For this assignment, we had to become a Canadian soldier from World War One, and write a detailed diary entry from any point in their life. To do this effectively, we had to include tone and voice, and really adapt to the time period. In class we did a lot of research in order to pick our soldier and get a good sense of what their life was like, what their story was, how they felt, and what was truly important to them. When I first got this assignment I was very optimistic, as we’ve spent a large chunk of the school year conducting research on the different aspects of World War One. Some of the sub topics that we’ve delved into include significant battles of the war, technology used, countries and people involved, and the harsh conditions of trench warfare.
William Johnstone Milne’s attestation paper; one of the primary sources that I studied.
Though I should be an expert on World War One by now, this assignment actually took me a surprising amount of time and effort to complete. It started off with the struggle to find a soldier, who had enough sufficient information and primary sources, to use. The website we were looking on had hundreds of thousands of options to choose from, so how do you distinguish one soldier from the next when they all seem the same? I spent quite a bit of class time, almost 40 minutes in total, struggling to find someone with significant primary sources that I could use. Luckily, a fellow classmate of mine, Teva, had the answers to all my problems and came to my aid. He offered a helpful tip and directed me to a website that listed all the Canadian recipients of the prestigious British award, the Victoria Cross.
The first Canadian Victoria Cross Medal – Produced by the Government of Canada
There I found a soldier by the name of William Johnstone Milne. He was originally Scottish born but resided in Canada, volunteering in the 18th Battalion of the C.E.F. Milne received the British Empires most prestigious award by risking his own life, taking out two enemy machine gun nests, during the battle of Vimy Ridge. His immense bravery and heroic actions saved, not just a few, but hundreds of lives. He served very bravely for both the men in his battalion and for the people of Canada.
William Johnstone Milne as found in Victoria Cross Bios.
A news paper article mentioning Milnes accomplishments of earning the Victoria Cross.
As I mentioned earlier, I had quite a hard time finding an adequate soldier to write about. However, my greatest struggle came from, funny enough, the writing part of this assignment. I was having a tremendously difficult time understanding and coming up with what could possibly be rushing through the head of a soldier, just Mere hours before battle, knowing they may lose their life. I had a general idea of what I wanted to say, but the words just wouldn’t come. I imagined to myself that if I were in the same situation I’d be absolutely terrified and thinking of all the people in my life that I may never see again. With this in mind, I began writing about some of Williams fears, his thoughts on the up and coming mission, his experiences in war, his family, and his regrets of having a slim chance at living a long, prosperous life. My end product is below; I hope you enjoy reading it.
In my diary entry I think I did a good job displaying tone and voice, as well as using a historical perspective; A skill we’ve been developing since the beginning of the school year. In this assignment I’m proud of the work I produced (which took me over six damn hours to write). However, I not only worked hard and put in a lot of dedication, but I incorporated canadian identity and achieved the main goals of this assignment.