One of the greatest challenges when writing stories about the Front is the discipline to contain a narrative when there is so much to say. Sometimes, however, the story demands more and in such cases I’ve called them out as Feature Stories written in multiple parts.
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This piece traces my discovery of my great uncle, Arthur Forbes Ruddock (#129200, 16th Battalion, Canadian Scottish), and the unexpected path through which the story is unfolding. Through personal items — letters and artifacts sent by strangers — my understanding of his wartime experience has grown, deepening both my research and my personal connection to…
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What began as a brief account of an unfortunate incident during a Canadian soldier’s convalescence in Canada evolves into a deeper exploration of his troubled life and service. In the context of his story, it suggests that recruitment practices in the Canadian Expeditionary Force likely allowed men with pre-existing mental health conditions to enter the…
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The Bombardier was a piece I wrote in 2009, before anything had been written about William Currin. I thought now, with our relations with the United States the lowest they’ve ever been, might be the right time to revisit it, fine tune it, and repost it. It’s a story from a time when the United…
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It was a story that ran in papers across the country two weeks after the Declaration of War: “Rocky Mountain Rangers Fired on From Ambush,” read The Ottawa Journal on August 20th. “What is believed to have been a determined attempt to wreck the troop train which passed through Revelstoke Sunday night carrying 150 sailors…
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This is the first part in a multi-part feature story of Private R.C. Royston #29015; a Canadian soldier in the 16th Battalion Canadian Scottish, who enlisted at Valcartier and was taken prisoner at the Second Battle of Ypres. This story was inspired by a single photograph and name in Library and Archives Canada.
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Despite all of the information available, researching events of the first world war presents many challenges; after a hundred years both the facts and the feel are easily blurred. One diligent officer’s entries in the battalion’s war diary during an uneventful week might include descriptions of working parties, church parades and baseball games, deployments of…
Perspectives On The Front 