This blog post was quite intriguing. Looking through all the of the soldiers that served our country and finding out the role they played in the war, what battle they were apart of. Looking for someone took me incredibly long for some reason. In the Canadian Virtual War Memorial I just typed in common names in the surname, and scrolled through each one to see who had the most information on them. I typed in my last name first, and I had quite a lot of people but there wasn’t enough information on them to write a journal about.
My soldiers name is Albert Victor Seymour Nordheimer. Albert was in the military before the war. He took a commission with the Royal Canadian Dragoons, serving with them for seven years, and resigning to enter business with his father. Albert was on a business trip in the west when the war broke out, so he wired his old army unit and joined the Great War. When he signed up he was promoted to position of Officer Commanding at Stanley Barracks, with the rank of Major. But he wasn’t able to go overseas because of his rank. Albert then reverted himself to a captain so he could go overseas. Then in 1916 he reverted himself to a lieutenant so he could fight in France on the front lines. Not only was Albert a popular soldier, but he was an all around sportsmen. Major Nordheimer was one of the most proficient foil and broad sword fencers in Canada, and took part in many tournaments, being a member of several Dominion and Provincial championship teams.
Putting yourself in the perspective of someone else is a really tough. We don’t know exactly what he/she was thinking at this point of time. Albert could’ve really enjoyed war or he really feared it. From his info and reverting himself to lower ranks so he could fight, made me think he is not enjoying the war but filled with passion for his country. Writing this journal in the eyes through Albert was quite tough, but once I got what I was going to talk about, the words just started flowing onto the paper. I felt Albert wasn’t enjoying the war but his sense of nationalism made him fight for his country. On March 30th, 1918 Albert was reported killed in action in France.
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