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James Cecil Sandercock
1898-1918
4th Canadian Mounted Rifles
Canadian Expeditionary Force

"I guess you will have heard the news of my brother's death befor this letter reaches you..." Cecil Sandercock, Belgium 1917

August 25th 1917

Dear Mother and Father

Just a few lines, hoping you are well. I guess you will have heard the news of my brother's death befor this letter reaches you. Bill and I went out on a working party on the night of August 23rd. We were both together working when a shell lit in the trench. Bill was killed. I got a slight wound in the knee. I was lucky i was not killed too.

Now mother, i will write again in a few days, when the Battalion comes out of the line.

CECIL

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Submitter: Brian Massey

Note from Brian: The letter above is from a postcard sent by James Cecil Sandercock to his parents, Samuel Sandercock and Ann Jackson (my great-great-grandparents) back in St. Marys, Ontario. His brother Bill had just been killed at his side. Cecil himself was killed in action almost one year later to the day on August 28th 1918.

Cecil is one of the soldiers found on Veteran's Affairs Canada Virtual War Memorial

He is also found in the First World War Book of Remembrance

His brother William (Bill) who is mentioned in Cecil's postcard can be found on Veteran's Affairs Canada Virtual War Memorial

Past Voices suggests... Search for your Canadian ancestors in the following genealogy databases The best portable scanner for those ancestor letters is the Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner Search for an ancestor in Civil War era Photo Albums on Lost Faces Collection. Looking for an ancestor? Try Ancestry.com Use this special code STMMMS31969 to get  a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!