Book Description
Foreword by Jean Edwards Stacey
This book has been a long time in the making. My husband Peter's father, Anthony James Stacey, was a veteran of the first World War, indeed he was a Blue Puttee, one of the famous First Five Hundred volunteers in the Newfoundland Regiment.
He wrote his memoirs of the First World War in longhand during-the 1960s and they were typed up by a daughter-in-law, Rose, wife of his son, Robert.
The memoirs were later retyped by Mr. Stacey's granddaughter, Cheryl Stacey, daughter of his son, Bruce. Typing the memoirs made them easier to read, but it wasn't until Mr. Stacey's sons, Cecil and Harold- oft ito work and put their dad's writing into, chapter form with some additional information about the war that I truly got interested in doing anything further.
Spurred on by my husband, who is the tenth of Jim and Blanche Stacey's 12 children, I began working on the basis of what Cecil and Harold had done.
What I did essentially was take the memoirs written by Mr. Stacey and add as full a history as I could of World War I and the Newfoundland Regiment.
Anthony James Stacey died in 1969 and I'm sorry that he didn't get to see the final results of his work. I can only hope that it would have met with his approval.
This book is dedicated to all veterans of war, including my own dad, Martin Edwards of Gander, who served overseas with the RAF 125 Newfoundland Squadron during the Second World War.
I hope you, as the reader, enjoy reading Memoirs of a Blue Puttee and finding out more about the Newfoundland Regiment and the First World War. I know you will as well occasionally chuckle as you read Mr. Stacey's reminiscences for, even in war there is humour and laughter.
-Jean Edwards Stacey
Reviews
"The result is a truly fantastic book that chronicles the history of the Newfoundland Regiment during the First World War... Memoirs of a Blue Puttee is a very well-researched and well written book, with many illustrations. The bridging between the memoirs' entries and the historical background gives a sense of continuity and keeps the reader informed of what is happening outside the world of the memoirs. The snippets of information from local newspapers also keeps the reader informed of what is happening on the home front. This is a book I strongly recommend for your summer reading list."
Mike MCarthy
The Telegram
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