Letter to Kate 9th January 1918

DaMo said...

1917 i expect you mean 1918. Great idea. Really interessting. Hope there are a lots of letters to keep on writing.

January 27, 2008
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Anonymous @mmonyte said...

Inspired by your blog, I transcribed and uploaded a couple of letters that have been in my Family for generations.
http://ccgi.ammonyte.plus.com/blog/?p=107

I believe that Jack and Sid were from Chorley, Lancashire.

January 28, 2008

Raquel said...

I watched the program about this blog in ARD (Germany) last night and now I can't stop reading. Thank you very much for offering this present to the world.

Dear BL,
I got to know about your blog through "La Nacion"
newspaper here in Buenos Aires, Argentina and
want to congratulate you for your idea and work.
My grandfather Hugh Oliver Peter fought in the
Great War, I suppose Great as enormous and not as
grand and wonderful, and I have a letter he sent
his brother. I have forwarded your blog to a
friend who teaches History (we both work at St.
Matthew's College, a bilingual school in Greater
BA) so it can be used by the students as a kind
of primary source, better than reading a text
book. Once again congratulations
Annette Peter

Michael Steele said...

I have enjoyed your blog - what a great way to share a forgotten era.

January 23, 2008

Sarah said...

What a fantastic idea - to blog all these letters. Well done. You must have lots of historians visiting this site. I am going to show my huband. He'll be fascinated.

January 17, 2008

Gustav's great-granddaughter said...

I've noticed that Harry tends to write detailed letters only to his brother. Jack may not get everything that's happening to Harry at the front, but Harry really doesn't write more than "I'm alright, and thanks for your letter/package" to his sisters and wife.

My first thought was that this might be a product of his era, then I realized: I'm currently getting exactly the same fact-free letters from my nephew in Iraq.

January 17, 2008

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for all the work you are putting into this blog. We saw this featured on the CBC and have enjoyed getting caught up with Harry's letters. We are spreading the word to friends, co-workers and family. We eagerly await the next letter. Thanks again.

K & A, Calgary, AB. Canada

January 18, 2008

michelle hays said...

Poor harry. He's cold at nights. That must have been aweful.

January 18, 2008

lasse said...

Fantastiskt att läsa, man lever sig in i händelserna. Önskar att det komm fler sådana bloggar som refererar till gammla skrivna brev.
/Lars

January 18, 2008

Letter to Jack 18th January 1918

Anonymous said...

greetings from croatia. your work is great..

January 27, 2008
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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, great work, sir!
I´m from Schwandorf/Germany and i saw about that on TV...

January 27, 2008
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Anonymous Anke said...

I wonder whether you would like anybody to have these letters translated into other languages. Personally I am sure that it would help e.g. German pupils or old people to read the lines in their mother tounge. As this is a matter of trust the decision surely is not easy to make finally. If you do at any point of time, please let me know.

All the best from Germany
Anke

January 27, 2008
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Blogger Sarah said...

What's new with Harry??

January 28, 2008
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Anonymous Cary said...

I find now that I'm opening this blog to see if there's been a letter from Harry before I open my own mail. The way you're doing this blog really makes me think about him and his family in the day to day way that they must have thought of each other. Do you have a website or place to go where I could start researching my grandfather's WW1 service?

January 28, 2008
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Telse Schulze said...

I saw a documentation about your blog on German TV a few days ago and want to express what a great job you have been doing so far. My father has just finished to adapt my great-granduncle's diary and letters from Russia in WW2 for our family. An ancestor you have never known is becoming a character in your mind.
Thank so much for this wonderful blog!

Best regards

Telse Schulze, Lilienthal, Germany

January 26, 2008

Guido G. said...

Congratulations Bill on this exceptional work. I heard about your blog when it was shown on Germany's major news program (Tagesschau) last night. It is great to see history and technology being combined this way and I've already been captured by reading about "little Harry". I am very much looking forward to catch up and learn more about all the things Harry whitnessed and shared in his letters. Thank you very much for the energy you put into this.

Best Wishes,
Guido Grillenmeier, Germany

January 25, 2008

Claudia in Toronto said...

I am French-Canadien. I am in my seventies. One uncle was a soldier in the First World War. He wasn't well. My mother said he had been "gassed", a chemical used in the war. He never spoke much. I'm interested in knowing about your grand-father's experiences. You're a fine young man to share him with the world. I heard about it in a French blog from Paris. Thank you.

January 26, 2008

Vinzenz said...

These letters convert the numbers of casualties we read in books into lively fear, empathy, uncertainty of life. The history that seemed to have died is re-played in full emotion, understandable through our daily emotional behaviour.
Thank you for this translation.
Vinzenz Hokema, Germany

January 25, 2008

Luli Ramírez Nicolas said...

I knew about your blog through a Chilean newspaper, they made an interesting article about it, and here I am.
What can I say, I loved it, thank you for sharing a piece of our world history.

Luli Ramirez Nicolas, Chile

January 25, 2008

Theo Thourson said...

I have been reading your blog on your grandfather's letters from the Great War.
This is a great idea and very educational. My dad was an American infantryman
serving in the American Expeditionary Force in France and his letters to home
have been preserved. Inspired by your blog I decided to post his letters. It
would be interesting if we could get similar blogs from other countries: Canada,
Australia, even Germany. I am a little behind date-wise but I hope to be up to
date in February. As of this date my dad is still in the US, training in Texas.

You can see my blog at http://adoughboysblog.blogspot.com/

Tom Thourson

January 25, 2008

Dead2thewind said...

Greetings from Leeds (urgh), should start leaving notes on the date of the next letter would make life a little easier. thanks for posting though great idea and really interesting.

January 25, 2008

Sorry Dead t w, The family wouldn't have known when the next letter was coming. Nor will you!BL

Tânia said...

HI,

I am from Portugal.

I have found your blog through a national radio station - antena 3.

Lots of Portuguese young man die in this war and this is also a tribute to them!

Keep on, i love the blog.

Tânia

January 23, 2008

Samantha said...

Thanks for all your hard work! It really is a wonderful blog. Like other readers, I heard about your blog from CBC.

I too would like to know more about Harry's relationship to Ethel. He seems to keep in contact with her quite often as he mentions his correspondence with her.

Hope Harry is ok and I cannot wait to read more!!

Samantha H., Vancouver, BC, Canada.

January 24, 2008

Orlando Bloom said...

Hi Mr Lamin again
It's Emma and Kayrin!!
woop woop
You're blog is still the best thing in the world and Kayrin thinks so too!!
I love your ICT lessons! I'm even in one now and I'm loving it!!
Natasha the deathly child says Hi! too. Oh and she thinks you're amazing. She's listening to some deathly music on her ipod. And she is doing her work.

From Emma, Kayrin and Natasha.

=0)

January 24, 2008

meg said...

I too am enjoying the blog, excellent work.

Were there no letters from Harry to his wife??

January 24, 2008

Sadly no letters to Ethel survive. BL

Scranton, PA said...
Is that your blood at the bottom of the back of the page, Henry's blood (amazing that it's still red 90 years later), or is is something else.Fascinating blog. Thank you!
January 20, 2008
Probably "something else" . Not sure what it is and don't want to risk cleaning it off. BL

Luis said...
Keep it up with these letters, I hope Harry will end up ok... I am reading this from Angola, Luanda. Regads.http://luis-vaz.spaces.live.com
January 21, 2008

Asdrúbal Suárez said...
Wonderful blog, i'll follow Greetings from Venezuela!!
January 21, 2008

Anonymous said...
I,too, discovered your blog after seeing the item on CBC tv. I think it's great. My Dad fought in many of the battles Harry did such as Passchendaele so I am very interested in how Harry makes out. Thank you from Canada for taking the time to do this.

January 21, 2008
Richie said...
I am getting worried for Harry! Come on Harry write soon.What time does the post come???As I am checking this blog 4 or 5 times a day!!!!
January 21, 2008
Sorry, the posts are very erratic. I blame the war.BL

Patrick said...
Another new reader to your blog. I read about it in a Dutch newspaper last saturday, this is certainly a wonderful project!! Keep up the good work!Gr Patrick, Amsterdam.
January 21, 2008Bill, Excellent work!

One small tech tip. When you scan the letters, if you want to reduce the bleed through of print from the back of the paper, scan using a black backing sheet instead of teh scanner's white sheet. I use a piece of the black paper that sometimes comes with picture frames.

Once again, wonderful work.

Zingzog

January 18, 2008

Thank you. I really do welcome any advice or suggestions BL

Anonymous said...

I am reading the letters in 'toronto, Canada. Keep it up!

S. Roseth

January 19, 2008

Hugh said...

This is indeed a wonderful blog and, like thousands of other readers, I look forward keenly to each new post.

However, the thing missing is any mention of communications between Harry and his wife. Perhaps this matter has been dealt with before, but I expect such letters were too personal to be kept and were not included in the cache of mail that was discovered. Am I right?

January 19, 2008

Sadly, letters to Ethel did not survive. It may have been a difficult decision whether to publish them. Fortunately, I don't have to make that decision. BL

Sonja said...

I am new to your blog having just heard about it on CBC a few weeks ago here in British Columbia, but I have caught up!! Am so intrigued. Thank you for this and I know it is a lot of hard work. If you have some spare time - ha! ha! or when there is a space between letters, can you tell us anymore about Harrys wife Ethel? It is too bad that none of her letters from Harry or to Harry have survived. Thank you again, Harry has become almost like part of our own family.January 20, 2008

If there are gaps between letters, I'll supply more background details. BL