INDEX

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Aare Valley, 294

Académie Ranson, 285

Agha Khan, 276

Alderson & MacKay Mining Company, 280

Alliance Française, 26

Amaron, Erroll, 100

Ames, Sir Herbert, 274, 275

Amiens Cathedral, 68, 69

Amiens strategy, 250–2

Amis du Soldat, Les, 154

Ancre Heights, 131

Anderson, Lieutenant General, 71

Anti-Submarine Division, 243

Appleby, General, 94

Archduke Ferdinand, 32

Arleux Wood, 175

Armistice 257–8

Army Service Corp, 106

Astor Estate, 265

Atelier, 288

Aubigny en Artois, 200

Avenol, Joseph, 274

Ayre, Robert, 287

Baghdad Railway, 242

Bailey Motor Company, 289

Balfour, Arthur, 181

Banff Summer School, 288

Barclay, Captain, 44

Barrette, Antonio, 278

Barton, Mary, 190

Battiscombe, Colonel, 76

Baylaucq, Jacques, Sylvie, and Philippe, 303

Bell, Captain, 111

Bellewaarde Ridge, 43

Biddolph, 145

Bieler, 1913 balance sheet, 28

Bieler, André: special personality, 15; Institut Technique de Montréal, 34; volunteers, 34–6; boot camps, 38–42; Front in 1915, 43, 46, 52–3; Somme in 1915, 63–70; Ypres salient, 86–8; Paris, 89–91; wounded in 1916, 102–5; convalescing, 135–6; August 1917 leave, 192–3; boys’ get together, 196–9; Topographical Section, 220–1; future prospects, 228; leave, March 1918, 232–3; working with General Currie, 234–7; General Currie’s assistant, 250–1; final days of war, 252–7; Armistice in bed, 260–1; convalescing in England, 262–7; professional challenges 1920–50, 284–9; St Christopher fresco, Maison Rose, 291–2

Bieler, Blanche: Calvinist upbringing, 296; admiration for her children, 14–17; Montreal activities, 18, 26, 50; reflections on the war, 92; pain of war, 122; war museum, 139; war relief, 154–6; visit to New York and Philadephia in 1917, 156–9; visit to Washington and Baltimore in 1917, 160–3; speaking at “Round Top,” 190; religious comment, 177; Balfour visit, 181; Philippe memorial, 203–6; Blanche votes, 226; Charles’s US tour, 239–40; praying for victory, 253; family tree, 300–1

Bieler, Charles: boys’ future, 4; English challenge, 17; registrar, Presbyterian College, 50; will in 1913, 27–9; advice to the boys, 140–1; Boston visit, 150; US speeches in 1918, 164; Borden’s speech, 177–8; family politics, 224–5; Christmas invitations in 1917, 227; trip to New York, 235–6; visitor from Switzerland, 253; early profession, 297; family tree, 300–1

Bieler, Ernest: studying in Paris, 296; Valais artist, 284; fresco, 285; family tree, 300–1

Bieler, Etienne: inspiring youth, 14–5; undergraduate physics, 34; volunteers, 34; boot camps, 38–43; Front in 1915, 43–5, 52, 54–6; training, 56–60, 73–6; Canadian Corps war diaries – artillery reports, xvi; lieutenant at the Front, 78–85; ammunition column, 93–6; artillery officer in 1916, 111–17, 121–2; final days at the Somme, 131–3; winter 1917, 139–45; battery, 147–9; last battle, 175–6; goes to hospital, 178–81; visitors, 181; goes home, 189–91; admiralty scientist, 244–8; thesis, 247; professional challenges 1920–29, 278–84; religious beliefs, 282

Bieler, François, 294

Bieler, Hélène (tante Hélène), 26

Bieler, Jacques: attractive Boy Scout, 17; talented builder, 27; home during war, 150, 182; Vimy launch, 182–4; professional challenges, 289–92

Bieler, Jean: good student, 14; law faculty, 34; volunteers, 34–5; departure, 38; Camiers hospital, 46–8; registrar’s office, 61–3; No. 3 General Hospital, 117–20; memorial to Philippe, 202–3; visit to Topographical Section, 222–4; leave in 1918, 231–2; new patients at hospital, 261–2; Khaki University, 267–9; professional challenges 1920–1950, 274–8

Bieler, Jeanette, 288

Bieler, Philippe Alfred: perfect gentleman, 16; volunteer threat, 50; departure, 91–3; Ypres Front, 105–11; Arras-Lens Front, 134–5; meets the Lemaires, 146; rest camp, 174; runner, 186–8; August 1917 leave, 193–6; Christ in Flanders, 200; Philippe is taken away, 200–1; obituaries, 207–9

Bieler, Philippe Etienne (author), xii

Bieler, Raymonde, 276

Bieler, Samuel, 294

Bieler, Ted, 303

Bieler, Zoe, 292

Bieler ancestors, 294, 295–6

Bieler family: European blend, xi; Geneva 1908, x; Clairière 1935, xii; decision to immigrate, 4–5; departure, 5–8; Montreal 1908–14, 10–17, 26–9; Clairière 1908–14, 17–26; war preparations, 32–6; Easter 1915, 39; receive Canadian nationality, 122; home at last, 269

Bieler–Merle d’Aubigné family tree, 300–1

Biggar, Captain, 121

Birkett, Colonel, 61, 62, 204

Black, Paul, 57

Board of Invention and Research, 242

Booth, Ernest, 296

Borden, Sir Robert: war declaration enthusiasm, 32; speech, May 1917, 177, 180

Bourgoin, Henri, 226

Boy Scouts, 182

Boyle, Robert, 242

Bragg, Sir William, 242

Branett, Sister, 224

Brettell, Carol, 303

Bridges, Lieutenant General, 181

Bruneau, Sydney, 54

Brunette (cow), 21, 22, 25

Bryn Mawr College, 159

Buisson, Fernand, 177

Buller, Lieutenant Colonel H.C., 100

Bunting, Lady, xvi, 179

Caius College, 278

Calder, Bill, 63

Calvin, Jean, 294

Camberwell Hospital, 179

Camblain l’Abbé, 223

Cambrai, 255

Camiers, 46, 47

Camp Niagara, 38, 40

Campbell, Malcolm, 227

Canada Council, 288

Canadian Base Depot, le Havre, 72, 135

Canadian Corps Headquarters, 223

Canadian Field Artillery: 3rd Brigade, February to June 1916, 80–5, 93–6; 12th Brigade June 1916 to March 1917, 99, 112–3, 115, 125–6, 128–9, 132, 143–4, 147; 1st Brigade April 1917, 168, 173, 175

Canadian Fur Company, 289

Canadian Railway Regiment, xiv

Canal du Nord, 254

Canterbury, 41

Carhart, Charles, 10

Carlyle, Lady, 179

Carnegie Corporation, 288

Cavendish Laboratory, 242, 248

CCF party, 291

Chadwick, James, 278, 280

Champ-de-l’Air College, 14

Chazeaud, Camille, 49, 89

Chisholm, 114

Churchill, Winston, 242

Clairière, La, 19

College de Genève, 295

Colombettes, les, 13

conscription in Canada, 177, 178

Corbett, Percy, 143

Corner of Blighty, 192

Courcelette, battle, 124–31 court martial, 81

Coussinat, Professor, 4, 299

Currie, General Sir Arthur: promoted C.O. 1st Division, 71; promoted by George V, 174; leads Passchendaele attack, 213; strongest Division, 231; Currie’s room, 236; named for Amiens, 250; most audacious plan, 254; Denain celebration, 256; Etienne obituary, 283–4

Currie, Madame, 279

d’Aubigné, Agrippa, 293, 294

Darrow, Addie and John, 10

Darwin, Charles, 296

de Butzow, Nathalie, 294

de Candolle, Augustin Pyramus, 276

de Chair, Admiral Dudley, 181 de Stael, Madame, 294

Department of Munition, 292

Deschamps, Mr, 194

Dominion Oilcloth Company, 289

Dorset, Vermont, 10

Dreyfus, Alfred, 298

Drummond, Sir Eric, 274, 275

Dufourg, Hortense, 10, 157

Dunton, Tommy, 75

Duplessis, Maurice, 277, 278

Dyer, General, 219

École des Beaux Arts, 285

École Militaire, 195

École Nicolet, 297

Edge, Broughton, 281

Edict of Nantes, 294

Église Libre Francaise, 4

Elliott, Claude, 298 entente cordiale, 250

Eve, A.S.: recruiter and Physics professor, 34; experiments with Rutherford, 242; recruited by BIR, 244; McGill faculty, 245

Faculté de Théologie de L’Académie de Lausanne, 295

Ferguson, Nial, 307

final days of the war, 252–5

First Battle of Arras, 166

Fisher, Admiral Jack, 242

Flechen, Captain, 220

Flexicourt, 69

Foch, Marshal: Haig accepts Foch, 230; questionable decisions, 235; military meeting, 250; Foch’s staff, 251; signs armistice, 258

Forsey, Eugene, 291

42nd Regiment, 215

Fowler sisters, 162

Francis, Doctor, 267

Fraser, Professor, 10

French education, 14

French embassy, 235

French Reformed Church, 272

French War Relief, 158

French, Field Marshal John, 71

Frezier, Paul, 272

Frise, 63

Fry, Harry, 118

Gaillard, J.L., 297

Gandhi, Mahatma, 274

Gault, Captain, 33

Geraldton, 283

German dugouts, 130, 144, 173

Gide Levallois, rue de, 5

Godbout, Adélard, 278

Goebbels, Joseph, 274

Grandson, Michael, 307

Grange Tunnel, 167

Graveline, la, 297

Grellet, Jacques: Blanche writes, xiv; plants garden, 29; Christmas 1916, 138; boys’ visit, 201

Grey, Sir Edward, 32

Grosjean, Felix, 226

Gryon, 296

Guillancourt, 63

gun, 18-pounder, 137, 148, 149

Haig, Field Marshal, Sir Douglas: named CO of British Army, 71; disagreement on Allied strategy, 98; Somme is planned, 124; strong Somme attack in September, 127; Vimy to distract Nivelle plan, 138; Haig and Lloyd George confident, 151; congratulates Vimy success, 174; clear Flemish coast, 212; accepts Foch’s leadership, 230; convinces Foch about Amiens, 250

Haldane, Robert, 295

Halle aux Draps, 87

Hambro, Carl, 274

Hardy, Captain John, Frances, 296

Haverford College, 158

Hayes, Ralph, 191

Henri IV, 294

Herriot, Edouard, 274

Hill 70, 186

Hindenberg Line, 174

Hitler, Adolf, 276

Hobart, George, 118

Hodder-Williams, Ralph, 307

Hughes, Sam, 33 hundred-days map, 249

Huxley, Aldous, 296

Hyde, Walter, 111

hydrophones, 243

ice flotilla, 158

Imperial Geophysical Survey, 281

Infantry Brigade, 7th, 71

influenza, 240

Inns of Court, London, 268

Institut Agricole du Canton de Vaud, 294

International Club, 291

International Committee of Sunday Schools, 158

International Paper Company, 289

Irvine, Captain, 100

Isele, Representative, 253

Jacques Cartier Square, 9

Jellicoe, Admiral, 243

Joffre, Marshal: supreme commander, 71; strategy disagreement, 98; Verdun losses, 124; parade New York, 161

Johnston, 268

Kaiser Wilhelm II, 242

Keppel, E.P., 288

King George V, 174

King, Louis, 244

Kirkwall, 245

Kitto, Lieutenant, 128

l’intérieur Moderne, 288

La Folie Wood, 168

Ladouceur, Madame, 138

Lafleur, Maitre, 24

Lan, Captain, 223

Lanson, Professor, 159

Laroze, Mr, 191

Lauder, Harry, 225

Laurel, 29

Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, 32, 178, 225, 226

League for Social Reconstruction, 291

League of Nations, 274, 275

Lemaitre, Reverend, 146

Lenin, 186

Lesage, Jean, 278

Lester, Bill, 52

Lester, Sean, 277

Liberation of Denain, 255–7

Lipsett, Major General, 131, 255

Lloyd George, David: better-run war, 138; victory strategy, 151; no to Passchendaele, 212; elected in 1916, 243; convoys initiated, 244

loops, 243–4, 246–8

Ludendorff, General Erich, 138, 229, 254

Lusitania, 241, 242

Luther, Martin, 294

Lycée Carnot, 297

Lys River, 52

MacDonald, Ramsay, 274

Macdonell, Lady, 269

MacNaughton, John, 225

Maeterlinck, 140

Maison Blanche, 5

Maison Charboneau, 10

Malan, César, 295

Manhattan Project, 278

Martin. Lieutenant, 44

Masse, Pastor, 17

Masson, Greg, 191

Mathewson: Arthur, 57, 278; C.K., 118; Sergeant, H., 57

McAll Mission, 154

McClean, Sergeant, 55

McDougall, Captain, 44

McFarland, Commisioner, 161

McGill Physics Department, 269

McGill University: Charles considers three jobs at McGill, 4; Etienne’s unprecedented McGill entrance, 27; mobilization centre, 34; Balfour convocation 1917, 181; Rutherford at McGill, 242; McGill Physics faculty, 245; Sir William Osler, 267; Jean LLB in July 1919, 269; Chancellor assists Etienne scholarship, 278; Etienne PhD in 1923, 280; memorial service, 283

McKeeken, 68

Meetcheele Ridge, 217 memorial church, Lens, 271–2

Merle d’Aubigné: Charles, (Oncle Charles), xi; Guy (cousin Guy), 140; Emile (cousin Emile), 145; Maurice (cousin), 232; Louisette, (cousin), 233; Aimé Robert, 294; ancestors, 294–5, 296; Jean Henri, 295; Henri (cousin Henri), 296

Merle d’Aubigné, Julia: move to Paris, xi; goodbye, 6; mosquitoes, 24; Charles’s will, 28–9; Etienne’s leave, 140; portrait, 153; war relief, 154; Philippe’s leave, 194; Philippe’s obituary, 209; welcome home, 269

Merle, Guillaume, 10, 11

Meunier, Jeanette (tante Jeanette), 288

Millen, Laddie, 86

Millette, Father, 22–3

Molson, Captain, 33

Monod, Pastor Victor, 154

Mont Sorrel, 98

Moody, Dwight, 296

Morin, Professor, 10, 28–9

Morrow, John, 20

Mosley, Jim, 63

Mothersill, Lieutenant B.J., 208

Motta, Guiseppe, 274

Mullins, Sergeant, 217

Murray, Mrs Russell, 239

Nansen, Dr Fridtjof, 275

National Gallery, 288

NDP party, 291

Neuilly protestant church, 194

Neuville–St Vaast, 172

New York Times, 240

Nicols, Doctor, 226

Nicholson, Colonel G.W.L., 307

Nicholson, Gordon, 75

Nivelle offensive, 138

Nivelle, General Robert: end of the war, 138; leaders concerned, 151; Vimy assistance, 166; missed opportunity, 174; Pétain becomes commander, 175

No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill), 46, 118, 176, 264

No. 6 General Hospital, Kirkdale, 266

Nottbeck, Miss de, 14

Olympic, RMS, 93

Oratoire, 297

Osler, Sir William, 267

Ottoman empire, 242

Palliser, 141

Papineau, Major Talbot, 217

Parisian, SS, 3, 7

Passchendaele, battle of, 211–19

Penrose-Fitzgerald, Admiral: Etienne visits, 56; China station commander, 58

Pershing, General, 250

Pétain, Marshal, 250

Pfeiffer, Walter, 226

Pfender, Reverend, 195

Pine Hill, 27

Poincaré, President, 262

Pointe-aux-Trembles School, 12

Poperinghe, 219

Powters Camp, 14

Presbyterian College, 12

Prince of Wales, HRH, 255

Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry: regiment is created, 33; Princess Patricia inspects the regiment, 31; arrival at the Front in 1915, 43; Etienne visits in March 1916, 84; regiment’s role at Sanctuary Wood, 100; Courcelette Battle, 127; Princess Patricia visits at Christmas 1916, 138; regiment’s reputation at Vimy, 174; companionship along the way, 198; brave as the bravest, 207; down from the Passchendaele ridge, 218; regiment’s deathless glory, 219; brothers recuperating in January 1919, 263

Princeton University, 244

Provost, Monsieur, 7

Q-boat procedure, 243

Quakers, 157

Queen’s University, xiv, 44, 225, 288, 289

Ravebeek River, 213

Red Bird Ski Club, 292

Red Cross, headquarters, 222

Reformation, 294

Réveil movement, 295

Robertson, Lieutenant, 59

Rochedieu, Charles, 227

Rolle, 295

Rosen, Charles, 284

Ross Barracks, 76

Roth, Alfred, 298

Roussel, Mr., 59

Rumania, 122

Rutherford, Bulmer, 239

Rutherford, Sir Ernest: McGill professor in 1898, 242; Board of Invention and Research in 1915, 242; recruits three McGill colleagues, 244; research at Cavendish Laboratory in 1920s, 278; Rutherford in his lab, 279; Etienne obituary, 283

Sanctuary Wood, Battle of, 97–102

Sarcus, Foch headquarters, 251

Sauvé, Paul, 278

Scapa Flow, 245

Scarpe, Battle of, 253

Scheffelin, Mr, 157

Scott, Canon, 88

Scott, Frank, 291

Scrimger, Doctor, 10

Shorncliffe Camp, 51

Simon, Sir John, 274

16 Island Lake, 17

Societé Missionaire des Dames Françaises, 18

Somme march, 132–33

SONAR, 242, 244, 247

Sorensen, Nathalie, 303

“Soul of France, The,” 155

Speer, Robert, 163

Spring Offensive 229–31

Spring-Rice, Cecil, 181

St Lawrence River, 10

St Pierre Cathedral, 296

Stanstead College, 16

Ste-Famille, 287

Stevenson, Mrs Cornelius, 158

Stewart-Forbes, Sergeant, 44

Stewart, Malcolm, 63

Strong, family, 164

Student Christian Movement, 291

Sulzer, Doctor, 235

Sunday, Billy, 160

Symonds, Doctor, 184

tanks: Courcelette battle, 128; Amiens battle, 251

Taylor, A.J.P., 307

Taylor, Bruce, 225

Tenbrook, Captain, 217

Thomas, Albert, 274

Tractor Corps, 232

Trevin, Lieutenant, 55

U-boat threat, 241–3

U-boat UB-16, 246

Uncle Sam, 167

University Company: 1st, 43; 2nd, 55

US declares war, 160, 166

Valenciennes, 257

Vallotton, Benjamin, 227

Vandervelde, 140

Vanier, Major Georges, 253

Vimy battle, 165–75

Violette, 21

Wallace, R.C., 288

war breaks out, 32

Watson, H.J., 281

Watson, Sergeant, 224

Wells (Ithaca, NY, family), 156

Welsh, Mrs, 227

Wemyss Bay Experimental Station, 246

West-Sandling Camp, 93

Western Front map, 79

Westmount High School, 233

Westmount, 13

Wilson, President Woodrow: Germans relations broken, 152; conscription improves army, 157; declares war, 166; Germany seeks armistice, 255; Germany accepts armistice, 257

Windsor Hotel: highly recommended, 23; Balfour banquet 181; bread and sugar in 1918, 236

Wood, Walter and Julia, 10

Woodstock Summer School, 284

Woodsworth, J.S., 291

Wright, Crawford, 289

YMCA: huge Camiers facility, 48; concerts at convalescent camp, 104; Christmas in Arras, 135; concert at Camberwell, 180; palace on rue Montaigne, 195; builds soldiers’ homes, 232

Ypres Salient map, 77