Soldiers Letter

Dear Maggie, It’s inevitable that this must be hard on you, considering you don’t support my decision to join the war, but I’ll have you know that this dreadful place has me missing you all that much more. The fact that you are trying to understand, while being a French Canadian, really shows what an inspirational women you truly are. My passionate tie to Britain persuaded me to join the war, and there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to show my appreciation for our mother country. Training camp in Val Cartier was nothing I was prepared for. The British had high expectations for us Canadian Soldiers, expectations that we weren’t able to live up to while entering the training camp. None of us had much training or experience, this forced Britain to crack the whip and become very strict. Our training was very unusual and unexpected; we seemed to do a lot of aerobic-like exercises that took all of us by surprise. We have just conquered Vimy Ridge. This is the first battle that we have been able to act together. It is truly a defining moment for our country, we are finally able to rise from the shadows of Britain and realize the greatness we are capable of achieving. We were given a new Canadian Corps commander named Sir William Byng; he has done a miraculous job helping us capture this difficult position by carefully planning and rehearsing the attack. Although there was nearly ten thousand men killed and wounded, it was worth is to capture the land where there is no such thing as a surprise attack. There is no way to describe to you what it’s like here. I wake up from nightmares relieved that it’s over, until I finally realize that reality is much worse. There is no feeling insurmountable to those I’ve faced. The only thing keeping me going is the thought of home. You’d expect the battle field to be where the real horror is, but there is nothing