Canada's Military History 2.0

A Bed in the Mud: Canadian Soldiers and the Quiet Symbols of Trench Life, December 1917. .  Two Canadian soldiers are seen standing in a trench, inspecting the skeletal remains of a bed frame in December 1917. One soldier wears a jerkin — a sleeveless leather vest well-suited to the bitter cold of winter — and which bears two wound stripes on his sleeve, silent markers of past injuries. The scene is serene, almost domestic, yet framed by two dreaded items symbolic of the First World War: barbed wire and mud. We need to ask ourselves what exactly this moment tells us about the lived experience of war. Trench Warfare and the Persistence of Routine By late 1917, Canadian forces were entrenched in the brutal Passchendaele and Ypres Salient campaigns. The use of trenches had turned into semi-permanent dwellings, where soldiers created an environment using whatever furniture, storage, and sleeping arrangements they could salvage. A bed frame in this context was not a luxury — it’s a symb...

Leading Seaman Eric Kirtland, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (R.C.N.V.R.), displaying his tattoos, St. John’s, Newfoundland, 10 January 1943. #RoyalCanadianNavalVolunteerReserve https://amzn.to/3L0DdF2

Leading Seaman A.L. Teasdale (left) and Able Seaman Rex Vyner, both of the Torpedo School, H.M.C.S. Cornwallis, Halifax, Nova Scotia, January 26, 1943. #HMCSCornwallis https://amzn.to/45Hfctr

  Lance-Corporal Bill Weston (left in jeep) receives a message from despatch rider Sapper Arnot Walter, both men with the 6th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers (R.C.E.), France, 2 July 1944. #BattleforNormandy1944 https://amzn.to/4sIToI2

  The Canadian Corps Commander, General Arthur Currie, inspects Canadian soldiers. January 1918. #ArthurCurrie https://amzn.to/4dUwmFC

  Life in the trenches during a soldier's regular two weeks almost always left soldiers with little or no options for bathing. As we can see in this image, a number of Canadian soldiers availed themselves of a water-filled shell hole during a lull in the action to shave and to wash their faces and feet. Keeping one's feet clean and dry was an essential task to avoid contracting "trench foot," or rotting feet, caused by standing too long in water-logged boots and socks. While the exact unit and date remain unidentified, the scene aligns with known conditions in reserve or support areas near major battle zones such as the Somme, Vimy Ridge, or Passchendaele. (The grassy terrain and lack of trench infrastructure suggest this was taken in a rear area, possibly during a lull in operations or between offensives.) #WarInTheTrenches https://amzn.to/3JoGvB9

A Canadian pacifies a little Belgian baby near Mons, whose mother was killed by an enemy shell; the child was wounded in its Mother's arms. The Father is seen in the picture. November 1918. #Mons1918 https://amzn.to/47UMSW2