This display examines the military history of Mount Royal University as well as primary sources from the world wars held by the Archives and Special Collections. Scroll down to investigate the history of these monumental conflicts and, most importantly, to remember.
Mount Royal College Rolls of Honour
The rolls of honour are memorials that list the names of the Mount Royal College students and staff that served in World War I and World War II. An 'X' or cross next to a name indicates that the individual was killed in action or died of wounds or disease. In addition to being a testament to the service of Mount Royal's students and staff, the rolls of honour are a stark reminder of the personal toll of war.
Mount Royal University has established student bursaries in honour of the Mount Royal students who lost their lives in armed conflict. Learn more about the Military Memorial Bursary
Letters Home
Soldiers' letters home are an illuminating and poignant primary source that speak directly to the individual experiences of war. The Archives and Special Collections is home to several published collections of letters from the front that allow researchers to learn about the realities of war directly from the soldiers who experienced it first hand.
- "Carry on: Letter in War-Time," a collection of letters written by Lieutenant Coningsby Dawson of the Canadian Field Artillery
- "War Letters to a Wife: France and Flanders, 1915-1919"
- "Letters from the Front: being a record of the part played by officers of the Bank in the Great War, 1914-1919" a collection of letters written by Canadian Bank of Commerce employees.
- "The Great War as I saw it". A first hand account by Frederick George Scott, an Anglican priest and poet, about his experiences as a chaplain in the 1st Canadian Division during World War I.
The above volumes represent over 1000 pages of letters, photographs, and background information which primarily focuses on the experience of Canadian soldiers in World War I. Scroll down to view excerpts from the letters, click on images to enlarge them.
Propaganda
Canada in Khaki
Canada in Khaki is a patriotic magazine that was published by the Pictorial Newspaper Company. The magazine contains personal stories, accounts of recent battles, as well as photographs, cartoons, and war art prints. The Archives and Special Collections holds three issues Canada in Khaki from 1917 and 1919.
The advertisements below are from Canada in Khaki, and offer a window into wartime consumerism, patriotism, and propaganda.
Dark Humour
Fragments From France
The Archives and Special Collections holds eight volumes of Fragments from France, a collection of cartoons about the soldier's life authored by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather. The cartoons were originally published in The Bystander, a popular British World War I tabloid. An advertisement for The Bystander proclaimed that "...nothing since the war began presents the actual facts and feelings of the fighting men so realistically or so humorously as do these sketches..."
A German Perspective
Illustrirte Zeitung
Illustrirte Zeitung was a weekly illustrated magazine published in Berlin and covered current events, science, social life, and the arts. The Archives and Special Collections has 6 issues of Illustrirte Zeitung from the First World War that contain reproductions of German war art as shown below, and present a vivid snapshot of the conflict from a German perspective.
Connect with us
For more information on accessing any of the items featured in this exhibit or the rest of our Rare Book Collection, please contact us at archives@mtroyal.ca.
Return to the Archives and Special Collections home page.
Published November 4, 2020.
Credits:
Created with an image by Pierre BEST - "Poppy" All other images provided by MRU Archives and Special Collections. "Fragments from France Compilations". Bruce Bairnsfather.org Retrieved October 19, 2020.https://www.brucebairnsfather.org.uk/fragments-from-france