It Can't Last Forever
The 19th Battalion and the Canadian Corps in the First World War

David Campbell (Author)

9781771122368

Hardback, published 30 October 2017

680 pages
25.4 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm, 0.896 kg

The 19th Battalion was an infantry unit that fought in many of the deadliest battles of the First World War. Hailing from Hamilton, Toronto, and other communities in southern Ontario and beyond, its members were ordinary men facing extraordinary challenges at the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Amiens, and other battlefields on Europe's Western Front.

Through his examination of official records and personal accounts, the author presents vivid descriptions and assessments of the rigours of training, the strains of trench warfare, the horrors of battle, and the camaraderie of life behind the front lines. From mobilization in 1914 to the return home in 1919, Campbell reveals the unique experiences of the battalion's officers and men and situates their service within the broader context of the battalion's parent formations - the 4th Infantry Brigade and the 2nd Division of the Canadian Corps. Readers will gain a fuller appreciation of the internal dynamics of an infantry battalion and how it functioned within the larger picture of Canadian operations.

• Preface
• 1. Recruiting and Mobilization: 1914-15
• 2. Training in England: May-September 1915
• 3. Life in the Trenches: September-December 1915
• 4. Waging Trench Warfare: September 1915-March 1916
• 5. Trial by Fire: Saint-Eloi, April 1916
• 6. ""Trying the Nerves"": May-July 1916
• 7. A Daylight Coup and Departing Belgium: 29 July-August 1916
• 8. Preparing for Battle: 28 August-15 September 1916
• 9. Fighting at the Somme: 15 September-3 October 1916
• 10. A ""Most Uneventful Tour"": October 1916-March 1917
• 11. ""Leaving Nothing to Chance"": 25 March-8 April 1917
• 12. An ""Easter Gift"" and a Bloody Setback: 9 April-3 June 1917
• 13. ""The Worst Ever"": June-August 1907
• 14. ""A Dirty, Dirty Country"": September-November 1917
• 15. Days of Uncertainty: November 1917-March 1918
• 16. ""It Was Pretty Lively"": 21 March-June 1918
• 17. Prelude to Victory: July-7 August 1918
• 18. The Battle of Amiens and Its Aftermath: 8-18 August 1918
• 19. Arras: 19-31 August 1918
• 20. Cambrai and Iwuy: 1 September-13 October 1918
• 21. Long Road to Mons: 14 October-11 November 1918
• 22. To the Rhine and Back: 12 November 1918-19 January 1919
• 23. Going Home: 20 January-25 May 1919
• Epilogue
• Appendices
• A. Casualties, 19th Battalion, 1915-19
• B. Discipline in France and Flanders