Dudley Bertram Fryer was just 24 when he participated in the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.

Although Fryer survived that battle and the remainder of the first world war, once he returned home he didn’t speak much of his experiences. But one of his mementos held the key to unlocking more of his story - a letter he had written to his brother in April 1918.

Fryer served with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles as part of the 3rd Canadian Division, in Arras, Vimy, Ypres, Passchendaele, Amiens, Cambrai, and in the pursuit to Mons. In the letter he penned to his brother, Fryer described himself as “one of the fortunate survivors of this titanic struggle”.

And a survivor he was. In his letter, Fryer tells his brother of how a few days earlier he had gone over the top, facing enemy fire, and captured 7 Germans in a hole. Later Fryer would sustain a gunshot wound to his head during the Battle of Cambrai, but survived that as well. Once the war ended, he was sent home to Canada but contracted Spanish Flu on the journey home. He recovered from this as well, and returned home to live out his life with his family.

In this video, Fryer’s great-grandson, Ethan Hartman, tells us more about this “hero of the first world war”. and what it has meant to his family to learn about him and walk in his footsteps.