Dogs never carried a rifle in the First World War, but by the end of it they were among the most effective pieces of military equipment either side had. This episode follows two very different jobs dogs were trained to do: mercy dogs, sent out alone into no man's land to find the wounded and the dying, and messenger dogs, run through an obstacle course of barbed wire, rifle fire, and live artillery until nothing on a real battlefield could rattle them.

It never fired a bullet. It never exploded. It didn't even move. And yet barbed wire, a farm fence technology adapted for war, helped turn a few hundred metres of ground into a place that could cost thousands of lives. This episode walks the length of that wire, from Joseph Glidden's 1874 patent through the mud of Passchendaele to the tanks that finally crushed it at the Canal du Nord.

Passchendaele. Say it out loud and it already sounds like an ending. Ask most people what they know about it and you'll get the same handful of words back: mud, futility, generals who didn't know when to stop. And there's truth in that shorthand, but it undersells what the place actually was. This wasn't ordinary mud. Three years of shelling had pulverized the drainage system of that stretch of Flanders into nothing, and then the rain came and never really stopped, so the battlefield itself turned into something closer to a swamp built entirely out of shell craters, each one deep enough to drown a man in, and plenty of them did exactly that.

18 pounders at 3rd Ypres, 1917 1917 Canadian Field Artillery using captured German 47 inch Howitzer Artillery caused roughly six in ten battlefield casualties in the First World War, more than the machine gun, the flamethrower, and the tank combined. That figure comes from the British Army's own medical and statistical history, published in 1931. It is the weapon that did the most killing in this war, and the one modern audiences can least often name.

The Great War ended on the eleventh of November, 1918. Canada was still fighting in Russia the following June. Between October 1918 and June 1919, this country deployed almost five thousand soldiers into a nation it was not at war with, to fight an enemy it had never declared war on, for reasons its own Cabinet could not agree on and its own military command had warned against in writing before a single ship sailed.

The Last Mission of Flying Officer Harry V. Smith On the 29th of May, 1945, twelve days after his 21st birthday, Flying Officer Harry Vincent Smith of Winnipeg lifted a stripped-down B-24 Liberator off a runway in Bengal for the 25th and final mission of his tour. He was carrying four American OSS agents into occupied Siam. He never reached the drop zone.

Maxim Machine Gun Lewis Gun Vickers Machine Gun In 1882, in Vienna, an American inventor named Hiram Maxim was told by a friend that if he wanted to make real money, he should invent something to help Europeans "cut each other's throats with greater facility." Two years later, he had built the world's first fully automatic machine gun. By August 1914, every major army in Europe had some version of Maxim's design.

110th Anniversary Edition — July 1, 2026 On the morning of July 1st, 1916, more than 57,000 British and Dominion soldiers became casualties along the Somme front; the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army. At a village called Beaumont-Hamel, the First Battalion of the Newfoundland Regiment was sent forward into open ground with the wire still standing and the machine guns already aimed.

This isn't just a pistol. It's the sidearm Brigadier-General William Griesbach carried through the First World War, and it's sitting right here at the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum. Some artifacts just stop you cold. 🎖️ Visit the Museum located within the Prince of Wales Armouries in Edmonton today! #MemoryAndValour #FirstWorldWar #LoyalEdmontonRegiment #CanadianHistory #Griesbach #MilitaryHistory #WWI #LERM

What's under one of north Edmonton's most sought-after neighbourhoods? A forgotten Edmonton Mayor. a general, an elite parachute regiment, and a Cree Olympian who died at Passchendaele.

Before dawn on 15 September 1916, on the churned ground outside a Picardy village called Courcelette, something crawled out of the fog that no soldier on earth had ever seen before. A German infantryman, by one account, fled his trench screaming that a crocodile was coming. It was a tank. And the village it helped take that day was the same ground where, twenty-four hours later, Private Chip Kerr of Edmonton's 49th Battalion won the Victoria Cross.

Zero Hour: Courage, Sacrifice and the Canadian Corps in WWI is a sweeping, deeply researched chronicle of Canada’s military journey through the First World War; from the muddy trenches of Ypres to the final, symbolic liberation of Mons. In this definitive account, Samantha L.G. McCrea traces the evolution of the Canadian Corps from a fledgling force of volunteers to one of the most feared and effective fighting units on the Western Front.

As the memory of the First World War fades from living history, this compelling nonfiction work revives its legacy through four powerful narratives. Focusing on the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Samantha L.G. McCrea explores the overlooked contributions of Indigenous soldiers, the chilling reality of gas warfare, the fragile peace of the Christmas Truce, and the brutal final push through the Hindenburg Line.

In Flanders' Shadow pulls back the veil on the lived experience of Canadian soldiers during the brutal campaigns of 1916, particularly near Regina Trench and Courcelette. Far from the sanitized myths of glory, this book immerses readers in the mud-soaked realities of trench life, where illness, vermin, and relentless weather shaped every moment. Drawing from authentic letters, veteran testimonies, and brilliant medical innovations in the battlefields, McCrea explores the language, humour, superstitions, and psychological toll that defined the front lines.

This powerful and unflinching book traces the enduring psychological scars of war, from the trenches of World War I to the modern deployments of Canadian Armed Forces personnel. The War That Stayed explores the evolution of trauma through the lens of shellshock, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the haunting legacy of those “shot at dawn”; soldiers executed for cowardice, many now understood to have suffered from invisible wounds.

Ancestors Sitting Between Us is a haunting meditation on war, memory, and the invisible threads that bind generations. Centered on the brutal Battle of Hill 70 in World War I, this book explores how trauma reverberates through time; not just in history books, but in bodies, dreams, and DNA. Through lyrical prose and rigorous research, Samantha unearths the legacy of her great-grandfather’s wartime experience and the silent burdens carried by his descendants.

Once a Patricia, Always a Patricia: The Origins and a Brief History of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry tells the remarkable story of one of Canada’s most iconic regiments. Founded in 1914 as the last privately raised regiment in the Commonwealth, the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) has been at the forefront of Canadian military history for more than a century.

How Edmonton's Pte. Chip Kerr won the Victoria Cross at Courcelette in 1916 - climbing from his trench to take 62 prisoners. Tactics, history, and the 49th Battalion.

In August 1914, Canada went to war without an air force. Not a small one. Not a token one. None. The country that had pioneered powered flight in the British Empire sent its young men overseas to fly other people's airplanes, in other people's uniforms, for other people's wars. What happened next is one of the most extraordinary and least-told stories in Canadian military history.

On July 30th, 1915, at a ruined château in Belgium called Hooge, the German Army deployed a weapon that had never been seen on the Western Front. Within minutes, a British battalion broke. Not from shells or gas; from fire. In Episode 27, we trace the full arc of the flamethrower in the First World War: from its terrifying debut at Hooge, through the doctrinal revolution that transformed it from a shock weapon into a precision tool of combined arms warfare, to its central role in the chaos of Passchendaele and the hammer blow of the German Spring Offensive in 1918.

I’m excited to announce that all 7 of my books are now available through the official Memory and Valour bookstore! Check out my bookstore at www.payhip.com/memoryandvalour Years of research, storytelling, and remembrance are now gathered in one place; covering the First World War, Canadian history, and the extraordinary people whose stories deserve to be remembered. This is a huge milestone for me, and I can’t wait to share these works with even more readers. Keep history alive, because where memory endures valour lives on. -Samantha L.G. McCrea MemoryAndValour #CanadianHistory #WW1 #MilitaryHistory #HistoryAuthor #MemoryandValour

In the First World War, the Canadian Army Medical Corps stood between life and death, pulling wounded men from the battlefield and fighting to keep them alive against impossible odds. But behind that story lies a lesser-known truth. Drawing on the work of Dr. Tim Cook, this episode explores the hidden side of Canada’s medical war, where the dead were sometimes used in the name of science, training, and survival.

The Casavant pipe organ seen at the Convocation Hall at the University of Alberta in this undated photo. It was built in 1978 to replace one built in 1925 to honour students and faculty members who lost their lives in the First World War. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Marnie Giesbrecht (Mandatory Credit) Memory and Valour is raising urgent concerns about the University of Alberta’s plan to remove the historic Casavant pipe organ from Convocation Hall; an instrument that stands as the successor to the original 1925 war memorial organ dedicated to 80 members of the university community who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

They joked about dying. Not because it was funny, but because it was the only way to survive it. In the trenches of the First World War, soldiers turned fear into sarcasm and horror into humour. Shellfire became “just a bit of a strafe.” Terror was softened into “the wind up.” And sometimes, a wound meant a darkly joked-about…

April 9th, 1917. Dawn breaks over Vimy Ridge, and with it, a nation steps forward. For the first time, all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fight together.What follows becomes legend; built on precision, planning, and unshakable courage. This is the moment Canada came of age. 🎧 Listen now to my latest episode and experience Vimy like never before. 👉 Follow Memory and Valour because where memory endures, valour lives on. #VimyRidge #April9 #WW1History #CanadianHistory #MemoryAndValour

1915 is the year the war stopped being an 'adventure'. What began as a war of movement and expectation hardened into something far more brutal: static trench lines, failed offensives, and a battlefield dominated by machines rather than men. In this episode of Memory and Valour, we step into that turning point. From the costly assaults at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and Battle of Festubert… to the devastating lessons of the Battle of Loos, we trace how Allied strategy struggled, and often failed to keep pace with a rapidly evolving war.

When the First World War erupted in 1914, Canada answered the call without hesitation. But among those who stepped forward were men who, under Canadian law, were not even recognized as citizens. In this episode of Memory and Valour, we uncover the powerful and often overlooked story of Indigenous men who volunteered to serve in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

They were called the Barnbow Lasses: young women and girls working long hours in a munitions factory, helping to sustain the war effort far from the front lines. On the night of December 5, 1916, that work turned deadly. An explosion ripped through the Barnbow Munitions Factory near Leeds, killing 35 women and injuring many more. In the aftermath, the story was quickly contained; officially framed, quietly mourned, and rarely questioned.

During the First World War, Canadian POWs faced starvation, forced labour, and brutal marches in German camps, while thousands of civilians in Canada — many Ukrainian and German immigrants — were imprisoned as “enemy aliens.” Through diaries, letters, and rare firsthand accounts, this episode uncovers the parallel worlds of captivity that shaped Canada’s WWI story. “We were not soldiers, yet we lived behind barbed wire.”

The Battle of Mount Sorrel was supposed to be a quiet sector. Instead, on 2 June 1916, the Canadian Corps was hit by one of the most devastating surprise bombardments of the war. Mines erupted beneath their feet, trenches vanished in seconds, and entire units were nearly wiped out as German forces surged across the shattered ridge. This episode digs into the brutal reality of the fighting around Mount Sorrel, Tor Top (Hill 62), and Sanctuary Wood — the last high ground overlooking Ypres.

In 1917, Canada stood at a crossroads. On the Western Front, the Canadian Corps had emerged from Vimy Ridge with a growing international reputation. By autumn, they were grinding forward through the mud and fire of Passchendaele. Casualties were staggering. Reinforcements were running thin. At home, voluntary enlistment had slowed to a trickle. Prime Minister Robert Borden faced a stark reality: if Canada was to sustain its role in the First World War, it would require compulsory service.

By 1918, the Canadian Corps had earned a name across the Western Front: shock troops. They were sent where the ground was worst. Where the wire was thickest. Where the objective mattered most. British command relied on them. German reports warned about them. After Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Amiens, and the Hundred Days, a reputation took hold: that Canadians were ruthless.

**content warning: this podcast episode deals with difficult subjects: War trauma, shell shock and veteran suicide. Listener discretion is advised. Shell Shock in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (WWI)In this episode of Memory and Valour, we explore shell shock within the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War — long before the condition was understood as PTSD. As trench warfare intensified across France and Belgium, thousands of Canadian soldiers experienced tremors, paralysis, nightmares, memory loss, and emotional collapse.

In a war defined by trenches, machine guns, and industrial slaughter, Canada sent horsemen into the storm. This episode follows the Canadian Cavalry Brigade from the mud of the Western Front to the desperate charge at Moreuil Wood; an action often remembered as one of the last great cavalry charges in history. It’s a story of soldiers caught between eras, fighting a modern war with the tools of an older one, and proving that courage and adaptability could still shape the battlefield. Step into the saddle and ride through the final days of cavalry warfare in the Great War.

The 107th Battalion — known as The Timberwolves — was one of the most remarkable and overlooked units in Canada’s First World War history. Made up largely of First Nations soldiers, these men brought extraordinary skill, resilience, and cultural strength to a war that demanded everything from them… and then asked for more.

Trinity Church was built in 1841 to serve the Anglican community of Christieville, later Iberville, and stands today as one of the clearest reminders of the English-speaking Protestant families who helped shape the Richelieu Valley in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Alongside the church, the cemetery became the final resting place for generations of parishioners whose lives were bound to the church through worship, work, and family.

The 107th ‘Timber Wolf’ Battalion was founded by Lieutenant-Colonel Glenlyon Campbell, but its story also belongs to Indigenous men who volunteered to fight for a country that denied them equal rights. They served without the vote.They returned to fewer rights than they left with.Yet they volunteered anyway. This story is the next episode of Memory and Valour. Stay tuned! Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music, and help keep their service remembered. #memoryandvalour #ww1history #canadianhistory #lestweforget #WW1

When the air turned poisonous the Canadians didn’t retreat; they stood and fought.This episode dives into the first poison-gas attack at Ypres and the brutal legacy it left behind. From the s…

When the air turned poisonous the Canadians didn't retreat; they stood and fought.This episode dives into the first poison-gas attack at Ypres and the brutal legacy it left behind. From the shock of the areen cloud to the lifelonc scars of gas exposure, we follow the Canadians who faced a weapon the world had sworn never to use. A viscera…

“They didn’t die in a blaze of glory. They drowned—on dry land.” This episode of Memory and Valour exposes the gas attacks of the First World War: chlorine, phosgene, mustard gas, and what it did to the men who had no masks, no warning, and no escape. Stream and follow on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and iHeart Radio! #WW1 #GasWarfare #MemoryAndValour #ForgottenHistory ##lestweforget

Beaumont‑Hamel marked one of the darkest moments in Newfoundland’s history. On the morning of July 1, 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment advanced across open ground during the first day of the Battle of the Somme—straight into unbroken German fire. Within minutes, the unit was devastated, suffering catastrophic losses that echoed across every community back home. Beaumont‑Hamel became a symbol of extraordinary courage, profound sacrifice, and a tragedy that shaped Newfoundland’s identity for generations.

As we wrap up the year, I want to take a moment to say how deeply grateful I am for your support. Whether you’ve tuned in to the podcast, picked up one of my books, shared my work with a friend, or simply cheered from the sidelines, you’ve made this journey meaningful. Thank you for showing up, for listening, for reading, and for believing in what I create. Your encouragement fuels everything I do. Wishing each of you an incredible 2026 filled with joy, momentum, and moments that surprise you in the best ways. I’m excited for what’s ahead, and I’m so glad we get to step into it together.

'Once A Patricia, Always A Patricia': The origins & a brief history of the PPCLI Once a Patricia, Always a Patricia explores the legacy, sacrifice, and unbreakable spirit of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry; from its birth in the mud of Flanders to its defining stand on a Korean hillside nearly four decades later. In this episode, we trace the Regiment’s identity back to its earliest days, when French‑ and English‑speaking Canadians fought side by side in the trenches of the First World War, forging a unity the young nation had not yet achieved.

New podcast episode available now on Spotify, Apple and Amazon. The Christmas Truce of 1914 On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1914, something extraordinary happened along the Western Front. After months of brutal trench warfare, soldiers from Britain, Germany, and France stepped out of their trenches and into No Man’s Land to share a brief, unofficial ceasefire. What began with carols drifting across the frozen air soon grew into handshakes, conversations, and the exchange of small gifts.

In this episode of Memory and Valour, we descend into the world of the trenches: a place where young men learned to live with mud at their feet, fear in their lungs, and the constant rumble of artillery overhead. This is the story of the Western Front not as a line on a map, but as a lived reality: the cold mornings at stand‑to, the long nights of labour, the hunger, the exhaustion, and the small moments of humanity that helped men endure the unendurable.

How was a trench built? Why? What was it like to live in a trench month after month? My upcoming episode on my podcast Memory and Valour takes a look at these aspects of trench life in WW1. Some things will surprise you.

What exactly does Memory and Valour do, and what's a Legacy Book anyway??!It's my jam, and I'd love to collaborate with you! www.memoryandvalour.ca #memoryandvalour #personalhistorian #lestweforget #booktok #booksky

As the years pass, I find myself comparing Sir Arthur Currie to Sir Winston Churchill. Not in all ways, but militarily and definitely intellectually. They had tough decisions to make and both had some pretty awful opinions. Churchill loved his drink and loathed anyone who wasn't "white". But, he was brilliant, as was Currie, and both men's intellectual gift for strategic planning in battle did much to contribute to Allied victory in both world wars.