Notes

Bearing his medical discharge from the fledgling American ExpeditionaryForce after only four months as a trainee in the 1st MassachusettsAmbulance Corps, the author became one of thousands of American youthswho sought adventure and validation by traveling North to offer theirwartime services as members of the C.E.F. His account, finished in1927, chronicles his brief U.S. Army experience, and more extensively,the next 20 months--from the signing of his Attestation papers inSeptember, 1917 in Fredericton, N.B., to his release from active duty atSt John, in May, 1919--as a Canadian soldier. Beginning with basicdrill and an introduction to light artillery in Canada, he moved on tomore intensive training in England, to become a charter member of anentirely new unit--the 12th (6-inch howitzer) Battery, 3rd Brigade, CGA. Not just a record of combat in France, the story encompasses atotality of military life as it impacted the author and his closecompanions. He faithfully records battlefield and bivouacexperiences, anecdotes of both legal and unsanctioned absences infive countries, the formation (and shattering) of close friendships,of the strange realization of his having been wounded, and gassed,and his consequent hospitalization and recovery. Following anunauthorized reunification with his Battery mates in Belgium, hedescribes the boredom of post war occupation, demobilization viaKinmel Park in Wales, his return to Canada, and finally, the longand eagerly anticipated, yet strangely abrupt and poignant emptinessthat attended his return to civilian life. The author's highlypersonal and well documented narrative is enhanced by the inclusionof letters written home, numerous scans of photographs andmemorabilia that survived his epoch journey as well as a number oforiginal pen and ink drawings that complement his writing.