The Emma Gees

The Emma Gees by Herbert W. McBride plunges listeners into the mud, metal and courage of World War I through the eyes of a frontline Canadian officer. Part history, part intimate war stories, McBride’s memoir traces the Twenty-First Canadian Battalion from the bloody fields around Ypres to the grim routine of trench warfare, gas attacks, and the small acts of bravery that kept units alive. McBride combines vivid battlefield recollections with reflective passages on sacrifice, comradeship, and the cost of modern industrialized war. Rich with period detail—trenches, machine-gun sections, maps and photographs referenced in the narrative—the book situates personal experience within the larger sweep of the Western Front in 1914–1916. Themes of memory, duty, and national identity emerge as Canadian soldiers carve a hard-won reputation amid chaos and loss. Ideal for listeners who love military history, World War I accounts, or evocative war stories told by those who lived them, The Emma Gees offers a compelling primary-source perspective. Listen for its candid voice, historical insight, and the human stories behind the headlines of a conflict that reshaped the twentieth century.