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.”

On June 2, 1916, the ground beneath Canadian soldiers at Mount Sorrel exploded. German mines and artillery shattered the front line near Ypres, killing hundreds in minutes and throwing the Canadian position into chaos.After weeks of preparation, German forces opened a massive artillery bombardment against the Canadian lines. Beneath the trenches, carefully planted mines detonated, tearing apart the front and killing or burying hundreds of soldiers in seconds. The attack shattered the Canadian position on Hill 62 and the slopes of Mount Sorrel.

In the chaos that followed, Canadian forces regrouped under intense pressure. Within days, they launched a determined counterattack to reclaim the shattered ground.

The Battle of Mount Sorrel became a brutal test of leadership, resilience, and the growing reputation of the Canadian Corps on the Western Front.

In 1917, as Canadian soldiers bled at Vimy Ridge and endured the mud of Passchendaele, the war exploded at home.

With First World War casualties mounting and enlistment collapsing, Prime Minister Robert Borden introduced conscription. The result was the Canadian Conscription Crisis of 1917; one of the most divisive moments in our history.

Riots in Quebec City.

English and French Canada set against each other.

Families fractured.

A nation pushed to the brink.

The First World War didn’t just test Canada on the Western Front. It tested whether the country could survive itself.

In this episode of Memory and Valour, we examine how conscription reshaped Canadian politics, unity, and identity and why its echoes still matter today.

By 1918, the Canadian Corps had earned a reputation across the Western Front: shock troops.

They were chosen for some of the most difficult assaults of the First World War — at Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Amiens, and during the Hundred Days Offensive. British command relied on them for complex, coordinated attacks. German sources warned of their aggressiveness.

A narrative took hold: that Canadians were uniquely ruthless.

But was that reputation earned on the battlefield — or constructed in memory?

In this episode of Memory and Valour, we examine:

How the Canadian Corps became known as “shock troops” in WW1

What German reports actually said about Canadian soldiers

The scholarship of Dr. Tim Cook on battlefield effectiveness

Whether Canada’s First World War reputation reflects tactical innovation, myth, or something more uncomfortable.

This is a deep dive into the Western Front, the reality of industrialized war, and the thin line between discipline and ruthlessness.

Follow Memory and Valour for more historically rigorous explorations of Canada’s First World War history.

When the guns fell silent in 1918, the war did not end for thousands of Canadian soldiers.

In this episode, we explore shell shock during the First World War and how it reshaped the lives of those who returned home carrying invisible wounds. Through personal accounts, medical responses, and shifting public attitudes, we examine how Canadians struggled to understand trauma in an era before PTSD had a name.

The War That Stayed reveals how the psychological toll of WWI lingered long after the battlefield, and how its legacy still shapes our understanding of mental health today.

In a war defined by trenches, machine guns, and industrial slaughter, Canada sent horsemen into the storm. This episode follows the Canadian Cavalry Brigade from the mud of the Western Front to the desperate charge at Moreuil Wood; an action often remembered as one of the last great cavalry charges in history.

It’s a story of soldiers caught between eras, fighting a modern war with the tools of an older one, and proving that courage and adaptability could still shape the battlefield. Step into the saddle and ride through the final days of cavalry warfare in the Great War.