1916-01-29ff

All three Hamilton daily newspapers were more than willing to publish letters sent from soldiers to friends and family back home.

When the recipient who approached the Hamilton Herald with his letter, there was little doubt that it would appear in the paper. The recipient was Hamilton’s Mayor Chester Walters, a friend of the soldier. As an added bonus, the soldier made reference to the Herald as well:

“Dear Friend :

  Just a short letter to let you know that I am still alive and kicking. I received your card, for which many thanks. I trust you and your wife and family are keeping well.

 Thanks to the Hamilton Herald , which I get in bunches of sixes and twelves, I am able to follow your career as mayor of the city of Hamilton. I don’t want to try to flatter you when I tell you that I think Hamilton has the best mayor she ever had. I can read between the lines and see you have a certain amount of bitter enemies to contend with, but don’t take any notice of them. Keep right on and finish the good work you have so well begun. You have the backing of all the honest men in Hamilton, and you know the old saying that when rogues fall out, honest men get their due.

 I was sorry we left Ottawa when you tried to find me there. We are in Dilgate camp at Thorncliffe, under canvas, about four miles from Folkestone. Sometimes it is kind of cold here yet, as we get a lot of sea breezes. We are hard at work here every day and sometimes at night. We are getting a good hard training that will be useful to us and others when our time comes to go to the front.

 I only trust that we will do as well as the other boys who are already there. We feel proud of them today and it won’t be our fault if we don’t make good, as our boys are taking to our work like veterans.

 I see that the people are getting wise to the school trustees and I expect you will have to straighten things out there too, before the people will be satisfied. I expect you are a pretty busy man at present. Give my respects to my old friend Allan Studholme.

 This is a pretty large camp, as all Canadian troops are massed round about here, and every man you meet is wearing the king’s uniform. Flying machines and airships are pretty common around here. This is a terrible old war, for sure. I have just received word that my brother-in-law, who belongs to an English regiment, is reported as missing. There is hardly a home In England that is not in mourning for someone who has gone under, but the time will come when we will get our own back.

 Goodbye and good luck to you, as it wants five minutes to lights out. Trusting you will some day sit in the Dominion house.

                   I remain,

                             WILLIAM HERRON,

          Sapper, No. 1 Section, Fourth Field company, Canadian Engineers”¹

¹ “Gets All the News From Hamilton in the Herald”

Hamilton Herald.  January 29, 1916.

(William Herron was a well-known resident of East Hamilton, and a man very interested in municipal politics and civic affairs. He was a member of the Ward 8 Improvement society, and had worked to support Chester Walters in his campaign to be elected mayor of Hamilton.)