There are several interesting new books on our military past. Gary McCauley who was recently featured in a Nugget article will speak and sign his book at the North Bay Area Museum, 100 Main St. E. on Saturday October 25 from 11-1. His book Soldier Boys is a novel about six young northern Ontario boys who joined the Algonquin Regiment in WWII. McCauley, who was originally from Cochrane has had an interesting career including a period as a Liberal Member of Parliament and is currently a Judge on the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Soldier Boys a novel by Gary McCauley about the Algonquin Regiment. Gary in an Algonquin Regiment uniform as a child on the right.

Soldier Boys is based on McCauley's knowledge of a soldiers life as learned from discussion with an uncle, long conversations with Algonquin Regiment Soldiers, a trip to the battlefields and research from the many books written on the war. His six characters experience the humour and tragedy of war in a way the textbooks don't tell. It took him five years to research and write and he has a sequel on the way.

Last November Terry Copp on behalf of Nipissing University and the Algonquin Regiment gave a talk at Nipissing on his book Fields of Fire - The Canadians in Normandy. I recently found a copy in the North Bay Public Library and found it fascinating. Copp, who has led tours of battlefields of WWII, is an expert on the war and a history professor at Wilfred Laurier University.

Fields of Fire - the Canadians in Normandy - new book by Terry Copp.

In his book Copp traces in detail the Battle of Normandy which began June 6, 1944 and continued for two and a half months. Canadian soldiers have been criticized for not being effective in closing the gap at Falaise that prolonged the invasion. Copp points out that there were mistakes by the U.S. Forces and that the Canadians were very few in number relative to the task. The Germans had been preparing for war for years and were well trained, equipped and well entrenched. Copp's book makes a major contribution to military history by explaining in detail the complex circumstances and making the point that the Canadians did a remarkable job under the circumstances.

The definitive Algonquin Regiment book Warpath by G.L. Cassidy published in 1990 has been out of print. I have received emails inquiring about the book and found a few with Algonquin veteran Doug McDonald, honorary president of the Veterans Association who had a few copies. An anonymous donor recently gave enough money to reprint 200 copies of the book. The regiment has distributed free copies to numerous schools in Northern Ontario. I have also received requests for information on former Algonquin Regiment soldiers and the book is an excellent source of information on these men and the various battles they fought.

Some Algonquin Regiment soldiers at the front getting caught up on the news from home from the Warpath.

With over a million Canadians in WWII it is not surprising that the stress disorders or "shellshock" of war caused some desertion and criminal behavior that is not widely talked about. This behavior of course was not acceptable for morale and harsh treatment resulted including the threat of execution. Andrew Clark in his new book A Keen Soldier tells what happened to these men and in particular the execution of one of them, Harold Pringle, for murder. Pringle was one of over 1000 men in detention in Italy at the end of the war. While doing some research at Nipissing University I ran across a new book by Kids Can Press for teenagers which tells the same story in a different form. It is called And In the Morning by John Wilson. Both serve to deal with some of the negatives of war for that miniscule few who ran for whatever reason.

There are many other books on the war available including one with a navy emphasis - Guardian of the Gulf by Brian Tennyson and Roger Sarty - the story of the impact of the war on Sydney Nova Scotia (available in paperback).

Speaking of paperbacks one of my favorite books looking at the ramifications of war is The Gilded Cage the story of the Gravenhurst German prisoner of war camp from 1940-46. I wrote about this previously. It is now out in an excellent second edition with 40 additional photographs and an expanded text with more details and anecdotes of prisoner life and the escape attempts including one through North Bay.

All of these books and many others help us to understand and remember the bravery and tragedy of war as November 11 approaches.