Soon after the 52nd Battalion returned to the Lakehead, the Port Arthur Daily News Chronicle announced that they would be publishing a series of articles by Sergeant Frederick Willesden La Soeur that would tell the story of the celebrated military unit. The story was titled The Officially Authorized Story of the Fifty-Second Battalion: Its Record in France, Belgium and Canada. The News Chronicle added that the stories would later be published with illustrations in book format. Starting on April 16, 1919 the newspaper began with the first part of story and continued sporadically until May 23, 1919.

Read the first part of the story here.

Professor David Ratz (Lieutenant Colonel, Lake Superior Scottish Regiment) contributes the following information from a letter from Lieutenant Colonel W.W. Foster, 12 April 1919:

“2181355 Sgt. F.W. La Soeur at Prince Arthur Hotel., Port Arthur, Ont., writing History of the 52nd Bn. Note. an account of unpaid Hotel Bill, C.N. Rly Coy, refused allow removal of Documents and Records. La Soeur went A.W.L. and work was not completed. Went to W’pg 2.6.19. Col. Foster left with Capt. Williams and La Soeur the whole of his private records, photographs, cartoons and autographed letters from commanders in the field for use in compiling B. History.” (Source: Library and Archives Canada file RG24 vol1906 file HQ 5-7-35, 52nd Canadian Infantry Battalion)

In all, twelve articles were published; however, the story never concluded. With the last published piece in the News Chronicle, the page read ‘to be continued’ but no further articles could be found. Moreover, we could not locate any information that supported the book ever being published. Whatever happened to the story behind the story is a mystery. If you can supply any information concerning this author or his work, please contact reference@tbpl.ca