Author: Leonard McLeod Gould
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Canada
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Author: Brian Douglas Tennyson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0810886790
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 595

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Book Description
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.

Author: Geoffrey Jackson
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 0774860170
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
When Great Britain and its dominions declared war on Germany in August 1914, they were faced with the formidable challenge of transforming masses of untrained citizen-soldiers at home and abroad into competent, coordinated fighting divisions. The Empire on the Western Front focuses on the development of two units, Britain’s 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division and the Canadian 4th Division, to show how the British Expeditionary Force rose to this challenge. Examining their respective geneses and following them through to the end of the war, Geoffrey Jackson explores many aspects of the division-building process of these two units – from leadership and training to discipline and morale – and how (or whether) the process differed in Britain and Canada. The Empire on the Western Front examines army formation and operations at the divisional level and ultimately calls into question existing accounts that emphasize the differences between the imperial and dominion armies.

Author: ROBERT RATCLIFFE TAYLOR
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 146699035X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
When war in Europe broke out in 1914, why did so many men from Victoria, BC, Canada, enlist enthusiastically? What did they feel about the war they were fighting? What were their personal values? Were they ever disillusioned in the trenches of the Western Front? To what extent did they enjoy combat? How did they regard the German enemy? And faced with artillery bombardment, execrable living conditions, and the fear of death or maiming, what helped them to carry on? In researching these questions, the author found that Victoria was a unique city in several ways and that some assumptions about Canadian soldiers’ trench experience may not apply to volunteers from that city. Moreover, the culture of the time was different from that of Canada today so that the enthusiasm for military life and for “the empire” may seem bizarre to young people. Ideals of masculinity may seem outdated, and the concepts of personal honor and duty, which these men supported, may be obsolete. This essay tries to understand the culture of Canada and especially that of Victoria, BC, a century ago, a pertinent exercise considering the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War.

Author: Ward McBurney
Publisher: Ward McBurney
ISBN: 0968459137
Category : World War, 1914-1918
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Author: Brereton Greenhous
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 1459730305
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1125

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Book Description
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

Author: Richard Holt
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 0773549110
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Manpower is the lifeblood of armies regardless of time or place. In the First World War, much of Canada’s military effort went toward sustaining the Canadian Expeditionary Force, especially in France and Belgium. The job was not easy. The government and Department of Militia and Defence were tasked with recruiting and training hundreds of thousands of men, shipping them to England, and creating organizations on the continent meant to forward these men to their units. The first book to explore the issue of manpower in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Filling the Ranks examines the administrative and organizational changes that fostered efficiency and sustained the army. Richard Holt describes national civilian and military recruitment policies and criteria both inside and outside of Canada; efforts to recruit women, convicts, and members of First Nations, African Canadian, Asian, and Slavic communities; the conduct of entry-level training; and the development of a coherent reinforcement structure. Canada’s ability to fill the ranks with trained soldiers ultimately helped make the Corps an elite formation within the British Expeditionary Force. Based on extensive research in British and Canadian archives, Filling the Ranks provides a wealth of new information on Canada"s role in the Great War.

Author: Patrick M. Dennis
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 0774836008
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
During the “Hundred Days” campaign of the First World War, over 30 percent of conscripts who served in the Canadian Corps became casualties. Yet, they were generally considered slackers for not having volunteered to fight. Reluctant Warriors is the first examination of the pivotal role played by Canadian conscripts in the final campaign of the Great War on the Western Front. Challenging long-standing myths about conscripts, Patrick Dennis examines whether these men arrived at the right moment, and in sufficient numbers, to make any significant difference to the success of the Canadian Corps. He examines the conscripts themselves, their journey to war, the battles in which they fought, and their largely undocumented sacrifice and heroism. Reluctant Warriors sheds new light on the success of the Military Service Act and provides fresh evidence that conscripts were good soldiers who fought valiantly and made a crucial contribution to the war effort.

Author: Stephen Bull
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472819780
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
In 1917 the soldiers of the Canadian Corps would prove themselves the equal of any fighting on the Western Front, while on the other side of the wire, the men of the Royal Bavarian Army won a distinguished reputation in combat. Employing the latest weapons and pioneering tactics, these two forces would clash in three notable encounters: the Canadian storming of Vimy Ridge, the back-and-forth engagement at Fresnoy and at the sodden, bloody battle of Passchendaele. Featuring carefully chosen archive photographs and specially commissioned artwork, this study assesses these three hard-fought battles in 1917 on the Western Front, and offers a new take on the evolving nature of infantry combat in World War I.

Author: Jennifer Keene
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004191828
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Representing the best of cutting-edge scholarship in First World War studies, this anthology demonstrates how conversations among historians across international and cross-disciplinary boundaries enhances our understanding of this global conflict.