The powerful story of over 5,700 brothers in arms.

They fought at Ypres in the fall of 1915, on the Somme at Courcelette and Regina Trench in 1916. They carried on to Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele in 1917. They were part of the battles at Amiens and the Hundred Days campaign of 1918. The 26th Battalion was the only infantry unit from New Brunswick (and one of only 24 from the rest of Canada) to serve continuously on the Western Front from 1915 until the Armistice in 1918. More than 5,700 soldiers passed through its ranks during the First World War: 900 were killed and nearly 3,000 were wounded.

A Family of Brothers tells the powerful story of the “Fighting 26th,” from their mobilization to the aftermath of the war. Using letters, newspaper accounts, war diaries, and other official documents, Brent Wilson offers a compelling account of the soldiers at the front and those behind the lines, their experiences of the war and how their lives would be transformed upon their return to the Canada.

A Family of Brothers is volume 25 of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.

J. Brent Wilson worked at the Centre for Conflict Studies and the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick for thirty-five years, where he was director of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Project, editor of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Book Series, and taught military history. He has conducted battlefield tours in France, Belgium, Canada, and the United States with the Canadian Battlefields Foundation, the Canadian Armed Forces, and commercial tour companies. His publications include Hurricane Pilot: The Wartime Letters of Harry L. Gill, DFM, 1940–1943 and A Family of Brothers: Soldiers of the 26th New Brunswick Battalion in the Great War.

J. Brent Wilson's profile page

"I highly recommend this text for anyone interested in the Great War or New Brunswick. It is a valuable addition to anyone’s library."

<i>Canadian Naval Review</i>