Remembering the experience of Martimers in wartime

  Most people living today don’t know what it was like to live through a World War. The everyday experience of Maritimers in the 1910s and 1940s is not necessarily foremost in people’s minds. As time marches on, those experiences recede further and further into the past. The stories of the common person, especially, aren’t as well known.

“You don’t have to search out experiences of colonels and generals and all that sort,” Amherst playwright Dale Fawthrop told The Cumberland Wire. “You look at the lives of everyday people and how political, social events affect those people.” So, when Fawthrop immersed himself in reading the diaries and letters of Maritimers during the First World War, he decided to make it his goal to share these stories so they are not forgotten. After eight to 12 months of research and gathering materials, the fruit of his labour is now ready to premiere.

Fawthrop is adapting these stories for a new musical production, We Remember, at the Amherst Legion on Nov. 7, 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. For tickets, call Sharon at 902-694-8351 or the Legion during open hours at 902-667-8487. The play is based on a collection of letters and diaries written by Maritimers during the First and Second World War, as well as stories Fawthrop has attained from descendants.

“I hope it gives them (the audience) a broader appreciation and understanding of the lives that the people experienced and the challenges and trauma that they went through in the first 50 years of the last century,” he said. He wanted to adapt these stories into a play to make them accessible to a wider audience.

“If you have a play, people are going to be introduced to these stories who had never read the books,” he stated. One of three musical medleys will open the show, followed by a narrator who weaves everything together. The first narrator introduces an actor portraying Robert Borden, Canada’s prime minister during the First World War. Fawthrop adapts actual words from a speech Borden gave in 1914 when he declared war on Germany.

The second act similarly features an appearance from William Lyon Mackenzie King, prime minister during the Second World War. Again, Fawthrop adapts King’s own words when he declared war in parliament in 1939. Each act, the prime minister introduces the war and then the play dives into the experiences of the Maritimers who fought. “The main thing is to focus on what the everyday person went through,” said Fawthrop. “The man who was one day a fisherman off P.E.I. and all of a sudden he’s over in France in the trenches, that sort of thing.” Included are also stories about people like Mona Parsons of Wolfville, the only Canadian female civilian to be imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II.

Seven songs are interspersed throughout the show, some of which connect directly into the acting. Musical direction will be provided by Patricia Nicolle, while Tyler Buchanan will perform on keyboard. A medley will also close the show. The medleys, each featuring about six war songs, will be performed by the Four Fun Quartet. Fawthrop always donates proceeds for his shows to various charities. This time, he wanted to focus on assisting food security. All proceeds will therefore be donated to the After the Bell program, the Pay it Forward Pantry, the Amherst Food Bank, Maggie’s Place and Legion Branch 10.

RESEARCH Fawthrop became interested in these war stories while researching for his Maritime history radio show, This is When. During his research, he came across a series of books, featuring diaries and letters. One writer, Ross Hebb, had released three books that particularly caught his attention: In Their Own Words: Three Maritimers Experience the Great War, A Canadian Nurse in the Great War: The Diaries of Ruth Loggie, 1915-1916 and Letters Home: Maritimers and the Great War, 1914-1918. Fawthrop got in touch with Hebb requesting to adapt his material to a production.

“I decided this was really good material to bring to the public,” he said. The writings of Maritimers Ruth Loggie and Clare Gass, who served as nurses in France in the First World War, were featured in Hebb’s work. Fawthrop continued his research and started looking for stories about people in Cumberland and Nova Scotia. He attained stories directly from descendants. What struck him most about the writings he encountered was how people back then recorded their experiences and sent them home. He believes, with historical hindsight, this was a unique practice specific to a particular time. Prior to this time, he explains many common people wouldn’t have recorded their experiences in such a rigorous way because they were more likely to be illiterate.

Today, on the other hand, people no longer document their experiences through letters when connecting with loved ones. While serving overseas, they can interact with loved ones with immediacy through internet tools like Skype or FaceTime. “So, those are not going to be here 50 years from now, but the diaries those people kept during the First and Second World War, they are going to be here,” said Fawthrop. “That’s one of the big changes I see.” He notes the letters, written by both men and women, were always addressed to mothers. He believes this is because in the early 20th century the mother was still seen as the centre of the family, while the father was often away from home for work.