By 1918, the Canadian Corps had earned a reputation across the Western Front: shock troops.

They were chosen for some of the most difficult assaults of the First World War — at Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Amiens, and during the Hundred Days Offensive. British command relied on them for complex, coordinated attacks. German sources warned of their aggressiveness.

A narrative took hold: that Canadians were uniquely ruthless.

But was that reputation earned on the battlefield — or constructed in memory?

In this episode of Memory and Valour, we examine:

How the Canadian Corps became known as “shock troops” in WW1

What German reports actually said about Canadian soldiers

The scholarship of Dr. Tim Cook on battlefield effectiveness

Whether Canada’s First World War reputation reflects tactical innovation, myth, or something more uncomfortable.

This is a deep dive into the Western Front, the reality of industrialized war, and the thin line between discipline and ruthlessness.

Follow Memory and Valour for more historically rigorous explorations of Canada’s First World War history.

When the guns fell silent in 1918, the war did not end for thousands of Canadian soldiers.

In this episode, we explore shell shock during the First World War and how it reshaped the lives of those who returned home carrying invisible wounds. Through personal accounts, medical responses, and shifting public attitudes, we examine how Canadians struggled to understand trauma in an era before PTSD had a name.

The War That Stayed reveals how the psychological toll of WWI lingered long after the battlefield, and how its legacy still shapes our understanding of mental health today.

In a war defined by trenches, machine guns, and industrial slaughter, Canada sent horsemen into the storm. This episode follows the Canadian Cavalry Brigade from the mud of the Western Front to the desperate charge at Moreuil Wood; an action often remembered as one of the last great cavalry charges in history.

It’s a story of soldiers caught between eras, fighting a modern war with the tools of an older one, and proving that courage and adaptability could still shape the battlefield. Step into the saddle and ride through the final days of cavalry warfare in the Great War.

The 107th Battalion — known as The Timberwolves — was one of the most remarkable and overlooked units in Canada’s First World War history. Made up largely of First Nations soldiers, these men brought extraordinary skill, resilience, and cultural strength to a war that demanded everything from them… and then asked for more.

In this episode, we uncover the story Canada rarely tells: how Indigenous soldiers carved roads through the impossible, built the very infrastructure of the Western Front, and fought with a loyalty that was never fully returned at home. Through history, testimony, and truth, we explore who the Timberwolves were, what they endured, and why their legacy matters now more than ever.

This is the story of courage in the shadows, and the fight to bring it into the light.

When the air turned poisonous, the Canadians didn’t retreat; they stood and fought.This episode dives into the first poison‑gas attack at Ypres and the brutal legacy it left behind. From the shock of the green cloud to the lifelong scars of gas exposure, we follow the Canadians who faced a weapon the world had sworn never to use. A visceral journey into terror, survival, and the moment modern war crossed a line it could never uncross.

Four snapshots from Canada’s Great War: the lost Levi Cottage Cemetery now buried within Tyne Cot; Sir Arthur Currie’s fraught rise to knighthood; the deadly work of CEF runners threading messages through chaos; and the 107th Battalion, the Timberwolves, carving identity in the mud of the Western Front. A brief episode with the weight of a century behind it.

Beaumont‑Hamel marked one of the darkest moments in Newfoundland’s history.

On the morning of July 1, 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment advanced across open ground during the first day of the Battle of the Somme, straight into unbroken German fire. Within minutes, the unit was devastated, suffering catastrophic losses that echoed across every community back home.

Beaumont‑Hamel became a symbol of extraordinary courage, profound sacrifice, and a tragedy that shaped Newfoundland’s identity for generations.

From Frezenberg to Kapyong, the Second World War, and the Medak Pocket to Afghanistan; this episode explores the courage, identity, and legacy of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Featuring the incredible story of Major Mike Levy.Once a Patricia, Always a Patricia is a tribute to more than a century of service, sacrifice, and identity, and to the enduring spirit that binds Patricias long after the fighting ends.

In December 1914, British and German soldiers stepped out of their trenches to share songs, handshakes, and a brief moment of humanity in the frozen silence of No Man’s Land. This episode explores the Christmas Truce through the voices of the men who lived it; a fragile flicker of peace that stayed with them for the rest of their lives.

In this episode, we step inside the trenches of the Western Front, where soldiers lived every day with mud at their boots, fear in their lungs, and the constant thunder of artillery overhead. Through their routines, their hardships, and the rare moments of fragile humanity, we explore what life was truly like for the men who endured one of the harshest environments of the First World War.

From stand‑to at dawn to long nights of labour, from lice and rats to letters from home, this episode brings you into the world in which they survived, one day at a time.