Travelling Exhibition 2019: After the War
Coming home and fitting in at the end of the Great War Fifth and Seventh Batteries, CFA, arriving in Montreal PQ for demobilization, 1919. Dept. Of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-022997
Soldier of Fortune: Private Daniel Joseph Fortune at Vimy Ridge
We recently added a very special object to our collection; the helmet pictured above might initially look quite plain and unremarkable, but it has a very touching story.
Travelling Exhibition 2018: Parallels
Women representing the Great War in Canada and Newfoundland Image: Mary Riter Hamilton. Sanctuary Wood, Flanders. 1920. Oil on Plywood, 59.100 x 45.700 cm. Mary Riter Hamilton Fonds, Library and Archives Canada. Acc. No. 1988-180-21.
The New Pioneer: How Soldiers Kept Their Buttons Polished
Soldiers were expected to carry a lot of equipment with them while on the Front line. From a gas mask to an extra pair of socks, soldiers were prepared for the rapid changes demanded by modern warfare. Lesser-known to many, however, soldiers also carried a brass button polishing guard. Made of a thin sheet of […]
“In this wilderness of flooded shell holes:” Canadians remember Passchendaele
“After a march all night, losing our way, falling in shell holes, slipping, and losing our tin hats in them, and having to fish them out, and the odd shells dropping around us. We were getting nearer to where we were supposed to dig in and hold the line. We couldn’t see much in the […]
Wholesome entertainments: The YMCA in the First World War
The First World War period in Canada, an across the British Empire, saw an unprecedented amount of activity by charitable organisations towards the war effort. Groups like the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE), and the Red Cross raised millions of dollars for medical supplies and for the care of prisoners of […]
Fighting Words: Canadian War Poets
The First World War produced many war poets, particularly those writing in English; Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Edmund Blunden all come to mind. In the Canadian context, there is a clear favourite for most well known – John McCrae, the author of “In Flanders Fields”. However, there were other less well known or less […]
Hill 70: Our Forgotten Battle
August 15th marked the centenary of the Battle of Hill 70, the Canadian Corps’ next large engagement after their success at Vimy Ridge in April 1917, and their second victory of the year. It is also distinct in that it was the first Canadian battle planned exclusively by Arthur Currie, now the commander of the […]
“On Roads Muddy and Gray”: The Passchendaele Centenary
The quote in the title comes from a poem written by Alexander Sinclair, a Driver with the Canadian Field Artillery. Sinclair fought at Passchendaele with the Canadian Corps in November 1917, when the battle was winding down. But Passchendaele, a gigantic battle with hundreds of thousands of casualties, began much earlier than the official Canadian […]
“You are needed”: Americans in the Canadian Expeditionary Force
The summer of 2017 marks 100 years since the arrival of the first American troops in France. The American Expeditionary Force landed on 26 June 1917, with 14 000 soldiers, a force which eventually grew to about 2 million. However, before the United States joined the war, there were still thousands of Americans fighting in […]
