Two researchers from Memorial University have spent years uncovering the untold stories of Newfoundland and Labrador men who crossed the Atlantic to serve the Allied war effort as forestry labourers during the First and Second World Wars.
With the launch of a new educational website, titled Axes for the Allies, professor emerita Ursula Kelly and associate professor Meghan Forsyth hope their research will keep these stories alive for generations.
During 12 years of collaborative work on early 20th-century Newfoundland and Labrador woods workers, the two researchers produced CD releases, print publications, a travelling multimedia exhibit and more.
Axes for the Allies is the capstone research project of their collaboration.
The educational website follows woods workers’ stories from the formation of Newfoundland’s first forestry unit through the end of the Second World War and the peacetime that followed, including war brides who immigrated from the U.K. and returning foresters’ experiences in a country that would soon become a province of Canada.
Axes for the Allies uses archival recordings, photographs and videos to bring their stories to life on an engaging, interactive, media-rich website.
In addition to archival materials, the website aims to bring foresters’ voices to contemporary audiences through recorded readings of letters and other historical documents by actors and new musical arrangements.
The website specifically commissioned more than 30 audio recordings of poems, recitations, and first-person narratives performed by N.L. and Scottish artists.
The Newman Sound Men’s Choir, for example, was filmed performing “A Soldier’s Farewell,” written by Pte. Arthur C. King, Newfoundland Forestry Companies, of Grand Falls, in 1917. George F. Root composed the music and the Evening Telegram published the lyrics in its Dec. 7, 1917, edition. In the song, Pte. King pleads with those who have not enlisted to listen and act “when your King and Country call you.”
Hearing their voices again
Dr. Forsyth says the collaboration between musicians, scholars, lay historians, archives and communities across Newfoundland and Labrador and Scotland makes the project especially meaningful.
“The website ensures that the voices of Newfoundland and Labrador’s wartime foresters are not only remembered, but heard again — through the music and stories they left behind,” she said. “We hope the site not only preserves this history but invites new generations to engage with it in meaningful ways.”
For Drs. Kelly and Forsyth, raising awareness of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians’ wartime efforts is an important component of the project.
Dr. Kelly says considering Memorial’s founding as an institution of remembrance, projects such as this one are a reminder of the partiality of Newfoundland and Labrador’s conventional war narratives and the role of research in addressing the gaps.
“Our project provides an essential expansion of the historical narrative of wartime service in support of the Allied effort in both wars — what was done, by whom and with what impact.”
Project support
The site, available in both French and English, was developed in association with the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society, along with several community partners in Scotland and Newfoundland and Labrador.
It also received support from Digital Museums Canada, an investment program managed by the Canadian Museum of History.
A special feature of the website is a series of Learning Activities designed for and approved by educators across Canada who are integrating the topics into their curricula.
“It is intentionally designed to be highly engaging, including for general audiences and adolescent learners,” said Dr. Kelly.
Want to explore Axes for the Allies? Visit the site!
