Names on a Cenotaph: Kootenay Lake Men in World War I - Softcover

Sylvia Crooks

9781926991474: Names on a Cenotaph: Kootenay Lake Men in World War I

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1926991478 ISBN 13: 9781926991474

Publisher: Granville Island Publishing, 2014

On cenotaphs and memorials along the shores of beautiful Kootenay Lake in the BC Interior are the names of 280 men who died on the blood-soaked battlefields of World War I amid the first deadly gas attack at Ypres, in the costly battle for Vimy Ridge and through the horrors of Passchendaele. Many of the men were fruit ranchers, mostly British immigrants who settled on the shores of the lake, along the Kootenay River, and in the Slocan Valley. They were miners, labourers, businessmen and some were students about to embark on promising careers. They come alive again in this account of who they were and what they endured in that futile and cataclysmic war to end all wars. After six years of research, the author tells their stories, and vividly makes them more than simply names on a cenotaph.

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About the Author:

Sylvia Crooks was born and grew up in Nelson, BC. She is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, with a BA in English and History, and a Master s degree in Library Science. She worked in public libraries in Vancouver and Burnaby before joining the faculty of the UBC School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, where she taught reference and outreach services for 15 years before retiring in 2002. Her book Homefront & Battlefront: Nelson, BC in World War II, was given an honourable mention in 2005 by the BC Historical Federation. She currently resides in Vancouver.

Review:

Most of us have at some time come across a war memorial, glanced over the names listed there, and wondered who were these men with lives cut short? Sylvia gives us a remarkable opportunity to find out. Her vignettes of several hundred enlistees in World War I from British Columbia s West Kootenays not only humanize this historic tragedy, but persuasively demonstrate how early-century British immigration to the province was truncated by virtue of the many family heads and sons who never came back. Names on a Cenotaph is a compelling and rewarding read. Jean Barman UBC Professor Emerita and BC historian. --Jean Barman UBC Professor Emerita and BC historian

Sylvia Crooks puts faces to the names inscribed on the cenotaphs and memorials erected in memory of those Kootenay Lakers who died during World War I. Her painstakingly researched narrative of their lives and families introduces a human touch to the cold statistics that record the war s horrific losses. She has achieved her aim of bringing back the lives of her subjects in a sensitive and compelling manner. Names on a Cenotaph, together with her earlier book, Home & Battlefront: Nelson BC in World War II, adds another layer to the rich historiography of the Kootenays. --Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) David S. Leslie The Royal Canadian Regiment

Nothing in recorded history impacted life in Nelson and settlements around Kootenay Lake more than the four years and three months of the First World War. Bad as the Second World War was, it is astounding to see almost four times as many names on the Nelson cenotaph for World War I than for World War II. Names on a Cenotaph is a remarkable achievement of rigorous research, thoughtful analysis and interpretation, and lively writing. The poignant stories of many of the soldiers are accompanied by hauntingly good studio photographs, which provide a good feel of who they were. --Sam McBride President of the West Kootenay Family Historians Society

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