Documenting War and Forging Reputations: Sir Max Aitken and the Canadian War Records Office in the First World War

Abstract

Although the Canadian Corps was one of the finest fighting formations on the Western Front during the First World War and earned a reputation as the shock troops of the British Expeditionary Force, the Corps had an active propaganda campaign that publicized Canadian uniqueness throughout the war. The organization behind this promotion was the Canadian War Records Office, headed by Sir Max Aitken, who nurtured a relentless campaign extolling the heroic deeds of Canadians in France. With an eye on the future, Aitken ensured that the image constructed of the Canadian soldier was not only based in battlefield accomplishments but also articulated through the legacy of war records and a barrage of media productions.

Engaging with war records: archival histories and historical practice

“…26 Tim Cook elaborated on that process in 2003, observing that 'They [CWRO] may have been the spokesmen for the army, but they certainly were not neutral or objective in their approachthey judged what to report and they defined what was to be emphasized and what would be forgotten.' 27 If this attention to Canadian war records joined with contemporary debate, its interests had been presaged in Australia almost two decades prior. Michael Piggott, then working at the Australian War Memorial, had been pointing to the need for histories of Australia's records of war as early as 1980.…”

‘War history on scraps of paper’: Exhibitions of Documents at the Australian War Memorial, 1922-1954

“…To the discomfort of the Dominion Archivist of Canada, Arthur Doughty -who was an advocate for professional archival practice -the CWRO was not above creating and, indeed, fabricating records in order to promote the story of Canada's achievements in the war. 12 The AWRS, on the other hand, had no responsibility for publicity and propaganda and Bean objected privately to Beaverbrook's sanctioning of doctoring and faking photographs. 13 Bean was not opposed to publicity but at the AWRS official photographers were instructed to regard photographs as 'a sacred record -standing for future generations to see for ever the plain, simple truth.'…”