9781771620093_cover Enlarge Cover
0 of 5
0 ratings
rated!
rated!
list price: $36.95
edition:Hardcover
category: History
published: Oct 2015
ISBN:9781771620093
publisher: Douglas & McIntyre

Through Blood and Sweat

A Remembrance Trek across Sicily's World War II Battlegrounds

by Mark Zuehlke

tagged: world war ii
Description

"We should not need [monuments] to picture a past battlefield and the horrors endured there. But their presence definitely helps to focus the mind, reinforce the solemnity of emotion that is so inherent in the act of remembrance."

Through Blood and Sweat takes readers on a memorable, thought-provoking 300-kilometre march in the footsteps taken by the soldiers of 1st Canadian Infantry Division in 1943. As part of Operation Husky 2013, a group of Canadians walked this route to honour the memory of the nation’s soldiers who fought in Sicily seventy years earlier and whose sacrifice has been largely forgotten. Under a searing sun, with Mount Etna’s soaring heights always in the distance, a small contingent of marchers trekked each day along winding country roads for between 15 and 35 kilometres to reach the outskirts of a small town or village. Here they were joined by a pipe band, which led them to the skirl of bagpipes in a parade into the community’s heart to be met by hundreds of cheering and applauding Sicilians. Before each community’s war memorial a service of remembrance for both the Canadian and Sicilian war dead followed. Each day also brought the marchers closer to their final destination—Agira Canadian War Cemetery where 490 of the 562 Canadian soldiers who fell during the course of Operation Husky in 1943 are buried. On July 30—after twenty gruelling days—the marchers were joined here by almost a thousand Canadians and Italians. All joined to conduct a profoundly emotional ceremony of remembrance that ended with one person standing before each headstone and answering the roll call on that soldier’s behalf. Mark Zuehlke, author of the award-winning Canadian Battle Series, was one of the Operation Husky 2013 marchers. He uses this arduous and poignant task as a focal point for a contemplative look at the culture of remembrance and the experience of war.

About the Author

Mark Zuehlke is the author of the critically acclaimed Canadian Battle Series and many other books. He has worked as a journalist, been educated as a historian and written award-winning fiction. The Canadian Battle Series is the most detailed accounting of any army during World War II ever written by a single author. In recognition of his work, Mark Zuehlke was awarded the 2014 Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Popular Media (Pierre Berton Award). Zuehlke lives in Victoria, BC.

Buy the e-book:

X
Contacting facebook
Please wait...