From a Stretcher Handle

Frank Walker was 20 years old when “the War to end wars” began in 1914. He enlisted with the Canadian Field Ambulance, Canadian Medical Corps, and served as a stretcher bearer in some of the worst battles of the war, including Ypres, Vimy Ridge, the Somme, and Passchendaele. During that time he kept a journal, which charted his gradual transformation from military innocent to war-weary veteran. He also wrote a collection of poems, which was published in England during the war. Upon his return to Charlottetown in 1919, he went on to become one of the Charlottetown Guardian’s most respected newpaper editors. He retired in 1969 and died in 1977. Edited with a preface by his daughter, Mary Gaudet, From a Stretcher Handle includes the journal and the poems, as well as an essay by island historian Boyde Beck, which places the journal within the context of the Canadian Medical Service on the Western Front. As time passes by and more and more people lose sight of the horrors of war, works such as From a Stretcher Handle serve as raw and powerful reminders of what so many fought and died for. At the same time, Walker’s words set Prince Edward Island firmly in the canon of First World War literature.