The 107th ‘Timber Wolf’ Battalion was founded by Lieutenant-Colonel Glenlyon Campbell, but its story also belongs to Indigenous men who volunteered to fight for a country that denied them equal rights.
They served without the vote.
They returned to fewer rights than they left with.
Yet they volunteered anyway.
This story is the next episode of Memory and Valour. Stay tuned!
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music, and help keep their service remembered.
#memoryandvalour #ww1history #canadianhistory #lestweforget #WW1
Memory and Valour Podcast:
When the air turned poisonous the Canadians didn’t retreat; they stood and fought.This episode dives into the first poison-gas attack at Ypres and the brutal legacy it left behind. From the shock of the areen cloud to the lifelonc scars of gas exposure, we follow the Canadians who faced a weapon the world had sworn never to use. A viscera
iournev into terror. survival. and the moment modern war
crossed a line it could never uncross.
During the first gas attack at Ypres in April 1915, John “Jackie” Lynn found himself in a collapsing line as chlorine gas rolled across the battlefield. With no warning and little protection, Lynn manned his machine gun as the green cloud closed in. He fired continuously into the advancing enemy, holding his position even as the gas burned his lungs and blinded his eyes. At a time when gas masks were scarce or ineffective, Lynn fought without one, refusing to abandon his gun while others around him fell choking to the ground.
Lynn’s stand helped stem the German advance at a moment when the front should have broken completely. But the cost was immense. Prolonged exposure to the gas left him permanently damaged, and he would later die as a result of the injuries sustained during the attack. Awarded the Victoria Cross for his courage under unimaginable conditions, John “Jackie” Lynn’s story is a stark reminder of what gas warfare demanded of those who faced it—men who held their ground not just against the enemy, but against the air itself.
Gas Warfare in the Great War
World War I introduced chemical warfare on an industrial scale, turning the battlefield itself into a weapon. The first gas widely used was chlorine, released in vast clouds that drifted with the wind. Its sharp smell offered little warning, and once inhaled it burned the lungs, causing suffocation and panic. As soldiers adapted with crude gas masks, deadlier agents followed.
Phosgene was far more lethal and insidious—often odorless or smelling faintly of cut hay, it could be inhaled without immediate effect, only for the lungs to fill with fluid hours later. Mustard gas, introduced in 1917, did not always kill but left lasting damage. It blistered skin and eyes, burned airways, and contaminated ground for days, ensuring that even survivors carried lifelong injuries. Together, these gases left a legacy of suffering that extended far beyond the armistice, shaping international law and forever changing how war was fought.
“They didn’t die in a blaze of glory. They drowned—on dry land.”
This episode of Memory and Valour exposes the gas attacks of the First World War: chlorine, phosgene, mustard gas, and what it did to the men who had no masks, no warning, and no escape.
Stream and follow on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and iHeart Radio!
#WW1 #GasWarfare #MemoryAndValour #ForgottenHistory ##lestweforget
Knighthood, Chaos, and the Vanished Cemetery – (Listener’s Choice Episode)
Four moments from Canada’s experience in the Great War reveal how memory, leadership, courage, and identity took shape amid unprecedented violence.
First, there is Levi Cottage Cemetery—once a modest burial ground on the slopes of Passchendaele, later absorbed and buried beneath the immense expanse of Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world. Its disappearance beneath orderly rows of Portland‑stone headstones and the great Cross of Sacrifice mirrors the way countless small stories of suffering were folded into a single monumental landscape of loss.
Then comes Sir Arthur Currie, Canada’s first homegrown corps commander, whose ascent to knighthood was anything but smooth. Haunted by accusations of incompetence after the cost of the 1917 attack at Passchendaele and dogged by political infighting, Currie fought not only the Germans but also for his own reputation. His eventual recognition as one of the most innovative commanders of the war stands as a testament to both his strategic acumen and his stubborn resolve.
Threaded through the chaos are the CEF’s runners—the young men who carried vital messages across cratered ground when telegraph lines were cut and wireless sets failed. Their work demanded silence, speed, and a willingness to sprint through machine‑gun fire or bombardment with nothing but a dispatch satchel and hope. Many never returned, yet their invisible labour held entire battalions together when battle turned fluid and communication faltered.
Finally, we meet the 107th Battalion, the Timberwolves, a unit with a strong Indigenous presence that carved its identity in the mud and timber of the Western Front. From road‑building and railway work to front‑line fighting, they brought skills honed in the Canadian wilderness to some of the harshest conditions of the war, forging camaraderie and pride even as the battalion’s cultural diversity set it apart within the CEF.
Together, these four snapshots form a brief episode heavy with the weight of a century—fragments of a larger story about how a young nation endured, adapted, and remembered.
Our new episode is here: “Beaumont‑Hamel: Courage, Loss & the Newfoundland Regiment.”
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7brLFFHBd47Z7rMOOh5nx4?si=efb1eBajRZyj2AmFTEVVJw
A story of bravery, heartbreak, and the day that changed Newfoundland forever. Listen now and step into one of the most defining moments of the First World War.
The disaster that befell the Newfoundland Regiment did not occur on its own. It was the result of choices made far from the front, of misjudgments that proved deadly, and of an operation that had already unraveled before the Newfoundlanders even advanced.
At the heart of those choices stood General Douglas Haig.
Beaumont‑Hamel marked one of the darkest moments in Newfoundland’s history. On the morning of July 1, 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment advanced across open ground during the first day of the Battle of the Somme—straight into unbroken German fire. Within minutes, the unit was devastated, suffering catastrophic losses that echoed across every community back home. Beaumont‑Hamel became a symbol of extraordinary courage, profound sacrifice, and a tragedy that shaped Newfoundland’s identity for generations.
As we wrap up the year, I want to take a moment to say how deeply grateful I am for your support. Whether you’ve tuned in to the podcast, picked up one of my books, shared my work with a friend, or simply cheered from the sidelines, you’ve made this journey meaningful.
Thank you for showing up, for listening, for reading, and for believing in what I create. Your encouragement fuels everything I do.
Wishing each of you an incredible 2026 filled with joy, momentum, and moments that surprise you in the best ways. I’m excited for what’s ahead, and I’m so glad we get to step into it together.
‘Once A Patricia, Always A Patricia’:
The origins & a brief history of the PPCLI
Once a Patricia, Always a Patricia explores the legacy, sacrifice, and unbreakable spirit of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry; from its birth in the mud of Flanders to its defining stand on a Korean hillside nearly four decades later.
In this episode, we trace the Regiment’s identity back to its earliest days, when French‑ and English‑speaking Canadians fought side by side in the trenches of the First World War, forging a unity the young nation had not yet achieved. We revisit the haunting legacy of Frezenberg; a battle that became a ghost walking with the Regiment for a century, shaping what it meant to be a Patricia: you did not leave your post, you did not yield to fear or fire, and if the world didn’t end, you stood up and prepared to do it again.
The episode then moves to Korea and the desperate night at Kapyong, where 600 Patricias held Hill 677 against overwhelming odds. Here, we tell the extraordinary story of Major Mike Levy: escapee, commando, survivor, whose courage under fire became part of Regimental legend. Through archival voices and vivid storytelling, we bring to life the men who held the line when no one else could.
This is an episode about identity, endurance, and the quiet, stubborn courage that has defined the Patricias for more than a century. It’s about the men who wore the red patch—and why, once you become a Patricia, you remain one for life.
Book Release Announcement — Once a Patricia, Always a Patricia
https://www.amazon.com/author/samanthamccreahistorybooks
Once a Patricia, Always a Patricia is a powerful journey through the history, identity, and enduring spirit of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. From the mud of Flanders to the desperate stand at Kapyong, this book brings to life the soldiers who held the line when no one else could—and shows why being a Patricia is not just a role, but a lifelong bond.
New podcast episode available now on Spotify, Apple and Amazon.
The Christmas Truce of 1914
On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1914, something extraordinary happened along the Western Front. After months of brutal trench warfare, soldiers from Britain, Germany, and France stepped out of their trenches and into No Man’s Land to share a brief, unofficial ceasefire. What began with carols drifting across the frozen air soon grew into handshakes, conversations, and the exchange of small gifts. In some sectors, men even held joint burial ceremonies and played impromptu games of football on the churned, icy ground.
This moment of humanity unfolded across large stretches of the British‑held line—nearly two‑thirds of a 30‑mile front saw the guns fall silent. The soldiers who met between the trenches were exhausted, cold, and far from home, yet for a few hours they recognized one another not as enemies, but as men living the same misery. They shared food, tobacco, souvenirs, and stories, creating a fragile warmth in the midst of a bitter winter.
The truce was never sanctioned by military leaders, and many officers worried it would undermine the fighting spirit of their troops. By the following year, strict orders were issued to prevent anything like it from happening again, and the war soon descended into far greater horrors. But the memory of that day endured—in letters, diaries, and the collective imagination—because it revealed something profound: even in the darkest moments of war, humanity can still break through.
Today, the Christmas Truce stands as one of the most remarkable and symbolic events of the First World War—a reminder of the shared humanity that exists even across the lines of conflict, and of the peace that briefly flickered in a world consumed by war.
In this episode of Memory and Valour, we descend into the world of the trenches: a place where young men learned to live with mud at their feet, fear in their lungs, and the constant rumble of artillery overhead. This is the story of the Western Front not as a line on a map, but as a lived reality: the cold mornings at stand‑to, the long nights of labour, the hunger, the exhaustion, and the small moments of humanity that helped men endure the unendurable.
Through the voices and memories of Canadian, British and French men who were there, we explore what it meant to survive in a landscape carved by war and held together by courage. Their stories remind us that behind every uniform was a life, a family, and a heartbeat trying to make it through one more day.
German soldiers came to regard the Canadians as “stormtroopers”; not for any resemblance to their own elite units, but for the fierce, relentless way the Canadians fought. Time and again, Canadian battalions were thrown into the hardest sectors, asked to do the impossible, and somehow pushed through. From the gas‑choked fields of Ypres to the shattered heights of Vimy and Hill 70, they earned a reputation for determination, precision, and a refusal to break even under the heaviest fire.
We explore how that reputation was forged: through brutal lessons learned in the mud, through innovation on the battlefield, and through the grit of volunteers who arrived as ordinary young men and became one of the most respected fighting forces on the Western Front. Their story is not just one of military success, but of courage, sacrifice, and the quiet resolve that defined the Canadian Corps, but it wasn’t all something to brag about.
How was a trench built? Why? What was it like to live in a trench month after month?
My upcoming episode on my podcast Memory and Valour takes a look at these aspects of trench life in WW1. Some things will surprise you.
