Prisoner Report | Robert Graves | Mistreatment of Prisoners by Canadian Soldiers in World War I
Channel: Miasma Reading
Date: 2024-02-19

This was reported in "Goodbye to All That" by Robert Graves:

"Nearly every instructor in the mess knew of specific cases when prisoners had been murdered on the way back. The commonest motives were, it seems, revenge for the death of friends or relations, jealousy of the prisoner's pleasant trip to a comfortable prison camp in England, military enthusiasm, fear of being suddenly overpowered by the prisoners or, more simply, not wanting to be bothered with the escorting job. 

In any of these cases the conductors would report on arrival at headquarters that a German shell had killed the prisoners; 
no questions would be asked. 
We had every reason to believe that the same thing happened on the German side, where prisoners, as useless mouths to feed in a country already short on rations, 
were even welcome."

-

Canadians, often stereotyped as friendly and pleasant, did not exhibit these qualities when facing their enemies. During the First World War, Canadian soldiers had an infamous reputation for their brutality. It is unclear whether they did this to prove themselves, in revenge for a false rumor, fear of prisoner retaliations, or for some other reason. While there was already the 1906 Geneva Convention, their inhumane actions, along with many other soldiers, led the convention to include protection for prisoners of war.

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MUSIC

Caves of Dawn by GuilhermeBernardes
https://pixabay.com/music/ambient-caves-of-dawn-10376/

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SOURCES

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-forgotten-ferocity-of-canadas-soldiers-in-the-great-war

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3317/3317-h/3317-h.htm#link2HCH0001
Goodbye to All  by Robert Graves 

The Politics of Surrender by Tim Cook 
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://web.viu.ca/davies/H355H.Cda.WWI/Cook.PoliticsOfSurrender.pdf

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.209039/page/n245/mode/2up

https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-great-war-a-crime-against-humanity

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/geneva-convention

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/canada-germany-wwi.html

https://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/going-to-war/canada-enters-the-war/canadians-head-overseas/#:~:text=The%20First%20Canadian%20Contingent%20sailed,in%20such%20a%20short%20time.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=cmh

Vimy The Battle and The Legend by Tim Cook

At The Sharp End by Tim Cook

Private Peat by Harold Peat

Vimy by Pierre Berton

https://nationalpost.com/news/christmas-bloody-christmas-the-holiday-armistice-that-wasnt-for-canadian-soldiers

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/wars-and-conflicts/first-world-war/

https://www.warmuseum.ca/the-battle-of-vimy-ridge/

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-festubert


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VISUAL SOURCES

1917 on Film: The beginning of WWI
https://youtu.be/2bOWnb61kX8?si=TtvwMh9BSfLUeVpz

1917 on Film: Canadian troops train for the first world war
https://youtu.be/TGNY-3bIt7M?si=b5XJtaTyEzug5ep-

British Recruits Joining Up (1914-1918)
https://youtu.be/Oz4BBPR5fvw?si=XOnAYhP0bXx9YIWT

Canada World War I
https://youtu.be/fipl94wdlaE?si=QsN1HxAn82MDHDfp

Canadian Offical War Films (First World War)
https://youtu.be/do2G8XaAZVA?si=H_HlDtcDNcOsCQrA

German prisoners in POW Camps WWI
https://youtu.be/_TTAA6_VAcg?si=y2tExTYGuXsSoYj1

Good Old Fashioned Picnic, Victoria (1914)
https://youtu.be/5w5RCfr6yNI?si=guWnoLFEUMrA5nEe

Newfoundland News, No.1 (1916)
https://youtu.be/q_M5q1kjUAw?si=ACKRpE2_E0aRz6WT

Newfoundland Regiment Overseas WWI (1916)
https://youtu.be/r2GSN1_H50s?si=c7FNnvhH26tp_Uom

Realistic WW1 battle sounds (creeping barrage)
https://youtu.be/B9qrglK6S44?si=F3aZjnBFKga8PMhg

The Battle of the Somme (1916 film)
https://youtu.be/xQ_OZfaiUlc?si=Gh2VH_HWBATEYWnz

" THE GREAT WAR " 1956 WORLD WAR 1 DOCUMENTARY FILM WWI 1914-1918 29554
https://youtu.be/dNkGacOZ_Yg?si=igfUs4kRHLemUOGQ

Vimy Ridge = [Vimy Ridge: Canadian Operations April 9, 1917] (1917-04-01)
https://youtu.be/yhMTyq3WIPU?si=xxL4YRQLb2GTber2

World War I Combat Footage
https://youtu.be/Lgfi-udrLnE?si=6q_eL9PyduWVo6eW

3D 1080p WW1 Assault - All Quiet on the Western Front 1930
https://youtu.be/fHuNQER_8rI?si=4uBP_BWk9JLO8lQF

WW1 Footage
https://youtu.be/7XQ_o-rYl-U?si=I_UcE2AAgJ6Q7XuG


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