Heather Latter
Ed Haglund may never know the whole story, but he has a piece of his heritage to pass on to younger generations in the form of a letter written by his uncle, Eddie Haglund, to his sister, Frede, back in 1941.
Framed along with the letter is a Chinese bill signed by several local men: Eddie Haglund, his older brother, Harold (Ed Haglund’s father), Glenn McFayden, Ken Law, George Radwell, A.C. McFayden, Howard Homes, and Jonny Walton.
“Harold was stationed with the forestry corps, a local group made up here in Fort Frances,” Ed Haglund explained.
“Most of the other names on the bill were from the forestry corps, as well, so they are all local people.”
He indicated his Uncle Eddie was visiting his father, Harold, in Scotland.
“This place reminds me of Fort Frances a lot with the sawmills and everything,” Eddie wrote to Frede on Dec. 17. 1941.
“We are sending you a Chinese bill we all autographed in the pub last night.”
Haglund explained his uncle was on a furlough from some training in England when he went up to visit Harold.
“Someone had found this note floating in the bay there,” he said. “Apparently there were quite a few of these notes floating around.”
But what Haglund finds interesting is that the Chinese bill was printed by the British bank.
“So the Chinese must have had their money printed in England during the war,” he reasoned. “This money must have been going back to China, but probably either the boat sank or the plane was shot down.
“The brothers and the rest of the fellas from home signed it and sent the note.”
However, it seems the note didn’t get to his sister with the letter.
“When I found the letter, it was passed on to me by another family member, I realized there is another part to it because it mentions the bill,” Haglund remarked.
“I put them together and thought it was kind of intriguing.”
While he doesn’t know what happened to all the men who signed the bill, Haglund noted that Eddie, an air gunner, was shot down in North Africa while Harold was wounded in Belgium.
“I just thought it was neat to share because some people might see their grandpa’s name on there,” he said.
The letter and bill have been in Haglund’s possession for several years, and he also has displayed it at the local Legion and area schools.
While it’s something to share around Remembrance Day, Haglund often pulls out this piece of history at other times of the year, too.
