As Remembrance Day approaches, we honour the brave humans who gave their lives to ensure a brighter tomorrow for their country. From the bottom of our hearts, we here at Goose Lane Editions give our deepest thanks to everyone in uniform, past and present, and recommend to readers some of our finest selections from our Military History collection.
Andrew Theobald — Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers: Canadian Internment Camp B, 1940-1945
When we think of the Second World War, we think of Nazis, Pearl Harbor, Vimy Ridge, and other iconic images that have been passed down through the generations in Canada. What we don’t always acknowledge is the internment of Japanese Canadians, sympathizers, and those who opposed the war effort. Canada’s self-identity tends to absolve us of guilt. Chosen for its remote rural New Brunswick location, Ripples’ Internment Camp B interned hundreds who were deemed by the Canadian government to be enemy sympathizers. Records of former inmates can also be found here.
Brent Wilson — A Family of Brothers: Soldiers of the 26th New Brunswick Battalion in the Great War
They fought at Ypres in the fall of 1915 and on the Somme at Courcelette and Regina Trench in 1916. They carried on to Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele in 1917. They were part of the battles at Amiens and the Hundred Days campaign of 1918. The 26th Battalion was the only infantry unit from New Brunswick (and one of only 24 from the rest of Canada) to serve continuously on the Western Front from 1915 until the Armistice in 1918. Extra interested? Take note of this exhibition at the Oromocto's Military History Museum, showcasing New Brunswick soldiers during the first World War.
Tyler Trafford — Almost a Great Escape
Following his mother's death in 2004, Tyler Trafford discovered an album of old letters and creased photographs that revealed a mother he never knew, a man he'd never heard of, and a love affair doomed by class and circumstance. The letters were from Jens Müller, a Norwegian pilot who trained in Canada during the early days of the Second World War, one of only three prisoners who would make it home after The Great Escape.
Shawna M. Quinn — Agnes Warner and the Nursing Sisters of the Great War
Shawna M. Quinn considers the experiences of New Brunswick's nursing sisters — the grueling conditions of work and the brutal realities they faced from possible attacks and bombings, working at a feverish pace to give emergency care for bleeding gashes, broken and missing limbs, and the devastating injuries of war. Using letters, diaries, and published accounts, Quinn paints a complete picture of the adventurous young women who witnessed first-hand the horrors of the Great War. See more content like this in the short documentary Front Lines.