When the First World War erupted in 1914, Canada answered the call without hesitation. But among those who stepped forward were men who, under Canadian law, were not even recognized as citizens.

In this episode of Memory and Valour, we uncover the powerful and often overlooked story of Indigenous men who volunteered to serve in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Drawn from communities across the country from the plains of Alberta to the forests of Ontario, these soldiers fought in some of the war’s most brutal battles, including Ypres, Vimy Ridge, and Passchendaele.

They served as snipers, scouts, and front-line infantry. Many displayed extraordinary skill and courage under fire. Many never returned home.

And yet, their service existed within a profound contradiction.

In 1916, an explosion tore through the Barnbow Munitions Factory in Leeds, killing 35 women in an instant.

They were known as the Barnbow Lasses. Young workers fueling the First World War from the factory floor… until disaster struck.

For decades, the truth of what happened that night was softened, reshaped, and in some cases, silenced entirely.

In this episode of Memory and Valour, I sit down with author Antony J. Bell to explore the Barnbow explosion and the story of his own ancestor, Sarah Ann Jennings; one of the women killed. Drawing from his book A Penny a Shell, we uncover how memory, grief, and family history intersect with one of Britain’s deadliest wartime industrial disasters.

During the First World War, Canadian POWs faced starvation, forced labour, and brutal marches in German camps, while thousands of civilians in Canada — many Ukrainian and German immigrants — were imprisoned as “enemy aliens.” Through diaries, letters, and rare firsthand accounts, this episode uncovers the parallel worlds of captivity that shaped Canada’s WWI story. “We were not soldiers, yet we lived behind barbed wire.”