My Grandfather’s War: Canadians remember the First World War 1914–1918 ed. by William B. Mathieson (review)

234 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW seems tohavetakenon primeimportance in GraceMorrisCraig's memories. Althoughherbookstarts outwithabriefchapter of annotated entries fromher ownpre-wardiary,by page24 theemphasis hasshiftedto the experiences of youngmaleacquaintances, relatedlargelythroughthecomplete quotation of tenderlyhoardedlettersfrom twobrothersand a fianc•.Two of theseyoung mendie- theyoungerbrothershotdownoverFrance,thefianc•deadbylate •92oof complications dueto trenchfever.The epitaphCraigraises overthem seems almostmelodramatic to a generation thatshops on Remembrance Day. In seeking apurposetoherownlifeshedecides that'Perhaps for meit isthatI mustlivetoseethatthenamesofthemenwhogavetheirlivesfor thisbeautiful countryshouldnotbeforgotten'045). Craigisstillaliveand,according tothe fly-leaf,haslivedaninteresting life.Unfortunately, shehaschosen tostick by herresolve andappears inthisbookonlyaspartnertosoldiers atteadances in Pembroke andserverofcocoa atPetawawa. Shefailseventocapitalize onwhat surelywasauniqueandadventurous undertaking,awartimetrip toLondonto see a brother on leave. Lestwe forget,Craigwasnot alonein comingthroughthat warburdened wthsurvivor's guilt.The grieving womanisacommon character in warfiction. RecentCanadianliteratureyieldstwosuch characters inTimothyFindley's The Wars.The fateof RobertRosspushes hismotherfurther into alcoholism and makes it impossible for apromising childwholovedhimtogetthroughalong life withoutginandanorexia.Admittedly, thesearefictionalcharacters but a factualcounterpartexists in VeraBrittain'sportrayalof herselfin theclassic Britishmemoir,Testament ofYouth. Like Craig,Brittain is deeplyconcerned abouttheyoungmenof her acquaintance. Shealsouses personal lettersgenerously ,indeedover-generously. But whereasBrittainrepaysthe reader'shomageto her deadby providingvastand fascinating detailregardingher own activities asstudent, nurse,solicitous daughter, andmaturingpoliticalactivist, Craigrevealsalmostnothingof her ownexperience. This wouldbejustified werethelettersonwhichshereliesremarkable foreitherstyleorcontent. They areneither.If it istrue, asshesays, thattheysufferedduetotheconstraints of censorship, onecanonlyaskwhatistobegainedthenbythepublication of any lettersfrom the trenches? Severely edited,theycouldbeusedto illustratea commentary onthe Canadianwarexperience. Astheyappearin thisvolume, theyoffer toolittletothediligentreader. JANICE DICKINMCGINNIS Calgary MyGrandfather's War:Canadians remember the FirstWorld War1914-1918. Editedby WILLIAM B.MA•rI-IIESON. Toronto,Macmillan,x981.Pp.33o,illus.$19.95. There ismoretocompilinga bookof documents for the generalreaderthan merelycollecting thematerialandputtingit in some order.An editorshould REVIEWS 235 prepareanintroductionexplainingthecircumstances whichcausedthe materialtobecreatedin thefirstplace andwhyit should nowbepublished. There shouldbe somecontinuitylinking the documents with the themeand notes shouldbe supplied,wherenecessary, to clarifystatements madein the documents . Mr Mathiesonhasfailed to perform theseeditorialduties.He may have explainedhispurposein the preface.He mentionsfour books writtenabout the war,'but I couldfind little on a personallevelby the participants themselves .' He shouldlookagain.The publishing of lettersandmemoirs hasbeena thrivingindustrysince thewarwasonlyafewmonthsold. The standard'Causes of the FirstWorld War,'astaughtto schoolchildren throughtheyears,constitutes theintroduction,witha shortparagraphadded abouttheformationanddispatch overseas of Canada's FirstContingent.Had he usedeither the prefaceor the introductionto explain the selection and arrangementof the material,Mr Mathiesonmight haveseenthat somereorganization wasnecessary. Asit stands, thereaderiseasilyconfused. The first chapter,for example,appearstobeaccounts of menwhoenlistedin the First Contingent but,beforetoomanypages havepassed, wefindstories ofmenwho joined unitsnot authorizeduntil the springandearlysummerof •9•5. One mightforgiveMr Mathieson's useof suchliterarylicencebut it becomes a bit muchwhenwearetold(page39)that'ordersfinallycamethroughof amoveto France,'presumably by the FirstContingent,and thisstatement is followed immediately bythestoryof asoldiergoingtoFrance asareinforcement tothe •o7th battalion,a unit not authorizeduntil December•9•5 and not in France until 25February•9•7. Mr Mathieson's failuretoinsertexplanatory notes is,perhaps, amoreserious fault.He hasnot,forexample,attemptedtosortoutfactfromrumour.A letter writteninOctober•9•4 (32)tellsof thearrestof threespies, twoof whomwere 'shotagainst thewall.'Thiswillbenewstohistorians. The materialselected by Mr Mathiesonis largelycomposed of his correspondence withveterans, contemporary letters,newspaper andmagazine articles ,aswellas'oralhistory,' including several interviews conducted bythecBc for its splendidradio program'In FlandersFields.'Given the ammountof originalmaterialavailable in libraries,museums, andarchives, it issurprising thatMr Mathiesonhasusedsomanyinterviews conducted byGordonReidand usedin hisbookPoorBloody Murder,published onlyin •98o. In spiteof hisfailingsasaneditor,Mr Mathiesonhasproducedaninterestingcollecton andmanyof theletters appearing in printfor thefirsttimewell deserve afarwiderreadership thantheirauthors intended. The manyfacets of the war have anendless fascination and itisaplbasure tohave yet another book onthesubject. It certainlywillnotbethelast. BARBARA M. W•I•SO•Public Archives ofCanada ...