From the West Coast to the Western Front : British Columbians and the Great War

Forsythe, Mark (author.). Dickson, Greg, 1956- (author.).

Summary: "Compiling stories, artifacts and photos sent in by BC Almanac listeners from across the province, this volume tells of submarine smuggling, bagpipes lost on the battlefield and of the ongoing struggles by soldiers who made it home. It tells of battles that set records for mass death amid conditions of unequalled squalor, but also of the heroism of front-line nurses and soldiers like George Maclean, a First Nations man from the Okanagan, who won the Distinguished Conduct Medal. By turns devastating, harrowing, insightful and miraculous, these stories reveal much about the spirit and resilience of a people who survived one of history’s greatest disasters to build the province we have today."--

Record details

ISBN: 9781550176667 (paperback)
Physical Description: print
regular print
261 pages : illustrations, map, portraits ; 26 cm
Publisher: Madeira Park, British Columbia : Harbour Publishing, 2014.
Copyright: ©2014.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

The big men of the war : Premier McBride and General Currie -- Off to war : training and trenches -- Ordinary men, extraordinary courage : our Victoria Cross recipients -- BC's naval legacy : improvising to protect the West Coast -- Our flying aces : daring young men -- Journey to Vimy : Canada's soldiers come of age -- Two horsemen, two solitudes : George McLean and Gordon Flowerdew -- First Nations soldiers : so many served -- Canada's nursing sisters : our daughters on the front lines -- BC women and the Great War : breaking barriers -- Tales the cenotaphs tell : sacrifice, remembrance and commemoration -- They fought for Canada, but they couldn't vote -- They chose not to fight : socialists, pacifists and deserters -- BC's internment camps : behind the barbed wire -- The war's lasting legacy : inspiring arts, culture and sports -- Victory, but at what cost? -- Our own : the Regiments.