The military has been a fixture in my family. My father served in the Candian Navy during WWII on a supply ship, his twin brothers were in the Air Force retiring from that branch of service. My brother joined the Armed Forces, Naval Branch and has retired now.
I have three brothers-in-law - two navy and one army - two nephews - one navy, one army.
Luckily, none of them were injured or killed.
My maternal grandfather, Clarence Arthur McCann, enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1915 and spent four years overseas. He did make it home, but he suffered from a variety of illnesses including trench mouth and foot problems from being in wet boots for weeks on end in the sea of mud they called Ypres. He was also gassed and suffered from chest pains for the rest of his short life. He died just before his 56th birthday of a heart attack. So, maybe he really was a casualty of war.
Clarence wrote many letters to his father, mother, brother and sister between 1915 and 1919 and over 100 of them have survived. I have created a blog, Clarence's Letters Home , so I can share those letters with other researchers.
I am extremely proud of my grandfather. Clarence gave up the comforts of home and family to fight for freedom. He saw and heard things that no human being should have to experience. As a result, his descendants have freedoms galore.
Go on over to the blog and have a look. Hope you find the letters interesting. Leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.
Until next time, Happy Researching!
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