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Enlisting in the CEF, he becomes a sniper. Ian learns to play the Highland bagpipes and becomes |
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entangled with two girls whom he meets in the Highland heart of Nova Scotia. Although horrified |
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at the atrocities of war, Ian enlists as a piper when assured that he will be able to play in the pipe |
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band and not have to kill. Fraser, the lighthearted one, occupies himself with girls until he joins his |
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brothers in their army adventures. |
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The contingents of the CEF sent to England are referred to as the “comedian contingents” |
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by Imperial Army officers who proceed to forge the intrepid Canucks into effective soldiers. |
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Shipped to the Western Front, Sable and his brothers experience bombardments, trench raids, |
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entombment, mine explosions, sniping, bayonet fighting, firefights, loss of comrades, barroom |
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brawls, bloody disasters, mud and mayhem while in the ranks of the 25th Battalion, Nova Scotia |
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Rifles (The MacKenzie Highlanders) as well as the 31st Battalion of Calgary. Sable undergoes |
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intensive sniper training and takes his toll on the enemy. Ian becomes a stretcher-bearer and a |
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brother keeper of his battalion mates. Experiencing the horrors of the Imperial Army’s first day |
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of slaughter on the Somme, Ian loses his faith in a compassionate God. |
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The paths of the brothers diverge and cross. The Canadians succeed under British general |
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Sir Julian Byng in their assault on Vimy Ridge where Ian pipes his battalion mates “over the top” |
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and arouses the ‘mir cath’, or frenzy of battle, among the men. Tempered in the fiery furnace |
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of combat, they experience the major battles of the war. The Corps goes on to fight in the |
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“bloody bog of Passchendaele,” successful under Canadian General Sir Arthur Currie. During |
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the agony of battle, Fraser and Ian make a mutual, mercy-killing pact. By 1918 the Canadians |
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have become an elite corps of shock troops second to none on the Western Front; together |
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with the Australian Corps, they spearhead the first major breakthrough of the war at Amiens. |
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It is here that the orders of a drunken officer destroy the brother keepers. |
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This saga of military tragedy and heroism explores the Highland military tradition, |
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reveals resonances to modern day wars and engages the moral and religious issues of war as it |
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postulates “The Iron Corollary to the Golden Rule.” Mysterious, even unworldly, persons weave |
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their way through the pages, seemingly shadowing the MacInnes boys. “The Brother Keepers” |
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is a story of faith lost and faith maintained, doublethink, elusive love, the sanctity of brotherhood |
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and the toll of warfare interspersed with interludes of humor. Out of this searing odyssey on |
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European soil, the most significant event in Canadian history, emerged worldwide recognition |
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of the Canadian Corps and Canada as a nation unto itself . |
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About the Author: Currently residing in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, Dr. John E. (Ted) MacNintch |
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is a former native of Maritime Canada with strong Nova Scotia roots. He became interested in the |
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history of the involvement of five of his relatives in the Great War and in the Scottish military |
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tradition in Canada while employed as Director of Scientific Information for Bristol-Myers Squibb. |
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Upon retirement, he applied his scientific information-retrieval and writing skills to researching |
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World War I over a ten-year period in an effort to create a novel that is entertaining, emotional and |
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very informative with special emphasis on verisimilitude. He spends his summers with his wife Joan, |
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writing, boating and kayaking in the Thousand Islands region of Upper New York State. |
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_________________________________________________________________________ |
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McAninch Family History NL v.XV n.3 / July 2007 / Frank McAninch, Editor / page 2007-20 |