Two researchers from Memorial University have launched a new website that details the history and stories of Newfoundland and Labrador’s wartime forestry labourers.
The site, called Axes for the Allies, is the culmination of 12 years of work by professor Dr. Ursula Kelly and associate professor Dr. Meghan Forsyth – which has included CD releases, print publications, and a travelling multimedia exhibit.
The site follows the stories of 20th century woods workers from the formation of Newfoundland’s first forestry unit in World War I through to the end of World War II and the peacetime that followed.
The site uses archival recordings, photographs, and videos. As well, over 30 audio recordings were commissioned for the site – including poems, recitations, and first-person narratives performed by Newfoundland and Scottish actors.
Dr. Forsyth says the collaboration between, musicians, scholars, historians, archives and communities across this province and Scotland makes the project “especially meaningful.”
She says the website ensures that the stories of the province’s wartime foresters are not only remembered, but heard through the stories and music they left behind.
