Each soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Force had their own unique experience serving. When one watches a battalion marching during a parade there is a perception of a one-mindedness of the personnel of that unit and the military ethos requires the sublimation of the individual will and their unique personality and experiences. No matter how... Continue Reading →
“Freedom’s Cause Still Holds Us Here…”: A 1918 Christmas Card
The 18th Battalion experienced Christmas as a unit from 1914 to 1918. Each Christmas was a different experience for each year. The first Christmas was a gala event in London, Ontario and hosted by The Women’s Canadian Club replete with boiled ham, mashed potatoes, and green peas. The following Christmases would not be the same... Continue Reading →
Mute But Not Retarded: The Case of Private Russell
With special thanks to Kristen Den Hartog who made me aware of this soldier. She is currently researching this soldier. Please reach out to her if you can assist her. The impact of physical and psychological injuries to the soldiers that served with the 18th Battalion will never be fully understood. These injuries were, however,... Continue Reading →
Captain Ed Shuttleworth’s Recollections (1969)
Introduction One of the challenges about researching the men of the 18th Battalion is that the information on hand, though very valuable, in the form of their individual service records at the Library and Archives Canada gives a snap shot of that person’s war experience. This is more of a “photograph” of time. Each page... Continue Reading →
Two Men. Two Scouts. One Raid.
On the night of July 26/27 men of the 18th Battalion carried out a “minor trench raid”. The weather was “Fine but dull”[i] on that day. In that raid were two men, originals with the Battalion, who both have quite different stories. Private Forrester Private Alfred Forrester, reg. no. 53648[ii] war service started out rather... Continue Reading →
18th Battalion Association Event Circa 1940
A recent contribution to the 18th Battalion Facebook Group brought a candid photograph of two members of the 18th Battalion to life. The photograph is from an event circa 1940 and it is evident that it, most likely, an event related to the 18th Battalion association. The two men prominent in the photograph are Sergeant... Continue Reading →
Poetry and Regret
Some time after the Armistice in 1918 and July 1921 a former private of the 18th Battalion wrote a poem and published it in pamphlet form. It is now an obscure document and would be lost to history save for the work of Canadiana Online. Hidden, waiting to be found was the pamphlet with its... Continue Reading →
“Hale and Hearty”: Lucknow Ontario Veterans Return Home
100 years ago the Wingham Advance published an article about returning soldiers. In May 1919 just over a dozen veterans of the First World War from the Canadian and American Forces returned home. The articles that nearly all of them had been wounded but that they "...have recovered and are looking hale and hearty now."... Continue Reading →
“…a pretty near squeak…”
This is the last of a 4-part series of the analysis of articles relating to Private Frederick Hodson, who served with the 18th Battalion. Special thanks to Annette Fulford (@avidgenie) Lizbet Tobin, and Sharon Munro for assistance with this article. Private Frederick Hodson, M.M. of the 18th Battalion. Hodson is well established in England, as his... Continue Reading →
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 