The Canadian Experience of the Great War

The Canadian Experience of the Great War
Author: Brian Douglas Tennyson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 595
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 0810886790

Although the United States did not enter the First World War until April 1917, Canada enlisted the moment Great Britain engaged in the conflict in August 1914. The Canadian contribution was great, as more than 600,000 men and women served in the war effort--400,000 of them overseas--out of a population of 8 million. More than 150,000 were wounded and nearly 67,000 gave their lives. The war was a pivotal turning point in the history of the modern world, and its mindless slaughter shattered a generation and destroyed seemingly secure values. The literature that the First World War generated, and continues to generate so many years later, is enormous and addresses a multitude of cultural and social matters in the history of Canada and the war itself. Although many scholars have brilliantly analyzed the literature of the war, little has been done to catalog the writings of ordinary participants: men and women who served in the war and wrote about it but are not included among well-known poets, novelists, and memoirists. Indeed, we don't even know how many titles these people published, nor do we know how many more titles were added later by relatives who considered the recollections or collected letters worthy of publication. Brian Douglas Tennyson's The Canadian Experience of the Great War: A Guide to Memoirs is the first attempt to identify all of the published accounts of First World War experiences by Canadian veterans.

The Munro Family from Longlac

The Munro Family from Longlac
Author: Kenneth Munro
Publisher: FriesenPress
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2014-09-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1460249550

This is the story of the Munro family of Longlac. George, Jane and I spent our salad days in this picturesque little Northwestern Ontario community based on the pulp industry nestled between two First Nations' reserves. It is the story of a largely agricultural family whose members had deep roots in the soil of Saskatchewan and Ontario and whose offspring struggled throughout the twentieth century to become well-educated middle class urban family members. Although my grandparents and parents brought family characteristics to bear on the development of me and my siblings, this little community provided an environment in our early years which left an indelible influence on all three of our lives. Longlac was a mirror of the larger Canadian environment which sometimes exhibited prejudice and stifled creativity, but it also exhibited tolerance and allowed freedom for personal growth. Education was the passport to employment in urban Canada and to a full participation in Canadian life. Our parents saw that my siblings and I knew of our origins in both western and eastern Canada and gave us every opportunity to become familiar with both the English and French languages and cultures. Our eye on the world was the CBC whose low power relay transmitter broadcast English-language programs during the day. This environment was our springboard to success in our various professions and provided the following generations with an ability to contribute to Canada as hard-working, caring members of a middle-class family....

Muleskinner

Muleskinner
Author: William Hesler
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2010-12-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1450271596

Based on the experiences of an ammunition driver in the Canadian Artillery, this book will give the reader a quick understanding of Canadas involvement in World War One. Follow Driver Hesler as he moves up to the line and back during the battles of the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Lens, Passchendaele and the Allied advance during the last hundred days of the war. At each step, the author zooms out to the bigger picture, to capture the folly and the tragedy of the war itselfa war which would have lasted longer without the enormous sacrifice of a young country which had no chance to stay out of it. The term muleskinner [was an] epithet which, although originally intended to malign both the animal and the man, ironically became a proud boast by the latter. What both had to go through in the course of World War I explains why. In the First World War, territorial designs were secondary and the civilian populations were largely spared except for famine and disease. It was a war characterized by stupidity. . . . It was not the oppression of one people by another. It was a war in which each side preyed upon itself.

A Thoroughly Canadian General

A Thoroughly Canadian General
Author: Paul Douglas Dickson
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 641
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 080200802X

General H.D.G. 'Harry' Crerar (1888-1965) was involved in or directly responsible for many of the defining moments of Canadian military history in the twentieth century. In the First World War, Crerar was nearly killed at the second battle of Ypres, was a gunner who helped to secure victory at Vimy Ridge, and was a senior staff officer during the pivotal battles of the last Hundred Days. During the Second World War, he occupied and often defined the Canadian army's senior staff and operational appointments, including his tenure as commander of First Canadian Army through the northwest European campaign. Despite his pivotal role in shaping the Canadian army, however, General Crerar has been long overlooked as a subject of biography. In A Thoroughly Canadian General, Paul Douglas Dickson examines the man and his controversial place in Canadian military history, arguing that Crerar was a nationalist who saw the army as an instrument to promote Canadian identity and civic responsibility. From his days as a student at the Royal Military College in Kingston, to his role as primary architect of First Canadian Army, the career of General H.D.G. Crerar is thoroughly examined with a view to considering and reinforcing his place in the history of Canada and its armed forces.

Vimy

Vimy
Author: Tim Cook
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 472
Release: 2017-03-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 0735233179

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER Winner of the 2018 JW Dafoe Book Prize Longlisted for British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction 2018 Runner-up for the 2018 Templer Medal Book Prize Finalist for the 2018 Ottawa Book Awards A bold new telling of the defining battle of the Great War, and how it came to signify and solidify Canada’s national identity Why does Vimy matter? How did a four-day battle at the midpoint of the Great War, a clash that had little strategic impact on the larger Allied war effort, become elevated to a national symbol of Canadian identity? Tim Cook, Canada’s foremost military historian and a Charles Taylor Prize winner, examines the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the way the memory of it has evolved over 100 years. The operation that began April 9, 1917, was the first time the four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together. More than 10,000 Canadian soldiers were killed or injured over four days—twice the casualty rate of the Dieppe Raid in August 1942. The Corps’ victory solidified its reputation among allies and opponents as an elite fighting force. In the wars’ aftermath, Vimy was chosen as the site for the country’s strikingly beautiful monument to mark Canadian sacrifice and service. Over time, the legend of Vimy took on new meaning, with some calling it the “birth of the nation.” The remarkable story of Vimy is a layered skein of facts, myths, wishful thinking, and conflicting narratives. Award-winning writer Tim Cook explores why the battle continues to resonate with Canadians a century later. He has uncovered fresh material and photographs from official archives and private collections across Canada and from around the world. On the 100th anniversary of the event, and as Canada celebrates 150 years as a country, Vimy is a fitting tribute to those who fought the country’s defining battle. It is also a stirring account of Canadian identity and memory, told by a masterful storyteller.

Padres in No Man's Land, Second Edition

Padres in No Man's Land, Second Edition
Author: Duff Crerar
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2014-08-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0773581685

Padres in No Man's Land is the compelling story of brave and deeply committed army chaplains who brought faith and courage to Canada's troops during one of history's most devastating wars. Tracing the growth of the Canadian Chaplain Service from its chaotic and controversy-ridden early days to its maturation as an efficient field force, Duff Crerar highlights both the role of the Service on the battlefield and the personal experiences of the chaplains. Refuting the widely held view that chaplains serving overseas were cloistered from front-line realities, Crerar describes the padres' experiences in camps, hospitals, and on the battlefield. He examines how they maintained their faith in the face of death and destruction, and explores the bonds forged between chaplains and troops. Padres in No Man's Land concludes in the postwar era with the decline of the chaplains' hopes for spiritual renewal upon their return to Canada - their dreams dashed not by the war, but by the subsequent peace.

The College on the Hill

The College on the Hill
Author: Alexander M. Ross
Publisher: Dundurn
Total Pages: 226
Release: 1999-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1550023209

How has the Ontario Agricultural College contributed to Canadian education? What role has the college played in the development of agriculture since it was founded in 1874? This history of Canada's oldest agricultural college revolves around these two questions. It shows that the college's mandate has changed in its attempt to serve both education and agriculture. The Ontario Agricultural College was established to enshrine science in farming, but it also became the testing and extension arm of the provincial ministry of agriculture. Direct government control for ninety years provided financial resources not enjoyed by other post-secondary schools, but the results sometimes proved of greater benefit to agriculture than to education or science. Swept into the University of Guelph when it was created in 1964, the college rethought its role. It emerged as a centre for advanced scientific inquiry, for global agricultural programs, and for understanding rural societies. The controversies surrounding these changes and the evolving nature of agriculture and science are brought out fully in this account of the past century and a quarter.