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 →
The Execution of Private Edward Fairburn of the 18th
This article is part of the author’s research into the circumstances of the death by execution by a soldier of the 18th Battalion. Up until his desertion after 5-months of active service with the Battalion there is no indication of behaviour that would reflect cowardice. Private Edward Fairburn, reg. no. 227098. 11 Maples Street, St.... Continue Reading →
The Prisoner’s Character Was Irreproachable: Busbies and a Barmaid
Introduction[i] A soldier of some ability and reputation joins the 111th Battalion at Galt, Ontario. As the 111th Battalion began to fill its ranks its composition was like that of the 1st and 2nd Contingent. Its demographics included a large proportion of men who were born in the British Isles, and of that there were... Continue Reading →
A Thousand Dollars
On June 6, 1955 in Syracuse, New York, Mrs. Rose B. Scott became a widow. Almost a year passed and on May 8, 1956 she sent an inquiry through the mail to the “Department of Records, National Defence” in Ottawa, Canada regarding her husband’s military service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Her husband, Dennis Scott,... Continue Reading →
A Swim Binds Three 18th Battalion Soldiers in Time
This is a follow up post from a prior post entitled A Swim Binds Two Soldiers in Time in which the experiences of two members of the Battalion is examined. Further research has illuminated that there were three men of the 18th Battalion involved in this incident and this article is a response to the... Continue Reading →
GWCA Third Lecture – Death or Deliverance: Canadian Courts Martial in the Great War
Teresa Iacobelli, PhD. specializes in Canadian military history, public history and social memory. She is the author of Death or Deliverance: Canadian Courts Martial in the Great War (Winner, 2013 C.P. Stacey Prize, Canadian Commission for Military History and the Canadian Committee on the History of the Second World War) and currently is an historian... Continue Reading →
Lecture Series Presented by the Great War Centenary Association (Brantford, Ontario)
News has been posted at the Great War Centenary Association's web site outlining the 2017 lecture series being held in Brantford, Ontario in 2017. The lectures cover a range of topics covering the Canadian experience in the First World War. Lectures are held at 7:30 PM at Laurier Brantford, RCW, Room 202 at 150 Dalhousie... Continue Reading →
A Swim Binds Two Soldiers in Time
This post has been superseded by this post. Two soldiers. One from Paisley, Ontario, a small town in the Grey-Bruce region of Ontario with rolling hills of trees and farmer’s fields. The other from the urban environs of Toronto. Both were in a technical trade; one being a tinsmith and other a steam fitter. Both... Continue Reading →
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 