- Dans la tourmente: Deux hopitaux militaires canadiens-français dans la France en guerre (1915-1919)
Hospital histories seem to fall into two types: biographies focusing on great men, women, and deeds, and works that examine hospitals through the lens of social, political, or social policy.
Dans la tourment, based on Michel Litalien's master's thesis, does not fit either model, because, as well as being a hospital history, it is also military history. It deals with the short lives of two French-Canadian military hospitals in France during the First World War, and tries to answer the question, Why have they been forgotten here in the aftermath of the war, while they seem to be warmly remembered in France? According to the author, while much has been written about the military [End Page 839] political and diplomatic aspects of the war, little has been written about those who cared for the wounded, and virtually nothing about these two French-Canadian general hospitals. His aim is to fill this void.
Litalien begins his book with a description of a commemorative celebration in Joinville-le-Pont near Paris in 1991. This ceremony marks the renaming of part of the town as the Quartier des Canadiens in honour of the role played by Canadians, particularly General Hospital No. 6, during the First World War.
He then gives a short overview of the creation of the Canadian Expeditionary Corps at the time of the First World War, and the role of French-Canadian soldiers in the CEC, including the formation of French-Canadian units to attract francophone soldiers. The 22nd Battalion is the first and most famous, but there are others, including the two hospital units studied in this work: General Hospital (Laval) No. 6, and General Hospital No. 8. The author presents the organizational structure of the Canadian Army Medical Corps at the commencement of the First World War, and then goes on to discuss the formation of the two hospitals: one organized by a medical doctor and military officer, Dr Arthur Mignault, and the other organized by Laval University at Montreal. He looks at the composition of the two units, places they served, their staff, their relationship with the local people, and their internal problems, particularly lack of discipline and poor administration. Finally he looks at their demobilization and the reasons they have until now been absent from 'our collective memory.' The author also supplies the reader with tables detailing demographic information on the officers, nurses, and soldiers working in the two hospitals, with a social analysis of this information, the number of disciplinary infractions, etc.
Like so many works of this nature, this is a first and important step, laying out the history and raising questions, but only partially answering them. The author raises several themes that one wishes had been more deeply examined. For those more familiar with hospital history than military history (as is this reviewer), a little more explanation of military structure would clarify certain aspects of the history. The author also raises the question of discriminatory treatment of French Canadians in the military. Did this have any impact on these two units? Litalien also alludes to questions, but does not explore them fully. For example, Dr Mignault seems to have set up Hospital No. 8 partially in order to be able to take command of a unit. Was this a common practice? This was also the hospital that had more significant administrative and disciplinary problems. Was there a link between its origins and its problems? Litalien also alludes to the source of disciplinary problems as the under-utilization of the two hospitals by the French military. In wartime, why was this [End Page 840] happening? Was there conflict between the French forces and the hospitals? Was it a question of disorganization? More information on the day-to-day workings of the hospitals would also add interest to the work.
Finally, why were these hospitals forgotten? The answers provided are tentative; most likely is...