ESPLANADE ARCHIVES
A picture of one of the first postcards Pte. Lorimer Hamilton Wedderburn sent home to his mother in Redcliff.
The saying goes, “when work is a pleasure, life is a joy.” While my work is a pleasure, it also recently came and punched me unexpectedly right in the gut. Let me explain: Here in the Archives at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre we provide reference and research support, helping people find that ever elusive “place to start.” We love for you to step into our world of history and archives and let us walk beside you to help find answers.
But sometimes reference requests, and answers, aren’t really the kind you want to find. One such inquiry led me to the letters from Lorimer Hamilton Wedderburn. Lorimer was a young man from Redcliff, who served with the 31st Battalion, during the Second World War. The request started simply enough: Provide a digital copy of some records. As these had never been scanned before, the thrill of the unknown nipped at my heels. Where would this request take me? I headed to collections storage to pull out the boxes, and got to work.
First is a postcard from Sarcee in 1916 to his mother: “I am sending you this so you can see what our camp looks like. Your loving son, Lorimer.”
Another letter is dated Jan. 18, 1917. He writes: “Dear mother, I am leaving for France tomorrow. We are all packed up […] the whole kit weighs 60 pounds, when you get the bullets, it weighs 80.” I pause and look over his attestation papers. At enlistment, Pte. Wedderburn himself only weighs 145 pounds! He continues to write, “So it is quite a lot […] I have got quite used to it, I am quite glad to get away. I must close now with love to all. Your loving son, Lorimer.” I can’t help but wonder how it would feel, a boy from the Prairies, now in France!
Another in February 1917. He sends a note to his father -“I am feeling fine,” he writes, in a bit of a scrawling hand, “my cold hasn’t come back again. We will have the Germans driven out of France soon.” Flipping through pages, I feel totally engrossed with these letters. Then I come upon a postcard with a signature only, stating in clear, typed font, “I am quite well.” Dated April 30, 1917. Lorimer’s signature is on the bottom. It is a stark foil to the handwritten personal letters from before.
And then I flip the page and see a small, black and white card, with a poem – and the words “In Loving Memory […] of our only son, Pte. Lorimer Hamilton Wedderburn, killed in action at Fresnoy, France, 3rd May, 1917.” Ah. There it is.
Of course, this is the nature of history. Not all of it has a happy ending. We lost many young men in the wars, and this comes at no surprise; but doesn’t make it any less devastating. You could see in his letters that Lorimer was an eager, heartfelt young man. Loved his country. Loved his family. But didn’t get to make it home. Learning of his death, even more than 100 years later, still came at a shock to me. The only small consolation I have is these letters preserved here keep his memory alive. I have the pleasure of sharing his memory with others, and his story lives on here, in the Archives at the Esplanade.
Jenni Utrera Barrientos is assistant archivist at the Esplanade.
