Dr. Jane McGaughey is the Johnson Chair of Québec and Canadian Irish Studies at Concordia University and a historian with a Ph.D. from Birkbeck College, University of London. She is the author of Ulster's Men: Protestant Unionist Masculinities and Militarization in the North of Ireland, 1912-1923 and Violent Loyalties: Manliness, Migration, and the Irish in Canadas, 1798-1841. Jane is also host of The Irish in Canada Podcast, where she explores the stories of Irish immigrants and their descendants.

While many Canadians are familiar with major Western Front battles like Vimy Ridge, the Second Battle of Ypres in Flanders in 1915 was a pivotal moment for Canada. This battle marked the first large-scale use of poison chlorine gas by the Germans and was also the first major CAnadian engagement since our entry in the war in the fall of 1914.  Second Ypres was hugely important to the Canadian war narrative during the first years of the war, but after 1917 it was eclipsed by subsequent victories and in the century afterward has become mostly forgotten in public memory. Here to speak to us about that eclipse and the question of public memory is Dr. Geoffrey Bird.

Thomas Vennes est doctorant en histoire à l'Université de Sherbrooke. Il s'intéresse au mouvement de conquête coloniale français en Afrique de l'Ouest, en particulier au action politique et militaire des officiers français ainsi qu'à la résistance armée africaine. Lors de sa maîtrise, il a travaillé sur la guerre du Bani-Volta, une révolte paysanne dans le Burkina-Faso entre 1915 et 1916 provoquée par le recrutement de personnes africaines pour l'effort de guerre. Il s'est notamment intéressé à la mobilisation par les empires coloniaux des personnes colonisées lors de la Première Guerre mondiale.

Photo: 9-12-15, camp des tirailleurs sénégalais à Fréjus [défilé des troupes au camp Robert] : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol] Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, EST EI-13 (471)

Sarah Worthman is a freelance researcher and writer from St. John's, Newfoundland. Sarah researches a variety of topics including: human security, political history, and queer theory. Sarah received funding from the LGBT Purge Fund to conduct research on the history of LGBT persecution during the First World War. Sarah spent time working with Veterans Affairs Canada where she began her research on the History of LGBTQ+ Soldiers in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and is now the Executive Director of the Newfoundland Queer Research Initiative, who have recently launched the NL Digital Queer Archive. Check it out here!

Jesse Alexander is a Public Historian, Educator, Documentary Film Host, Researcher, and Writer. Jesse graduated from the University of Vienna/Austria with a masters in Modern History with a focus on First World War Political Cartoons. From there, Jesse spent years working in archives and traveling across Europe where he visited many sites from the war. Now, Jesse is the host of two popular history youtube channels where you may recognize him as the host of The Great War, and Real Time History channels. Through his documentaries and videos, Jesse has made war history accessible to a wide audience.

Jesse has also worked closely with YOUkraine.at, a non-governmental organization dedicated to supporting Ukraine during the current conflict. Visit their site to learn more.

Dr. Sarah Lockyer est coordinatrice de Programme d'Identification des Pertes Militaires au sein du Ministère de la Défense Nationale du Canada et des Forces Armées Canadiennes. Sarah est titulaire d'un doctorat en bioarchéologie de l'université de Bournemouth. Elle est aujourd'hui anthropologue judiciaire pour le programme d'identification des victimes. Le programme vise à identifier les dépouilles récemment mises au jour de militaires canadiens des Première et Seconde Guerres mondiales ainsi que de la guerre de Corée, et à veiller à ce que ces personnes reçoivent une sépulture digne de ce nom, de leur unité et en présence des membres de leur famille.

Dr. Sarah Lockyer is the Casualty Identification Coordinator in Canada's Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. Sarah graduated with a PhD in Bioarchaeology from Bournemouth University, and now acts as the Casualty Identification Programs forensic anthropologist. The program works to identify newly uncovered remains of Canadian service members from the First and Second World Wars as well as the Korean War and ensures that these individuals are given a proper burial with their name, unit, and in the presence of their family members. 

Jesse Alexander est l'animateur de deux chaînes YouTube populaires consacrées à l'histoire. Vous le reconnaîtrez peut-être comme l'animateur des chaînes The Great War et Real Time History. Grâce à ses documentaires et à ses vidéos, Jesse a rendu l'histoire de la guerre accessible à un large public.

YOUkraine.at est une organisation non gouvernementale qui se consacre au soutien de l'Ukraine pendant le conflit actuel. Visitez leur site pour en savoir plus.

Renée completed her bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in history at the University of Ottawa is now the Historian of Military Heritage for the Department of National Defence’s Directorate of History and Heritage where she researches the history and culture of the Canadian Armed Forces. Renée also manages the Canadian Forces Artists Program, and works as one of the researchers for the Canadian Casualty Identification Program.

To apply, or learn more about the Canadian Forces Artists Program, visit the site here: Canadian Forces Artists Program - Canada.ca

 Dans cet épisode spécial hors-série,  Brintha Koneshachandra, notre animatrice, et Luca Sollail (historien, UdeM) abordent l'histoire de la communauté italienne canadienne pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Quant à Madeleina Daigneault, récipiendaire du PPV 2021, elle nous parle des Métis! | Animation : Brintha Koneshachandra | Invité.e.s : Luca Sollai et Madeleina Daigneault | Générique : Sylvain Bellemare | Montage sonore : Guillaume Bouchard Labonté | Réalisation : Brintha Koneshachandra et Guillaume Bouchard Labonté.