When we say everyone was doing their part for the war effort, we mean everyone, including poet Robert Service.
He was already a famous poet before the war, writing about the Klondike Gold Rush while living in Dawson City. But despite his notoriety, he still felt the need to serve. After a brief stint as a war correspondent, Service joined up with the American Ambulance Unit, where he drove ambulances with such illustrious volunteers as Walt Disney and Ernest Hemingway. This time in action on the Western Front proved quite fruitful, as he was inspired to write a book of poetry. He submitted the collection to his publisher in 1916 under the title Rhymes of a Red Cross Man. It was an instant success and became one of the best-selling books of poetry of the twentieth century.
If you’d like to know more about the Bard of the Yukon, you can see his cabin and a whole lot more in Dawson City.