Discover the Canadian military history through this Teddy Bear.

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• Thursday, November 04th, 2010

: Interact with this treasure on YouTube

Object Name: Teddy Bear,owner was Rogers, M.M., Lieutenant Laurence Browning (1878/12/17-1917/10/30); and Miss E. Aileen Rogers, his daughter, who sent to him during the First World War. There are no visible maker,s marks, although handmade.
Material/Medium/Support: fiber unidentified, hand made, brown, incomplete, used
Earliest Production Date and Latest Production Date: 1910/01/01; 1915/12/31 – 1914-1919 First World War
Dimension (H x W x D in centimeters):Length 12.1; width 9.0; depth 3.0.
Artist/Maker/Manufacturer/Founder: Unknown
Accession #: 20040015-001
Institution Name: CMCC
Copyright: CMCC

Transcript

This 12 cm tall teddy bear accompanied Canadian Lieutenant Lawrence B. Rogers through much of the First World War. Rogers, a farmer from Quebec, had enlisted and gone overseas in 1915, receiving the bear a year later as a gift from his ten-year-old daughter, Aileen. During his time in Europe as an army medic, Rogers was promoted and decorated for bravery, receiving the Military Cross for carrying wounded comrades to safety while under heavy enemy fire. He wrote often to his family, exchanging over 200 letters and postcards with them. After Rogers’ death at Passchendaele, Belgium in 1917, his possessions were returned to his family. In 2002, Aileen’s niece, Roberta Rogers Innes, rediscovered the teddy bear in a family briefcase, along with the collection of wartime letters. Rogers died before reading the final letter from his young son, displayed today alongside the bear at the Canadian War Museum:

Dear Daddy, We have had holidays ever since the 3rd and I have played all the time and have to go back tomorrow morning. I went to the movies twice, a little boy just came to the door selling tickets for some movies 5¢ but we would not take one. I try my hardest at school to come first. I joined the YMCA and have been there twice at gym. I haven’t had a swim yet. I will have to close because I am burning up all the electric light.

Description

This small teddy bear is one of the Museum’s best-known and most-cherished objects. A gift from his ten-year-old daughter, Aileen, the 12-centimetre tall bear accompanied Canadian Lieutenant Lawrence B. Rogers through much of the First World War. After Rogers was killed during the battle of Passchendaele, Belgium in 1917, ‘Teddy’ was among the personal effects eventually returned to his family. Ninety years later, it tells a story of hope and love between a father and his family.
Rogers, a farmer from Quebec, had enlisted and gone overseas in 1915, receiving the bear a year later as a present from home. During his time in Europe as an army medic, Rogers was promoted and decorated for bravery, receiving the Military Cross for carrying wounded comrades to safety while under heavy enemy fire. He wrote often to his family, exchanging more than 200 letters and postcards with his wife May, son Howard, and daughter Aileen about school, the farm, and life at the front. In one letter, Rogers asked May to tell Aileen about the bear: “it’s dirty and his hind legs are kind of loose but he is still with me.” After Rogers’ death at Passchendaele, his possessions were returned to his family at home. In 2002, Aileen’s niece, Roberta Rogers Innes, rediscovered the teddy bear in a family briefcase, along with the collection of wartime letters. Rogers died before reading the final letter from his son, displayed today alongside the bear at the Canadian War Museum. In 2008, Roberta’s daughter, Stephanie Innes, and Harry Endrulat published Teddy’s story as A Bear in War, a children’s book on one family’s experience of war, loss, and remembrance.
Jessa Alston-O’Connor

Laurie Filgiano