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.
Murray Welsh, DCM, was born in Kincardine, Ontario, in August 1889. Welsh enlisted with the Fort Garry Horse in June, 1915. He served in France and earned the DCM before his death on March 30, 1918. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial. The collection currently consists of nine letters, photographs, and personal items.
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.
William Joseph Johnston was born in Victoria, British Columbia in March, 1875. Johnston enlisted in Victoria in January, 1916, with the 1st Canadian Pioneers, and subsequently served overseas with the 9th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops. He was wounded in France and invalided back to England, where he died in October, 1917. The collection currently consists of thirty letters, several photographs, and a very large postcard collection.
Daniel Spencer Reid was born in Middle Musquodobit, Nova Scotia, in October 1896. Reid enlisted in October 1915. He served overseas with the 85th Overseas Battalion, the Nova Scotia Highlanders. Reid was killed at Passchendaele, October 30, 1917. The collection consists of more than thirty letters and one postcard.
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.
Robert Rollo Paul was born in Lavant, Ontario, in April 1888. Paul enlisted in October 1914, in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He served overseas with the 28th Battalion and returned home to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of a memoir recounting his escape from a Prisoner of War Camp.
[collection has moved, please see: William Roy Gullen Collection]
Melville Alexander Bradshaw was born in Toronto, Ontario, in August 1898. While still a student, Bradshaw enlisted in November 1916 in Toronto, Ontario, with the 67th O.S. Depot Battery, C.F.A. The collection currently consists of two photographs and his diary from 1918.
Hugh Buie was born in Colonsay, Scotland, in August 1898. In 1913 he immigrated with his family to Montreal, Québec. Buie enlisted in Kingston, Ontario, in March 1916. He served overseas with the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, and was killed at Passchendaele on October 26, 1917. Buie has no known grave. The collection consists of four photographs and his newspaper obituary.
Robert Wallace Lane was born in Belmore, Ontario in September, 1887. He later moved to New Westminster, British Columbia where he worked as a barrister. Lane enlisted in Kingston, Ontario in January, 1916 and served overseas with the 50th Battery, 13th Artillery Brigade. Three of his brothers also served - James Eldon Lane, William Stanley Lane, and Walter Ross Lane. The collection currently consists of two letters, a newspaper article, and more than thirty photographs.
John Alexander McArthur was born in Poplar Hill, Ontario, in 1893 and enlisted in the 134th Battalion at London, Ontario, in January 1916. He was wounded in 1918 and spent time in a convalescent hospital in England until he returned to Canada. The collection consists of more than forty letters written by McArthur from 1916 to 1918.
Joseph Roy Ferguson was born in Innisfil, Ontario, in July 1884. Ferguson enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in October 1915 with the 4th Overseas University Battalion. The collection consists of one extended letter written on the SS Lapland during his voyage to England, and two photographs.
Louis Wilfred Mullen was born in Cove Head, Prince Edward Island, in April 1896. Mullen previously was a member of the militia before he enlisted in February 1916 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the No. 11 Overseas Field Artillery Brigade Ammunition Column. He served overseas with the 43rd Battery until his return to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of his photograph album containing over one hundred photographs, a letter, postcards, and other miscellaneous personal items.
Einar Stefansson Long was born in Iceland in December 1891. He immigrated to Canada prior to the war and was a student in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Long enlisted in February, 1916, in Winnipeg. He served overseas with the 8th Battalion and was killed on August 9, 1918. The collection consists of one photograph of Long and his friend Gudmunder Gudmundson.
Alexander DeCoteau was born on the Cree Red Pheasant Indian Reserve near Battleford, Saskatchewan, in November 1887. He later moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he worked as a police officer and was champion distance runner. DeCoteau competed in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. He enlisted in Edmonton in April 1916. DeCoteau served overseas in France and Belgium, and died during the Battle of Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. The collection consists of four letters written by DeCoteau.
Robert Shortreed was born in Guelph, Ontario, on January 26, 1891. A salesman, he enlisted with the 64th Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, in Guelph on November 6, 1916, transferring to the 12th Canadian Siege Battery after arriving in England. The collections consists of letters written to his parents and sisters Elizabeth, Evelyn, and Isabel (Bell), and covers his early training in Canada to his return to England to await return home.
Walter Earnest Peter Flett, DSC, was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1887. Flett played with the Toronto Argonauts in the 1907 season and was the league leading scorer with 29 points. During the war Flett served in the RNAS with the No.3 Naval Wing. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Cross de Guerre in 1917. The collection consists of more than twenty letters from 1916 through to 1917.
Archibald "Archie" MacKinnon was born in July, 1894. He first enlisted with the 74th Battalion and later served overseas with the 58th Battalion. MacKinnon was seriously wounded in September 1916, and discharged as medically unfit in June 1917. The collection currently consists of twenty letters. See also the collections of his uncle William MacKinnon and his brother Ronald MacKinnon.
