A Soldier's Wish

by Dawne McKenzie, Ernest Diss

Overview

Feb. 12, 1917
The world will settle down to peace and harmony and let us hope with the firm knowledge that there will never be such a holocaust of murder as this has been."

The year is 1915 and the world is in chaos. Ernest Diss was a successful entrepreneur running a car repair business in Los Angeles. He saw it as his duty to return to Canada and join the fighting, persuading his brother, Frank, to enlist with him.

He finished his training in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he met Amy Graham at a dance. They corresponded at least weekly and often more frequently. Through his 187 letters, they fell in love, became engaged and planned their future together. Through those letters we are able to experience what life was for an ordinary soldier in England, Belgium, France and finally Germany. Ernest's descriptions of everyday life afford us a glance back in time.

Ernest was not a hero. In fact, because of his mechanical ability, except for a short time on the frontline constructing trenches he spent a large part of the war behind the lines building armaments. What he was was a musician, an explorer, an organizer and a romantic. He had three wishes: first that the war would end with the allies victorious and there would never be another war; secondly, that his brothers and he would come through the war unscathed; and thirdly, that he would return to Canada and start a family with Amy.

How different our world is today with instant communications, machines that provide us with our entertainment and the ability to get anywhere in the world within 48 hours. How similar in that we still value family over everything and we still possess a duty to the welfare of others and a loyalty to our country.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940164127077
Publisher:	Tellwell Talent
Publication date:	06/19/2020
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	865 KB

About the Author

Ernest Diss is the unknowing author of this book. Because he was a bit of a showman, he would be pleased to have his letters read and appreciated a century later.

He immigrated to Canada at the age of fourteen. It speaks very well of his mother's tutelage that his descriptions of the world around him are so complete and well written. Perhaps that ability comes from his wide and varied experiences in the first twenty-eight years of his life before enlisting.

Ernest does an excellent job of sharing his life with Amy. So much so, that she falls in love with him, agrees to marry him, and leaves her family to move to British Columbia.

We are so fortunate that Amy saw fit to preserve her letters allowing us to share their world.

Dawne McKenzie is president of the Hart Cam Museum Committee and lives in Hartney, Manitoba. One of her duties is to ensure all new artifacts that are donated to the museum are entered into the computer inventory system. When entering the letter Ernest wrote to Amy on the day WW1 ended, she became excited over its contents. She contacted Mary Graham to thank her for donating such an important piece of history. Mary informed her that there were many more letters and asked if she would like to read them. After doing so, she thought the letters should be placed into a book. Mary agreed and donated the letters to the museum. The museum committee endorsed the project. After digitalizing the letters, Dawne enjoyed researching the Diss and Graham family trees and writing the foreword and epilogue portions of this book.

Dawne's main qualification is a deep appreciation of history and the belief that by looking back in time, we can better understand where we come from. In today's uncertain times of the Covid-19 virus, it is interesting to look back to 1918 and compare these times to those of the Spanish flu. Both were epidemics which originated from avian genes and killed millions of people worldwide. Both started out with flu-like symptoms and developed into pneumonia.

Dawne's writing resume consists of writing a monthly column in the local newspaper featuring various artifacts and activities associated with the museum.

She hopes you enjoy reading this book as much as she did, and gain insight into life which was much simpler one-hundred years ago, although just as uncertain and frightening.