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When they came home: From War to Peace booklet commemorates return of WWI soldiers

Summerside's MacNaught History Centre has gathered together material illustrating the return of P.E.I. soldiers from the First World War into the booklet From War to Peace.

The journey home was 100 years ago this year for most of those soldiers.

"A lot of the men had to go into Germany to stabilize what was happening after the armistice and then some of them waited long weeks at camps in England before they could get on troop ships," said assistant archivist Jean MacKay.

The 88-page booklet deals partly with that wait, but also with the actual arrival back on the Island, dealing with soldiers returning with permanent disabilities, and also those arriving with war brides and children.

The MacNaught History Centre also engaged writers to write fiction inspired by some of the material gathered, as a way to further illustrate what coming home was like for these soldiers.

National exhibit

In conjunction with the release of the booklet the MacNaught History Centre is hosting an exhibit from the Canadian Centre for the Great War in Montreal.

MacNaught History Centre
MacNaught History Centre

The After the War exhibit explores the same theme from a national perspective. That exhibit will be at Lefurgey Cultural Centre until Friday, and will move the Regiment Museum in Charlottetown for July. It is the only showing of this exhibit in the Maritimes.

Copies of From War to Peace will be available at both venues.

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