Throughout the month of November we will be posting
excerpts from a selection of wartime correspondence between Pte. Sefton Stewart
of the 77th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, and his family in
Richmond, Ontario. The complete letters
will be on display at the Stittsville Public Library in the Museum's exhibit
honouring Goulbourn in wartime. In addition to Sefton Stewart's letters, there
will also be local artefacts from that era, and a book containing the names of
local Veterans. These men and women were either born in Goulbourn or were
long-time residents of the area. If you should find there is a Veteran from
Goulbourn who is not listed, please let us know - we welcome additions to this
collection.
Sefton was 17-years-old when he joined the war
effort. His father was James Stewart,
whose occupations included undertaker, carriage maker, farmer and one-time
reeve of the village. His mother was
Margaret (McLean) Stewart. Sefton’s
family home was at 39 Perth Street in Richmond.
The Goulbourn Museum gratefully acknowledges the
kind donation of these First World War letters from Mrs. Mary (Seabrook) Munro,
niece of Sefton Stewart. Her family
preserved these letters for 93 years.
The correspondence covers a period from 1916 to
1918 and demonstrates in a very human way the huge sacrifices made by these
young men and their families, the devastation of the European cities and
countryside and the intolerable loss of life suffered by families and by
countries who saw so many of its youth killed on the battlefields of
Europe. These letters capture the feel
of the period in a way no history book can attempt to replicate.
Here is the first excerpt:
July 2, 1916 - Stationed at Bramskott Camp, England
Dear Mother:
How is
everybody? As for me, I am quite
well. There are so many things to tell,
I don’t know what to tell first. Wrote
two letters on ship but didn’t get posting them because it was reported no
letters to be mailed within four days after out arrival. Did you get the cablegram we sent?
We had a
very good trip; the weather being fine, except for the first two days which
were foggy. A great many were sick, Sid
and Arthur were sick for half a day, but we were all dizzy at first. Left Halifax Tuesday morning, arrived in
England Thursday, the 28th. Our ship,
the Missanabie, Empress of Britain, and the Drake, a man-of-war, sailed
together. Saw quite a few ships. The Drake guarded them off.
Came
into Liverpool Harbour Thursday night.
It is a very large harbour, being crowded with ships. From Liverpool to Bramshott Camp, it is a
bushy country, divided up here and there with farms, cultivated mostly by
women.
Bramshott Camp is so large you could easily get lost, there being about
40,000 troops stationed here. Saw Percy
Foster out of the 89th and Michael Fox out of the 38th, both being very glad to
see us. We are crowded, about 15 in each
tent, making it very hard to move around.
On the
1st of July there was an inspection of all these troops by the King at Hinhead,
eight miles from our camp. A company of
the 77th went as a guard. Being the
first time to see the King, it was something wonderful to see such a gathering
of troops.
The
second day we were here there was an inspection by Lord Brooks, Commander of
this camp. A lot of the Battalions have
been divided, but we haven’t been yet.
On ship we only had a little physical drill in the mornings. On our ship there were 1800 soldiers; a
person would never imagine all the works and machinery there is about a
ship. There were four sittings each
meal, there being accommodation for 450 each sitting.
The
weather is very changeable, raining frequently.
Our first night in camp it rained all night. We are surrounded by villages, two and three
miles away. There are some deep valleys
giving a fine view of the country. The
north coast of Ireland was our first sight of land which we were all anxious to
see. The rocky coast is all divided off
into small patches and the grass is very green.
When we came into the dangerous zone, we were met by three torpedo
destroyers, a long, low little boat which has very high speed. These stopped with us until we reached
England.
I guess
I will write all afternoon as it is our only time, but will have to take in
some of the sports which are going on.
Must write to Clystal. Canadian
mail goes Monday and Thursday.
Best love to all,
Sefton
Pte. Sefton
Stewart
77 Battalion
A Co. No. 1 Platoon
Bramshott camp
c/o Army Post Office London, England
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