August 4th was the 100th Anniversary of Canada’s entry into WWI; when Britain declared war on Germany, Canada was automatically brought into the was as a British Dominion. The August 4th issue of the paper did not mention this at all. Likely the paper had already been printed when the news was received by telegraph.
However, it is curious that other than the “Telegraphic War News”, there are very few local items in the papers through the entire month of August. not even an Editorial was written about the situation. A letter publishes August 25 seems to indicate that there had been some heated discussion amoung local citizens. The feeling that the war would be short (‘over by Christmas’) was possibly a factor, and there are indications that the isolation of the area contributed to frustration about what actions should be taken locally.
Below are various news articles taken from August 11, 25 & 28 issues of The Grande Prairie Herald.
Written and researched by Kathryn Auger.