Writing and Fighting…between the Lines
IBrome County Historical Society
n 2002, Roberta Rogers Innes of Toronto, Ontario found a briefcase that had been in her family’s possession for generations. The case contained a collection of very personal Great War memorabilia, including an infantry uniform, military badges, buttons and medals, a few photographs, several postcards, scores of letters, and one eyeless, legless, little teddy bear with curled ears and a shabby coat.
Raised with awareness about and pride in the achievements of her grandfather, stretcher-bearer Lawrence Browning Rogers, who was killed serving on the Western Front when her father was just a boy, Innes needed neither time nor effort to understand the significance of the find to her family. What she could not have known, however, was the great affinity for her grandfather’s story that would take root after her donation of the collection to the Canadian War Museum where “Teddy” and the other artefacts were put on display.
Following the publication of an award-winning children’s book called “A Bear in War” that was co-authored by Innes’ daughter Stephanie a few years later, this affinity blossomed and spread, endearing the Rogers family history to countless people from across Canada and beyond. Nowhere does that story strike a more poignant chord than right here in Brome County where it started well over a century ago.
“Between the Lines; The Lawrence B. Rogers Letters,” is a special new commemorative exhibit created and hosted by the Brome County Historical Society. A personal and poignant chronicle of one man’s war as he lived it from his enlistment in early 1915 until his death at the Battle of Passchendaele in late October of 1917, the exhibit is also a powerful testament to the courage and resolve that was shown by Canadian families, like May, Aileen, and Howard Rogers of East Farnham, who endured hardships and made sacrifices to “keep the home fires burning” while their loved ones were fighting in the mud and blood in Belgium and France.
Made possible by the Canadian War Museum who scanned the Rogers collection and shared it with the Brome County Historical Society, “Between the Lines; The Lawrence B. Rogers Letters” opens in the Centennial Building (130 Lakeside, Knowlton) on Thanksgiving weekend, not on September 26 as originally planned. The revised dates correspond with the Brome County Museum’s “Great War Weekend,” which takes place rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, October 7 and 8.
The Brome County Museum’s “Great War Weekend” is an educational family event featuring First World War re-enactors representing Canadian and French soldiers camped on site, drills and demonstrations, trench food like bully beef stew and hardtack to sample, and special teddy bear making and postcard writing workshops for children that will benefit members of Canada’s Armed Forces. While there is no charge to participate in the Great War activities or to visit the exhibit on Lt. Lawrence B. Rogers, regular admission fees apply for non-members wishing to visit the museum. All visitors are encouraged to sign our guest book to receive a free raffle ticket and to peruse our museum gift shop for unique Great War era gifts and goodies, including tinned “hardtack” and “iron rations” and English and French books.
The Brome County Historical Society would like to acknowledge the Royal Canadian Legion — Brome Branch 23, the Knowlton Lions Club, and the Optimists Club of the Town of Brome Lake for their generous contributions to our special programming for 2017. Without their support, we could not have produced the three new exhibits (“1917: The Road Past Vimy,” “From Forest to Field: Brome County’s Agricultural Tradition,” and “Between the Lines; The Lawrence B. Rogers Letters”) with complementary events and activities that helped make 2017 our most successful and memorable museum season in years!
For additional information about the Brome County Museum or to join the Brome County Historical Society, please call 450-243-6782 or visit bromemuseum.com. We are also having fun on Facebook!