Grey Bruce Boomers Fall 2021

HISTORY
Surviving the
unthinkable
ABOUT 2,500 GREY COUNTY RESIDENTS FOUGHT IN THE GREAT WAR
BY STEPHANIE McMULLEN
It has been more than 100 years since the guns fell
silent, with the Treaty of Versailles marking the end of
the First World War.
Thousands of young Canadian men and women enlisted
for overseas military service in the Canadian Expeditionary
Force, determined to “do their bit” for their country and
have a grand adventure at the same time. The 31st Grey
Regiment, and later the 147th and 248th (Grey) Battalions,
accepted hundreds to engage in the fight. Nothing could
have prepared them for the nightmare that awaited them
on the battlefields of Europe.
Most of these soldiers were not fighters; they were nickel
platers, students, bookkeepers, and chicken pickers. In
short order, they became sappers, gunners, snipers, and
army nurses, and fought to retain their individuality as
professional soldiers. The struggle to hold on to their ties
back home, to view themselves as something more than
cannon fodder, constantly occupied their thoughts and
energy during pauses between shell blasts.
Grey County’s citizen-soldiers visited tourist spots while
on leave, picking up postcards for themselves and buying
souvenirs to send home. They listened to and sang their
favourite songs. They wrote letters, kept diaries, and
made art from shells. They collected helmets, guns, and
insignia from fallen enemies. These mementos highlight
their struggles to reconcile who they were before the war
with the horrors they were experiencing, and who they
would be once peace returned.
It has been said that war is 90 per cent boredom and
10 per cent terror. Canada’s citizen-soldiers faced the
difficult challenge of managing their boredom while
trying to forget their terrors, finding distraction in any
form they could. Soldiers searched for ways to reassure
themselves that they were still the good men who set sail
from Halifax. Letters and parcels to and from home were
a lifeline. Despite often having little to say, soldiers could
while away hours composing letters, and hours more
re-reading letters received. For many, it was simply the
connection to home that was important, not the content
of the message.
Music was essential to maintaining calm. The power of
song helped comfort fears, overcome exhaustion, and
forge friendships. Troops marched to popular songs of the
day, and sometimes brought gramophones into dugouts
at the frontlines, altering the lyrics to suit their stressful
circumstances. One of the most popular songs in the
Canadian army, sung to the tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ was
‘We’re Here Because We’re Here Because We’re Here.’
Along with writing and music, soldiers sought release
from the stresses of trench life through art. Many were
good with a knife and used the materials around them to
make carvings of everyday items.
The most common material came from brass bullet
nosecaps, which they found scattered in vast quantities all
around them. Regulations required that these nosecaps
be recycled, as materials were scarce, so using them for
art was an act of defiance as well as a means of personal
expression.
Soldiers picked up mementos of their life-changing
8 • GREYBRUCEBOOMERS.COM