The Impact Of The War On Lives At Home

 Returning today to my series from the Canadian War Museum. The story of the war at home was an all encompassing one, felt by families, even though the war itself was across the sea.

The great actor Charlie Chaplin found inspiration for his own work in the stories from the trenches. A video clip of Chaplin is seen here.

This is the uniform of Lawrence Rogers, a Canadian soldier who joined the war, leaving a wife and children at home. He would not return.

Personal artifacts of the Rogers family include a small bear that he carried with him during the war, and postcards.

War brought death into families, and lives would never be the same.

Even if you weren't directly involved with the war, it affected you. People working in industry played their own part in the war.

Frances Loring created this sculpture, depicting the work of Canadian women in the munition industry.

The Halifax Explosion in December 1917 happened when two ships collided in the harbour of the city. One was carrying explosives. The explosion killed over 1700 people and wounded 9000 more. The painting overhead is Convoy In Bedford Basin, a work by Arthur Lismer, a commissioned war artist. After the war he would become a member of the Group of Seven.

Medals at right, and a piece of wreckage at left- a remnant of the Mont Blanc, the munitions ship that had exploded.

Passchendaele was the scene of another bloody victory for Canadian soldiers, who developed a reputation during the war as elite shock troopers. 

The before and after pictures of the place speak volumes of the sheer carnage that battle had on the land itself.

Just beyond, an area is set out recreating the battleground that you can walk through, with a large scale photograph wrapping around the walls. Equipment, weapons, and even a body are embedded in the earth. It makes a very effective reminder of how horrific that battle was, and that the earth is still giving up bodies from that war today.