New book on a Canadian nursing sister and parliamentarian

Debbie Marshall, an Alberta writer and editor, has published a new book, Give Your Other Vote to the Sister: A Woman’s Journey into the Great War, through the University of Calgary Press. This biography covers the amazing story of Roberta MacAdams, the first woman elected to the Alberta legislature. As the University of Calgary Press release puts it:

In fact, she was one of the first two women elected to a legislature anywhere in the British empire. Her triumph was extraordinary for many reasons. Not only did she run while serving as a nursing sister overseas during the Great War, but over 90 per cent of her electors were men – Alberta soldiers stationed in England and in the muddy trenches of the Western Front. Give Your Other Vote to the Sister describes MacAdams’ journey overseas, her work at a large military hospital in London, and the personal sacrifices she endured during the war. It also chronicles Debbie Marshall’s own journey to reclaim MacAdams' life, one that took her across Canada and to the places where MacAdams lived and worked in England and France. It was a search that would change her own perceptions about how and why so may women willingly participated in the world’s first “great war.”

A sad moment for Canada's military history

Today's edition of The Globe and Mail ran an obituary with implications for Canadian military history. George Gideon Blackburn, "soldier and author", died on 15 November 2006 in Ottawa of complications due to cancer at the age of eighty-nine. Although not a military historian in the strictest sense, George Blackburn's memoirs of his service with The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery - The Guns of Normandy, The Guns of Victory, and Where the Hell are the Guns? - surely rank amongst the best memoirs of Canadian military history published in the last few decades. The obituary was written by Buzz Bourdon and does justice to the memory of this man and his place in Canada's military heritage. My thanks to Mark at The Torch for posting this story, bringing it to my attention in the process.

The 7th Book of Remembrance

One year ago about this time I was getting increasingly excited to see a project I was part of - and still am - come to fruition. On Remembrance Day 2005, In the Service of Canada, the 7th Book of Remembrance was unveiled during a ceremony held in the Hall of Honour on Parliament Hill. As Veterans Affairs Canada - the department responsible for the project - noted, the book "was created to honour the valiant men and women in the Canadian Forces who gave their lives in service to Canada since October 1947, with the exception of those commemorated in the Korean Book of Remembrance." Background on the project can still be found on the Legion Magazine website in a very thorough article by Natalie Salat titled "Bound by Remembrance".

The 7th Book of Remembrance is similar to the six that preceded it, but different in one major respect. It's open ended. It's meant to be, as Veterans Affairs put it, "a living document". When launched there were about 1,300 names in the book, dozens more have been added since, and more will continue to be inscribed in its pages. Some of these are names of military personnel who died in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s who have been accepted for the book after further historical research or submissions from the public. Some of the names are more recent, and reflect deaths from combat, peace support, or domestic service.

I have been honoured to play a small part in this project and expect to be part of it well into the future. During the production phase I worked as part of the inter-governmental team led by Veterans Affairs to design the style and content structure of the book. My role, based on some of my duties at the Directorate of History and Heritage, revolved around historical information but, primarily, on my ability to research (and verify) ranks (they've changed a lot from 1947 to present), post-nominals abbreviations, and unit and formation titles. It doesn't sound like much, perhaps, but historical accuracy (to an historian at least) is my small way of paying respect to these men and women by trying to get it as right as possible.

As a result, I reviewed the information for each name originally going into the book, conducted further historical research, made corrections, and drafted recommended entries for the book. Often, this was, well, just plain sad. After all, each of these people shared a common fact - they died while serving their country. Honourable, yes. Worthy of remembrance, absolutely. Still sad, nonetheless. Sometimes, it was even harder for me. During my review of the bulk of the names in the spring and summer of 2004 there were several names I was investigating whose documents would note next of kin as a wife (now a widow), several months pregnant. That was heartbreaking as it was, but I found it more difficult at that time as my own wife was due to give birth in the summer of 2004. I couldn't imagine leaving them without a husband and father. Neither, I expect, would have the deceased husband and father whose case I was researching.

I continue to work on the 7th Book of Remembrance, doing historical research and recommending individual entries for Veterans Affairs. Although now it is only sporadic in terms of my work time and effort, it is still close to my heart and, I feel, of great importance. In the week before the book was unveiled last year, Veterans Affairs held a dinner thanking all those who had worked on its production. The 7th Book of Remembrance was there, open so we could look at it. The feeling was beyond description. I have not yet gone to see it since it's been installed in the Memorial Chamber on Parliament Hill. The truth is I'm waiting, waiting until my daughter is old enough to have some understanding of what it means (she's two), some understanding of why her daddy is standing there with tears in his eyes.

News from John Clearwater

Dr. John Clearwater, noted historian of Canada's nuclear (in particular, military nuclear) history, has sent me a message with respect to an upcoming project of his. His latest book will be published next spring by Hancock House Publishers in British Columbia under the title Broken Arrow #1. In John's own words, the book will be "an easily accessible review, with lots of photographs, of the worlds first lost atomic bomb accident. Using declassified documents; never-before seen photographs; and original testimony, the book shows what happened to the Mk4 atomic bomb lost over the coast of British Columbia in February 1950. Also included are transcripts of the search and rescue operations and the 2003 expedition to recover artifacts."

News from John MacFarlane

John MacFarlane, an official historian with the Directorate of History and Heritage, Department of National Defence, has sent me a message with some information on his latest doings. His primary work project is a joint project with Charles Rheaume, another DHH official historian, on the Canadian military involvement in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from 1954 to 1973. John's work also includes assisting with the administration of the Canadian Forces Artist Program, the current official war art program. In his spare time John is working on a book-length biography of Paul Triquet, VC.