"The story of the individual always grips us - it is why biography remains so popular. But in Medicine and Duty we receive a double serving: the story of Medical Officer Captain Harold W. McGill coupled with the story of the many men who served in the 31st Battalion and what they together managed to achieve against such long odds." - Patrick Brennan, Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary
Medicine and Duty is the World War I memoir of Harold McGill, a medical officer in the 31st (Alberta) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. McGill attempted to have his memoir published by Macmillan of Canada in 1935, but, unfortunately, due to financial constraints, the company was not able to complete the publication. Decades later, editor Marjorie Norris came upon a draft of the manuscript in the Glenbow Archives and took it upon herself to resurrect McGill's story.
Norris's painstaking archival research and careful editing skills have brought back to light a gripping first-hand account of the 31st Battalion and, on a larger scale, of Canada's participation in World War I. A wealth of additional information, including extensive notes and excerpts from letters written "from the trenches," lends a new sense of immediacy and realism to the original memoir and provides a fascinating, harrowing glimpse into the day-to-day life of Canadian soldiers during the Great War.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 940.4/8171
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 22
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9781552381939 9781552384008
- LCCN
- D630.M35
- LCCN Item number
- A3 2007eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xx, 379 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)thg00604381 (OCoLC)244766838 (CaOOCEL)422049
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Cover 1
- Photo 3
- Title Page 4
- Bibliographic Information 5
- TABLE OF CONTENTS 6
- Foreword 8
- Acknowledgments 12
- Editor’s Introduction 14
- Maps 22
- I The Threat of War 28
- II The Outbreak of War 32
- III Mobilization 40
- IV Life in Barracks 52
- V The Move to England 68
- VI Training in England 84
- VII The Move to France 98
- VIII Baptism of Fire 110
- IX Our Enemy the Mud 134
- X The Dawn of a New Year 154
- XI The Battle of St. Eloi 174
- XII The Coming of General Byng 194
- XIII The Battle of Sanctuary Wood 200
- XIV The Summer in Belgium 210
- XV The Journey to the Somme 220
- XVI The Battle of the Somme 228
- XVII The Battle of the Somme (cont’d.) 244
- XVIII After the Battle 256
- XIX The Souchez Sector 264
- XX Out of the Line 274
- XXI The Storming of Vimy Ridge 286
- XXII Beyond the Ridge 302
- XXIII Summer Holidays 320
- XXIV The Lens Sector 334
- Epilogue 354
- Appendix: 31st Battalion Casualties to November 11, 1918 372
- Index 394
- Legacies Shared Series 406
- Back Cover 410
