FROM A STRETCHER HANDLE The World War I Journal and Poems of Pte. Frank Walker Edited by Mary F. Gaudet

Frank Walker was 20 years old when "the War to end wars" began in 1914. He enlisted with the Canadian Field Ambulance, Canadian Medical Corps, and served as a stretcher bearer in some of the worst battles of the war, including Ypres, Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. During that time he kept a journal, which charted his gradual transformation from military innocent to war-weary veteran. He also wrote a collection of poems, which was published in England during the war. Upon his return to Charlottetown in 1918, he went on to become one of the Charlottetown 's most respected newspaper editors until his retirement in 1969. He died in 1977.

Edited by and prefaced with an essay from his daughter, Mary Gaudet, From a Stretcher Handle includes the journal and the poems, as well as an essay by Island historian Boyde Beck, which places the journal within the context of the Canadian Medical Service on the Western Front.

As time passes, and more and more people lose sight of the horrors of war, works such as From a Stretcher Handle serve as raw and powerful reminders of what so many fought and died for. At the same time, Walker's words set Prince Edward Island firmly in the canon of First World War literature.