1. A War for King and Empire
Ypres, 1915. Malcolm MacPhail has enlisted expecting adventure but reaches the Western Front to find mud, shellfire and a defensive system in which survival depends on learning quickly. A troublesome acquaintance from home reappears within the army, giving Malcolm a personal problem at the same time…
2. Vicissitudes of War
France, September 1916. Newly promoted Lieutenant Malcolm MacPhail arrives near Albert as the Battle of the Somme continues to consume men and ammunition. Leaving the waterlogged trenches of the Ypres Salient has not brought relief: another assault is approaching and Malcolm has yet to prove that…
3. A Summer for War
France, summer 1917. After the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge, Lieutenant Malcolm MacPhail is serving on divisional staff near Lens, where the Arras fighting has settled into another exhausting contest of artillery, trenches and limited advances. Headquarters politics are almost as dangerous to his career as…
4. Malcolm Macphail’s Great War
In the autumn of 1917, Captain Malcolm MacPhail of the Canadian Corps moves from prolonged service in the trenches to an intelligence post just as the Passchendaele offensive approaches. Staff work promises no real safety: artillery, mud and battlefield confusion remain close, while Malcolm's outspoken manner…
5. My Hundred Days of War
August 1918. After the Allied breakthrough at Amiens, Major Malcolm MacPhail serves as a Canadian intelligence officer while the German army attempts to stabilise a collapsing front. The fighting has entered a faster and more fluid phase, but Malcolm's experience tells him that victory will still…