Faces of War: A Collection

Sidney Allinson is a Victoria-based communications consultant, Canadian
news correspondent for Britain’s The Army Quarterly and Defence, and
author of The Bantams: The Untold Story of World War I.

In this collection of real-life stories, Brown, a popular columnist
with Legion Magazine, introduces readers to 50 Canadians who gave up
safe civilian lives to serve in battle overseas. Sometimes he takes a
creative approach, using intensive research to evoke the voices of
long-dead Canadian servicemen. Other chapters are based on personal
interviews with veterans, who tell their experiences in two world wars.

We meet veterans of the three armed services and the Merchant Marine,
including an army nurse, a widow, four chaplains, war correspondents,
and several prisoners of war. While the majority of Brown’s subjects
are unknown, some have famous names, including Smoky Smith, VC, who
earned the Victoria Cross in 1944 and is still going strong in his 80s.
Faces of War deserves a place in every Canadian school library.