Hi,

I had a field trip day today, going out to Sooke and Colwood which garnered all the names of Soldiers from Jordan River to 17 Mile House (98 soldiers) including which ones died, as well as checking out some grave sites and getting contact info for historians at the Sooke Museum and Colwood Historical Commission who have each written books about the area during our time period. In Colwood I met with Dick Emory whose father served as a signalman in France with the 88th and was wounded there. He had some great artifacts including the original discharge papers, his father's pay book, and the telegrams sent to his family when he was injured. He also had some good photographs. He'll keep me informed of further finds and any developments from the Historical Commission. My plans for the rest of the week include a date with some regimental colours, checking out some local church honour rolls, and possibly visiting Pearkes' grave. I've been in contact with all the Anglican churches now, so I'll start moving into the other smaller-number denominations this week too.

(I was going to post a photo of what I found today, but my computer won't read my camera card at the moment, so I'll get back to you on that one...)