Video Transcription
The letter from her brother overseas arrived at Margaret Causley’s home in Sarnia in October 1918, one month before the Great War ended. It contained devastating news: her son, Edward, had been killed in action.
Her grief stricken brother mentions that I nearly fainted. I could not believe it until I saw his grave. He was to
communion a few days before, when I last saw him. I thought the world of him, our dear, darling boy that is gone....
Edward Causley was born in Sarnia, on November 24, 1897, the eldest child of Levi Francis and Margaret Causley. At age eighteen, Edward Causley enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas. Expeditionary Force on January 26, 1916 in Sarnia with the 149th Battalion.
He arrived in Liverpool, England on April 7, 1917, becoming a member of the 25th Reserve Battalion, stationed at Bramshott. This was the first of many moves. On June 1, 1917, he was posted to 161st Battalion, stationed at Camp Witley, and it was here that Edward received a Good Conduct Badge on January 26, 1918 with the 161st. On April 5, 1918, Edward arrived in France with the Canadian Infantry, 1st Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment.
Edward soon found himself apart of the Hundred Day Campaign. The Hundred Days Campaign was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defenses. The series of victories repeatedly drove the
Germans back, resulting in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a cost of almost 46,000 Canadians killed, wounded and missing.
On August 30, 1918, less than five months after arriving in France, Edward Causley was killed after being hit
by enemy shellfire while fighting in the 2nd Battle of Arras. In October 1918, Margaret Causley in Sarnia received a letter from her brother, Jim Ward, informing her of her son’s death.
The following is a portion of that letter:
France, Sept. 22, 1918
"My Dear Sister,
I really don’t know how to start this letter. May God give you strength to bear this terrible news of our brave hero, Eddie, who was killed, charging Upton Woods in France. I was inquiring for Eddie, thinking I would see his smiling face, but when they told me the news and how brave he was, I nearly fainted. I could not believe it until I saw his grave. He was to communion a few days before, when I last saw him. How pleased I was to see him. I thought the world of him, our dear, darling boy that is gone....
He had no pain; he did not know what hit him. It was a machine gun bullet. He fought all day and went about thirteen miles on, then had the misfortune to get killed, just as they had driven the Germans out. There
are three hundred in the cemetery. I will go over to his grave every day and say the beads. I have the Rosary beads he gave me in England. I am heart-broken and sorry over your terrible loss. Well, my dear sister,
this is terrible and you don’t know how I feel. I really loved the ground he walked on. I will write to you again soon and tell you more.
With love to you and your dear family, I remain Your loving brother,
Jim"
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