For Ralph Douglas Clark, the Great War was no grand adventure. He never spoke of it, and when prodded by his youngest son, Peter, would only utter, “it was terrible—so many of my friends killed.”

Born in 1896 in Canso, Nova Scotia, Ralph Clark was training to be a telegraph operator when he enlisted in 1915. In France, he served with the 4th Canadian Divisional Signal Company, and took part in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He returned to Canada in May 1919 and resumed his career in communications. He died in 1952, at age 56.