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bill clarke
the tribune

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DALHOUSIE - While men were fighting and dying in Europe during the two world wars, those left behind in Canada did what they could. For women, that often meant knitting for the "boys" at the front. That these things were appreciated is made clear in a letter recently obtained by the Restigouche Regional Museum, Dalhousie.

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This letter from Pte. A. Wagner of Montreal was recently obtained by the Restigouche Regional Museum in Dalhousie.

It begins with the phrase that was so familiar at the time: "Somewhere in France." The men weren't allowed to say where their units were.

Written Sept. 12, 1917, it was from a Pte. A. Wagner of Montreal, He was writing from the 6th Canadian General Hospital, where he was a patient. He says it is "very lonesome" in the hospital and that he hopes to be away from there soon.

That, of course, probably meant returning to the trenches, but perhaps that was preferable to a First World War military hospital.

The letter was addressed to Miss Ida MacCurdy of Charlo and begins by thanking her for the socks. "It is not very often that we are lucky enough to receive Home-mad(e) goods, so we sure appreciate a parcel when it does come," he wrote.

"France is a very nice country, but I would much sooner be back to my home in Montreal, but I suppose that I will be back some days, if I am lucky."

He gave his address and said, "so If you care to drope (sic) me a few lines in your spare time; I would be awful glad to hear from you. Thanking you again for the socks you were so kind as to send," and then the salutation and signature. We don't even know his first name. A search of enlistment records does not show him. His address says "B.E.F." for British Expeditionary Force rather than "C.E.F" as would be expected. Perhaps he had somehow managed to enlist in the British army.

Women were encouraged to knit for the troops. There were "Instructions for Hand-Knitted Service Socks," and the museum received three examples from the same source as the letter. The instructions differ, but one bears the name of the Maitland Spinning Mills, Ltd. of Listowel, Ontario. So far, the museum hasn't been able to date these, but that company was liquidated in 1943, during the Second World War. This would suggest that it had probably been idle for a while and leads to the belief that these instructions are from the Great War.

Although there were reports of "battle fatigue" and "shell shock" from the two world wars, it seems that returning soldiers were able to deal with what they had been through better than those serving in later struggles. Perhaps that's because of the feeling that the entire country supported them and stood behind them.

Since 1945, we haven't heard much about people knitting for the troops or of whole communities coming together to prepare parcels for those fighting the nation's battles.