Letters from Beauly details New Brunswick's forestry war effort
Oscar Baker III | CBC News | Posted: October 16, 2016 1:00 PM | Last Updated: October 16, 2016
Melynda Jarratt, author and historian, wrote the book based on letters from her grandfather, Patrick Hennessey
A New Brunswick book is shedding new light on the province's forestry effort in the Second World War.
Melynda Jarratt, author and historian, wrote the book based on letters from her grandfather, Patrick Hennessy.
The letters detailed Hennessy's time in the Scottish Highlands with the Canadian Forestry Corps cutting lumber for the Allied war effort.
The letters were found in the attic of the Hennessy family estate in Bathurst.
"Some of my older relatives, cousins, couldn't make their way through without tears in their eyes. I was a little less invested in it that way emotionally because I was only eight years old when my grandfather died," said Jarratt, author of Letters from Beauly.
Canada's Forestry Corps was responsible for supplying Britain's lumber needs during the war.
The German occupation cut off supply routes to England, limiting the country's access to lumber.
It was believed five trees were needed for every soldier in the war; one for his living quarters, one for shipping crates and three for explosives and other war effort materials.
'Little threads of history'
"These are the little threads of history I love to uncover," said Jarratt.
Jarratt said the Forestry Corps' contribution to the war effort has largely been ignored.
They never made the front page of the newspaper, but were still in danger.
"They were in the Battle of Ardennes. There was a fellow from Bathurst heard saying 'Throw down your axes and pick up your rifle because the Germans are attacking.' These guys were combat ready," said Jarratt.
She said Canada's Forestry Corps was made up of about 7,000 men and 14 per cent were from New Brunswick, the same percentage as Quebec.
The book also detailed the network of pen pals between people in Scotland and New Brunswick.