrapbooks , maps , blueprints , sound recordings , oral history tapes and 65 , 000 photographic materials in a variety of formats . The Library Collection includes regimental histories , personal memoirs , wartime pamphlets , and military and technical field manuals .