War Through the Lens by Dan Conlin

Hitting the book shelves this fall (2015) is a book published by Seraphim Editions entitled, War Through the Lens by Dan Conlin. Based on Dan’s undergraduate thesis written back in 1986, War Through the Lens is based on personal interviews he performed with members of the Canadian Film & Photo Unit.

NOTE: Dan Conlin’s first presentation about the book is Monday November 9 at 7 pm at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. He’ll be joined by some volunteers in 1940s battledress.

Published by Seraphim Editions;

“War Through the Lens tells the story of the most daring filmmakers in the short history of Canada’s motion picture industry, the 50 cameramen who filmed Canadians in battle during World War Two. They belonged to the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit and often scooped their British and American allies with the first and, in many cases, the most memorable footage of the war’s crucial battles in Europe. They produced a legacy of images which continue to shape the depiction of the war today. The cost of their work was high. Before the guns were stilled, nearly a third of them became casualties.

This book explores the Unit’s experience by means of first-person accounts combined with rare and dramatic photographic images of Canada at war. War Through the Lens provides both compelling personal stories and important insights about how these men and women shaped our perception of Canadians in battle.”

To order, please contact Seraphim Editions,

https://www.seraphimeditions.com/

As well, the book will be available through the Pier21 online book store;

https://shop.pier21.ca/books

The book is currently available for order through Amazon Canada;

https//www.amazon.ca/War-Through-Lens-Canadian-1941-1945/dp/1927079373

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The following is a list of all the photo and video credits within the book trailer. All of which can be accessed online through the Library & Archives Canada website here;

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/search/arch

NOTE: The credits are listed as they appear in the book trailer video

  1. – D-Day footage courtesy War Amps;
    https://www.waramps.ca/military/canr.html
    View the complete set of all 106 Canadian Army Newsreels on the War Amps of Canada YouTube channel;
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBWxVZ4mDyM&index=34&list=PL04CC43B7CD63C686
  2. – PA-114482: Credit: Alexander M. Stirton/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-114482. Personnel of the Carleton and York Regiment advancing under sniper fire, Campochiaro, Italy, 23 October, 1943.
  3. – PA-132807: Credit: Lieut. Ken Bell / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada A French boy, who wears a Scottish glengarry, saluting Canadian soldiers, Boissons, France, 19 June 1944.
  4. – PA-140408:Credit: Lieut. Ken Bell / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada Sergeant H.A. Marshall of the Sniper Section, The Calgary Highlanders, Kapellen, Belgium, 6 October 1944.
  5. – PA-137026:Credit: Lieut. Frank L. Dubervill / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Lieutenant Donald I. Grant of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, who holds an Anniversary Speed Graphic camera, England, 11 May 1944.
  6. – PA-137025:Credit: Lieut. Frank L. Dubervill / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Sergeant Elmer R. Bonter of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit attached to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, England, 11 May 1944.
  7. – e010786255:Sgt. Karen Hermeston, CWAC, with Speed Graphic Camera from WWII.
  8. – PA-131506: Credit: Canada. Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / ecopy.
  9. – PA-132727:Credit: Lieut. Ken Bell / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Infantrymen of The Regina Rifle Regiment and a despatch rider firing into a damaged building, Caen, France, 10 July 1944.
  10. – Winnipeg Free Press (31 March 1962).
  11. – D-Day footage courtesy War Amps;
    https://www.waramps.ca/military/canr.html
    View the complete set of all 106 Canadian Army Newsreels on the War Amps of Canada YouTube channel
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBWxVZ4mDyM&index=34&list=PL04CC43B7CD63C686
  12. – PA-136198: Credit: Lieut. Alexander M. Stirton / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Infantrymen of The Carleton and York Regiment preparing to lob a hand grenade into a sniper’s hideout, Campochiaro, Italy, 23 October 1943.
  13. – PA-136326: Photographer: Aikman, Harold G. Sgt. K.B. Dougan and R.H.C. Angelo of the “C” Section of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit.
  14. – PA-134390: Credit: Lieut. G. Barry Gilroy / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Infantrymen of The West Nova Scotia Regiment in a Universal Carrier en route to Rotterdam are surrounded by Dutch civilians celebrating the liberation of the Netherlands.
  15. – PA-134376: Credit: Alexander Mackenzie Stirton / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Crowd of Dutch civilians celebrating the liberation of Utrecht by the Canadian Army.
  16. – PA-150931: Credit: Lieut. Donald I. Grant / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Gunners of the 12th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (R.C.A.), with the Victory issue of the Maple Leaf newspaper, Aurich, Germany, 20 May 1945.
  17. – PA166305: Ciné and still photographers of No.3 Public Relations Group. (L-R): Sgt. E.R. Bonter, Lt. C.C. McDougall, Sgt. L.E. Weekes, Lt. F.L. Dubervill, Sgts. C.E. Roos, W.G. Grant, D.A. Reynolds, 11 May 1944 Credit: Frank Dubervill/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/
  18. – PA-152104: Credit: Capt. Jack H. Smith / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Private Nadine Manning of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit in a film vault at Merton Park Studios, London, England, 19 December 1944.
  19. – PA-136214: Credit: Lieut. Ken Bell / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Sergeant Lew E. Weekes of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit taking cine pictures beside a shell-damaged building near Hoogerheide, Netherlands, 15 October 1944.
  20. – PA-152103: Credit: Lieut. Arthur L. Cole / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada. Sergeant Karen M. Hermeston of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit during VJ-Day celebrations in Piccadilly Circus, London, England, 10 August 1945.

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About me

Dale Gervais has been actively researching and documenting the history of the Canadian Film & Photo Unit since 2006. Dale recently retired in September, 2018, after over 36 years with Library & Archives Canada. Dale now works as an independent researcher, with experience in audio visual holdings, video production and more recently doing Archival textual document searches, and photographic scanning.

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