The Journal of Private Fraser, 1914-1918, Canadian Expeditionary Force

A harrowing and strangely dispassionate account of WW1 from a Canadian soldier in the trenches. Apart from reporting what happened, gives insight into how people cope with overwhelming horror.

It is truly fortunate that Donald Fraser's daughter brought in this diary to be published. Mr. Fraser journal is the definitive look at the Canadian soldier's plight in the First World War. Fraser was a college graduate, and despite this fact he turned down commission, preferring to remain a common ranker throughout his journey. He has a keen eye for detail compounded with his lively sense of humor which is proliferated throughout his story. The book is really broken down into four sections: The first was his initial stint in the trenches as a rifleman in the 31st Calgary (Alberta) Battalion CEF; the second deals with his time spent in the quartermaster stores; thirdly his move back as a rifleman during the bloody battle of the Somme; then it concludes with his last year of the war in the 6th Brigade Machine Gun section. Mr. Fraser talks quite candidly about the scenes he witnessed, as well as his dislike for those in charge. He often witnessed officers leaving the serious work to the men and hiding well behind the lines. His reasons for never accepting promotion are largely based on the fact of the high casualty rate in that department. The most stirring part of his narrative is the description of September 15, 1916 when he and his company went "over the top" His battalion suffered over 240 casualties in just a couple of hours. When the fighting was over his battalion would lose just over 660 men. Passchendaele would see the end of Fraser's military career. On the way up to the line he was shelled. The men in front of him and behind him were both killed, and he was seriously wounded; he insinuates that the doctor looking after him had the suspicion that he would not survive. He wrote major additions to his journal in the hospital in 1918 and finished it in the 1940's. He would continue to suffer both mentally and physically from the war the rest of his life. He showed his diary only to close friends and fellow veterans until his death in 1946 at 64 years old. It was first published in 1985, and has since been republished by CEF books, whom do an excellent job of reprinting the memoirs of Canadian veterans of World War One, this book being no exception. The editing is performed by Dr. Reginald Roy, who does a good job of providing biographical details on Fraser's life, however, some of his editing is a bit tedious and detracts from the main body of work. The journal is exemplary in every other aspect and Mr. Fraser speaks for an entire generation of Canadians who would walk the battlefields in the mud and death of World War 1. It is an excellent account of trench warfare from a continually fading war that we must try not to forget.