Winnipeg's Great War

Ever since I read the book "All Quiet on the Western Front" I have been facinated by the history of World War One. This passion was furthered after watching the great series on the Canadian HIstory Channel, For King and Empire, hosted by Norm Christie. The book, Winnipeg's Great War, is not about military history. Jim Blanchard, author of the book told our class that he didn't want readers looking for a book on military history to be dissapointed. This book is about the social history of Winnipeg.

The title of the book draws inspiration from the name originally given to the First World War. It was called 'The Great War".

As a Canadian who is of Mennonite decent I was very interested to read about how my ancestors were affected by the First World War.

In case you don't know Mennonites are a pacifist group that came to Canada because we were kicked out of every other country because we didn't want to fight in any wars.

We also wanted to be able to preserve our language and our culture. The book deals with the culture of Winnipeg at the time and how this affected the school system.

Winnipeg was a very different place during this period in history. It wasn't the multicultural society that we have today. It was a society that considered itself British first and then Canadian. This would change after the war.

One comment Blanchard made as he spoke to our class stuck out at me. He felt that the Canadians who had fought in the war had done 'the right thing'.

There's no questioning the bravery that the soldiers fighting in the first war, or any war for that matter, have inside them.

But I do question whether or not what they did was 'the right thing'.

World War One was wholesale slaughter such that the world had never seen before. It was new technology such as the machine gun, combined with barbed wire to create killing zones where nothing could survive.

Earlier tactics were now useless to the commanders who had been put in place, not because of ability but because of birth, status or patronage.

Things would have to change but before they were, countless numbers of people were senslessly slaughtered. Territorial gains were measured in meters.

But this wasn't a book about military history, so perhaps I was a little disapointed by that.

It did seem to go on tangents a lot and lacked focus. Chapters seemed to go everywhere and it was hard to follow at times. Characters came in and out of the book. Some received a sentence, other paragraphs and pages.

If anything, for me it lacked a heart - something to tie it all together.

As part of this assignment I went and shot some video footage of places mentioned in the book.

I went to the Manitoba Legislature where there is a statue to commemorate all those who died in the war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8WebcKjmCM

The next stop was City hall. The new city hall was erected on the same sight as the old one which was designed by Charles and Earl Barber. For more information on them and the old building check out this link: http://timemachine.siamandas.com/PAGES/winnipeg_stories/CITYHALL1.htm

The old city hall is gone, but I did have a chance to take some video across the street at two of the buildings designed by the same architects which are now a part of the downtown campus of Red
River College.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U0faGvtHHA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFZtmo5rhbM&feature=youtu.be

After visiting city hall I decided to take a stop at Valour Road. On Portage avenue there is a nice sign with a First World War soldier on it. On the street itself is a gold light post with a plaque and a reef to commemorate the three soldiers who were born on this street, had enlisted together and all won the Victoria Cross. Sadly, two of these soldiers died during the war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcs0GgIGXPc

Click on any of the links to see some of the video I shot of these sights in Winnipeg.

cheers

rymr