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An inaccurate post on the service of Inuk war hero John Shiwak is making the rounds online, and one advocate with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum says it’s all made up, from claims about his service to the AI image included.
Last week, a post on a public Facebook group called World History, went up on Shiwak’s war service. The post, which has a note that it is AI content, has more than 1,000 shares. Many of the comments expressed admiration for Shiwak, while some recognized the post for its numerous errors and false claims.
“First and foremost is an insult to their family. It’s an insult to his memory. It’s an insult to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s an insult to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment,” Frank Gogos told CBC News.
Military historian Frank Gogos calls it the ‘biggest insult’ he’s ever seen to the memory of a Newfoundland Regiment soldier. On the eve of Remembrance Day, an AI-generated post about Inuk sharpshooter John Shiwak is telling a fabricated story about the real life war hero.
“It’s an unmitigated assault on everything that, you know, we should be standing for and especially during Remembrance Week.”
Lance-Cpl. Shiwak enlisted with the regiment in 1915 and earned a reputation as a skilled marksman. He was killed in the village of Masnières in northern France by a German shell, along with other soldiers, on Nov. 21, 1917.
Frank Gogos worries that if effort isn’t made to combat this post, it could become the story people associate with John Shiwak. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC)
Gogos said over the weekend people began reaching out to him about the post and on Saturday, he fired off a rebuttal on Facebook, lambasting its falsehoods.
“What I read was absolutely atrocious. It was the biggest insult I think I’ve ever seen when it comes to the memory of one of our soldiers,” he said.
The entire post was a work of fiction that didn’t tell the true story about Shiwak, said Gogos. For example, it claims Shiwak fought in the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel, picking off Germans soldiers from a shell hole. In fact, Shiwak didn’t join the battalion in the field until after they left Beaumont-Hamel.
The post also claims Shiwak was killed by a sniper, but Gogos said it’s well-known he was killed by a German artillery shell. The post also claims that Shiwak is buried at Masnières British Cemetery, with a plot number given.
Gogos said he and other historians have tried to determine his burial site and it’s believed it’s on the site of a school in the town of Masnières.
“These things are easily verified with a few minutes’ work,” said Gogos.
Frank Gogos pointed out numerous problems with this AI generated image supposedly of Shiwak, including a gun from the Second World War and a 1950s Royal Newfoundland Regiment shoulder epaulette. (Facebook)
The post also includes an AI generated image of Shiwak which has several glaringly anachronistic errors.
“This picture depicted him with a 1950s Royal Newfoundland Regiment shoulder epaulette, a Canadian forage cap in the front lines at Masnières. A Second World War gun. Everything about it was just absolutely garbage and an insult to the memory of soldiers who served,” he said.
Gogos said there are accurate sources about Shiwak’s military service, including at The Rooms, which has his service file digitized and accessible online.
Gogos said there are real harms to information like this circulating, even from people sharing the post in frustration to its misrepresentation, as it just further spreads the story.
“The way I see it, the more you spread this misinformation, the more this narrative takes hold and the more this story will appear as John Shiwak’s story. And I think that’s absolutely egregious,” said Gogos.
“John Shiwak’s story is heroic.”
“If we don’t nip it in the bud or if we can’t nip it in the bud — that’s going to be John Shiwak’s story in five years.”
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