Edward (Ted) Gerrard Vaughan, DFC, was a Pilot Officer with the RCAF. After training in Canada and Scotland Vaughan was posted to the 408 Squadron in January, 1944. The 408 was known as the Goose Sqaudron as their emblem was the Canada Goose. Vaughan successfully flew thirty six missions, and was awarded the Distinquished Flying Cross in 1944. The collection currently consists of personal letters, official correspondence, photographs, and other miscellaneous items.
The two letters in the collection were originally published in a Charlottetown newspaper in late 1916 and the clippings were part of a scrapbook kept by one of the residents of the city during the war. Few details are known about either the individuals in the letters or the circumstances of publication. The Cudmore letter was from John Richard Cudmore, born on Prince Edward Island in May 1898. Cudmore enlisted in March 1916 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Herbert H. King enlisted and served with the Newfoundland regiment. Both soldiers appear to have survived the war. If anyone can provide any further information about these letters, please contact The Canadian Letters and Images Project.
Alexander Hubert Matthews was born in Albeton, Prince Edward Island, in January 1892. He was one of twelve children of Anthony and Barbara Matthews. He enlisted in February 1917 and served overseas as a sapper with the No. 58 Railway Operating Co. The collection consists of a postcard, pages from his paybook, and a certificate of gallantry from the Royal Engineers Transportation Branch.
Flight Sergeant Harry E. Hansell was born on April 13, 1923 and raised in Alberta. At the age of 19, he enlisted with the RCAF in Edmonton in February, 1942. Hansell served overseas with the 16 Squadron Conversion Unit, the 427 Squadron, and the 434 Squadron. He and his crew were shot down on a raid over Germany on September 27, 1943. The collection consists of more than twenty letter from Hansell as well as official correspondence concerning his death.
External links:
Flight Sergeant Harry Ernest Hansell’s service record (Serv/Reg# R160789) 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 Hansell can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Francis (Frank) Michael Scandiffio was born on December 24, 1913 and served as a Pilot Officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war. Frank was killed on July 15, 1944. The collection consists of twenty-nine letters written home by Tom as well as official correspondence relating to his death. See also the correspondence of his brother Thomas.
External links:
Pilot Officer Francis Michael Scandiffio’s service record (Serv/Reg# J88799) 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 Scandiffio can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
James Stuart Holmes was born in Spencerville, Ontario in November, 1897. Holmes enlisted in March of 1916, and went overseas with the 156th Battalion. The collection currently consists of three letters written by Holmes.
Private Ralph Tilburt was born in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., on November 23, 1895, the sixth of eleven children of Guillaume and Emilie Charlotte Fredericke (née Bruder) Tilburt.
Tilburt enlisted with the No. 2 New Brunswick Forestry Corps Draft in July, 1917, in Sussex, New Brunswick. He shipped for England on September 5, 1917, on board the SS Megantic, landing at Liverpool, England, on September 15. He was deployed to France the following month, October 10, where he served with the No. 31 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps. Tilburt returned to Canada and was demobilized in March of 1919.
Content notes:
The letters in the collection were sent by Tilburt to his brothers while he was serving in France between August 1918 and January 1919.
External links:
Pte. Tilburt’s service record (Serv/Reg# 2304224) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated December, 2022. Six new letters have been added. All letter transcriptions have been reviewed and corrected as needed. Image files are now available for all letters. The photo of Pte. Tilburt has been updated, replacing a cropped version with the full uncropped picture. The Collection Description has been revised and expanded.]
Flying Officer Peter Joseph Biollo was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on September 1, 1923, to parents Peter Paul and Doris Mae (née Casewell) Biollo. Prior to enlistment he was employed as a sheet metal worker in Victoria, British Columbia.
Biollo enlisted into Active Service with the Royal Canadian Air Force on June 1, 1942, joining the British Commonwealth Air Training Program. After completing his initial training in Edmonton, Biollo was posted in January 1943 to #2 Bombing and Gunnery School in Mossbank, Saskatchewan. In April he advanced to #7 Air Observer School in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, where he earned his Air Bomber Badge and was commissioned as an Officer on May 14, 1943.
Following his arrival in England in July 1943, Biollo completed his training in the Royal Air Force Training Pool. In May 1944 he joined the 576 Squadron, R.A.F., as an Air Bomber. On the night of July 28/29, 1944, his plane failed to return from a mission targeting Stuttgart, Germany, and Biollo was pronounced missing in action. It was later determined that his Lancaster bomber had crashed at Renauvoid, near Epinal, France, killing all aboard except for the pilot who had managed to bail out and became a Prisoner of War. Biollo was buried at the Chaumousey Communal Cemetery, Vosges, France.
Content notes:
The majority of the letters in the collection were written by Biollo to his family in Edmonton during the time he was in training in Canada with the B.C.A.T.P., or while stationed in England with the R.A.F. His letters often mention his eight younger siblings: Miriam, Frances, Elvira, Ramona, Dolores, Loretta, Raymond, and Barbara (born in 1943).
Almost all of the 1943 letters prior to June 17 are undated. In order to allow these to be read in chronological order on the website, they have been assigned sequential numbers and appear in the date listings as “1943-01, 1943-02, etc.” type-format. The chronological order was established based on letter content and service file information, and is intended as a reading aid only.
The four poems were written by Biollo between 1941-43.
External links:
F/O Biollo’s service record (Serv/Reg#s J26543; R166672) 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 Biollo can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated January, 2023. Three poems, two newspaper clippings, and jpgs of letter pages added. Letter transcriptions reviewed and emended. Additional information added to collection and content descriptions.]
Thomas (Tom) Peter Scandiffio was born on April 12, 1912 and served as a Warrant Officer Class II with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war. Thomas was killed June 16, 1943. The collection consists of more than twenty letters written home by Tom as well as official correspondence relating to his death. See also the correspondence of his brother Frank.
External links:
Warrant Officer Thomas Peter Scandiffio’s service record (Serv/Reg# R102787) 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 Scandiffio can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Walter Kenneth Runciman was born in South Shields, Durham, England, in June 1886. After emmigrating to Canada he was a rancher in Alberta. Runciman enlisted in September 1917 in Calgary, Alberta, with the 78th Batallion. The collection currently consists of seven photographs.
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.
Ludlow Jackson Weeks was born in Truro, Nova Scotia, in September 1899. Weeks enlisted with the No. 10 Halifax Siege Battalion in Halifax in May 1917, having previously been rejected for being underage. He served overseas in 1918. The collection currently consists of more than forty letters, as well as postcards 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.
Harold Hartley Littler was born in Liverpool, England in December, 1881. Littler enlisted in Port Alberni, British Columbia and then was later sworn in at Victoria, British Columbia in November, 1915. The collection consists of a short memoir written by Littler in the 1920s which describes his time from enlistment until his return home.
Private Harry Davies was born December 22, 1897, in Hamilton, Ontario, to parents Fannie and William Henry Davies.
He enlisted with the 205th (Tiger) Battalion in Hamilton, Ontario, on March 16, 1916, and proceeded overseas to England on the SS Saxonia in April 1917. Davies was sent to France in August 1917 where he served with the 1st Machine Gun Battalion until wounded in August 1918. After hospitalization in France and England, he was invalided back to Canada on the SS Megantic in June 1919, and then discharged in July 1919.
External links:
Private Harry Davies’ service record (Serv/Reg# 240080) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Sydney Thomas Fisher was from Victoria, British Columbia. Fisher joined the RCAF, was attached to 35 Squadron RAF, and was shot down on September 15, 1941, and remained a prisoner of war until the end of the war. The collection currently consists of his correspondence both before and during his time as a POW, as well as clippings and other miscellaneous items.
Wilfred Edgar Hawkes was born in England in 1889. Sometime later he immigrated to Canada and enlisted at Vernon, British Columbia, in August 1915. The collection constist of two letters written to his young nephew Jack, in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1916.
George Henry Tripp was born in London, England, in July 1897. He immigrated to Huttonville, Ontario, and enlisted in July 1915 at Toronto, Ontario, with the 74th Battalion. Tripp served overseas with the 19th Battalion and was killed May 9, 1917. The collection consists of fifteen letters he wrote to his friend Lola Passmore. For more letters to Lola Passmore, see the collection of that name in the WWI collections.
Albert Henry Fereday served with the 1st Battalion Prince of Wales Own Civil Service Rifles. He was killed August 22, 1918, at the age of 18. He has no known grave and is commemorated by name on Panel 10 on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, Haucourt, France. The memorial stands in the grounds of Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery and bears the names of over 9,000 men who have no known grave. This collection consists of more than one hundred letters sent by Pte. Albert Henry Fereday. The letters have been transcribed by, and are used with the kind permission of, Anthony Fereday, the nephew of Albert Fereday. These materials are part of the non-Canadian section of this project
William Vincent Gauthier was born in North Rustico, Prince Edward Island in October, 1897 and enlisted in Charlottetown in 1915. Gauthier served oveseas Enland, France, and Belgium until his return to Canada at the end of the war. The collection consists of a memoir written by Gauthier sometime after the war.
Joseph Thomas Wright was born in Toronto in 1907. He served overseas in Africa and Europe during the war and then returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection consists of one letter written to his sister Bea from Italy in September, 1944.
Frederick George Pearson was born in Lancashire, England, in September 1894. He immigrated to Canada in 1909 and settled in the Red Deer District. Pearson enlisted in Calgary in July 1916 and served overseas with the 10th Battalion. The collection currently consists of his diary from 1917.
William Edward Grassie was born in Smithville, Ontario in 1893 and was a student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario when he enlisted in March, 1916. He returned to Canada at the end of the war and taught high school in Port Credit, Ontario. The collection consists of two letters written to his friend Helen Davis. Other correspondents to Davis include the Daniel Austin Lane Collection, the Gordon Shrum Collection, and the Fred Nickle Collection.
Claude Senton was born in Simpson, Saskatchewan in July, 1919. He enlisted with the RCAF in the summer of 1941 and served with the 422 Squadron as a Pilot officer. Senton was killed on May 24, 1944 when his plane was shot down, and is buried in Norway. The collection currently consists of personal correspondence, official correspondence regarding his death, as well as photographs and other miscellaneous items.
External links:
Pilot Officer Claude Senton’s service record (Serv/Reg# J89686) 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 Senton can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Daniel James Sweeney was born in London, England, in September 1896. Sometime prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and worked as a labourer in Ontario. Sweeney enlisted in Cobourg, Ontario, in June 1915. He survived the war but unfortunately nothing else is known about him. The collection consists of one photograph of Sweeney and others (seated, left) taken in 1915.
