Behind the Wire – 1918

| January 10, 2020

16th Battalion C.E.F. Prisoners of War (Part 3) Every two years (in January) I have returned to my 16th Canadian Infantry Battalion Prisoner of War research project. To my surprise the battalion does not appear to have had any service personnel captured during 1917. Of particular interest in this the third and final installment are […]

On the Day of Peace 11 November – Loss…

| November 5, 2018

Great War Armistice at 100 Soon the day of the Great War Armistice will turn 100 – 11 November 2018. Some will travel at this time to London, the Somme, the Salient. Others will remain at home in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, wherever. The ceremonies will be well attended…special events…special art installations such as Weeping […]

Summer Grass

| July 24, 2018

…of the soldiers’ dreams natsugusa ya tsuwamonodomo ga yume no ato Matsuo Bashō (1644 – 1694) Japanese-Canadian Veterans and the Great War Perhaps they sat upon the side of a hill and watched the changing colours of a field as the grasses tilted with the passing wind. All of nature’s colours, its botanicals, fed by […]

On This Day: 29 August 1917

| August 29, 2017

The Military Service Act 1917 On this day, 100 years ago, Canada passed the Military Service Act mandating that all Canadian male citizens between the ages 0f 20 – 45 could be conscripted into military service. Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden, a Conservative, having visited the Western Front during the spring of 1917 saw first […]