Remembrance Day – letters from home
Remembrance Day – November 11
An estimated 40 million people (civilian and military) were killed in the carnage of World War 1, or as it was called at the time The War to End All Wars. In a bit of cosmic irony, the peace settlement laid the groundwork for the next world war where the final toll is not fully known, but conservatively estimated to be between 70-85 million.
After WW1 ended, people struggled to come to terms with their grief and overwhelming horror of trench warfare. It was rare for a family not to have been affected by it. When the conflict ended, countries erected monuments to the dead and set aside a day to remember both those that didn’t return from war and the charnel house war that ended at 11am on November 11, 1918. It was decided that that day and time would become Remembrance Day in Canada. The day is also known as Armistice Day and Veteran’s Day.
During the war, soldiers and their families saw letters as a life line to a world they left behind. Today, we send email back and forth with a click of a button and moan when it takes longer than a few seconds to arrive at its destination. During the war, letters had to go to military sorting stations, pass censors and then be packed aboard ships that crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. From there, they would be unloaded, sorted again and sent on their way by train and later trucks. It took time, an occasionally months for mail to catch up to soldiers. Sometimes they arrived home before the mail caught up with them.
This cover trailed after a Canadian soldier for months before reaching him. It was sent March 1919, by his wife. Hall, like many Canadian soldiers found themselves idling in England while the Canadian government dithered about bringing them home. American, Australian, NZ and British soldiers were long gone, but Canada kept them far from their families for months.
Cover sent to Sgt Normal Hall.
The letter is a wonderfully gossipy slice of life in Winnipeg. Mrs. Hall opens her letter with “My Darling Hubby Boy” and goes on to expresses her worry her husband, Sargent Norman Hall, might have been caught up in the rioting that took place in one of the Canadian camps at Rhyle, Wales.
Click here to learn more about Kinmel Park
The soldiers at Kinmel believed they would return to Canada on the basis of “first over, first back.” They were anxious to return, not only to see loved ones but also to increase their chances of finding employment. But their hopes were soon frustrated. At the end of February, news reached Kinmel Park that ships allocated for Canadians had been reassigned to the Americans, who had not been in Europe as long. Then, about the beginning of March, the men learned that General Currie had decided to give the Canadian 3rd Division priority (the 1st and 2nd Divisions were part of the occupation force in Germany). This angered some of the troops in Kinmel who had been overseas longer. Finally, the SS Haveford, which was supposed to take soldiers from Kinmel on 5 March, was rejected by inspectors because of substandard conditions. After the camp commander complained, additional ships were promised for the men at Kinmel. The soldiers, however, were not aware of this — only that the Harveford sailing had been cancelled. By that point, some of the soldiers had been at Kinmel Camp for six weeks — much longer than originally promised.
On the evening of 4 March, crowds of angry soldiers raided and looted canteens, quartermaster’s stores and officers’ and sergeants’ messes. Uniquely, The Salvation Army canteen was not attacked, as soldiers knew it was the one place where they could get a coffee and a snack even when penniless. The disturbances spread to Tin Town, where fires broke out and looters carried off thousands of dollars worth of beer and liquor, cigarettes, clothing and equipment. A few staff officers tried to intervene, but to little effect as they were largely inexperienced. On the morning of 5 March, Camp Commandant Colonel Malcolm A. Colquhoun ordered all ammunition to be collected and placed under guard. He also directed each man be paid £2. Since there were no military police in the camp, he ordered the Canadian Reserve Cavalry Regiment to establish a mobile reserve of 25 mounted troopers. A defensive perimeter was established, and ammunition was issued to 40 officers and soldiers considered trustworthy. The rioters had only a few firearms, but many had armed themselves with makeshift weapons — stones, broom handles and sticks with straight razors attached.
The camp defenders clashed with the rioters and seized 20 men. An attempt to liberate the prisoners was thwarted. The violence continued — shots were fired, and the two sides engaged in hand-to-hand fighting that included the use of bayonets. The rioters finally surrendered after three of their number were killed or mortally wounded. Two guards also died during the riot. Twenty-three men were wounded
As it turns out, Hall was at Kinmel, but by the time the riots broke out, and the letter arrived, he had already shipped out for Canada. The last letter chased after Sgt Hall – travelling from Winnipeg to 3 address and finally back home to Winnipeg. The war had been over for nearly 5 months by this time; Hall had enlisted in October 1914 and set sail for England May 17, 1915. By 1916 he was serving in the trenches in France, eventually demobbing with the rank of Sargent May 16, 1919.
The letter is quite lengthy, with Mrs. Hall talking about friends and the goings on around the city. She also expressed her ire at a pair of annoying visitors who overstayed their welcome:
Well the happy couple left us on Wed. last at 1o’clock & believe me if I wasn’t glad to see the last of them. I was sick of their old junk & stuff round, lets hope it’s the last of it, we seem never able to get rid of .. this rubbish, it wasn’t like having ordinary visitors… I think she had better stayed in England. Believe me Mom is worth two of her. I‘ll tell you all about her wen I see you soon, I’m grouching about her all day long Mom says.
She goes on to talk about running into friends at Eaton’s and Hudson’s Bay department stores and a bit of gossip and what everyone is up to. But the best was the last two pages. Mrs. Hall closes out her letter with an admonition to not send any more “French cards”
Well I must stop now as daughter will have a lot to say, don’t send any more of those French cards she thinks they are for her I’m scared some one else might see them. …. God bless you my own dear boy that you always safe.
Your loving wifey
The letter closes with a brief bit from daughter June and page of kisses.
I’m sure the letter for Remembrance Day will make up for the lack of stamp today. Not sure who the swine was that tore it off the cover, but, we’ll forgive them. The letter makes up for it.