Alma Russell Letters
Letters of British Columbia men on active service with Canadian and British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1918. Learn more.
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In the Field, 7th August, 1917.
The Hon. Secretary, Lady Douglas Chapter, I.O.D.E., Victoria, B.C.
Dear Mrs. Holmes:–
I have received your kind letter on behalf of the Lady Douglas Chapter of the Imperial Daughters of the Empire congratulating me upon having been created a Companion of the Distinguished Order.
Will you please convey to the Lady Douglas Chapter my heartfelt thanks for their kind message.
Any honour that is apparently due to me I surrender to that splendid body of Officers and and men whom it has been my privilege to command and of whom Victoria has every reason to be proud.
The 48th Battalion (3rd Canadian Pioneers) will be remembered in history for its accomplishments at Ypres, The Somme, and the taking of Vimy Ridge, for the splendid spirit of its personnel, their devotion to duty, their cheerful submission to discipline, and for their many sacrifices willing given in the terrible stress of modern battle in the defence of and to the honour of their homes, Canada, and the Empire.
Yours sincerely,
(Sgd) W.J.H. Holmes Lt.-Col.
BC Archives, MS-1901 Box 1 File 7 / RUSSELL, Alma M., 1873 - 1964. Victoria; librarian. / Selected letters to and from Lieutenant-Colonel William Josiah Hartley Holmes, 1917.