Clarence Reginald Gass was born in Bayfield, Nova Scotia in April, 1894. He enlisted in Halifax in November, 1915 and served overseas until the end of the war. The collection consists of more than forty letters, as well as photographs, telegrams and miscellaneous items related to the 85th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders) with whom he served.
Gunner Bertram Howard Cox was born in Barbados on December 13, 1894, to parents Charles Henry and Isabel Cox. He immigrated to Canada prior to the war and was working as a bank clerk in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at the time of his enlistment there with the 59th Overseas Battery, 15th Brigade, on March 26, 1916.
He shipped out to England in September 1916, where he was transferred to the 60th Battery, 14th Brigade C.F.A., and was sent over to France in August 1917. He remained with the 60th until the end of the war and was demobilized on June 28, 1919.
The collection consists of nearly forty letters written by Bertram to family and friends between 1916 to 1919. The majority are addressed to: his parents, his two brothers Carl (and wife Mabel) and Murrill (and wife Ella), and his sisters Ina and Leila (and husband Jack).
Also included is a transcription of the 1917 Christmas edition of the trench-newspaper The O’Pip, published “Somewhere in France” by the 58th Battery C.F.A. The paper was enclosed with a letter sent by Bertram to his sister Leila on January 11, 1918. (It has been posted below under the content category of “Newspaper Articles”)
External links:
Gunner Bertram Cox’s service record (Serv/Reg# 327964) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Please note: all letter transcriptions, including annotations to the letters, were provided by the donor.
Sydney Rhodes was born in Mansfield, England, in May 1888. Prior to the war Rhodes immigrated to
Canada, where he enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1914. Rhodes served overseas with the 20th Battalion. The collection currently consists of postcards and photographs.
Gordon Stuart Robinson was born in Fort William, Ontario, in August 1897. Robertson enlisted in April 1916 in Fort William with the 94th Overseas Battalion. The collection currently consists of eighteen letters, as well as several photographs and postcards.
John Hill Robertson was born in Wellington, British Columbia, in June 1898. Robertson was recruited in October 1917 and served overseas in England and France until he was demobilized and returned to Canada in 1919. The collection consists of more than thirty letters, as well as postcards, photographs, and his paybook.
Frank Tilbury was born in London, Ontario, in 1877 and enlisted in the 135th Battalion on December 13, 1915; he listed his occupation as musician, and noted that he had previous service in the 26th Regiment and the 1st Hussars. The diaries, which run from August 1916 to August 1917, cover his training in England and his service at the front with the 60th and 116th Battalions.
Thomas Marion was born in Toronto in 1894. He was a student in Montreal at the time of his enlistment in November 1916. Marion was a member of the Irish Canadian Rangers and served overseas where he was wounded. The collection consists of one letter from hospital describing his wounding. The actual date of the letter is unclear. Although it is dated 1915 would be likely 1917 or possibly 1918, given that he did not enlist until 1916.
George Hedley Kempling was born June 1, 1884 in Toronto, Ontario and enlisted in Toronto, Ontario in August, 1915. He survived the war and returned to Canada in 1919. The collection consists of his diary entries from July 12, 1916 to October 7, 1916.
Gerald Vincent Montague was born in London, England, in August 1910. He immigrated to Canada in the 1920s. Montague enlisted in September 1939 and served with The Canadian Scottish, 7th Division, 3rd Battalion, C Company in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany before returning to Canada in 1946.
Stewart Hastings Bull was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1916. He was educated at the University of Toronto and enlisted with the Essex Scottish in 1940. Bull was wounded at Caen, France by a mortar a few months after D-Day. He was hospitalized for several months and never returned to the front. Bull finished with the rank of Major. The collection consists of his memoir of the war transcribed from a recording by Bull in September, 2002 at the age of 86, as well as two photographs of Bull from 1941.
Thomas S. Sharland was born in York Township, Toronto, Ontario, in June 1882. Sharland enlisted in Toronto in April 1915 and served overseas until 1919. The collection consists of four letters, postcards and several photographs.
William Robert Bell was born in Drew, Ontario, in 1915 and joined the R.C.A.F. in 1941. William Bell served overseas in Britian and returned to Canada in 1945. He died in 1977. The collection includes twenty-eight letters from William. See also the correspondence from his bothers James Bond Bell and Elmer David Bell.
Lance Corporal John C. Oxborough was born in India in 1889, moved to England in the mid-1890s, and then immigrated to Canada sometime after 1901. Both John and his brother William enlisted in January 1915 in Calgary and later served with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles (British Columbia Regiment). John was killed October 31, 1917. The collection consists of two letters, one postcard, and several photographs.
Thomas Gerrard (Gerry) O'Dwyer was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in March 1923. O'Dwyer served overseas as a gunner with the Royal Canadian Artillery until his death on July 30, 1944. The collection currently consist of one letter and one photograph.
External links:
Gunner Thomas Gerrard O'Dwyer’s service record (Serv/Reg# K69964) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring O'Dwyer can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
James Percy Faulkner was born in Mount Denson, Nova Scotia, in April 1886. Faulkner was recruited in 1918 and sent overseas to Bramshott for training. The collection consists of numerous photographs and postcards that Faulkner sent home to his family.
Andrew Hurst Skidmore was born in Areola, Saskatchewan, in 1894. Skidmore enlisted in September 1914 and served overseas during the war with the 1st B.C. Regiment, being wounded several times. The collection currently consists of three newspaper clippings, three postcards, and one photograph from his time in hospital in England.
Flight Officer Dennis John Quinlan was born in Edmonton, Alberta on April 4, 1920 and later moved to Calgary. Quinlan joined the R.C.A.F. in September of 1940 and participated in 25 operations before he was killed on August 17, 1942, at the age of 22.
External links:
Flying Officer Dennis John Quinlan’s service record (Serv/Reg# J6130) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Quinlan can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Charles Taylor was born in Sheffield, England, in 1895. He enlisted in Ottawa in February 1915 and served overseas with the 11th Field Ambulance until his return to Canada in 1919. This letter is to his sweetheart and future wife Florence "Flo" Welch in 1917.
Walter MacKay Langdale Draycott was born in Leicester, England, in February 1883. Draycott was alread a veteran of the South African War when he enlisted in December 1914 with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He served in France and Belgium during the war and after the war settled in British Columbia, Canada. Draycott died in 1985 at the age of 102. The collection currently consists of an undated typed memoir by Draycott, as well as one photograph.
Charles Roy Stratton was born in Brockville, Ontario, in September 1890 and then later moved to Montreal. Stratton enlisted with in Kingston, Ontario, in February 1916 with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. The collection currently consists of a portion of his diary, more than forty photographs, and some miscellaneous documents.
Click link here to go to the WWI collection of Laura Margaret Morton.
Click link here to go to the WWI collection of Norman Sydney Richards.
Spanish-American War & World War I Collection
Alexander Matier was born in 1880 and raised in New York City where in May, 1898, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. He saw service in Cuba and returned to New York. In 1915 Matier enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and saw service overseas, where he was wounded in Belgium in the spring of 1916.
He spent more than two years in convalescent hospitals in England and Canada before he was discharged in September 1918. He died in Winnipeg in 1920. More information about this time period is available in his service file, which is unusually detailed about his medical history, including time spent at the Tuxedo Military Hospital in Winnipeg, receiving treatments such as galvanism, faradism, electric current baths and ionization (radiation).
The collection consists of two letters written home from Cuba in 1898 and an extended eighteen page letter written in 1918 detailing his wounding and convalescence.
Please note: Because of the way files are organized on the website, letters written by one author but across multiple wars may not always be visible together (the pages will look very similar, only the headings above the name and the # of letters in the "Collection Contents" list below will be different. If needed, the following links can be used to move between the two time periods of the Matier collection:
Click here to go to the Spanish-American War letters from 1898.
William Roy Gullen was born in Brantford, Ontario in 1881 and enlisted in Brantford in December, 1915. He served overseas in France and was killed in action May 3, 1917. The collection consists of more than 100 letters and three photos.
Malcolm Theodore Taylor was born in Herefordshire, England, in May 1897 (a note on his attestation papers says that his birth certificate shows his date of birth as 1899). Prior to the war Taylor immigrated to Canada and enlisted in May 1916 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the 107th overseas Battalion. The collection currently consists of three photographs and one postcard.
