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National Post

Second World War novel highlights 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and Vancouver shipyards

Jack Wang's debut novel The Riveter may be set during the Second World War, but several of its themes ring true today. Article content Article content A cross-cultural love story set in Vancouver and on European battlefields in the early 1940s, the story focuses on Chinese-Canadian Josiah Chang, a riveter working on Victory ships in a Vancouver shipyard, and office worker Poppy Miller, a jitney-driving singer with an independent streak as wide as the Burrard Inlet. They meet at the shipyard and fall in love. Article content Article content But the story is complicated by her father's disapproval and a law that says if Poppy marries Josiah, she has to give up her citizenship. The couple is separated after an incident at the shipyard sends Josiah into a life-changing rage. Having to flee, he heads east and manages to enlist and make his way into the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. Article content Formed in 1942, the unit engaged in key operations in the European theatre, playing a crucial role in the Allied invasion of Normandy during D-Day on June 6, 1944, and took part in the Battle of the Bulge. Article content 'I would love to think this is a novel for a time. On the one hand, it does dramatize the ways in which Canada has been an imperfect nation, like any nation. But at the same time, it also dramatizes, I think, our courageous spirit, our fighting spirit, the ways we sacrificed in the fight against fascism,' said Vancouver native Wang recently from Ithaca, N.Y., where he is a professor in the writing department at Ithaca College. 'It reminds us of how we forged our identity as a nation, which was largely through two world wars.' Article content Article content Wang's historically accurate story takes readers through paratrooper training in the U.S. and Britain, then right into the thick of the European war. Article content 'A lot of Canadians aren't familiar with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. For example, many Americans know about Easy Company from Band of Brothers, but I don't know that all Canadians know that we had a famed parachute battalion of our own,' said Wang. 'I would love to think that this is a novel that can remind people of the sacrifices our country has made and remind us of who we are as a nation.' Article content One member of that famed unit, Richard Mar, a Chinese-Canadian private from Vancouver, was a key figure in propelling Wang forward with this story. Article content 'There was a brief write-up about Richard Mar in a book called The Dragon And The Maple Leaf by Marjorie Wong,' said Wang adding that Josiah, who was a tree faller before becoming a riveter and a paratrooper, was inspired by the cartoon character Johnny Canuck. 'It's just a few brief paragraphs, but it describes how he served in the Ardennes and how he jumped into Germany. That really sort of was the first germ for the story. The idea of a Chinese-Canadian as a paratrooper.'