“The Germans started to shell us and
give us some hot machine gun fire. A lot of our men died that day. . . . I got a
piece of shrapnel in the ankle but continued to carry on until 11 o’clock when I
got two bullets in the left thigh [and] I fell into a shell hole full of water .
. .”
Curt Forsey’s description of
the scene at Ypres, Belgium, September 29, 1918
Grand Bank Soldier
consists of 51 letters that Lance Corporal Curtis Forsey wrote to his mother and
father back home in Grand Bank during the 19 months he was on active duty in
World War I. He saw action with the Newfoundland Regiment at Passchendaele
Ridge, at Bailleuil, and at Kieberg Ridge, where, in late September 1918, he was
wounded by two bullets and a piece of shrapnel. Forsey was recuperating in an
English hospital when the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. After the
war he returned home to manage the family business, Patten & Forsey. Curtis
Forsey died in 1993, a respected community leader and a man who lived a life of
honour and integrity.
"Riggs justifies this volume as 'in no way
a sign of disrespect but a tangible means of honouring [Curtis Forsey]
and his fellow soldiers,' a goal that is achieved in this valuable and
carefully curated publication."
Newfoundland Quarterly
"[Curtis Forsey's] descriptive words carry
the full impact of the action in the trenches of Europe."
The Southern Gazette
"Historians will certainly find this book
intriguing."
Atlantic Books Today
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