Gallant Canadians: The Story of the Tenth Canadian Infantry Battalion, 1914-1919

...Daniel Dancocks. What a waste, that the author should have died so tragically at so young an age. He left behind a legacy of excellent works, including this, possibly the finest, most intimate history of a Canadian First World War infantry battalion ever written. The book tells of the glory (60 MMs in a single battle alone!!) in a most understated way, and talks of the bad episodes - the rum incident, the execution of a soldier of the battalion for cowardice - frankly. The book may bog down slightly with its insistence on mentioning every award winner in the text of the book (with 60 MMs along at Hill 70, one can appreciate the need to simply list the names rather than discuss each and every citation in turn). Nonetheless, given the amount of time that had elapsed from the end of the war to the publication of this book, it is amazing how solid a grasp Dancocks was able to get on the subject matter. A thoroughly excellent summary and description of what it was like for Canadians in the Great War, and some thoroughly good character sketches. I especially liked the historical sidebars, set apart from the main text, and very convenient. Excellent afterword also, describing the battle honours and the oak leaf badge of the postwar perpetuates. And a complete listing of all honours and awards bestowed the individual soldiers of the battalion. Also an astonishing number of photographs directly pertinent to the text, amazing given the era of the subject matter.