by Randy Evans, as reported in the Sarnia Canadian Observer from 1914-18
Mail has always been considered, respected and treated by the parties thereto as private and confidential. In peacetime it would be inconceivable that even newsworthy correspondence between parties would be forwarded to the local press for sharing on a community wide basis.
However in the extraordinary circumstances of World War One this norm was altered. Accordingly history shows that citizens during the 1914-1918 war years were motivated to, and in fact did, often set aside the peace time concept of absolute privacy and thereby would share their soldier’s letters home with the community as a whole.
Considering the context of the times this should not be surprising. War can create in a small community a powerful universal focus. War can and does create a sense of unanimity amongst those left behind. For the boys fighting, all at home shared a common goal and that was to do collectively whatever they could to support The War Effort and bring the boys home alive.
The sharing of what otherwise would be considered private mail could be seen as part of this commonality. A soldier’s mail was undeniably important to the friends and family but, also, there clearly appears to have been a realization that such was also newsworthy to the community as a whole and therefore should be shared.
What one soldier wrote could very well be applicable to another soldier and therefore important to other families in the community.
For the Sarnia Daily Observer, receipt from the friends and family of soldier’s correspondence or Official Telegrams provided a regular source of print. [2]
The correspondences published generally did not detail what daily life was like in the trenches. It is not known if this was as a result of screening by the families or the newspaper or both. Whatever the reason, one does not normally see in the letters details of the mud, rats, bloated dead bodies or the other grim realities of the conflict.
It was as if to all there was an unspoken understanding that the war necessarily caused incessant worry, loss, homesickness, sacrifice and an acutely heightened awareness of mortality. Casualties would have to be set out in the paper – that would be a given – but beyond this it was not necessary to describe the conditions in which the boys toiled and fought.
As a result, the letters home and subsequently given for publishing tended to be inoffensive and positive.
Many dealt with how well the soldiers were being treated.
S.S. Lapland
May 3, ‘16
“…The Government is like a mother to us, so careful; one can feel her protection instinctively.”
Pte. Beecher Carr [to friends] [3]
Pte. Beecher Carr survived the war.
Whitley Camp, Surrey England
Oct. 28, 1917
“Dear Ona—
I received your card this morning and sure was glad to hear from you…
[Our Captain] gave us a smoking concert the other night….We had a good time. We had a rabbit dinner today and it sure tasted good…I remain as ever your friend
Eddie” [4]
Pte. Eddie Causley was killed in action on August 30, 1918 less than one year after writing. Age 20.
Often the shared war correspondence would express thanks for the efforts of The War Effort back home.
“Dear Mrs., Elsworth:
Two dozen pair of socks arrived today. I distributed them amongst the Sarnia men who are with us. They were certainly glad to receive them and being from home they were doubly welcome….They asked me to thank the members of the Pro Patria Chapter I.O.D.E…
I expect to leave for France any day now …
Yours sincerely
Stewart Cowan
Shorncliffe England
July 5th, 1916″ [5]
Lieut. Cowan would be killed by shell fire on the Somme a mere three months after writing this letter home, at age 26.
In many instances the crossing of paths with fellow Sarnians would be a topic of a letter or photograph ultimately published.
They Met In France
[Photo] From left to right: Lieut James Mackenzie…Lieut. G.G.Garvey…Seated Capt. D.A. Parsons…This photo was taken in France recently when all the Sarnia boys chanced to meet. [6]All survived the war.
Miss Blanch Haslip received the following letter from Pte. Frank Janes
March 21st, 1918
“Dear Friend – Just a line to let you know Art and Jim were transferred to the I.M.F. yesterday… I am trying hard to get in the same draft as they are as I wish to keep with them….” [7]
Pte Jane Franks survived the war, albeit wounded.
In sum the letters contained a tone which was designed to be a source of comfort to the friends and family of the soldier writing. Through their publication into the community it was perhaps hoped that the readers would relate and identify that their loved one too was being treated well, was sharing a common purpose with other Sarnians overseas and most importantly was being protected by the same expressed esprit de corps as the writer.
Sadly however bitter news was also shared and published. The Country was, after all, at war and of that there could be no denying.
Life in the Trenches
“Life in the trenches is not a pleasant one…The fields that surround us are literally covered with the bodies of dead soldiers. We hope for the end but we cannot tell how long the war will last.” [8]
Pte. Garnet Dawson to his parents. Pte. Dawson survived the war.
“My Dear Mother:
… it rains or sleet every day nearly. Raw and miserable and the trenches are a terror. Actually water over the knees have I stood in for 2 days and nights and kept my back humped up and my head down below the trenches at all times.” [9]
Pte. William Harry Jennings to his mother. Pte. Jennings survived the war.
Somewhere at the Front, July 5, 1917
“… I was lucky enough to see the explosion of the mines… It was a grand spectacle if one could forget that part of the setting was human [German ] lives. Talk about rivers being red with blood, here it was shell holes filled with water that was red with blood…” [10]
Sgt. William Chapman in August 1917 to his friend Thomas Peacock. Sgt. Chapman was killed two months later on 27 Sept. 1917 at age 40.
The Wounded
“Jas. Janes 137 North Brock St. has received the following telegram: Ottawa July 19, 1916. Sincerely regret to inform you that 2654 Lance-Corp. Frank Janes …wounded severely in hand…” [11]
Lance-Corp. Janes survived the war.
“Mrs. E. Bending 265 Exmouth St.has received a telegram from Ottawa stating that her husband Pte. Arthur Bending has been wounded… gunshot wound to the back.” [12]
Pte. Bending survived the war.
“Mr. and Mrs. James Ross, 277 Emma St. have received the following official message. Ottawa Ont. Oct.16 sincerely regret to inform you that 53613 Pte. Peter Ross officially declared dangerously wounded.” [13]
Pte. Peter Ross survived the war.
The Deaths
“Another Sarnia young man has laid down his life for King and Country in the person of Lieut. Stewart Cowan, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Cowan… Sunday morning a cablegram was received by Mr. Cowan…” [14]
Lieut. Stewart Cowan. Age 26
The following letter has been received by Mrs. Mary Eddy, 330 South Vidal St., Sarnia
“Dear Mrs Eddy;
It is with deep regret that I have to inform you of the death in action of your son Gunner W.P. Eddy…During a period of enemy shelling a shell burst close by the gun killing your son instantly…
…our deepest sympathy in your great grief.
Sgt. Ge. W. Shearer” [15]
Gunner William Peter Eddy. Age 32
‘” Mrs Annie Stott 249 Queen St. received a telegram this morning from Ottawa stating that her husband Private Herbert Stott has died of wounds ….He is survived by his widow and five children the youngest child being three years of age.” [16]
Pte. Herbert Stott, Age 36
Mrs. Fred Sproule received this message today.
“Deeply regret to inform you…Pte. William Henry Reynolds infantry officially reported died of wounds …gunshot wounds in chest.” [17]
Pte. William Henry Reynolds, Age 29.
“Thedford, Ont. Oct 16. Mrs. Pickell of Bosanquet has received official notice of the death of her son Pte. Baden Powell Pickell who was killed in action.”
Pte. Baden Powell Pickell. Enlisted at age 16. Died age 18. [18]
Sadly these are but just examples of the dark telegrams published. The citizens of Sarnia began reading these as early as April, 1915 and not just in relation to its own sons. Former Sarnians and the families of neighbouring villages and townships also shared their tragic news. [19] The cumulative effect must have been at times palpable.
As the Allies began their final offensive in the late summer of 1918 the number of Official Telegrams advanced by the families to the newspaper increased in numbers and intensity. The August 18, 1918 edition saw four separate telegram reports on the front page. The September 5th, 1918 edition saw four more separate telegram reports. The September 7th, 1918 saw two further separate telegram reports. In the October 24th, 1918 edition just one page gave evidence that families had forwarded for print six separate telegrams – four announcing deaths and two announcing wounding. And on and on this went as the Official casualty lists for Sarnia became more frequent during this time. [20]
From August 14, 1918 to November 25, 1918, Sarnians read in the Lists the names of no less than thirty-three of its soldiers. The publication of the actual Telegrams received personalized the lists in a most tragic and far reaching way.
On November 11, 1918 the Sarnia Canadian Observer headline read “HUMANITY SAVED” and thus signaled the end of the Great War.
Family responses to the newspaper did not however end with the Armistice. On December 26, 1918 The Observer ran a special four page feature setting out captioned photographs of 136 of the City’s soldiers. Some had fallen in the war, some had not. It is clear that the vast majority of the information and photographs were supplied by the families of the men.
Sadly, included was a photograph of Flight Lieut. Neil Hanna who was killed on duty in Italy in an airplane crash nine days after Armistice. He was Sarnia’s last overseas casualty of The Great War. [21]
After the December 26, 1918 article the letters and photos from families were in essence no longer to be found publicly. This was to be expected for with the end of the war there were no further letters coming from the front. That is except for one singular instance.
On April 29th, 1921, one and one-half years after the guns were silenced the Beaumont family forwarded to the Sarnia Canadian Observer correspondence received regarding their son Pte. George Beaumont. Pte. Beaumont was killed in action in October, 1918 at the age of23. The correspondence was published under the headline “FINDS GRAVE OF SARNIA SOLDIER CLOSE TO CAMBRAI.” [22]
Thereafter for Sarnia no further letters from the front were forthcoming or publicly published. After all, for far too many families, those remaining at the front could no longer write.
Lest we forget.
REFERENCES
1. The newspaper banner under which the letters were published
2. During the war years 1914-1918 the Sarnia Newspaper was titled either The Sarnia Daily Observer (S.D.O.) or The Sarnia Canadian Observer (S.C.O.) Information also received from The War Remembrance Project, Tom Slater editor.
3. S.C.O. 30 May 1916.
4. S.D.O. 23 November 1917.
5. S.C.O. 19 July 1916.
6. S.C.O. 10 August 1918.
7. S.C.O. 23 May 1918.
8. The War Remembrance Project, T. Slater, Sarnia
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid. The account would be referring to the Battle of Messines where in 21 mines the Allies simultaneously detonated 600 tons of explosives killing an estimated 10,000 German soldiers.
11. S.C.O. 21 July 1916.
12. S.C.O. 19 Aug 1918.
13. S.C.O. 24 October 1918.
14. S.C.O. 12 October 1916.
15. S.C.O. 17 October 1916.
16. S.C.O. 19 August 1918.
17. S.C.O. 19 August 1918.
18. S.C.O. 24 October 1918.
19. The first Sarnian to give his life for King and Country in World War One was Pte. Roy Iliffe killed in action 22 April,1915.
20. August 1918 marked the beginning of The Hundred Days Offensive in which Canadian troops spearheaded a final push through German lines on the Western Front. It is commonly felt that the Canadian army’s reputation for fighting success accounted for it being chosen to lead the way at this final decisive moment in The War.
21. Many veterans died of wounds after arriving home. The S.C.O. reported that memorial services were held at the local graves of fourteen soldiers who came back but died thereafter within three years of Armistice. S.C.O. 29 April 1921.
22. S.C.O. 29 April 1921.