VIU’s Canadian Letters and Images Project sheds light on what happened to Fred Lee.
A quest to learn more about Private Fred Lee, a Chinese-Canadian war hero who vanished during the First World War led Jack Gin to Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Canadian Letters and Images Project.
Born into a respected Chinese-Canadian family, Lee was one of the very first soldiers of Chinese heritage to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He fought at Vimy Ridge and later vanished, likely annihilated by artillery after seeing victory in the Battle of Hill 70. Businessman, philanthropist and filmmaker Jack Gin wanted to know more about this lost soldier that Mark Hutchings, President of the Hill 70 Memorial Project, had uncovered. Lee may have been the very first fallen Canadian soldier of Chinese heritage.
“I told him we needed to know more than the military records they uncovered. A soldier who had no known grave, and had suspected Chinese ancestry, at a time when racism was rampant in Canada. We needed to know his back story.”
Gin set out on a journey of discovery, and that led to the documentary, Finding Fred Lee.
“Why was this soldier forgotten for 100 years? Someone had to make the effort to find this soldier’s family history in Kamloops. An incredible story unfolded, of a pioneer family committed to Canada, including volunteering for duty for what was called the Great War.”
As he continued the investigation, he came across the Canadian Letters and Images Project (CLIP), which mentioned the soldier. CLIP is an online archive of the Canadian war experience, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves. Started by VIU History Professor Dr. Stephen Davies as a way of showing his students the human side of the war experience, the website has grown to include more than 35,000 letters as well as images, diaries and other materials. Among these were letters that referenced Lee and what happened to him.
“I went to the CLIP website, and I was astounded, so happy that I could read some letters,” said Gin, who presented a screening of the film at VIU in 2022 due to the film’s connections to CLIP. “The reference to Fred became, not so much a climax, but a key – it became the fun ending that made the film so satisfying.”
As a way of showing thanks, Gin gave a generous donation to keep the project going. The Canadian Letters and Images Project relies on the generosity of community members like Gin to continue the work. The letters and photographs are sent to Davies by families across Canada to be scanned. Once they are part of the collection, he returns them to the family members. But it takes time and resources to scan and transcribe letters and upload them to the website.
“As we move away in time from past conflicts and as our veteran population declines, it becomes increasingly difficult for Canadians to understand the sacrifices that men and women made, both on the battlefield and on the home front, during wartime,” said Davies. “Donations, large and small, ensure that we can keep this important content freely available for this generation and for future generations.”
Since retiring as CEO of a tech company in 2009, Gin established a plan to give to Canada in perpetuity. For Gin, supporting the Canadian Letters and Images Project comes from an understanding that there is urgency to preserve the Canadian history these letters represent, before they are lost.
“We must move fast with CLIP because a lot of these old letters are owned by a last generation that has preserved their family history. In some cases there are no younger generations willing to keep old letters and artifacts. For those who wonder why families kept all the letters from their great uncles who were killed in action more than 100 years ago – for me, there’s only one answer. Their great uncle who served, was loved, was important, was real and was missed. The letters bring back to life the characters of these soldiers. We owe it to them to have their lives remembered forever. Revealing their stories in a film like Finding Fred Lee bring back the tears that their families dropped.”
To make a gift to help keep the Canadian Letters and Images Project going, please visit the campaign homepage. For more information on the project, email letters@viu.ca. For more information on the film project, email ginsightfilms@gmail.com.
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