Remembrance Day will involve more than a moment’s silence for Orillia author and teacher John Weber.  The event will also mark the release of his book, Letters Home, a collection of letters from his uncle, who died while serving during the Second World War. 

Weber says he discovered the letters, 142 in all, while visiting his mother in Listowel, Ontario.  “Someone,” he said, “should type these up and make a book of them.” 

The rest, literally, is history. 

Weber says his uncle, Willis Machan of Grey Township, near Stratford, served as a WAG or Wireless Air Gunner from 1941 to 1943.  His letters were written to his parents, Stan and Ivah Machan and their family from military bases across Canada, the United States, England, Gibraltar and the Azores. 

Weber, a high school teacher, says that while the letters reveal his uncle’s unique personality, they also serve as a portrait of Canada’s young soldiers, many of whom were called from their homes, never to return.  He says he plans to present the book to history teachers as part of their curriculum with an eye to making students more aware of the responsibilities, culture and dialect of young Canadians during the 1940’s. 

He describes Letters Home from Willis Machan as a “treasured time capsule; an unvarnished look at a bygone era during a pivotal time in the world’s history.”