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  • The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost, 1915 – 1919
  • David Campbell (bio)
R.B. Fleming, editor. The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost, 1915 – 1919. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. xxxvi, 384. $38.95

It has been ninety years since the guns of the First World War fell silent. But fascination with this conflict continues unabated. Now that there are virtually no veterans left to speak of wartime events, their written impressions remain among our most direct links with the past.

Among the published collections of letters by veterans, it is rare to find one that presents the correspondence of two brothers, as does The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost. Born in Orillia, Ontario, the Frost brothers would rise to prominence after the war in Ontario’s provincial Conservative party, with Leslie serving as premier from 1949 to 1961. This collection gives readers more than a glimpse into the activities and personalities of the two brothers. It offers insights into the life and workings of the Frost family, their community, and, by extension, small-town Ontario during the First World War.

Through the letters, one follows the brothers’ progress from their training days in Canada and England to the battlefields of France and Belgium, where each of them was posted as a reinforcement officer to a unit of the Canadian Corps: Leslie to the 20th Battalion of infantry; and Cecil to the 6th Canadian Machine Gun Company. Both men were wounded in action during 1918, and their correspondence during their respective periods of convalescence doubtless did much to calm anxious family members at home.

Both Leslie and Cecil display a clear sense of optimism in their letters, most of which are addressed to their parents. Yet they are surprisingly frank in their occasional criticism of politicians, the effectiveness of other officers, and the organization of Canadian troops in England. Regarding the horrors of war, the brothers are consistently reticent, preferring not to dwell on such matters. The degree to which they had begun [End Page 341] seriously to question their pre-war concepts of ‘heroism, courage, and honour’ must be largely inferred.

R.B. Fleming has done an admirable job of editing the brothers’ correspondence. He preserves the text of the original letters with minimal editorial corrections, and he provides an extensive introduction that places the brothers and the content of their letters in a broader historical, political, and social context. Dr Thomas H.B. Symons, who knew and worked with Leslie Frost, offers additional personal perspective in a foreword to the book. Also included is a memorandum from Leslie Frost himself, written in 1972, which comments on the collection of letters.

The depth of research underlying this book is clearly evident in Fleming’s copious endnotes and bibliography, which highlight his explorations in national, provincial, and local archives. However, a few technical inaccuracies creep into the work. For instance, there is a reference to Cecil’s membership in the ‘2nd Canadian Motor-Machine Gun Brigade, 3rd Company of the 2nd Canadian Division’ during 1918. This should read, ‘No. 3 Company, 2nd Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps.’ Such minor slips are rare and do not detract from the overall value of the introductory material and the commentary found throughout the endnotes.

The inclusion of clear maps and numerous evocative photographs bring the text of the introduction and the letters themselves to life. There are images not commonly presented before, including a desolate vista of battle in progress at Hill 70 in 1917, a French cruiser at anchor in Halifax Harbour, and the triumphal march of colonial troops in London in 1919 – a scene that depicts Cecil Frost himself in the front rank of the marching column.

Social and political historians will be interested in what this book can reveal about middle-class attitudes before and during the war, as well as the probable impact of their war experiences on the brothers’ future political careers. Those concerned with Canada’s military heritage will value the brothers’ candid observations on life in training and at the front. The final statement in Fleming’s introduction echoes Leslie Frost’s hope that the sacrifices of the war generation will...

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