A century-old letter reveals the sad and proud story of the family in World War I

On October 18, 1918, Lieutenant James Gordon Moore’s plane crashed near Boulogne, France, only 24 days before the First World War.

However, it was not the impact that caused the Toronto pilot’s death, but the severe burns he suffered while trying to drag his Australian colleague from the wreckage of the Royal Flying Corps plane.

In fact, Moore-as Gordon as he is known-spent another painful 10 months in a hospital in London, England, before his death in peacetime on August 13, 1919.

his story braveUntil his cousin’s granddaughter Maureen Kitchen found a heartbreaking letter in her parents’ home ten years ago, the pride and sadness of his family were almost forgotten.

This letter was written by Moore’s sister Tilza, who came to Gordon’s bed in England from Canada.

In the letter, she told her sister Marjorie, “The major told me that Gordon changed as soon as he heard that I was on the road and was very healthy and happy.”

“He seems to be able to hold on with me for a while, until he hears the news from home and knows that we are all right, and then he suddenly falls, putting too much pressure on the heart.”

When visiting Gordon in London, Tilza lived with their British cousins.

“He was fully awake, knew me, but couldn’t speak, he was too weak. I just asked him if he knew me, and he said “yes” because (cousins) Eardley and Everilda knew he had only a few minutes left. They asked me to leave him because they didn’t want me to see him dead, so I kissed him and he said’yes, goodbye’,” Tilza wrote.

“Really, Marjorie, it’s horrible to think that the worst thing really happened. I feel so lonely in a strange country, and I feel so for you at home, but each of them is to me. They are all great, and I will never forget their kindness to Gordon and me.”

2:03Regina’s family was told to have contact with the recently discovered missing World War I soldier

Moore died in an auxiliary hospital in a building next to Kensington Palace.

Maureen Kitchen, who lives in Mississauga, Ontario, said her family rarely talks about Gordon or her uncle Middleford, who was killed in the First World War.

For her, this letter revealed decades of family suffering in the envelope.

“I went through and opened all these 100-year-old envelopes. I was reading this story. It was a terrible moment when I read that letter,” Kitch said.

“It’s one thing to say’Oh, he died in a car accident. You know, it’s horrible,” but it’s another thing to read his sister’s letter and all the details, it’s really true to me, it’s There was no one before. After reading it, I was upset for a while. “

Lieutenant Moore’s father and four sisters live in Toronto.

“It destroyed that family. And, you know, it’s so close [to the Armistice]. He almost came back,” she said.

“You can see that the letter did help them deal with the fact that he has left. He did not die in vain.”

Kitchen believes that the deaths of Gordon and Midford had a profound impact on their family, and this impact continues to this day, but she is grateful that this letter can be tolerated.

The four-page letter stated that Moore had accepted a military funeral and fired a 240-gun salute.

according to Canadian War Project websiteHe was one of 16 Canadians buried in Hampstead Cemetery in London, England, who were injured in the First World War.