It was in the middle of a busy workday earlier this year when a WhatsApp message arrived from a U.K. number I didn’t recognize.

“Hi. My name is Andrew Clarke, and I live in London, U.K., and I am contacting you because my father, Capt. Derek Clarke, knew your grandfather in the Second World War. They were both in the 16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry and both severely wounded at the battle of Sedjenane, Tunisia, on 27 February 1943.

“Not only that, but they shared the same two-bed ward in two hospitals in North Africa before being sent back to the U.K. after three months. My father helped your grandfather recover and wrote his letters home to your grandmother, until Lionel was one day able to write a letter himself with his left hand … I’d love to share more with you and your family.”

I wasn’t sure if it was a scam, an AI-generated message, or my cousin Zac playing a practical joke. Some of what Andrew wrote could have been found online. But one detail stopped me: my grandfather’s left-handed letter writing. That wasn’t public. I messaged Zac. He confirmed it wasn’t a prank and suggested we search online for “Andrew Clarke” to see if he was a real person.

As we were doing so, it came to me: I remembered the name “Derek Clarke” from a box of wartime letters my grandfather had sent to my grandmother. Could this be real?

What We Knew, and What We Didn’t

By way of background, my grandfather, Lionel Kauffman, was Canadian and had earned a scholarship to study at Cambridge University. When the Second World War broke out, Canadians studying in Britain were given a choice: return home to enlist in the Canadian forces or remain and join Commonwealth forces under British command.

He remained, not because of policy or opportunity, but because he had met a young woman in London — my grandmother — and love, as it does, decided for him.

He was deployed to North Africa, where he suffered a head wound — it read in the telegrams as “gunshot wounds to the head” — and fell into a coma. He was treated in field hospitals until he could be evacuated back to London for further medical care.

Family legend is that when he first heard he had a newborn son, he woke up from his coma — the movie version of his survival.

When he returned to Canada, it was with permanent right-side paralysis and a metal plate in his head. He also suffered from seizures — I remember him regularly counting out his pills, kept organized in long sectioned pill boxes.

He became a school principal, then later a social worker, working for a period in the juvenile justice system. By far, though, his greatest contribution was at home: he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

We remember his humour, often silly, his love of peanuts, and his commitment to his Jewish faith. He died at 69 after a series of strokes, succumbing after years of fighting his war injuries —  too young by many accounts, though in truth, we had him on borrowed time.

When we were young, my brother Adam and I often asked our grandfather about the war. He always deflected. My grandmother followed his lead. In our home, the Second World War was the unspoken reason behind a limp and a dominant left hand.

It was my cousin Zac who opened the door into what had always been left unsaid. In high school, a teacher asked if any students had war veterans in their family who might share something for Remembrance Day. Zac volunteered.

Afterward, he told us he had read aloud a wartime letter my grandfather had written to my grandmother from a field hospital in 1943. “What letter?” we asked. That was when Zac revealed that a box existed, filled with my grandfather’s wartime letters.

A few weeks later, we gathered as a family and pored over the newly discovered telegrams and letters. Several of the letters from my grandfather were from his time in hospital in North Africa and had clearly been written on his behalf by someone else.

We had them all digitally scanned so they would be available to everyone in the family for generations to come. I enlarged and framed one — the letter that mentioned my father’s birth. Today it hangs on the wall of my living room. For years, that was as far as our story went.

“I think you’ll be excited to see this letter”

Now back to that mysterious WhatsApp message from a U.K. number — the one we weren’t sure was even real. It was about to become the bridge to a story we thought was lost.

Zac went into the family’s digital scans and found a three-page letter Capt. Derek Clarke had written on behalf of my grandfather to my grandmother in 1943. I sent Andrew a photo of it, with my first reply to his initial outreach: “I think you will be excited to see this letter. Clearly, we need to find a time to connect.”

He replied almost immediately: “I’m in tears looking at that letter. My Dad often talked of ‘Kauffy’… I can’t tell you how happy I am to have found you … My Dad died, aged 101, in 2014, but was bright and lucid all the way to the end and always spoke most warmly of your grandfather. He’d be amazed that we are now in touch.”

Then came the first of many gifts from Andrew. He enclosed a copy of a painting that hangs above his desk, depicting the view from the veranda of the hospital room his father shared with my grandfather. “There is a chapel on the hilltop,” Andrew wrote, “which I like to think is a way of showing that God had saved them and was looking down on them and this timeless land.” This was the very scene my grandfather and Andrew’s father had looked out on in their darkest months.

Suddenly, I felt closer to my grandfather than I had in the 17 years we shared before he passed.

Since Andrew had sent me a piece of art, I responded with one of my own: the wartime letter from the box, the one framed on my living room wall. I hovered over the message, then added one more line before hitting send: “Is this, by chance, your dad’s handwriting?”

Within seconds, Andrew responded: “Yup, that’s my dad’s scrawl all right….. Is the baby talked about here your dad? Am I right that it’s ‘David’?”

I paused, incredulous. The handwriting on my living room wall belonged to Andrew’s father, not to a nurse taking dictation, as we had always believed. And Andrew knew my father’s name, something Andrew had to have learned from his father. My mind was blown.

How he found us

We set a Zoom date for Andrew to meet us: my parents, my aunt and uncle, the grandchildren and even some great-grandchildren. Andrew answered the question on all of our minds — how had he tracked us down?

“I knew from a reference in one of my father’s letters that Lionel was Jewish, had come to the U.K. to study at Cambridge and that he lived near me in Clapton. Some years ago, I think I found a reference online to him marrying Min Kurrant and moving to Canada.

“Just last week, I picked up on this again and found a pic on Wendy’s Instagram or LinkedIn with a poem Lionel had written, then a newspaper clipping that gives Wendy’s company name, so it was easy to find the webpage and contact details. I should say, I’ve recently retired from 40 years as a journo, so I know how to be dogged in pursuit of information!”

In that online meeting, Andrew began sharing what his father had left behind, along with Andrew’s own research into this lesser-known battle in North Africa — maps, letters, diary entries, and memories of the officer affectionately referred to within the battalion as “Kauffy”— unlocking the story of what happened to the two men who had been nearly fatally wounded in battle on Feb. 27, 1943.

Capt. Derek Clarke’s Voice

In his diary and letters to his wife, Capt. Clarke gave little snapshots of his and my grandfather’s agonizingly long recovery together.

He recorded the nightmare 12-hour ambulance journey that took them to a hospital further back from the frontline dressing station, tracing the arc of my grandfather’s struggle and the fear he might never recover. On March 1, 1943, Capt. Clarke described “poor Kauffy” as “quite imbecilic” from his head wound and added that he feared Kauffy would never speak again.

Five days later came the first glimmer of hope: words beginning to return. By mid-April, my grandfather could walk with support — something unimaginable only a week earlier. Little by little, the entries hint at long hours spent together, sharing the details of their lives, engaging in philosophical discussions, and even lighter moments.

An entry from May shows Capt. Clarke, amused at my grandfather’s eating through the night from a long-delayed parcel of chocolate cake and gum, sent from Canada, “like a mouse in the cupboard.”

After a frustratingly long time cooped up in hospitals in North Africa, by the end of May both men had returned to Britain.

My grandfather was transferred to St. Hugh’s Military Hospital in Oxford, while Capt. Clarke recovered in London. A final diary entry by Capt. Clarke records that, on July 3, 1943, he and his wife, Ann, visited my grandfather and grandmother, Min, at their home in Clapton for afternoon tea — the only evidence we have that their wives met, and a poignant reminder of the women whose loved ones were sent into battle. Those women also carried the burdens of war and were among its heroes.

Andrew told us how his father, who lived to 101, would often recount stories of the war when the family was gathered for Sunday lunch. The stories invariably circled back to Tunisia and would frequently mention “Kauffy.”

The stories my brother and I begged to hear were told, just not to us. Decades later, they found their way home.

This Remembrance Day

This Remembrance Day, my parents and are flying from Toronto to London to meet Andrew in person. We will stand at the Remembrance Sunday parade with Canadian flags for Lt. Lionel Kauffman, the Canadian who served with the British Army’s 16th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, and spend Nov. 11 with Andrew.

Remembrance is more than a moment of silence at 11 a.m. It is the work of listening, of piecing together the lives behind the medals and the wounds. It is opening the letters, reading the diaries and discovering the voices that were waiting to be heard.

On Feb. 27, 1943, two young officers were wounded near the Tunisian village of Sedjenane. They became hospital roommates, then friends, and for a period, one became the other’s hand and memory. Decades later, a son shared those wartime stories with a stranger he found through an Instagram post and became the bridge connecting two families across 80 years.

This Nov. 11, I will stand in remembrance of my grandfather, Lt. Lionel Kauffman, and Capt. Derek Clarke. And I will carry forward a new story — one that is not only about the war, but about care, duty and the way acts of compassion can echo across generations.

Last month, European countries began rolling out the new Entry/Exit System (EES) for travellers crossing European borders. It’s expected to be fully operational by April 10, 2026. Here’s what to know.

Who uses the EES?

The EES is for non-EU nationals (

including Canadians

) who are travelling for a short stay to one or more countries in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

What’s the Schengen area?

It’s a fancy term for the nations of the European Union, minus Ireland and Cyprus, but including Norway, Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Iceland.

Note that this doesn’t include the U.K., which has its own system, called Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), in place since January. That has a cost of 10 pounds, or about $18.

What does the system do?

The EES replaces the manual stamping of passports at border crossings. During the first six months of its use, border officers will continue to stamp passports in addition to registering entries and exits digitally. Countries may also revert to manual stamping if they experience technical problems. Once the system is fully in place, only the digital system will be used.

The system will also track overstays and denials of entry The government of Canada notes

on its website

that each country decides who can enter or exit through its borders, and Canada can’t intervene if someone doesn’t meet entry or exit requirements.

How does it work?

Non-EU travellers with an e-passport can use a self-serve kiosk to register when crossing the border, and then proceed to a passport control officer who will already have received that information and can ask further questions if necessary before granting or refusing entry.

Do Canadians have e-passports?

They almost certainly do if they’re current. Canada has been issuing

e-passports since 2013

, and they are good for 10 years before they need to be renewed.

What kind of data does it collect?

Biometric data, such as fingerprints and facial images, will also be collected at the point of entry, and stored for three years.

Why is Europe doing this?

A website for the European Union notes that automation will shorten wait times by replacing time-consuming manual checks.

It also notes that the new system provides precise information on the maximum duration of authorized stay by visitors, and makes it easier to identify those who have overstayed or are using fake passports.

Is there a cost?

No. The system is free for users.

Are there other changes coming?

Yes, and they will cost. Europe’s next border-control system is

called ETIAS

, for European Travel Information and Authorization System. It will

require Canadians

and other non-EU nationals to apply online for a permit to enter Europe.

Last summer, it was announced that the fee would be 20 euros (about $32),

almost triple

the previously announced price of 7 euros.

ETIAS is supposed to start operations in late 2026. However, the system has faced several delayed since its announcement, and was originally supposed to begin in 2021. And like the EES, it will take time to get fully up and running.

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Well before U.S. President Donald Trump brought up the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state, the proposition was already fermenting in the mind of best-selling Canadian fiction author Louise Penny.

The Black Wolf, her latest novel in which the threat of annexation by the U.S. is a central plotline, was recently released and Penny, who previously turned down an invite to launch her latest Chief Inspector Armand Gamache story at the Kennedy Center in Washington, is remaining steadfast in her commitment to not tour the book in the U.S.

Here’s what to know.

What is The Black Wolf about?

The 20th book of the award-winning series picks up where Penny’s last book, The Grey Wolf, left off, with Gamache and his team exposing and averting a plot to poison Montreal’s water supply and arresting a man called the Black Wolf.

In the weeks that follow, the Sûreté du Québec detective comes to realize the person they apprehended was merely a red herring and the foiled attack was a “deliberate misdirection” ahead of “something deeper and darker” to come.

“Gamache and his small team of supporters realize that for the Black Wolf to have gotten this far, they must have powerful allies, in law enforcement, in industry, in organized crime, in the halls of government,”

Macmillan Publishers said of the just-released novel.

Wary of those forces and going off a murdered scientist’s notebook and maps, they conduct a surreptitious investigation and uncover evidence of a cross-border scheme to leverage control of water systems and resources.

While the book doesn’t specifically refer Canada becoming the 51st state, Penny has said the notion is one of the book’s underlying themes.

“What happens when a nation that is losing a lot of these things, including water, sees how much we have? What’s it going to do?” she said to the

Montreal Gazette

in March.

“What would you do? Would you break into your neighbour’s home to save yourself and your family? Probably.”

Penny had maintained that the book was completed more than a year before Trump was elected and quickly began perpetuating the idea that Canada should become the 51st state for economic and security reasons to benefit both countries.

“I was afraid when I wrote it that I had taken it too far, that people simply wouldn’t follow me there, that it was unbelievable,” she told the

Express in the U.K.

last week.

“As it turns out, I may not have gone far enough!”

What is Penny’s connection to the Haskell Library and Opera House?

While much of the novel is set in Three Pines, Penny said “some pivotal scenes” take place in The Haskell Free Library and Opera House, the real-life library straddling the border between Stanstead, Que. and Derby Line, VT.

The facility was in the headlines in March when U.S. Customs and Border Protection decreed that only Canadian library members and staff could use the front door. All other Canadian visitors would have to go through the nearest U.S. border point or use a back door on the Canadian side.

The library has been fundraising to help pay for the renovations to the Canadian side, with Penny contributing $50,000, as reported by

CBC

.

Speaking to the Express, Penny said it was a “petty” for the Trump administration to attack “a little village library that is symbolic of the friendship and the sacrifices that both countries have made for each other.”

The author ended her North American book tour at the venue on Nov. 1 and 2. A portion of ticket sales will go towards the entrance renovations, which Penny will reportedly match, according to

Vermont Public.

“If I had been writing this book now, I never would have gone there because it would have felt like I was ripping off a quite frightening political situation, certainly within Canada but also within the U.S.,” she told the Express.

Why won’t Louise Penny conduct book tours in the U.S.?

The Haskell show is technically Penny’s only U.S.-based promotional tour date for The Black Wolf, having announced in March that she was cancelling future dates in response to Trump’s statements and the nascent trade war between the nations.

Not visiting the states for the first time in 20 years, she said in

a Facebook post

, was not meant to punish her American readers, but “about standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my fellow Canadians.”

At the same time, she also announced said the book’s launch would take place at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, not the John F. Kennedy Center.

While it would have been “a real watermark” for her as an author, she changed her mind after Trump dismissed the national performing arts centre’s board of trustees and got himself appointed as the new chairman, along with a host of new board members.

“I don’t consider my stand to be political, although there’s certainly a political element to it,” she told

CBC

recently. “It’s a moral stand. If the Democrats had done the same thing, I would take the same stand. My not going isn’t going to change anything, but my going would be acquiescence.”

Who is Louise Penny?

The 67-year-old Canadian fictional crime-mystery author is best known for her international best-selling Gamache series set in a fictional Quebec small town called Three Pines.

The Toronto native spent 18 years as a radio host and journalist for CBC before embarking on her quest “to write the best book ever” in 1996, according to

Quill and Quire.

Almost 10 years later, her first novel, Still Life, won multiple literary awards and became a CBC movie in 2013. The Gamache series also found its way to the screen, with actor Alfred Polina portraying the protagonist in a short-lived Amazon Prime series titled Three Pines.

She is a recipient of the Order of Canada (2013) and the Order of Quebec (2017), where she lives in the Eastern Townships community of Knowlton.

• Trump says he pitched 51st state offer to Canada again in Golden Dome talks
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OTTAWA — Conservatives are calling for the reversal of a military directive they say inappropriately censors religious speech at public commemorations.

New Brunswick Conservative MP Mike Dawson said it was an affront to the memory of the fallen that the Chaplain General’s 2023

Direction on Chaplain’s Spiritual Reflection in Public Settings

is still in place.

“I am ashamed that our government intends to restrict public expressions of faith in our military, or in plain terms, to ban prayer. It is cowardice to ask our sons and daughters to put themselves in harm’s way but refuse them the right to express their faith in God. To deny those who provide our freedom the right to openly pray is an insult to those who never came home,” Dawson

told the House of Commons

.

The directive, issued by then chaplain general J.L.G. “Guy” Bélisle in October 2023, compels chaplains to “carefully choose words that are inclusive” to all assembled, including atheists.

The order also restricts chaplains from wearing so-called “Faith Tradition” scarves, bearing religious symbols like crosses and crescent moons, at military ceremonies, mandating that all wear identical scarves adorned with the religiously neutral Royal Canadian Chaplain Service crest.

Bélisle said the changes were necessary following the

Supreme Court of Canada’s Saguenay decision in 2015

, which found that the state has a duty to uphold religious neutrality in public settings.

The then chaplain general tempered his own Remembrance Day address at Ottawa’s National War Memorial last year, prefacing his remarks as a “reflect(ion)” rather than a prayer.

Reverend Doctor Andrew Bennett, head of faith community engagement at faith-based think tank Cardus, says the directive misses the mark of religious neutrality by putting irreligion ahead of religiosity.

“To say that Canadian Armed Forces chaplains cannot speak about God or cannot pray at public ceremonies of remembrance is showing a lack of understanding of who is in the armed forces, men and women who serve this country, many of whom are religious and live out their faith,” said Bennett.

“They don’t put their faith aside when they join the armed forces. And so it is perfectly fitting that it’s ceremonies of remembrance when we remember the dead who are fallen for this country,” he added.

Conservative defence critic James Bezan echoed these sentiments in an email to the National Post.

”We should be encouraging Canadian Armed Forces chaplains of all faiths to offer benedictions and prayers, rather than order them to exclude faith-based prayers from their public remarks,” wrote Bezan.

Bennett said that faith has long been tied to military service, pointing to the old adage “there are no atheists in foxholes.”

“(The directive) dishonours those men and women who fell for this country in combat, when they were in the trenches at the Battle of the Somme or when they were fighting In the Pacific Theater at the fall of Hong Kong. You don’t think that they were praying that they would survive and see another day?” said Bennett.

Bennett said it’s “entirely in the power” of now Chaplain General Colonel Lisa Pacarynuk to reverse the directive.

Pacarynuk assumed the role in May, becoming Canada’s first female chaplain general.

Retired fifth-generation Canadian Forces veteran Bonnie Critchley, who ran as an independent candidate in the recent Battle River—Crowfoot byelection, said she felt the criticisms of the new directive were overblown, saying that it’s only natural for military protocol to change with the attitudes of those who serve.

“Your spirituality is your own thing. Religion tends to get messy. Yeah. And I am not a religious person person. I am a spiritual person. My own spirituality is my own … I absolutely do appreciate a spiritual tone versus a religious (one),” said Critchley, who recently retired after 22 years of military service.

Pacarynuk‘s office could not be reached for comment.

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