Vimy Ridge
Vimy Ridge

Author: Geoffrey Hayes

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Published: 2009-10-22

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1554586976

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On the morning of April 9, 1917, troops of the Canadian Corps under General Julian Byng attacked the formidable German defences of Vimy Ridge. Since then, generations of Canadians have shared a deep emotional attachment to the battle, inspired partly by the spectacular memorial on the battlefield. Although the event is considered central in Canadian military history, most people know very little about what happened during that memorable Easter in northern France. Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment draws on the work of a new generation of scholars who explore the battle from three perspectives. The first assesses the Canadian Corps within the wider context of the Western Front in 1917. The second explores Canadian leadership, training, and preparations and details the story of each of the four Canadian divisions. The final section concentrates on the commemoration of Vimy Ridge, both for contemporaries and later generations of Canadians. This long-overdue collection, based on original research, replaces mythology with new perspectives, new details, and a new understanding of the men who fought and died for the remarkable achievement that was the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Co-published with the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies

The Canadian Experience of the Great War
The Canadian Experience of the Great War

Author: Brian Douglas Tennyson

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2013-05-01

Total Pages: 595

ISBN-13: 0810886804

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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.

Walter Gordon and the Rise of Canadian Nationalism
Walter Gordon and the Rise of Canadian Nationalism

Author: Stephen Azzi

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9780773518407

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From the 1950s to the 1970s Walter Gordon was the voice of English Canadian nationalism, first as chair of the Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects, then as a minister in Lester B. Pearson's cabinet, and finally as founder and honorary chair of the Committee for an Independent Canada. In the late 1960s many Canadians heeded Gordon's call for limits on the level of American investment in Canadian industry and joined with him to form a broad movement to limit American influence in Canada.

The Torch We Throw: The Dundurn WWI Historical Library
The Torch We Throw: The Dundurn WWI Historical Library

Author: Brereton Greenhous

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2014-07-23

Total Pages: 1125

ISBN-13: 1459730305

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The giant conflagration of the First World War created the world we live in today, and its history is replete with stirring battles, mind-boggling strategies, and geopolitical manoeuvring. However, the real story was lived in the trenches of Europe and the lonely households of those left behind. The stories of this period are full of tragedy, anger, and loss but also inspirational courage. This special five-book bundle presents some of these stories, from brave Canadian contributions to the battlefields at Ypres and Amiens, to the specific untold story of Canada’s unheralded 58th Division, to an analysis of the myth and legend of air ace Billy Bishop, to the voice of one single soldier, Deward Barnes, told through his diary. These books provide new and enlightening perspectives on the war. Amiens Hell in Flanders Fields It Made you Think of Home The Making of Billy Bishop Second to None

Training For Armageddon
Training For Armageddon

Author: Richard D. Merritt

Publisher: FriesenPress

Published: 2018-01-09

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1460261380

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Over the past 225 years the oak savannah at the mouth of the Niagara River -- designated as a Military Reserve but regarded by the local citizenry as their common lands-- has witnessed a broad spectrum of military, political and cultural happenings. Perhaps most compelling is the story of Niagara Camp, established in the 1870s on the Reserve as the summer camp for Military District #2. By the eve of the Great War this District that encompassed most of central Ontario from Niagara to Sault St. Marie including Toronto, Hamilton and St. Catharines, was the most populous and patriotic District in all of Canada. Niagara Camp and the training that went on within it endeavoured to prepare over 50,000 young men for the Overseas Canadian Expeditionary Force; however, the Camp's vigorous daily routines, comprehensive instruction and discipline could not ready them for the horrors of the Western Front and ...Armageddon. Many never returned. In 1917 Niagara Camp also became the unique training centre for 22,000 Polish Army volunteers, American and Canadian boys eager to fight for a distant land many had never set foot on. The horrific Spanish Flu Pandemic soon followed with dire consequences for the soldiers and their volunteer caregivers. Niagara was also a training camp for Canada's ill-fated and little-known Siberian Expedition. Remarkable sagas are recounted of some of the Camp's veterans. On the centennial of the Great War this in-depth recognition of the brave young volunteers during their preparation for war is long overdue....

The Battles of the British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1915
The Battles of the British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1915

Author: Fred R. van Hartesveldt

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2005-04-30

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 0313068437

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In this valuable resource, over 1,000 annotated sources from Great Britain, France, and Germany offer a historiographical reference for study of the British army at the beginning and in the first battles of World War I. Unique to this bibliography is the comprehensive coverage of sources, resulting in a more complete picture of the circumstances of activities of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Sources include coverage of the BEF's military role, as well as background information about domestic military considerations and Allied and enemy efforts. This volume will support researchers and students in their efforts to find out what the Expeditionary Force's contributions were in World War I, and for expanding their knowledge of the Great War and British military history. In this valuable resource, over 1,000 annotated sources from Great Britain, France, and Germany offer a historiographical reference for study of the British army at the beginning and in the first battles of World War I. Unique to this bibliography is the comprehensive coverage of sources, and it results in a more complete picture of the circumstances of activities of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Sources include coverage of the BEF's military role, as well as background information about domestic military considerations and Allied and enemy efforts. This volume will support researchers and students in their efforts to find out what the Expeditionary Force's contributions were in World War I, and for expanding their knowledge of the Great War and British military history. The volume includes four chapters of historiographical essays discussings the interpretations and controversies that surround the performance and leadership of the BEF in 1914-1915. The essays direct readers to the major sources that support various ideas and indicate gaps in the historiography of the subject. Following the historiographical essays is an annotated bibliography of more than 1,000 sources that are relevant to the study of the BEF.

The Secret History of Soldiers
The Secret History of Soldiers

Author: Tim Cook

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2018-09-18

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 0735235279

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There have been thousands of books on the Great War, but most have focused on commanders, battles, strategy, and tactics. Less attention has been paid to the daily lives of the combatants, how they endured the unimaginable conditions of industrial warfare: the rain of shells, bullets, and chemical agents. In The Secret History of Soldiers, Tim Cook, Canada's foremost military historian, examines how those who survived trench warfare on the Western Front found entertainment, solace, relief, and distraction from the relentless slaughter. These tales come from the soldiers themselves, mined from the letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral accounts of more than five hundred combatants. Rare examples of trench art, postcards, and even song sheets offer insight into a hidden society that was often irreverent, raunchy, and anti-authoritarian. Believing in supernatural stories was another way soldiers shielded themselves from the horror. While novels and poetry often depict the soldiers of the Great War as mere victims, this new history shows how the soldiers pushed back against the grim war, refusing to be broken in the mincing machine of the Western Front. The violence of war is always present, but Cook reveals the gallows humour the soldiers employed to get through it. Over the years, both writers and historians have overlooked this aspect of the men's lives. The fighting at the front was devastating, but behind the battle lines, another layer of life existed, one that included songs, skits, art, and soldier-produced newspapers. With his trademark narrative abilities and an unerring eye for the telling human detail, Cook has created another landmark history of Canadian military life as he reveals the secrets of how soldiers survived the carnage of the Western Front.

Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919
Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919

Author: G.W.L. Nicholson

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2015-11-01

Total Pages: 709

ISBN-13: 0773597905

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Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson's Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 was first published by the Department of National Defence in 1962 as the official history of the Canadian Army’s involvement in the First World War. Immediately after the war ended Colonel A. Fortescue Duguid made a first attempt to write an official history of the war, but the ill-fated project produced only the first of an anticipated eight volumes. Decades later, G.W.L. Nicholson - already the author of an official history of the Second World War - was commissioned to write a new official history of the First. Illustrated with numerous photographs and full-colour maps, Nicholson’s text offers an authoritative account of the war effort, while also discussing politics on the home front, including debates around conscription in 1917. With a new critical introduction by Mark Osborne Humphries that traces the development of Nicholson’s text and analyzes its legacy, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 is an essential resource for both professional historians and military history enthusiasts.