Interview with Dee Dauphinee on His New Novel

While backpacking in Europe in 1988, Dee Dauphinee stumbled upon the World War I memorial at Vimy Ridge, not knowing what it represented. When Dauphinee noticed the engraving of a soldier who carried his last name, his curiosity grew into a 3-year exploration and in-depth research tracing the fallen soldier’s life across Canada, Germany and France. With the help of genealogists, veterans and academics, Dauphinee released an exciting new novel Highlanders Without Kilts, which commemorates the epic World War I battle of Vimy Ridge. In the following interview, he explains the challenges of writing the novel and why the Battle of Vimy Ridge is significant from an American perspective.

What was the process for researching this book? 

The research took about three years. There were some very long days! Writing history is a bit of a departure for me, and knowing that historical writing—if one wants it to be interesting—needs original research, I had no delusions that it would be easy. Luckily, I had a lot of help along the way; many genealogists in Canada, authors, military men and women, veterans, family members of the protagonists, and (this is important), two old friends who happen to be in academia—one in Berlin and one in France—who helped by looking up documents like war diaries that have not been digitized. It took a village.

I’m a bit of a stickler with the details, so having diaries from both Allied soldiers and also from the central Powers helped a lot. I was fortunate to stumble onto some new twists on old history.

What did soldiers think of Canada as a nation before, during and after WWI?

Well, Canada didn’t have a significant armed force prior to 1914. There was a Militia with an active strength of about 43,000, but when Col. Sam Hughes assumed command of the Ministry of Militia and Defense in 1911, he badgered the government to increase the military budget each year. They did, by three and a half million dollars.

[At the beginning of the war], the German soldiers made no distinction between English Imperial soldiers and any of the dominions. They were all simply, “Tommies.” That changed after the Battle of the Somme, when German troops, astonished by the bravery and the speed of the Canadians, started calling them Sturmtruppen (storm troopers). Interestingly, the German army later adopted the name for their “shock troops” in WWII.

After the war, the entire world knew what Canada had contributed to the effort. I go into some detail on all of that in the book, and I hope to shed some 100-year-old light on the fact that what the Canadian Expeditionary Force did at Vimy was magnificent…and at the time, most of the world was well aware of it. Canada was never again thought of as a “Little Brother” dominion of Britain…they had earned a seat in that little railroad car, parked outside of Versailles. And they had earned it the hard way.

How important do you think it is for Canadians to understand the Battle of Vimy Ridge? Why?

I think it is extremely important. I found my ancestor’s name on a headstone in France, who died just below the summit of Hill 145 at Vimy. In researching his story—just looking to see if there was a story worth writing—I found out quite emotionally that there was a story I had to write.

I tried to write it in a way that it would do three things: I wanted it to be interesting to Americans, because I was appalled that most do not know the story. I wrote it as historical fiction because knowing if I could adequately tell a family’s story, one of unspeakable loss, it might tug on the heartstrings of the youth—if you do that as an author, quite often they’ll remember and they’ll care.

Third, I wrote this book as my homage to the Canadian people, whom I admire and respect. My hope was to perhaps inject a little pride into the lives of people who read it. They deserve it.

Recently there have been ongoing efforts to commemorate the 100^th Anniversary of Vimy Ridge. Should Canadians go to such an event overseas?

I think every Canadian, at some point in their lives should make a pilgrimage to Vimy Ridge. Period. If they have the means to get there for the 100th anniversary, I believe it will be a “life event” for everyone in attendance. It has been 27 years since I was there, speaking to an elderly Frenchman who had been there as a child just after the war had ended, while the fields were still rubble. Even as an American (with Canadian ancestry), it was very moving. If I can afford to, I hope to take my family—we’re going to try. I hope that the book will inspire many people to make the trip. Those who do will never, ever regret it.

What do you think is the best way to help youth understand the lessons from WWI?

I think in teaching the historical evolution of current events, and the world around them—with all of its problems and strife- is a good way to touch them. Don’t hold back; teach them the horrors of war, the tragedy, along with the beauty of benevolence that comes with the healing processes. World War II would not have happened the way it did—if at all—had the end of WWI been handled differently. I have spent some significant time in the Middle East as a photographer, and I can tell you there are those who are still upset over the treatment of their homelands during and after the world wars. I believe without a clear understanding of history, the view of the future is cloudy.

I will end with a selected quote from an “Afterword” in my book;

“Considering all of the achievements made by Canada in the half-century before World War I, it is difficult to definitively say that her independence was born on the fields of France and Flanders, but certainly one can say that the young country, in the midst of evolving into a strong, independent state, found her legs on the muddy, slippery, blood-soaked slopes of Vimy Ridge. Now they are the sunny slopes of long ago, but worth remembering.

It has been interesting in my research (as a non-Canadian looking inward), to find in thousands of pages of literature, not one Canadian veteran, citizen or documenter seeking any accolades whatsoever. Their only hope and request is that the soldiers are not forgotten. It is little enough.” 

Highlanders Without Kilts is expected to be released May 15, 2015. If you interested in visiting the Vimy Monument and joining the commemoration, click here.