Honour Before Glory

Honour Before Glory
Directed byAnthony Sherwood
Written byAnthony Sherwood
Produced byAnthony Sherwood
StarringAnthony Sherwood
Music byVictor Davies
Release date
  • November 6, 2001 (2001-11-06)
Running time
67 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Honour Before Glory is a Canadian docudrama film, directed by Anthony Sherwood and released in 2001.[1] Based on the personal diaries of William A. White, Sherwood's great uncle, the film portrays the history of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada's first all-Black Canadian military unit, which was deployed during World War I but faced significant problems caused by racism.[2]

Sherwood himself plays White in dramatic reenactments.[3]

The film was broadcast by CBC Television on November 6, 2001.[1] It has seen frequent followup screenings for Black History Month,[4] other Black Canadian cultural events,[5] and Remembrance Day ceremonies.[6]

In 2023, Telefilm Canada announced that the film was one of 23 titles that will be digitally restored under its new Canadian Cinema Reignited program to preserve classic Canadian films.[7]

  1. ^ a b Sid Adilman, "Canada's forgotten dishonour before glory". Toronto Star, November 6, 2001.
  2. ^ James Southgate, "Diary inspires film about black regiment: Based on a found diary, Anthony Sherwood has created a historic documentary on Canada's No. 2 Construction Battalion". Ottawa Citizen, November 8, 2001.
  3. ^ Bill Brownstein, "For black battalion, not all fights were on the battlefield". Montreal Gazette, November 5, 2014.
  4. ^ "Film about Canada's all-black WWI battalion to screen Friday in Montreal". Canadian Press, February 26, 2003.
  5. ^ Sarah Schofield, "Actor tells uncle's story on film; 13th annual John Brown Festival". Chatham Daily News, May 7, 2012.
  6. ^ "Film about WWI all-Black military battalion receives special Oakville screening". In Halton, October 28, 2022.
  7. ^ Pat Mullen, "Oscar Winning Doc Leads List of Restored Canadian Classics". Point of View, May 9, 2023.