Latest Posts
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A Hidden History – Weyburn, Saskatchewan
When you dig into the past you run the risk of finding things you may not want to know. . . it’s like asking a question to which you may not want the answer. Service Records are just one source of information about the men and women who served in the CEF. A good story often comes through luck – stumbling across one record containing a buried secret. Such is the case with William Little.
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The Bombardier
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 States and Canada were the closest of allies – when Americans enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War…
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Feeding the Sensation-loving Public: Fake News in August 1914
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
Short Stories
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A Hidden History – Weyburn, Saskatchewan
When you dig into the past you run the risk of finding things you may not want to know. . . it’s like asking a question to which you may not want the answer. Service Records are just one source of information about the men and women who served in the CEF. A good story often comes through luck – stumbling across one record containing a buried secret. Such is the case with William Little.
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Borden Motor Machine Gun Battery
This is a brief glimpse into the life of Private Robert George McDougall who enlisted to fight with a closed group of men – a university battalion – but brought with him a unique skill. Municipal railways in Canada were just coming into their fore in the early 1900’s but it was experience that made for a natural fit with a motorized machine gun corps.
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Regina Trench
Canada did not move to the Somme until the end of the summer 1916, and while fighting in the Somme had been raging since July 1st, it was no less ferocious when the Canadians arrived. The battle for Regina Trench in October 1916 was devastating to the Canadian divisions. This is the brief story of one man, Nicholas Way, from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
This week in the war – 110 Years Ago
About This Blog
This blog is a canvas for my writing about the First World War – unconnected narratives about Life at the Front. Whether it’s a short story or a longer feature, they have usually been inspired by a headstone in a cemetery or a record of death, combined with a passion to uncover the person behind the name and the life cut short by the war. . . what I call a Life Untold. I also touch on life at the time – vignettes to draw a sketch of lives during the war and Life at the Front. The goal of this blog is to help unveil these lives, this time and, quite simply, to help keep history alive.
Read More. . .
Musings on Life at the Front
While this blog has many avenues for my creative outlet – short stories, vignettes, and features – there’s a lot of noise in my brain that needs a place to play. In Harry Potter, Dumbledore had a pensieve – this is my version of a pensieve – a place for some of my random musings about Life at the Front.
FEATURE STORIES
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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 States and Canada were the closest of allies – when Americans enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War…
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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.
The Somme 
Beaumont Hamel 
Beaumont Hamel 
Beaumont Hamel – Looking Across No Man’s Land and the Path of the Advance 
The Danger Tree 
Hawthorne Ridge Cemetery No. 2 
Y Ravine Cemetery 
Neuville-St Vaast German Cemetery 
Neuville-St Vaast German Cemetery 
Neuville-St Vaast German Cemetery 
Nine Elms Cemetery 
Near Sanctuary Wood 
Cabaret Rouge Cemetery 
Cabaret Rouge Cemetery 
Adanac Cemetery 
Notre Dame De Lorette 
Notre Dame De Lorette 
French National Cemetery: Notre Dame De Lorette 
The Vimy Memorial 
The Vimy Memorial 
The Vimy Memorial – Canada Bereft 
The Vimy Memorial 
The Vimy Memorial 
Beaumont Hamel British Cemetery 
Beaumont Hamel British Cemetery 
Sunken Road Cemetery, Contalmaison 
Regina Trench Cemetery 
Ramparts Cemetery 
Sanctuary Wood Cemetery 
Sanctuary Wood Cemetery 
Hill 60 – Caterpillar Mine Crater 
Hill 60 – Mine Craters 
Hill 60 
Tyne Cot Cemetery 
Tyne Cot Cemetery 
Tyne Cot Cemetery 
Tyne Cot Cemetery 
Bellevue Spur 
Langemark German Cemetery 
Langemark German Cemetery 
Langemark German Cemetery – Memorial to the Massacre of the Innocents 
New British Cemetery 
New British Cemetery 
New British Cemetery 
Lochnager Mine 
Masnières Newfoundland Memorial 
Regina Trench Cemetery 
Regina Trench Cemetery 
The Somme 
The Somme – Looking to Sugar Trench 
The Somme 
The Somme 
Gueudecourt Newfoundland Memorial 
Thiepval Memorial 
Thiepval Memorial 
Thiepval Memorial 
Menin Gate
All pictures taken by K. Scott Perry
Vignettes
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This is a very short item as I thought this article was interesting, as are many issues of Canada-US relations during the War. In the context of the current egregious US trade actions against Canada and others, there are many fascinating historical parallels.
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This is a vignette that might well evolve into a longer narrative for the image and emotion it creates – and the story it hints to – but for now we’ll just focus the spotlight for a brief moment on this love and concern conveyed in this letter from his wife Elizabeth.
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There has been great focus over the last two decades on the tragic but situational case of twenty-three Canadian soldiers serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force who were executed during the war for alleged desertion and cowardice. While victims of the times, these soldiers were recognized by the Canadian Government in 2001 and their names
Circumstances of Death
Circumstances of Death registers provide a fascinating look at life at the Front, providing a snapshot into the danger that soldiers lived with every day. Sadly, it’s impossible to read them all – there were more than 66,000 Canadians killed during the war.
Some of these registers are very routine with a simple sentence that reads “Killed in Action”, “Died of Wounds”, or something equally brief and perfunctory. Others, however, are fascinating in their detail and invoke a range of emotions – invariably sadness but also incredulity at the circumstances of their death.
As I come across interesting CoDs – ones that strike a chord – I will post them and share these brilliant but poignant views of Life at the Front. . .
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Sergeant Albert Edward Shaver
Click on the image for detail: Sergeant Albert Edward Shaver41 Years old
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Private Norman Joseph McDonald
Click on the image for detail: Private Norman Joseph McDonald32 Years old
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Private Bruce Campbell McDowell
Click on the image for detail: Private Bruce Campbell McDowell32 Years old
Perspectives On The Front 