Flowers of the Forest

[Rick Law]

I am happy to announce that my historical/fiction novel, Flowers of the Forest is now published and available. This brings to completion, 7 or 8 years of hard work and research. It has become my passion since retirement after 40 years of teaching. It is the story of three young Scottish Immigrants to Canada during WW1. They sign up with the CEF to fight for King and Country. The hook here is that they are football players and one of them is a Superstar, a Phenom. Follow them from training in a place called, ironically, Paradise Camp, to a place that should have been called Hell. There are two stopovers in between; Bramshott and London. There is never a dull moment with these young gents.

The book is available there as soft cover or ebook. Also on; www.Amazon.co.uk, www.Chapters.Indigo.ca and www.BarnesandNoble.com.

I've heard the lilting, at the yowe-milking,
Lassies a-lilting before dawn o' day;
But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning;
"The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away".

Dool and wae for the order sent oor lads tae the Border!
The English for ance, by guile wan the day,
The Flooers o' the Forest, that fought aye the foremost,
The pride o' oor land lie cauld in the clay.

Edited 27 June , 2019 by Rick Law
change of info

[Rick Law]

Thanks to the Internet, the Library and Archives in Ottawa and relatives, I have been able to piece together the last few minutes of Pte. Farquhar McLennan's life. He was my Great-Uncle. According to the Battalion Diaries of the 58th Battalion CEF, on offensive was launched in Sanctuary Wood, Belgium on June 13th, 1916. The goal was to gain back the ground lost in the previous two weeks. A letter sent home from the front indicated that McLennan was killed along with his entire bombing section, save one. The lone survivor was a Pte. Willins from the 52nd Battalion, CEF. Willins suffered injuries to his right leg and lost 3 fingers from his right hand from a shell burst. The Archives list another Private (John Parkinson) from the 58th who was also killed by a trench mortar shell, along with Pte. McLennan. These three soldiers were probably in close proximity when the trench mortar shell hit.

Added to that, the Battalion Diary also states that their bombing section was in the Warrington Ave. Trench south of Hooge during the attack. Using Google Earth and war time maps we can place the exact spot where the trench existed. Overlay shows that the trench ran under CanadaLane south of Hooge. I stood on that exact spot in May 2016.

It feels like a good Detective Story putting all that information together and solving the puzzle.

We will remember them.

Edited 27 June , 2019 by Rick Law

[Rick Law]

My thanks to Cousin Steve Foster, who traveled to Ypres in September and sent me this photo. This photo has great significance and meaning for me. It doesn't get any better!

 

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