Please come out for a first-time-ever collaboration between CALL and the Calgary International Folkdancing Club (a non-profit organization). The Introduction to Folkdancing program is an opportunity to learn what folkdancing is, where the dances come from and why it is fun and good for you. The club is opening its doors warmly to CALL members and your guests for no charge in order to share the beauty and joy of folkdancing. If you are curious, active, engaged and eager to experience the cultures of the world through the language of folkdancing, this open house event is for you. No partner or dance experience is required. Please wear breathable, comfortable clothing suited to light aerobic activity and clean, soft-soled, non-marking shoes. 

Hunting the Tirpitz's Ghost

A Diver's Accidental Journey into History

The Tirpitz, the second of Nazi Germany's two Bismarck-class battleships, was among the most formidable warships ever built. Fifty-two thousand tons of steel, armor, and firepower. Yet it never fought a great sea battle, never sent an enemy ship to the bottom. It spent most of the war brooding in the deep sheltered waters of Norway's fjords, hidden among towering cliffs, protected by torpedo nets, minefields, and shore batteries. Naval strategists call this a "fleet in being,” a force so powerful that its mere existence compels the enemy to divert vast resources to contain it. As long as the Tirpitz lived, Britain was forced to keep battleships and carriers desperately needed elsewhere in home waters. She held the Royal Navy hostage from inside a Norwegian fjord.

Almost impossible to reach, and impossible to ignore, Winston Churchill declared her destruction one of the highest priorities of the entire war.

THE TIRPITZ

The British were not prepared to simply watch and wait. Over three years they threw everything they had at the Tirpitz. The most audacious

attempt of all came not from battleships or bombers, but tiny midget submarines, X-craft (pictured below) which with crews of four, crept silently into Kåfjord to place explosive charges beneath her hull. The operation had a name as understated as the men who carried it out — Operation Source.

X-CRAFT

Of the six X-craft that departed Scotland on September 11, 1943, towed by larger submarines for the attack on Tirpitz eleven days later, history recorded the fate of only five. The sixth — X5 — simply disappeared without a trace into the cold black depths of Kåfjord. No wreck. No survivors. No answers. She is the ghost that still haunts these waters.

Thirty years after X5 vanished, the prestigious British Sub Aqua Club decided it was time to find her. Hundreds of Britain's finest divers applied for a place on the expedition. Just twenty were selected. For three weeks, this elite team would scour the cold, dark depths of Kåfjord — diving up to 200 feet in near-zero visibility, in water cold enough to kill — searching for any trace of the lost submarine and the men who never came home. It was dangerous, demanding and technically challenging work. Only the most experienced would do.

While all of this was being planned in Britain, my wife Janet and I were unaware of any of it. We were on an extended and rather belated honeymoon, driving around Europe with no particular agenda — just the open road. Enroute to Hammerfest, north of the Arctic Circle in Norway, we came across the expedition. I introduced myself and mentioned that I had trained as a Navy diver in the South African Navy. They asked me to join in the search for X5. This was the type of expedition every serious diver in the world dreamed of. And somehow, a South African on his honeymoon was going to be part of it.

This presentation will take you into the cockpit of a midget submarine, into the freezing depths of a Norwegian fjord, and into one of the most fascinating unsolved mysteries of the Second World War. It will set the historical scene, follow the search for X5, reveal what was found in those cold dark waters — and what remains unanswered to this day.

Above all, it is a story of extraordinary courage, iron determination and the enduring power of the human spirit when faced with seemingly impossible odds. A story that deserves to be told — and one you will not forget.

Click here  for more information and look for David's email under "Special Programs"

Register yourself and up to 2 guests 

** You must be a member of CALL to register. If you are not a member: learn more  about joining CALL.

Vested Interest

Climate Change Walking Art

Come and enjoy an afternoon with Ellen Monaghan, a talented seamstress and teller of truths about climate change. Models will showcase her garments with original graphics as she relates interesting stories about global warming and environmental degradation. Her presentation will be entertaining and humorous but it is also educational and is intended to inspire us to engage in conversations about the threats to our lives and possible solutions to the problems. Models will be male and female, young and old! Come and bring your partner and your friends.

Click here for more information and look for Mary's email under "Special Programs"

Register   yourself and up to 2 guests

** You must be a member of CALL to register. If you are not a member: learn more about joining CALL.