From the West Coast to the Western Front British Columbians and the Great War, Forsythe, Mark & Greg Dickson. Published by Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, BC, 2014. Signed by both authors to inside cover. Glossy illustrated card covers. 4to – over 9¾” – 12″ tall; 264pp. with black and white photographs and maps. In fine, unread condition.
Of the 611,000 Canadians who fought for King and Country, 55,570 were from British Columbia–the highest per capita rate of enlistment in the country. Of that contingent, 6,225 died in battle, a critical loss to a fledgling province of barely 400,000.
Compiling stories, artifacts and photos sent in by BC Almanac listeners from across the province, this volume tells of submarine smuggling, bagpipes lost on the battlefield and of the ongoing struggles by soldiers who made it home. It tells of battles that set records for mass death amid conditions of unequalled squalor, but also of the heroism of front-line nurses and soldiers like George Maclean, a First Nations man from the Okanagan, who won the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
