Synopsis
Between 15,000 and 20,000 underage youths, some as young as ten, signed up to fight in Canada's armed forces in the First World War. They served in the trenches alongside their elders, and fought in all the major battles: Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele, Vimy Ridge, and the rest. Many were injured or suffered psychological wounds. Many died. This is the first book to tell their story.
Some boys joined up to escape unhappy homes and workplaces. Others went with their parents' blessing, carrying letters from fathers and mothers asking the recruiters to take their eager sons. The romantic notion of a short, victorious campaign was wiped out the second these boys arrived on the Western Front. The authors, who narrate the fighting with both military professionalism and humanity, portray many boys who, in the heat of battle, made a seamless transition from follower to leader to hero.
Authors Dan Black and John Boileau combed the archives and collections to bring these stories to life. Passages from letters the boy soldiers wrote home reveal the range of emotions and experiences they underwent, from the humorous to the unspeakably horrible. Their parents' letters touch us with their concern, love, uncertainty, and often, grief. Meticulously researched and abundantly illustrated with photographs, paintings, and a collection of specially commissioned maps, Old Enough to Fight is Canadian military and social history at its most fascinating.
Table of Contents
List of Maps
Canadian Corps Infantry Divisions, Brigades, & Battalions
The Boy Soldiers
Preface
Foreword by Senator Romeo Dallaire
Introduction
THE BOY SOLDIER TRADITION
Chapter 1
"Take a walk around the block."
RECRUITING BOY SOLDIERS, 1914-1918
Chapter 2
". . . about a third of the boys had been to France and they were glad to be back."
OVERSEAS, BUT UNDERAGE, 1914-1918
Chapter 3
"Goodbye Mother, Forgive Me."
SECOND YPRES, APRIL 1915
Chapter 4
"The hard work agreed with him. And since he has been in France he has grown three inches."
NEUVE CHAPELLE, FESTUBERT, GIVENCHY, AND PLOEGSTEERT, MAY-DECEMBER 1915
Chapter 5
"I ducked and tried to get my head in a hole that a peanut would not fit in."
ST. ELOI AND MOUNT SORREL, DECEMBER 1915-JUNE 1916
Chapter 6
"Dead men can advance no further."
THE NEWFOUNDLAND REGIMENT AT GALLIPOLI AND THE SOMME, AUGUST 1914-OCTOBER 1916
Chapter 7
"You won't be able to get me back because buglers are needed for the gas attacks!"
CANADIANS ON THE SOMME, AUGUST-NOVEMBER 1916
Chapter 8
"I am only a mere boy, but I thought I was a man..."
WINTER IN THE TRENCHES, NOVEMBER 1916-MARCH 1917
Chapter 9
"I was just a young boy. But we knew what we had to do so we just went ahead and did it."
PREPARING FOR VIMY, JANUARY-MARCH 1917
Chapter 10
"It will be one of the biggest things in Canadian history."
VIMY RIDGE, APRIL 1917
Chapter 11
"He seems to want to go . . . his mother and I will be willing to let him."
THE NEWFOUNDLAND REGIMENT, OCTOBER 1916-OCTOBER 1917
Chapter 12
"Well, they might have at least given you a new uniform."
ARLEUX AND HILL 70, APRIL-AUGUST 1917
Chapter 13
"I saw a man stuck in the mud up to his waist and there was nothing we could do for him."
PASSCHENDAELE, OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1917
Chapter 14
"We are anxious to know whether he is living or not."
CAMBRAI, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1917 AND GERMAN OFFENSIVES, MARCH-APRIL 1918
Chapter 15
"It was a hush-hush performance."
AMIENS AND DROCOURT-QUÉANT LINE, AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1918
Chapter 16
"My advice to you is, go back home and wait until you grow up!"
HINDENBURG LINE, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1918
Chapter 17
"This is the youngest VC in my army."
THE ROYAL NEWFOUNDLAND REGIMENT, APRIL-NOVEMBER 1918
Chapter 18
"There was some jumping around and things like that . . . but I was kind of fed up, glad it was over."
THE END OF THE WAR, NOVEMBER 1918-JUNE 1919
Chapter 19
"What is this, a nursery? This kid can't be more than fifteen. I won't put up with this."
CANADA'S FIRST SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN
Epilogue
"The medal no mother wants."
THE MEMORIAL CROSS
Endnotes
Bibliography
Image credits
Index
About the Authors
DAN BLACK has written and edited hundreds of articles on Canada's military, past and present. He is the former editor of Legion Magazine and the co-author of Old Enough to Fight: Canada's Boy Soldiers in the First World War and Too Young To Die: Canada's Boy Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen in the Second World War, with John Boileau. Dan lives outside of Ottawa.
JOHN BOILEAU is a retired Canadian army colonel and author of ten books and nearly 300 articles. He is a frequent commentator on military issues for radio and television and a lecturer to service organizations and historical societies. In 2010 the Minister of National Defence appointed him Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the Halifax Rifles. John Boileau was awarded the Order of Nova Scotia for 2022. He lives in Nova Scotia.
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