Shot at Dawn: World War I, Allan McBride, France, 1917

I Am Canada

by John Wilson

Sentenced to death for abandoning his unit, a soldier recounts the events leading up to his arrest. The reality of trench warfare is a shock to Allan McBride. Like many other young soldiers, he enthusiastically signed up for the chance to join the war effort and be a part of the fighting. But after months in the ravaged battlefields, watching men, including his friend Ken, get blown up by German shelling, something in Allan snaps and he leaves his unit, believing he is "walking home to Canada" to get help for his friend. After nearly a week of wandering aimlessly, Allan is taken in by a band of real deserters ― men who have abandoned their units and live on the edge of survival in the woods of northern France. Once Allan realizes what he's done, he is paralyzed by the reality of his if he stays with these men, it's possible they will be found and have to face the consequences; and if he returns to his unit, he will be charged with desertion ― a charge punishable by death. In this outstanding new title in the I Am Canada series, acclaimed author John Wilson explores life in the horrific trenches of WWI and the effect of battle on a shell-shocked soldier.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Canada, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult

201 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

John Wilson, an ex-geologist and frustrated historian, is the award-winning author of fifty novels and non-fiction books for adults and teens. His passion for history informs everything he writes, from the recreated journal of an officer on Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition to young soldiers experiencing the horrors of the First and Second World Wars and a memoir of his own history. John researches and writes in Lantzville on Vancouver Island. There are many more details in his memoir, Lands of Lost Content, https://www.amazon.com/Lands-Lost-Con...

Reviews

[- ̗̀ jess ̖́- · Rating 4 out of 5]

i know this is a book about the first world war and everything that a first world war novel entails but i went into it like “oh it’s for kids it’ll probably be a bit less graphically horrific” and it was just as graphic and horrific as any other book on War Is Hell would be. 2000s kids books hit different man

would compare to private peaceful which i haven’t read but i watched (get george mackay out of the trenches) and v similar subject matter

[Aine · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is really good it keeps you on your toes and has a lot of things in it that will make you think about what people did when they went to fight and what this man did and his experience.He also explains as best he can about what it is like to lose a friends.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot got a bit convoluted in places and there were a couple typos in the story. It did keep me guessing until the very end, though.

[Michael Koch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in 2011 by John Wilson. He has written at least six books in the “I Am Canada” series. During the Great War, many of the larger armies lost soldiers due to cowardice, desertion, or what we now call PTSD. If found, these soldiers faced court martial and capital punishment. Australia banned capital punishment for these crimes and Canadians suffering PTSD were often taken off the line for rest and often became stretcher barriers.

In this book, Wilson creates a story about a young man, Allan McBride, who learned he could not kill animals when he tried to hunt. Nevertheless, he felt obliged to volunteer and do his bit. His introduction to the army after he arrived in France was bitter. Officers were rare in Etaples and the NCOs were brutal. Nobody was allowed out of the camp and soldiers began to fight back to the NCOs until they were needed and shipped off to various units. This lack of order destroyed some soldiers before they were even posted.

Once posted, McBride tried his best to be a good soldier. As he experienced battle, he became increasingly frightened and challenged. He suffered frequently from nightmares and hardly slept. After a nasty experience that harmed a friend, he tried to find a medic and wandered off for an entire day. In a stupor, he kept looking for assistance and ultimately found a group of friendly soldiers and joined them. This of course was considered desertion. Once found and returned, he experienced unfriendly treatment.

The book describes what Wilson considers a deserter’s treatment and what happens when he is returned. The experience throughout is probably relatively accurate. Wilson delivers a sympathetic story that grabs the reader’s heart.

A very well written and worthwhile read for anybody with Great War “in the trenches” interest, and worthwhile addition to any Great War collection. Worth reading if you want to taste the stress and discontinuity that can destroy even aggressive soldiers giving their best. Three and 1/2 Stars.

[Karlos Belanger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you looking for a book to knock your socks off? Well read Shot At Dawn. Shot At Dawn is a book that has a boy named Allan Mcbride. Allan goes to war with his uncle to fight. I think you should read this book because…

It’s a really good book for its history and the war because it was set in the 1900’s and World War I.
It’s got good characters like Allan(main character) and Harry Sommerfield
The story is good and hard to read because it will take about 2 or 3 days.

I think it could be better by telling more names for the characters and a kinda better story. So go to the book store and get shot at dawn. I rate it 5 stars.

[Laura Sturgeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a really creative and brilliant concept by John Wilson. He took true historical fact about boys and men being shot by their own squadrons for "desertion" or "not pulling their weight" in battle even though they are sleep deprived, shell-shocked, traumatized, half-starved, and terribly homesick. His fictitious character of Allan McBride brought to light and gave a voice to the numerous real life Allans that served, suffered and then for many were executed by their own men. It's an easy and extremely engaging read. This would have made a great movie. Really appreciate all of the research that went into this. Excellent job!

[Michael Kitazaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of the better books in this series. Allan's leadup to him slowly breaking down inside and outside was very well done. Sommerfield although a villain did have a point and his intentions were understandable but with poor morals. Good read that isn't afraid to show the horrors of war.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very very graphic

[Mick Maurer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers the impact of Shell Shock (PTSD) which for some ended with their being shot (the British & other Empire territories, for all but Australia).

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book but dear lord is it graphic for a book intended for 9-12 year olds

[Carole Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. It gives an interesting insight as to how various minds work when dealing with unbelievable stress.

[Seamus Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book “Shot at Dawn” is about what it’s like to be a footsoldier during WWI (World War 1). The book starts out in a vague way but clears up after. It tells you about the war, what it is like in and outside the war and when you desert your squadron. The book makes the reader feel that they know what the war was like, as if they’re in it.
The book begins in a place called Nicola Valley in British Columbia. The main character (Allan McBride) goes through pain, betrayal, shock and seeing his comrades and friends killed. Allan joined the army when he was eightteen to fight by his childhood friend Ken. He went through training and requested to be in Ken’s squadron.
Allan became a good soldier and fought in war. He moved from squadron to squadron and battled the Germans in each one. Eventually the pressure of the war got to Allan and he started to snap at his friends from time to time. When Allan’s first friend died (not Ken) he couldn't sleep as well as before. The dreams he had got worse and worse.
One day when the Germans were attacking the allied troops they used gas. Allan’s sergeant died from a mortar explosion. When the gas stopped Allan tried to desert his squadron. His friend Bob tried to stop him they fought and Bob was knocked over by Allan then was buried from a mortar explosion. Allan tried to dig him out but Bob was already dead. Allan then suffered from shell shock, he wandered aimlessly for days trying to go back to Canada to help Bob. Eventually he came across a refugee camp for deserters. There he recovered and learned that if he went back to his squadron he would be shot for desertion. He stayed there and helped the other deserters. Eventually the only other Canadian deserter tried to make Allan go to Canada with him. Allan’s friend Ken found Allan and tried to bring him back. Allan decided to go back to his squadron. But the other Canadian deserter tried to kill both of them to escape. Allan shot him before he could. When Allan went back he was to be shot for deserting. Ken came just before Allan was to be shot and saved his life by explaining how he saved his.
The book then ends. I rated it 5/5 stars because it sucked me in and I couldn't stop reading it. I learned what the life of a soldier in WWI had to deal with.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I am reading this series plus I enjoy this author.

Having read this author before I knew this would not be a book for young children. John Wilson writes war stories that are gripping, horrific and page-turning. He describes the death in graphic detail which is not for the faint of heart and yet he does so in few words without gratuitous adjectives. The simple brief truth is enough to bring the reality of war home to the reader. The "I Am Canada" series, while recommended for 8-12 year olds, is not consistently suitable for the age spread with each individual book. Some books are OK for 8+ while others, like this one, are more for 12+ (as is suggested on the publisher's website). So make sure you know the title will match your child's maturity when choosing.

I found this book gripping and read it in one sitting which was only interrupted by a need to eat. This is a brutal look at war and not very sympathetic to the soldiers' plight as we are only getting the point of view of one person. Now, don't get me wrong, the reader is made sympathetic, terribly so, to the plight of the soldiers but the book does come across as harsh and slightly anti-war in its sympathies. This is clarified though in the author's note which is very informative on the Canadian role in WWI and speaks particularly to Canada's pride and remembrance of soldiers who fought at Amiens. I learnt quite a lot of information in this note about the shooting of British Empire soldiers for desertion. A moving read which will appeal mostly to boys, and those who enjoy gripping and personal war stories.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seventeen year old Allan McBride enlists in the Canadian army during World War I following in the footsteps of his best friend and hero Ken Harrison, who is four years older and has already been in the army for a few years and has been made an officer. When Allan arrives in France he is shocked that the army isn’t as glamorous as he had expected. All around him are the horrors of the trenches, death, and despair. After he witnesses, and feels responsible for, the violent death of his good friend he goes into shell shock and attempts to walk home to Canada. As he wanders around the French countryside in a daze he comes across a group of deserters who take him in. When he comes back to his senses he wants to return to the front, but the other deserters tell him that he is one of them now and if he goes back he will surely be sentenced to death.

I’m a huge fan of World War I and II fiction, and I found this book to be exceptional. Wilson provides very detailed accounts of some key battles on the front lines. The details are quite gruesome, but I think that’s what makes it so realistic. The ending was a bit too picture perfect though, but I was glad that our hero was safe. I think that Wilson also realistically describes the sense of glory that many young men had when they enlisted (especially those who were underage), and soon lost once they realized the true horrors of war.

[Mary Foxe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is only the fifth Dear America related book I have reviewed that I was disappointed in. Two I just could not get into. One had a horrific ending. One was dreadfully boring. This one was both boring and obviously a slap-dash job.

This is the only Dear America related book I have read that ignores entirely the format of the series. If I were to guess, the author had already written a WWI book, Scholastic needed another I Am Canada book, and the two decided to make money. Even if it was not an I Am Canada book, it was poorly designed with an unnecessary amount of telling and not showing. That takes effort as Dear America, etc. is literally telling you the events of what happened rather than putting you straight into the action.

I have been told by other readers they enjoyed it. I do not find this book either harmful or useless. I personally am deeply annoyed by it. There are occasional moments of humanity, but it is often lost in the framing device and/or exposition.

So It Goes.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allan McBride goes to war as a young man in his late teens. He lies to get enlisted because he idolizes his neigbour Ken. He discovers the horrors of war and the fact that it is not as wonderful as he was led to believe. He learns that a private is treated very differently from an officer in the army. Wilson has caught the horrible Battles of World War 1 and how other countries gave up and yet the Canadians pushed on in France. We learn about shock, deserters and post traumatic stress. Allan McBride would have been shot as a deserter because he left the battlefield in a state of shock but his friend Ken saves him from the firing squad at dawn , only in the last few minutes. Good historical facts about WW1.

[Zainab Niazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think This book was so truly amazing. I was so surprised by the true facts it was giving me. How many bloody war Canada had to go through, it was just so emotional. I would totally recommend this book to people that are into War Non-Fiction because sometimes you would see that there are some interesting facts in the book also by going at the last pages and looking at the real life pictures and knowing, how they lived, what they went through while being at Wars

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was extermely well written, managed to protray PTSD much better than I would have expected, given that it's a children's book. It also told the story that is never told thesedays, and that is the men who were shot by their own side for deserting. The book was horrifying on many accounts, again especially since it's written in a Childern's series.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book was really great. The only thing it was missing was a more vast variety of characters. The war violence is very real, however, it feels a little bit more held back, as it is a children's book.

[Zainab · Rating 5 out of 5]

was a really good books. the ending was really interesting and also when he escape from his camp when the Germans attacked

[Zainab · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this boook

[Austyn]

ayn

[Jas]

idk

[Jack Lynes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm reading it for library.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. It was a bit more gruesome than I expected that type of book to be, but that's clever, as war is unexpected and gruesome of course. The whole deserter feature was neat. Every page of this book taught me something new.