When University of Toronto librarian Loryl MacDonald closes her eyes, she can imagine a young Canadian soldier, filled with nerves and far from home, writing a letter to his family on the eve of one of the bloodiest battles in human history.
Lt. Howard Wrong, a 25-year-old University of Toronto graduate, was studying classics at Oxford University in England when he enlisted with the Lancashire Fusiliers during the First World War.
On June 30, 1916, he wrote a letter from his post in Thiepval, France, to his brother, Murray Wrong, in England, with just four words: “All well with me.” He signed his name, folded the page and tucked within it a small flower.
It was the last his family would ever hear from him. He was last seen one day later, crossing the German front line at Thiepval with a wounded arm. His body was never recovered, but he was presumed to have died that day, along with most of his battalion.
Now, …