John Walter Ellis was born in Reading, England, in February 1895. At some time unknown he immigrated to Canada and settled in Tillsonburg, Ontario. In May 1916 he enlisted at Tillsonburg. He served overseas in France, where he died May 13, 1917. The majority of the letters are addressed to his wife Katherine "Kitty" in Glasgow, Scotland, who, when her husband enlisted, returned to Scotland to live with her parents. The collection consists of more than thirty letters, several photographs, and a small number of postcards.
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.
Duncan Wallace Livingstone was born in Asbestos, Quebec in May, 1895. Livingstone enlisted in March 1915, and served overseas as a Lance Corporal with the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Livingstone was killed at Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. The collection consists of photograph of Livingstone and a letter of condolence concerning his death.
John Newton, MC, was born in Limehouse, Ontario, in 1887. He attended The University of Toronto where he was the captain of the University of Toronto football team that won the first Grey Cup in 1909 and then coached the Toronto Argonauts for three years prior to the war. Newton enlisted in May 1916 and served overseas with the Canadian Field Artillery until the end of the war. He was awarded the Military Cross for actions on September 30, 1918. The collection consists of two letters to his wife, several photographs, and his diary from 1916 to 1918.
Daniel Austin Lane was born in Pelham Union, Ontario in December, 1894, and enlisted in April, 1916. At the time of his enlistment he was a student at the University of Toronto and while there had studied Arabic at Victoria College. Due to his Arabic studies he was recruited to join the South Persian Rifles by the British and arrived in the Persian Gulf in August, 1917. Lane returned to Canada and practiced law in Calgary. He died in 1966. The collection consists of more than thirty letters written to his friend Helen Davis, as well as several photographs.
Joseph McCartney was born in Liverpool, England, in 1882 and immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war. He enlisted in Calgary, Alberta, in May 1916. McCartney had worked for the Allin family near Whitby, Ontario, and continued to corresponded with their daughter Curtie during the war. He was killed in France on April 8, 1918, age 36 years, and is buried in the Thelus Military Cemetery at Vimy Ridge. Three of the letters were written by Joe to Curtie, and one letter was from Curtie to Joe. That letter of March 8, 1918, was returned to Curtie following Joe's death in France. One letter is from his brother in England to Canada requesting the return of Joseph's personal effects. This collection consists of five letters written between December 1917 to September 1918.
South African (Boer) War Collection
William J. Macdonald, a medical student, enlisted in Toronto on December 29, 1899, with the 9th Toronto Field Battery. He was 24 years of age. Macdonald served overseas with "C" Field Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery until he was discharged in January 1901.
Private Roy Clarence Armstrong was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to parents Minnie and George Armstrong, on February 22, 1898. He was working as a clerk in Winnipeg at the time of his enlistment with the 184th Battalion in Winnipeg on March 20, 1916.
He shipped for England aboard HMT Empress of Britain on October 31, 1916, and arrived in Liverpool, England, on November 11, 1916. Armstrong was transferred to the 78th Battalion and was killed in action during the battle for Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.
External links:
Pte. Roy Armstrong’s service record (Serv/Reg# 874936) 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 Roy Armstrong can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Hubert Willliam ("Bert") Lovell was born in born in England in November, 1891. Lovell enlisted in Edmonton, Alberta, in January 1916, and served overseas with the 8th Canadian Field Ambulance. The collection consists of two photographs and a transcription of his notes for a speech given at the 8th Canadian Field Ambulance Reunion Dinner in Calgary, 1931.
Sergeant Ralph Beverly Watson (a.k.a. Joseph Ralph Watson), Canadian Army Medical Corps, was the author of the 1918 book Letters of a Canadian Stretcher Bearer. The book's letters, along with more information on Sgt. Watson, can be found in the Special Items Collections section of the website.
This collection consists of one letter and five photographs. The letter is from Norman Robertson to his parents in 1918 commenting on the death of one his brothers in France in light of the death of his own infant daughter.
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.
William George Stevens was born on August 7, 1915, the son of George and Beatrice Stevens of St. James, Manitoba. He enlisted with the RCAF and flew with the 106 (R.A.F.) Squadron as a Pilot Officer (Air Gnr.). Stevens was shot down and killed April 27, 1944. The collection consists of two photographs, a pass, and an official letter regarding his status as missing.
External links:
Pilot Officer William George Stevens’ service record (Serv/Reg# J89945) 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 Stevens can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Reverend William Beattie, CMG, was born in Fergus, Ontario, in April 1873. After his graduation from college in 1900 he moved to Cobourg, Ontario, where he was the minister in the Presbyterian Church. Beattie enlisted in September 1914, and sailed with the first contingent to France as the Chaplain to the First Canadian Brigade, and then later served as the Senior Chaplain of the Second Division. Beattie was appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in recognition of "...his most conspicuous gallantry and distinguished conduct at the gas attack at St. Julien and through all the subsequent severe fighting of the period. Working unremittingly, with complete disregard to danger, he assisted in collecting wounded on many fields of action." He later returned to Ottawa in 1918 to organize the Chaplain Service of Canada and was at that time promoted to the rank of Colonel. The collection currently consists of thirty-four letters and two photographs. There are however other Beattie letters in the Cobourg World collection in the Special Items section, as he also sent letters back to the local newspaper for publication.
See R.C.A.F. Flight Officer Robert James Scofield Collection.
Bernard Freeman Trotter was born in Toronto in 1890 and graduated from McMaster University in Toronto in 1915. He began graduate work at the University of Toronto before leaving for England in March 1916. Although ill health prevented him from being accepted into the Canadian army, he was determined to serve and was able to secure a commission in the British Army. Trotter went to France in December 1916 with his Leicestershire Regiment, and was killed by a shell on May 7, 1917. The collection consists of 87 letters home to his family from March 1916 to his death in May 1917. Trotter was also a noted poet. His poems were collected by his father in 1917 and published later that year by McClelland and Stewart as A Canadian Twilight. The complete Trotter fond is located at McMaster University. All materials ©McMaster University and used with their permission.
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.
Jay Batiste Moyer was born in Toronto, Ontario, in January 1897. Moyer enlisted in Toronto in October 1915 with the 95th Overseas Battalion and served overseas with the Western Ontario Regiment. He was killed at Vimy Ridge, April 9, 1917. The collection consists of more than seventy letters written between 1915 and 1917 and one photograph.
Lieutenant John Ernest McLurg was born in Prospect Hill, Ontario on April 12, 1875. Prior to his enlistment in WWI, John and his wife (Annie Allan née Corry) lived in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where he worked as a sales manager and served in the Militia with the 51st Sault Rifles.
He enlisted in Valcartier, Quebec, on September 22, 1914, and was commissioned with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Canadian Infantry Division. Once overseas McLurg served in both France and Belgium before being wounded and taken prisoner at the Second Battle of Ypres on April 24, 1915. As a P.O.W. in Germany he was initially sent to Siegburd until fully recovered from the gunshot wound to the head he had suffered at Ypres, and then was transferred to the Camp at Heidelberg in July of 1915, and later to Soltau in June of 1916.
On August 12, 1916, he was transferred to the P.O.W. camp in Mürren, Switzerland (an agreement between the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government allowed many sick or injured POWs to be interned in Switzerland until eligible for repatriation), where he was joined by his wife Annie in November of 1916. Their daughter, Margaret Gillespie McLurg, was born in nearby Vevey, Switzerland, on October 26, 1917. Shortly thereafter John was repatriated, travelling with his family to England in late December of 1917, and then on to Canada where he was medically discharged from service on April 20, 1918.
The McLurg Collection has two main components. The first is a book of drawings and messages created by McLurg’s fellow prisoners at Heidelberg as a gift to him at the time of his departure from the camp in August of 1916. The second is a set of 27 photographs documenting his time at Mürren, Switzerland. Also included are a small number of other items such as John’s bullet-pierced Maple Leaf Badge, and Annie McLurg’s Visa for transit with their daughter through the United States while returning to Canada in 1918.
External links:
Lt. John Ernest McLurg’s service record (Serv/Reg# unassigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated May 2022. Some additional materials have been added and some changes to categorization of Collection Contents have been made; content descriptions have been reviewed and in many cases expanded to provide more information. No materials have been removed but duplicate postings, if present, will have been corrected.]
Francis Harold McLorg was born in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, worked as a barrister and then enlisted for overseas duty in October 1914. He saw duty in France, where he was wounded in 1916. McLorg recovered and continued to serve until the end of the war, by which time he had been promoted to the rank of Captain. The collection consists of eight letters, telegrams, and photographs.
Andrew Wilson was born in Brussels, Ontario, in 1880, moved west in 1906, and enlisted in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, in 1916. He served in France from October 1917 to September 1918 until being wounded, returning to Canada in December 1919. The collection currently consists of his diary from October 19, 1917, to December 31, 1917, and one letter home to his wife.
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.
David Robertson was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in September 1890 and immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war. Robertson enlisted in September 1914. He was severely wounded and taken prisoner in 1915, repatriated, and then discharged in 1916 as medically unfit for service. The collection currently consists of several letters, postcards, personal items, and the first issue of the Maple Leaf magazine.
