Lieutenant Lawrence Browning Rogers, aged 37, travelled to the front lines of World War One as a medic in the Fifth Canadian Mounted Rifles in 1915. He left behind his wife, May, his ten-year-old daughter, Aileen, and his seven-year-old son, Howard. The family exchanged hundreds of letters, many of which were kept by their descendents. This is one of them.
Aug. 2, 1916
Dear May
I have just washed up my supper dishes – one plate, a cup and a spoon, so feel that I deserve a little leisure and cannot employ it better than writing home and letting you know that I am well.
There are two of us on this job in the medical hut and we get along fine. We have a little gasoline stove and cook our meals on it. We had some eggs, bread and butter and tea, then we managed to get a can of strawberry jam and our M.O. had a parcel sent him the other day and there was a tin of preserved cream in it, which he gave to us and we had that so we did not fare so badly.
Mind we don’t always live that way and there are times when we have to hustle for our grub. I got your parcel all okay and we were very glad to get it. The cake and candy was very acceptable.
I don’t know just when we are going to move again but I suppose it will be soon and then it will be to a new position but at present we cannot say for we don’t know.
I hope you can get an apartment in Westmount so the kiddies can go to school there. Things will right themselves. You know we have always put great faith in the Lord and everything has turned out all okay and I feel sure if we do the same now the Lord will take care of us.
It is wonderful to me to think of how well I have been and what I have gone through in these last 10 months and it’s certainly because a higher power is looking after and taking care of me.
All we can do now is to still put our faith to him and trust that all will come out all right. Kiss the little ones for me and lots of love for all from Daddy.
The Rogers family’s story is preserved in the picture book A Bear in War. For more information, including more letters, visit www.abearinwar.com.