Found
Own Letter on Battlefield
Pte. J. W. Young
Writes to Toronto
of a Peculiar Experience
Toronto News
To pick up on the
battlefield in France a letter which he had mailed in England to a
friend at the front four months earlier is the novel experience of
Private J. W. Young, a 1915 graduate of the University of Toronto,
recorded in a letter of inquiry to a sister of his comrade.
The letter was found on the
Amiens battlefield shortly after the famous 8 Aug 1918 battle.
The soldier to whom the
letter was addressed was wounded in that action, and Pte. Young will
be so informed, as his anxiety over his friend's fate was aroused by
the discovery.
Whether the letter actually
reached its destination is not known for certain, as verification
cannot be made until inquiry is made of him.
The addressee is Pte. C.
Earl Cook of Port Rowan, Ont., at present in hospital suffering from
wounds in the left leg according to a cable of 21 Aug 1918.
Sending a crumpled and
partially burned leaf of the letter to friends here, Pte. Young
merely comments "I picked up a letter here on the field which I
send to Earl four months ago, and am sending part. Is it not
wonderful? Have not heard from him for a long time. Will send you
this piece for a souvenir."
Writing to Pte. Cook's
sister, a teacher in a Toronto business college. Elsewhere in his
letter of 16 Aug 1918 to her is evidence that the "find"
was made in recaptured territory, for he writes that he had been
translating German letters as they were taken from the pockets
of enemy corpses which lay around. He does not indicate that the
other letter was found on a German.
The pages which have been
sent back tell of Pte. Young's hopes of transfer from the P.P.C.L.I.
to the 54th Battalion to join his brother, Pte. Frank Young,
formerly a school teacher near Boston, Ont.
After writing in April from
Seaford, England, the author joined the 54th in France in May and
found the letter between Aug 8-16, not having heard meanwhile from
Pte. Cook.
The whole series of
coincidence -- although much is yet to be explained -- is considered
as remarkable as the fabled experience of the draftee in this city,
who, finishing a tunic at the tailoring bench, put a slip in the
pocket bearing the words "Good luck to the wearer," only
to find the same message in his own handwriting in the first
brand-new tunic which he donned.
Private Young, a son of Mr.
W. Young of Hatchley Station, Ont., graduated from university in
modern languages and later trained with the C.O.T.C. and at
Exhibition Camp, before going overseas last year.
Pte. Cook's father is
lighthouse keeper at Long Point. He went from the 133rd Norfolk's
Own to the 14th Royal Montreal Battalion.
The two soldiers concerned
are in different divisions, as well as different battalions, and the
part taken by the various unit in the Amiens area being, as yet,
unrevealed, the explanation of just how the letter came to be on the
field where is was found is awaited with interest.
There were millions of men
in the thousand of square miles of the British area on the Western
front, any one of whom might have found or destroyed the letter. It
is a remarkable coincidence that the writer arrived in France in
time and came to the right spot and then noticed his own writing.
