It Can't Last Forever

The 19th Battalion and the Canadian Corps in the First World War

David Campbell

• Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781771122368
• eBook ISBN: 9781771122535
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

The 19th Battalion was an infantry unit that fought in many of the deadliest battles of the First World War. Hailing from Hamilton, Toronto, and other communities in southern Ontario and beyond, its members were ordinary men facing extraordinary challenges at the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Amiens, and other battlefields on Europe's Western Front.

Through his examination of official records and personal accounts, the author presents vivid descriptions and assessments of the rigours of training, the strains of trench warfare, the horrors of battle, and the camaraderie of life behind the front lines. From mobilization in 1914 to the return home in 1919, Campbell reveals the unique experiences of the battalion's officers and men and situates their service within the broader context of the battalion's parent formations—the 4th Infantry Brigade and the 2nd Division of the Canadian Corps. Readers will gain a fuller appreciation of the internal dynamics of an infantry battalion and how it functioned within the larger picture of Canadian operations.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Maps
• Abbreviations
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1 Recruiting and Mobilization: 1914–15
• 2 Training in England: May–September 1915
• 3 Life in the Trenches: September–December 1915
• 4 Waging Trench Warfare: September 1915–March 1916
• 5 Trial by Fire: St-Eloi, April 1916
• 6 “Trying the Nerves”: May–July 1916
• 7 A Daylight Coup and Departing Belgium: 29 July–August 1916
• 8 Preparing for Battle: 28 August–15 September 1916
• 9 Fighting at the Somme: 15 September–3 October 1916
• 10 A “Most Uneventful Tour”: October 1916–March 1917
• 11 “An Easter Gift” – Vimy Ridge: 25 March–9 April 1917
• 12 A Bloody Setback: 10 April–1 July 1917
• 13 “The Worst Ever”: July–August 1917 and the Battle for Hill 70
• 14 “A Dirty, Dirty Country”: September–November 1917 and the Battle for Passchendaele
• 15 Days of Uncertainty: November 1917–March 1918
• 16 “It Was Pretty Lively”: 21 March–June 1918
• 17 Prelude to Victory: July–7 August 1918
• 18 The Battle of Amiens and Its Aftermath: 8–18 August 1918
• 19 Arras: 19–31 August 1918
• 20 Cambrai and Iwuy: 1 September–13 October 1918
• 21 Long Road to Mons: 14 October–11 November 1918
• 22 Going Home – Eventually: 12 November 1918–25 May 1919
• Epilogue
• Appendix A – Monthly Casualties
• Appendix B – Discipline in France and Flanders
• Appendix C – Commanding Officers of the 19th Battalion
• Appendix D – Honours and Awards
• Notes
• Index