Fire fighters race towards danger even in times of peace. “First in, last out” is understood. The attitude, skills, and stamina of trained fire fighters are valuable in times of war. The view of fire fighters as everyday heroes is recognized daily in Ypres (Ieper) Belgium, a city devastated by […]
World War I
10 posts
“To represent powerful women on the field.” Ayesha Hossain, student at George Webster school, explains her prize-winning poster. Ayesha’s artwork honours all women who served in military conflicts—but particularly nursing sisters of the Great War—with a special nod to one who died on active service. The text to the right […]
Finding new things to say about “In Flanders Fields” is tricky. Most Canadians can recite a line or two. Many know the whole poem off by heart; maybe pausing to ponder did the poppies “blow” or “grow.” (The answer is “blow” in the first line; “grow” in the last verse.) […]
W. John Maize, a member of Parkdale CI Alumni Association, and former Head of History at the school, responded to our November 11, 2015 blog post Vimy Cross fragment brought home for a Parkdale boy. “I was fascinated to see the photo of the Jones family stone and to read […]
Back in March, we wrote about three “vanished” schools and invited contributions of photos or reminiscences. Thanks to two blog readers, we add a few details to the story of Grand Avenue School, in Humber Bay, Etobicoke. Kjell Nordenson attended Grand Avenue School in the 1960s. He didn’t have a […]
Mark a stone, but let me lie With my fellows who fought and died With me on Vimy Ridge Parkdale’s Roy Victor Jones was one of some 3,600 Canadians who died at Vimy Ridge. A wooden cross marked the spot where he fell on April 9, 1917. Roy’s parents had […]
…I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen When you joined the great fallen in 1916. Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean. —Eric Bogle “No Man’s Land (The Green Fields of France)” ©Larrikin Music Our first recorded memorial to an individual was that […]
When war broke out in 1914, Britain’s standing army of about 450,000 was dwarfed by the conscript-heavy armies organizing in Europe. Lord Kitchener, Britain’s new Secretary of State for War, wanted to avoid the political hot potato of conscription, but believed “the last million men” Britain could send into battle […]
More than 3,000 women volunteered for the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in the First World War. All had trained as nurses before the war; average age was 24. Nicknamed “blue birds,” because of their blue uniforms and white veils, they assisted with surgery and cared for convalescing soldiers. Though […]
(including For King and Country) For King and Country will be featured this March in the “Finding Your Great War Ancestors” Workshop presented by the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. This will be an excellent opportunity to update the community on our progress—3,600 names recently added to the […]