Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found

by Charlie Thu 14 Feb 2019, 2:22 pm

An old letter is seen in this undated handout photo. Prairie Pickers Cafe owner Amanda Kehler bought a box of old papers for $1 and inside she found a letter sent from a veteran at a military hospital in England to a woman in Manitoba in 1917 explaining how her brother saved his life at Vimy Ridge.

The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, February 14, 2019

STEINBACH, Man. - The owner of an antique store in Manitoba is looking for the family of a First World War veteran after finding a letter in a box of papers.

Amanda Kehler, owner of Prairie Pickers Cafe in Steinbach, bought a box of old papers for $1 while searching for antiques a few days ago.

Inside, amongst old newspapers and certificates, she found a letter dated May 1917.

It was sent from a Canadian soldier in a hospital in England to a woman in Selkirk, Man., explaining how her brother was killed at Vimy Ridge.

The letter, from a man named Earl Sorel, explains how the woman's brother, Gordon, saved him after he was shot and died a hero.

Kehler says reading the letter gave her chills because it was a special glimpse into an important part of history.

She has posted a photo of the letter online and, despite people offering to buy it, she says she wants to return it to the writer's family.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/antique-store-searches-for-family-of-wwi-veteran-after-102-year-old-letter-found-1.4297208

by Dalton Sat 16 Feb 2019, 7:41 am

A WWI letter was found in a box of old papers after almost 102 years

By Lauren Johnson and David Williams, CNN

Fri February 15, 2019

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found 190215141022-wwi-letter-exlarge-169

(CNN)A Canadian antique dealer stumbled on an unlikely treasure in a bunch of old papers she bought for a dollar -- a letter written by a World War I soldier almost 102 years ago.

Amanda Kehler, the co-owner of Prairie Pickers Cafe and antique shop in Steinbach, Manitoba, bought the papers while looking for new inventory for the store.
"It was a pretty average Saturday. We were out and about rooting around for some treasures to stock the shop with and we came across sort of a pile of old newspapers and certificates and old telegraph messages," Kehler said. "I am always drawn to that sort of stuff, so rather than go through it there, I just bought the entire stack."
She did not know what she had until a few days later.

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found 52551981_2238798256393762_1114164780584665088_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1

Ok.. I have some serious goose bumps and I have to share this with someone!!!!
.
Digging through some old papers, documents and letters that I just picked up the other day...
This letter is dated May 1917, sent from a hospital in Birkenhead. An excerpt from this letter reads..
" Well on Easter Monday the big advance on VIMY RIDGE started. At 5 o'clock we were all lined up in the trench waiting for the barrage to open up, and then we were to advance. At 5:30, we started. Gorden, sergeant of the platoon #9 led. The barrage was like a thunderstorm and we were trotting at a good pace. We had gone about 1200 yards and then "bang". I felt a sharp burn in my back and left arm. The next thing I remember was Gorden pulling me in a shell hole and he told me to stay there. That was the last I saw of poor Gorden. After I was helped to the dressing station by a corporal. It was the other day, in this hospital that I heard Gorden was killed. He died a hero, along with many others that day. "
.
Wow. Absolutely stunned.. This is by far one of the neatest things I have ever stumbled upon..
This is exactly why I love digging through old papers!!!!!!!

CBCNews.ca help us find the family? CBCNews

Kehler said the letter was written by Earl Sorel, a Canadian soldier in the 78th Battalion. The letter was postmarked May 1917 and addressed to the sister of a man who saved Sorel's life during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in northern France.
"You'd be hard pressed to find a Canadian who wasn't familiar with Vimy Ridge," Kehler said. "It brings war and that time a lot closer to home when you can read it in a first-person account rather than just in a history book."
She posted an excerpt from the letter on Facebook that described the heroics.
"Well on Easter Monday the big advance on VIMY RIDGE started. At 5 o'clock we were all lined up in the trench waiting for the barrage to open up, and then we were to advance. At 5:30, we started. Gorden, sergeant of the platoon #9 led. The barrage was like a thunderstorm and we were trotting at a good pace. We had gone about 1200 yards and then "bang". I felt a sharp burn in my back and left arm.
The next thing I remember was Gorden pulling me in a shell hole and he told me to stay there. That was the last I saw of poor Gorden. After I was helped to the dressing station by a corporal. It was the other day, in this hospital that I heard Gorden was killed.
He died a hero, along with many others that day. "

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found 190215121508-vimy-ridge-wwi-medium-plus-169

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found 190215121508-vimy-ridge-wwi-medium-plus-169

Canadian soldiers sit in a captured German machine gun emplacement during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge, fought from April 9-12, 1917, was an important military victory and a unifying moment in the country's history.
More than 100,000 troops were called on to capture heavily fortified positions manned by thousands of crack German soldiers.
It was the first time that all four Canadian divisions had fought together and historian Tim Cook, with the Canadian Military Museum, said the battle brought together soldiers from all over the country and from all walks of life.
Cook said the 78th had some of the toughest fighting of the brutal battle as they charged to take Hill 145.
"The letter itself gives a sense of some of the violence on the battlefield and the courage to charge forward into the storm of steel and then make their way through the shell craters," Cook said. "It was a bloodbath at that position and it took tremendous courage and determination to drive the Germans back."
Cook said soldiers wrote millions of letters like this, but many have been lost to the ravages of time.
The letters give a unique view of what the war was like for Sorel and soldiers like him, and Cook said that's even more valuable now, since all WWI veterans have died.

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found 181110221729-12-ww1-centennial-1110-medium-plus-169

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found 181110221729-12-ww1-centennial-1110-medium-plus-169

100 years since end of WWI marked with solemn ceremonies around the world https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/11/europe/world-war-i-armistice-centenary-intl/index.html

Kehler says she would like to give the letter to a family member of Sorel's, if she can find one. She's been working with the veterans affairs officials and the Canadian military and has spread the word on social media.
"We do have a couple of leads -- nothing super solid yet, but there are a couple of leads where I do think we will be able to get it back to a family member," Kehler said.
If that doesn't pan out, she plans to donate it to the Canadian War Museum.
Kehler said her phone has been ringing off the hook with people offering tips or trying to buy the letter.
She says she doesn't know what the letter would be worth, but she insists it's not for sale.
"That's what we do as pickers. We go out and we search for really cool items and we bring them back to the shop to sell them, but this piece feels a little bit too special to sell," she said. "It just doesn't feel right to me to sell it."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/world/102-year-old-wwi-letter-found-trnd/index.html

by **Colter** Thu 21 Feb 2019, 8:43 am

February 20, 2019

Steinbach woman tracks down family of WWI letter-writer

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found Vimy-letter_prairie-pickers-cafe-1

A Steinbach antique store discovered this letter from a Canadian soldier injured at Vimy Ridge in a box with a bunch of random papers.

A letter from a Canadian soldier in the First World War has finally found its way home a century later.

The letter, from a soldier named Earl Sorel to his friend’s sister, informing her that her brother was killed in combat, turned up at a Steinbach antique store earlier in February and set off an international search for Sorel’s descendants.

“My initial thought was that I was going to find a family member so I could put this back in the family’s hands,” said Amanda Kehler, owner of Prairie Pickers Cafe.

“The response was overwhelming. We’ve been contacted by CNN, all the local people, BBC … it’s been crazy. Fun, but crazy.”

Kehler told 680 CJOB she was able to track down four of Sorel’s extended family with the help of a military contact and a man from BC who joined the search.

“I’ve made contact with two of them, and they’re extremely happy about their ancestor’s history being remembered.”

According to the information Kehler turned up, Sorel survived the war and moved from Selkirk to Winnipeg when he was back in Manitoba. He married a woman named Mabel in 1935, had no children, and died in 1969.

As for the fate of Sorel’s letter home, Kehler said the goal is to have it displayed for the public to read at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.

Sorel was a veteran of the Battle of Vimy Ridge – considered by many historians to be a defining moment in Canada’s history as a nation.

It’s also the battle where Sorel’s friend, Gordon Rochfort, saved Sorel’s life, giving up his own in the effort, which sparked the letter in the first place. Members of Rochfort’s extended family were also contacted during the search for relatives.

“I spoke with the family, and we’re sort of all in agreement that it should be preserved and archived and shown to the public,” said Kehler.

“There is a Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. My contact in the military didn’t think they would display the letter and share the story because they have such an extensive collection. The family and I all agreed it should be displayed.”

Kehler said she’s working with Veterans Affairs, Parks Canada, and the military to ensure the letter gets to the Vimy memorial and ends up available to the public.

For a letter purchased for $1 in a box of other old papers, Kehler could have easily turned a huge profit on her discovery, had she decided to sell it.

That, however, was never even an option.

“I’m sure there are some antique pickers that would’ve just put it up on a public auction site, but I never wanted to explore that option,” she said.

“To me, it’s not something that should be for sale. It should be preserved in a museum.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/4980493/steinbach-woman-tracks-down-family-of-wwi-letter-writer/

by Sponsored content

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found

Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found

Re: Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found

Re: Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found

Re: Antique store searches for family of WWI veteran after 102-year-old letter found