The Simcoe Forester: September 13

September 13

Dear mother & sister

I was glad to get your letter. I was in the trenches yesterday when I got it. We just got out of the trenches just before dinner. We had all afternoon to rest and I am going to bed early tonight for we didn’t get any sleep last night. But we had lots of fun. We were fighting with the 170th Batt. I got a letter this evening from Bud and was glad to get it. Say I just happened to meet Frank at the YMCA tonight. (incomplete)

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Every Remembrance Day we hear about how hard it is to keep the stories of veterans alive, particularly those from the two World Wars. For the next 156 days or so I'm going to post actual letters my great-great uncle wrote home to his mother and sister while serving in WWI. It's my way of remembering, and honouring his memory. It's not a spectacular story full of combat action, although there is some of that. It's an account of an ordinary 20 year old from a small farming community in central Ontario enlisting and serving for a country he loved. Its about farming, it's about war, but mostly it's about being away from home.

James Bruce Speerin was born in Moonstone on February 7,1896. He was a farmer, working the same farm his father did before him.

On January 4, 1916, weeks before his 20th birthday, Bruce enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. He was part of the 177th Battalion, who were recruited from the Simcoe area and part of the Grey & Simcoe Foresters. He trained in Barrie and Orillia and learned to be a Machine Gun Fighter in Toronto. The 177th sailed to England in May 1917. He was part of the 4th Battalion, and fought on the Western Front, in France and Belgium. When he was demobilized in March, 1919 he was just 23.

Where was he on November 11, 1918 when WWI ended? Well, that's skipping ahead.

The Cast

Bruce Speerin - Farmer, WWI Soldier with 177th Battalion
Lizzie Speerin - Bruce's younger sister
Sarah Speerin - Bruce's mother, widowed several years before
Clarence Speerin - Bruce's cousin, served with 157th Battalion Willie Speerin - Bruce's cousin, Clarence's brother, served with 152nd and became a Sargeant.
Allie (or Alex) Speerin - Bruce's older brother
Annie - Allie's wife

Other people were friends and family of the Speerins, in Moonstone, Ontario, a community just outside of Orillia.

The Simcoe Forester

September 13

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