Читать книгу In The Trenches 1914-1918 - Glenn Ph.D. Iriam - Страница 5

Why did I do this book at this time in life? When I was a young lad in the late 30’s and 40’s I used to sit and listen to my father’s stories of The Great War in the kitchen just dad and I with no one else in the house.

I clung to every word, and often wondered how this loving, tender giant of a man had ever been such a violent man dealing out death on a daily basis to any enemy soldier bearing arms and still looked kindly on any enemy soldier who had laid down his arms becoming a non-combatant.

One evening dad said “ I would like my story to be told but not until a long time after I am gone”. Then he went on to say that some of the things he wrote about some of the people could put him in a libel position. Well from what I have heard on the media dad was very mildly spoken.

Well here I am 74 years old and publishing my Father’s Memoirs in order to fulfill his wishes.

Many of our family and some unexpected help from others have made this venture possible. Without those folks this may never have gotten to the publishing point.

The first to dig in was my sister Grace who diligently went through my first production checking out my manuscript for any errors or omissions.

Then my daughter Patricia and her husband Fred wanted some spacing shortened up and definitions for some of the older words.

Our youngest son Roy and his good wife Diane volunteered to have a look at it but found that they were having trouble coming up with the time. This I can understand with their two young men demanding so much of their time at this most critical time in their young lives.

Then Mr. Reg. Clayton, editor at the local weekly paper, The Kenora Enterprise asked for some material he could use in the paper around the Memorial Day time frame, November 11th. I had a copy run off for Reg. and he volunteered to edit for me while he was reading it. Reg. had his father also read it and the report from the two of them was very encouraging.

In the background of all this is my wonderful Wife Linda who has put up with me working late nights and early morning trying to make this into a printable book. The toughest part was trying to break up some of the long sentences my father was prone to write with to many “ands” without changing the intended meaning in any way what so ever.

Oh! Oh! I must not forget the two Grand Boys Steven and Paul awaiting the publication with baited breath. Paul used information from the Memoirs to create some very informative displays for his class and all who looked at them.

A further Thank You to the National Archives of Canada for maintaining the fantastic collection of Great War Photos and supplying a Description Record. They supplied the cover photo by direct e-mail to the publisher.

The Publisher has been picked with a recommendation from Reg. So now the fun begins.