A poignant and true story about love, loss, and family strength during
World War One is now available in paperback!
During World War One, a young girl slips her teddy bear into a care
package for her father, a medic posted to the trenches of France.
Although her father dies in the battle of Passchendaele, his belongings
are shipped back to his family, along with the toy bear, which today
sits in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
In 1915, 37-year-old Lawrence Browning Rogers enlisted in the Fifth
Canadian Mounted Rifles, leaving behind his wife, two children, and
their farm in East Farnham, Quebec. Over the next two and a half years,
the family exchanged hundreds of letters, and daughter Aileen sent her
beloved Teddy overseas to keep her father safe. Teddy returned home
safely, but Lieutenant Rogers did not. He was killed in the battle of
Passchendaele. Eighty-five years later, Lawrence's granddaughter found
Teddy, the letters, and other war memorabilia packed away in a
briefcase. And she discovered a moving story of one family's love and
sacrifice - a story shared by the families of so many soldiers who have
lost their lives in the defense of their country.
Accompanied by family photographs and Brian Deines' poignant art, A
Bear in War is more than one family's testament to a brave soldier. It
is a gentle introduction to war, to Remembrance Day, and to the honor of
those who have served their countries.
