Remembrance in New Brunswick tends to settle on the same few names and battles. Some of the province’s most striking wartime stories were left out of the monuments, the textbooks and the family conversations. Here are five of them.
1. The refugees behind barbed wire at Ripples
In 1940, Britain feared that German and Austrian refugees might be enemy agents. Canada agreed to take in “enemy aliens” and prisoners of war, and the men were deported from England to camps in New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec. On August 12, 1940, 717 refugees arrived by train at Camp B in the forest at Ripples, New Brunswick. The camp commander had expected dangerous fascists. He found religious Jews and 425 young men between 16 and 20.
Among them were medical doctors, concert pianists and young students. They had fled Nazi persecution, yet they spent months cutting firewood in the New Brunswick woods as prisoners. Their story is told today at the New Brunswick Internment Camp Museum in Minto.
2. The Acadian battalion that never fought as one
In late 1915, dairy magnate Louis-Cyriaque D’Aigle was chosen to raise the 165th Battalion. Acadian leaders hoped it would answer “slacker” accusations and prove Acadian loyalty. Outside Quebec, it was the only francophone unit created. Its volunteers were mostly young, single men from southeastern New Brunswick who had moved to Moncton for work.
The battalion never fought together. After sailing to England in March 1917, it was absorbed into the 13th Reserve Battalion on April 7. Most of its men were then sent to the Canadian Forestry Corps. The unit’s heritage is carried on today by The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment.
3. Indigenous soldiers who served and were shut out
More than 4,000 First Nations soldiers fought for Canada in the First World War. They returned to find themselves largely shut out of the benefits given to other veterans. The Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik of what is now New Brunswick were part of that wider story. More than 200 Mi’kmaw soldiers from across Mi’kma’ki enlisted.
The Soldier Settlement Act was meant to help veterans start farming. Status Indians could barely qualify, and the government took an additional 85,844 acres from reserves to supply non-Indigenous soldiers. Indigenous veterans campaigned for decades before the government offered a public apology and compensation in 2003.
4. The VC winner from Mountain Dale
Milton Gregg is remembered by military historians and has his name on a few buildings. Fewer people know what he did. He was born in 1892 in Mountain Dale, Kings County. He earned the Victoria Cross near Cambrai from September 27 to October 1, 1918, serving with The Royal Canadian Regiment. Wounded twice, he kept leading his men against the enemy trenches.
His life after the war is less well known. He served as president of the University of New Brunswick from 1944 to 1947. He was Canada’s Minister of Veterans’ Affairs from 1948 to 1950. In 2006, UNB opened a centre for the study of war and society in his name.
5. The old soldiers who guarded the camp
Camp B had guards as well as prisoners. The camp opened with 52 buildings and 350 guards. Its staff were New Brunswick Rangers of the Veterans Guard of Canada, mostly First World War veterans considered too old for the new war. Some had fought in one war and were now guarding refugees from another.
The camp’s story did not end with the refugees. From 1941 to 1945 it held only German and Italian prisoners of war.
Why these stories matter
None of these stories is a clean tale of victory. They involve exclusion, bureaucracy and decisions made out of fear. They are still part of New Brunswick’s history, and the museums, books and trails that preserve them are worth visiting.
