A young Canadian soldier's account of the battle of Ortona, Italy!Seventeen-year-old Paul Baldassara lies about his age to enlist in the Canadian Army. He joins the Loyal Edmonton regiment, which is tasked with taking Italy's port town of Ortona. Little does he know the horrors of the battle that lie ahead . . .Paul soon finds himself in the midst of the fierce fighting that earned Ortona the name "the Italian Stalingrad," because of the massive casualties ...

Journalist Keyes Beech was sometimes accused of being a war lover. He denied the charge. Wars, he said, just kept happening on his watch. “You may hope that they’ll go out of fashion, but you can’t just ignore them.” His accusers weren’t entirely wrong, however. Even friends acknowledged that he liked to be where the action was. Keyes Beech saw a lot of action.He saw the flag raised on Iwo Jima in World War II; followed the first bloody year of the war in Korea; witnessed the defea...

Shirley Webb, was born in England and moved with her husband and two sons to Rochester NY in 1993. It was her grandchildren that inspired her to write these stories, they are based on true events or something they said or saw. It is with her familys encouragement that she has decided to publish them.

Sentenced to death for abandoning his unit, a soldier recounts the events leading up to his arrest.The reality of trench warfare is a shock to Allan McBride. Like many other young soldiers, he enthusiastically signed up for the chance to join the war effort and be a part of the fighting. But after months in the ravaged battlefields, watching men, including his friend Ken, get blown up by German shelling, something in Allan snaps and he leaves his unit, bel...

A young WWII gunner from the Prairies sees the horrors of war firsthand when he is captured by the Gestapo.Eighteen-year-old Sam Frederiksen has come a long way from the Prairies. Trained to be a gunner in a Lancaster bomber during WWII, he is shot down over France. Battered and bruised, he does survive, and joins forces with the French Resistance... only to be betrayed by one of its members. He and other flyers from various Allied countries are rounded up...

If the Allies cannot send the German U-boats to the bottom of the Atlantic, all hope of winning WWII will be lost.Sixteen-year-old Bill O'Connell is a new recruit in the Royal Canadian Navy, assigned to a ship that hunts for Germany's feared U-boats. With the European mainland under Nazi occupation, safe ocean passage is critical — but the Germans are building U-boats faster than the Allies can sink them, and Britain is starved of supplies.Every gallon of a...

A young fighter pilot's action-packed account of some of the fiercest battles of WWI — fought, for the first time, thousands of feet above the ground.Paul Townend has wanted to be a pilot ever since he saw his first plane. So as soon as he turns nineteen, he leaves his farm near Winnipeg to join the Royal Naval Air Service. Within months of enlisting, he is engaging in dogfights over France and the English Channel, including a skirmish with the infamous Re...

A young soldier's gritty account of "the bloodiest nine hours in Canadian military history" — the tragic Dieppe raid of WWIIAlistair "Allie" Morrison lets his friend Mackie talk him into enlisting for WWII, even though he's only 18. After months of endless training Allie's eager for battle. But his first action is not just any battle... it's the disastrous raid on the German-held port of Dieppe.He and his unit are under orders t...

A captivating and rarely told World War II story: that of the Canadian troops sent to defend Hong Kong from the invading Japanese.Nineteen-year-old Jack Finnigan is a born troublemaker. He has grown up defying authority and leaves his small town to enlist in the Royal Rifles, expecting adventure . . . and not afraid of danger. Little does he know what awaits across the Pacific, where his untested regiment is being sent to defend the vulnerable British colony of Hon...

Historical fact and fiction blend in this riveting novel set aboard the Titanic.Fourteen-year-old Jamie Laidlaw is returning to Canada from England aboard the Titanic. In his four days on board, he busies himself with new friends, finding ways to explore the ship's forbidden areas, and generally landing himself in trouble.When disaster strikes and the horrifying scramble for survival ensues, Jamie is on the front lines — struggling to help...

The incredible sacrifices made by Chinese workers building the transcontinental railway are revealed in this powerful novel.Heen's father and grandfather have brought their family in China to the brink of ruin with their gambling habits. To solve their money troubles, Heen and his father come to Canada to build the railway — a decision plagued by disaster.The living conditions provided for workers are wretched and work on the railway is excruciatin...

The War of 1812 comes to life through the eyes of a young Canadian boy.It's 1812. War has begun, and thirteen-year-old Alexander (Sandy) MacKay is jealous when his older brother Angus goes off with their father to fight the Americans attacking the Niagara region. Too young to know the darker side of battle, he resents being left to shoulder the work on his family's farm.Itching to get in on the action, he sneaks away from home and heads to Lundy's Lane to join up with the ...