With all the media coverage of the war in Iraq, we all get a fairly good idea of what our troops go through on a daily basis.
The movies about World War II are where most of our generation learned about that war.
How much do any of us know about World War I, The Great War?
I really knew very little about this war until I started going through The Review. Today I want to share with you some articles that really opened my eyes about that war.

May 3, 1917
“At the outbreak of the war 449,184 Canadians resident in the Dominion had already joined the Allied forces, and two and a half years later, and under the voluntary system men are still coming forward at the rate of over 85,000 per year.
“The most recent table of Canadian casualties to March 25 showed:
Killed in action.........12,265
Died of wounds…......4,370
Died of sickness…….....681
Presumed dead……....1,144
Wounded …………..52,095
Missing……………...2,630
Prisoners of war…......2,373
Total……………......77,558
“Canada has enlisted six and one-quarter per cent of her total population, and Canadians have no reason to feel ashamed of their part in this great struggle.”
In the 1918 papers I found something that was closer to home.
I found a letter that some kind mother had sent in to the paper. This letter really gives us insight into the daily life of the 1918 army man.

September 26, 1918
“Letter From One Of Our Wounded Boys
“This is part of a letter received from Pte. E. H. Mills, sent from convalescent hospital, England.
“I am improving slowly all the time. My jaw is getting along fine. I have had four operations in three months so that is not so bad; three for my jaw and one for appendicitis, but I think this one is the last, at least I hope so.
“I suppose you have heard that Albert is back in England from Germany. And that we have spent a couple of days together. He looks pretty good, considering the way he was used to in Germany.
“He told me that the boys were used very badly. He said that his breakfast was a bowl of coffee, but their coffee was not what we have been used to, he said it tasted like hot water spoiled, and then at 10 o’clock they fetched around a bread ration, a loaf of bread about four or five inches square, and it was as black as your boot.
“This had to be divided between nine men and hold them until 10 o’clock the next day.
“Then their dinner was what they called “very good”. It was a little soup but Albert said that it tasted like dishwater, with that they had another kind of thick soup made up of grass, turnip tops, mangle tops, and a few potatoes, all ground and cooked together. That’s all they got for one day.
“Albert said that if it was not for the Red Cross Society sending them parcels, they would have starved to death.”

It sounds horrible, and thankfully the conditions are much better for our troops now.
November 11 is the day set aside to honour and thank our troops, past and present. Let’s do this from our hearts and Never Forget.

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