Ephraim Freake from Fogo Island, Newfoundland was 21 years of age when he died aboard the Laurentic. In December of 1916 he wrote to his Mother telling of his voyage from Newfoundland to England and of his excitement at finding himself in Portsmouth where he “could see more in an hour than I could in Newfoundland all my lifetime”. Ephraim’s excitement would soon be replaced by disappointment and later by tragedy. Discharged after failing an eye test, as a result of a boyhood incident, Ephraim would soon be sent home, joining the Laurentic when she set sail from Liverpool on the 23rd of January. The letter he had sent to his Mother would never be delivered, instead it would fall beneath the counter at Earles’ General Store and Post Office on Joe Batt’s Arm, Fogo Island, Newfoundland, and lie undiscovered and unread for more than 60 years, only being found when the Store was demolished in the 1970’s.