{"id":12665,"date":"2017-03-10T06:00:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T11:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.royalmontrealregiment.com\/?p=12665"},"modified":"2017-03-10T06:00:08","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T11:00:08","slug":"duval-diary-witnessing-the-war-100-years-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/duval-diary-witnessing-the-war-100-years-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Duval Diary: Witnessing the War 100 years on"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Westmount, Quebec – 10 March\u00a02017:\u00a0The RMR Foundation is working to keep alive the memory of those who served during the First World War and starting 0n 22 March 2017 we will begin publishing the daily diary of an eye-witness from the RMR: Private Raymond Duval, MM.<\/p>\n

Duval enlisted in the summer of 1916 and eventually reached the front and was officially badged into the Regiment in June 1917. He kept a diary throughout his time in the war which\u00a0he published it as a memoir in 1954.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2014\u00a0The Diary and Memoir of Private Raymond Duval<\/em><\/a> was edited and compiled by Natalie A. Dyck, and she has graciously permitted the RMR Foundation to publish Duval’s entries online. Starting with his first entry on 22 March 1917, we will publish each entry online precisely 100 years after he originally wrote them.<\/p>\n

Natalie writes an excellent introduction to our project<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Lest \u00a0we \u00a0forget. \u00a0It\u2019s \u00a0a \u00a0term \u00a0we\u2019re \u00a0all \u00a0familiar \u00a0with \u00a0every \u00a0November 11th, \u00a0which \u00a0compels \u00a0to recall the past sacrifices that make our present possible. But for Private Raymond Duval, it was \u00a0a \u00a0prescient \u00a0belief \u00a0that \u00a0drove \u00a0him \u00a0to \u00a0record \u00a0his \u00a0experiences \u00a0in the \u00a0First \u00a0World \u00a0War \u00a0as they happened. Sensing the significance of his current events one hundred years ago, he left behind a story that\u2019s evocative of an entire era \u00a0and rouses us to remember and empathize with a generation lost long ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

Like many men of his time, Duval was excited by the romance and magnitude of fighting for King \u00a0and \u00a0country \u00a0in \u00a0the \u00a0war \u00a0that \u00a0would \u00a0give \u00a0birth \u00a0to \u00a0the \u00a0modern world. \u00a0Born \u00a0in \u00a0Grand-Mere, \u00a0Quebec, \u00a0on \u00a0November 23rd, \u00a01886, \u00a0he \u00a0enlisted \u00a0with \u00a0the \u00a0244th \u00a0Infantry \u00a0Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, on \u00a0August 10th, 1916. Like many battalions of the C.E.F., his was broken up and used as reinforcements for \u00a0those already in the field. Private Duval was assigned to the 23rd Reserve Battalion in England, before joining the 14th Battalion, Royal Montreal Regiment, in France. He served on the Western Front, witnessing the carnage and senseless human sacrifice at the \u00a0battles of Hill 70, Passchendaele, Arras, Amiens, Canal Du Nord, and Cambrai, until he was discharged on April 21st, 1919.<\/em><\/p>\n

During \u00a0the \u00a0war, \u00a0he \u00a0maintained \u00a0a \u00a0daily \u00a0record \u00a0of \u00a0his \u00a0experiences \u00a0in \u00a0the \u00a0diary \u00a0provided \u00a0to him \u00a0by \u00a0the \u00a0army. \u00a0After \u00a0returning \u00a0to \u00a0Canada, \u00a0he \u00a0was \u00a0an \u00a0active \u00a0member \u00a0of \u00a0the \u00a0Grand-Mere community \u00a0 and \u00a0 the \u00a0 Royal \u00a0 Canadian \u00a0 Legion, \u00a0 and \u00a0 wrote \u00a0 several \u00a0 articles \u00a0 in \u00a0 the \u00a0 local newspaper. \u00a0With \u00a0the \u00a0intention \u00a0to \u00a0create \u00a0a \u00a0public \u00a0record \u00a0of \u00a0what \u00a0he called “the \u00a0brighter side” of combat duty, he again took pen to paper and wrote a memoir in January of 1954.<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite its many horrors, Duval remembered the war fondly, telling his grandchildren that surrounded \u00a0by \u00a0the \u00a0constant \u00a0and \u00a0random \u00a0threat \u00a0of \u00a0death, \u00a0he had \u00a0never \u00a0felt more \u00a0alive. \u00a0His comrades \u00a0 remained \u00a0 lifetime \u00a0 friends, \u00a0 many \u00a0 of \u00a0 them \u00a0 present \u00a0 for \u00a0 his \u00a0 60th \u00a0 wedding anniversary \u00a0to \u00a0his \u00a0beloved \u00a0wife, \u00a0Clare. \u00a0Raymond \u00a0Duval \u00a0died \u00a0at \u00a0the \u00a0age \u00a0of \u00a096, \u00a0in \u00a0St. \u00a0Anne\u2019s Veterans \u00a0Hospital \u00a0in \u00a0Quebec. \u00a0He \u00a0wished \u00a0to \u00a0share \u00a0his \u00a0belief \u00a0that \u00a0in \u00a0the \u00a0worst \u00a0of \u00a0times, \u00a0the human spirit endures, and the best in men can emerge.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please check the RMR website daily for the next two years to read Private Duval’s diary<\/a>. He maintained his diary from the day he left Montreal until arriving back in Montreal with the Regiment on Easter Sunday, 20 April 1919.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Westmount, Quebec – 10 March\u00a02017:\u00a0The RMR Foundation is working to keep alive the memory of those who served during the First World War and starting 0n 22 March 2017 we<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17,14,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-duval-diary","category-history","category-news","category-rmr-museum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}