About the NBMHP

The New Brunswick Military Heritage Project (NBMHP) was initiated in 2000 by the Military and Strategic Studies Program of the University of New Brunswick. Its purpose is to inform the public of the remarkable military heritage of the province, and to stimulate further research, education and publication in the field.

Few New Brunswickers know of the dozen forts, more than a dozen blockhouses, several Martello Towers, the temporary batteries and small forts, the colonial garrison, or the half dozen significant battles fought in the province prior to 1867. How many know of the dramatic siege of Fort la Tour during the Acadian civil war of the 17th century, or the Dutch expedition up the Saint John River in the 1670s, or the Eddy Rebellion and the siege of Fort Cumberland, or the remarkable march of the 104th Regiment of Foot to Upper Canada during the War of 1812? Since Confederation, New Brunswick has been home to over a dozen military bases, training areas, supply depots, ranges, and airfields, in addition to the elaborate coastal defence fortifications constructed at Saint John and the armouries - and their militia units - which feature so prominently in many NB communities. The remnants of that legacy lay all around us: we drive by them everyday with little knowledge of the stories they hold. And since we, as a community, have largely forgotten or ignored this remarkable resource, it is also lost on the visitors who drive through.

The intent of this project is to promote and foster interest in the important, and oft forgotten, military history of the Province of New Brunswick in four ways:

• to raise general public awareness;
• to encourage local interest and research in the field;
• to provide teachers in the province with a useful resource, and;
• to provide visitors with guides to New Brunswick's captivating military heritage.

Looking for the outer works of Fort Cumberland, the enlarged version of Fort Beausejour expanded by the British after 1755, which have been overgrown in the last fifty years and are now in a state of serious decay. (NBMHP Photo).

The old Royal Engineers/Ordnance Building, Barrack Green, Saint John: nearly two hundred years old and the last intact vestige of the early fortress system of the port city. (NBMHP Photo).

Lieutenant-Commander Bruce S. Wright served with the RCN during the Second World War, and was instrumental in forming and commanding the "Sea Reconnaissance Unit," termed "The Frogmen of Burma," serving under Admiral Lord Mountbatten in South East Asia. On his return from military service, he became director of the Northeast Wildlife Station at the University of New Brunswick.