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Flight Officer Robert James Scofield was born July 7, 1925. He enlisted in World War II with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Training initially in Canada, Scofield qualified as Air Gunner in September 1942 at No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School in Fingal, Ontario. He was deployed overseas to England in February 1943, and in May of that year joined the R.C.A.F. strategic and tactical bombing unit No. 408 “Goose” Squadron. Scofield survived the war, and was living in Nanaimo, British Columbia, at the time of his death in 2000.

Content notes:
Included in the collection is Scofield’s R.C.A.F. flight log book with entries covering the period of May 1942 to January 1944. There is also a hybrid diary-scrapbook in which Scofield kept notated newspaper clippings relating to some of his operational flights over Germany. Transcriptions have been provided for the handwritten portions of these, and each entry includes both the diary-scrapbook images, along with the relevant log book entry for that flight.
Please note that while F/O is the highest rank appearing for Scofield within the collection materials, his final rank on discharge is unknown.

External links:
F/O Robert James Scofield’s service record (Serv/Reg# R139883 and J19017) is not open for public access at this time.

Wilma Cross was born in Verdun, Québec, in 1926. In 1934 she moved with her family to St. Andrews, Scotland.

In 1944, at age eighteen, Wilma travelled to London, England, to enlist with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. Following the end of the war she returned to Canada in 1946 aboard the SS Île de France. She remained with the C.W.A.C. another two years, before leaving to enter business school in Montreal. In 1949, she re-enlisted, and served for a period in Goose Bay, Labrador. Her final rank and date of discharge is unknown.

Wilma Cross’s brother Stewart also served during the Second World War. He was a pilot in Britian’s Royal Air Force; several of his letters and other materials are held in the Stuart Marshall Cross Collection.

Content notes:
The collection contains several 1945/1946 photographs of Cross overseas, as well as later images from her time at the airbase at Goose Bay, Labrador.

External links:
Wilma Cross’s service record (rank and serv/reg# unknown) is not publicly available at this time.

Warrant Officer Stuart Marshall Cross was born on January 21, 1920, in Verdun, Québec. In 1934 he moved with his family to St. Andrews, Scotland. Prior to World War II he worked as an insurance clerk.

Cross joined Britain’s Royal Air Force in August 1940. In December 1941, with R.A.F. 15 Operational Training Unit, Cross was flying as second pilot in Wellington IC DV416, when a fuel shortage forced an emergency landing near Catania, Italy. All of the aircrew were captured as Italian prisoners of war. In September 1943 Cross escaped from P.O.W. Camp 59 (Servigliano). After many months spent in hiding, he successfully connected up with British forces the following June, and returned to England in July 1944. Cross continued to serve in the R.A.F. after the war.

R.A.F. aircrew flying with Cross on December 28, 1941: Sgt. Edward Ronald Ashton (1282755), F/O Samuel Beckett (106061), Sgt. Robert Charles Davis (644393), Sgt. Ronald Percy Holmes (1375674), and Sgt. Robert Veitch (1107337). All were captured as Prisoners of War; Holmes was later shot and killed following his escape from a detention camp in February 1944.

Stuart Cross’s sister Wilma also served during the Second World War. Photographs from her time with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps are held in the Wilma Cross Collection.

Content notes:
The collection’s letters and telegrams date from late 1941 to early 1942, and pertain to Cross’s status as missing/P.O.W. The January 1942 letter was written by Cross to his parents less than a week after his capture as a P.O.W.

External links:
W/O Stuart Cross’s British service record (Serv/Reg# 1051162) is not available for public access; his P.O.W. Escape Report is held by the British National Archives under reference code WO 208/3320/91.

Private David Craig was born August 17, 1895, in Wick, Scotland, to parents David M. and Jane Craig. He was one of four children in the family.

Craig enlisted with the 74th Overseas Battalion in Toronto, Ontario, on July 28, 1915, and proceeded overseas to England aboard the SS Empress of Britain in March 1916. From there he was sent to France the following June, where he was transferred to the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Craig was serving with that battalion when he was killed at the Battle of Passchendaele on October 30/31, 1917. His body was never found. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.

Content notes:
The collection’s main item is the Memorial Cross received by Craig’s mother following his death on active duty.

External links:
Pte. David Craig’s service record (Serv/Reg# 135121) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
WWI Circumstances of Death Registers record card (page #67), Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Craig can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Private Benjamin Edward Utting was born in Barking, East London, England, on December 19, 1894, to parents John Patterson Newby Utting and Sarah Maria (née Wanstall) Utting. He was the fourth of five children, with siblings Christiana, Sarah, John, and Miriam. Immigrating to Canada several years prior to the outbreak of WWI, Utting took up farming in New Norway, Alberta.

Enlisting with the 223rd Battalion in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on December 23, 1916, Utting shipped for England on board the SS Justicia the following May. After several months spent training in England, he was sent to join the 78th Battalion in France in November of 1917.

Utting was killed in action on August 11, 1918. His body was never recovered. He is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

Content notes:
Letters were written by Benjamin Utting to his sister Chrissie Utting who was working in England at the Upney Hospital in Barking, Essex (the hospital served as a principal casualty hospital under the wartime Emergency Hospital Service scheme for London).

External links:
Pte. Benjamin Utting’s service record (Serv/Reg# 294884) 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 Utting can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Sapeur Fernand Liboire "Larry" Landry est né le 17 juin 1919. Il s'est engagé dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale avec le Génie royal canadien en 1939, et a servi outre-mer où il a participé au débarquement de Juno Beach en Normandie, en France, puis en Belgique, en Hollande et en Allemagne. Landry a survécu à la guerre, est rentré au Canada et a mené une vie d'après-guerre à Robertsonville, au Québec.
Sapper Fernand Liboire “Larry” Landry was born June 17, 1919. He enlisted in WWII with the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1939, and served overseas where he took part in the Juno Beach landings in Normandy, France, and then onto Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Landry survived the war, retuning to Canada and a post-war life in Robertsonville, Québec.

Notes sur le contenu:
La collection Landry est une collection de langue française. Le donateur de la collection a fourni des transcriptions dactylographiées ainsi que des photocopies des lettres originales. Ces transcriptions dactylographiées ont été utilisées pour créer les versions numériques affichées ici, car la lisibilité des originaux photocopiés varie. Des photocopies de tous les documents donnés (photocopies et transcriptions dactylographiées) ont été fournies avec chaque lettre.
Content notes:

The Landry Collection is a French language collection. The collection donor provided typewritten transcriptions along with photocopies of the original letters. These typewritten transcriptions were used to create the digital versions posted here, as the legibility of the photocopied originals varies. Jpgs of all donated materials (photocopies and typed transcripts) have been provided with each letter.

Liens externes:
Spr. Les états de service de Liboire Landry (Serv/Reg# E3019), conservés par Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ne sont pas accessibles au public pour le moment.
External links:

Spr. Liboire Landry’s service record (Serv/Reg# E3019), held by Library and Archives Canada, is not open to public access at this time.

Gunner Milfred Valentine Holdsworth was born April 25, 1888, in Woodstock, Ontario, to parents Nelson and Rose Holdsworth. Prior to his enlistment Holdsworth worked as a bank clerk with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Toronto, Ontario. He had served briefly with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada.

Holdsworth enlisted in Toronto with the 67th (University) Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, on September 5, 1916, proceeding to England aboard the SS Mauretania the following November. In March of 1917 he was sent to France to join the 3rd Canadian Divisional Ammunition Column, with whom he served until the end of the war. Returning to Canada in March of 1919, Holdsworth was demobilized in Toronto on the 30th of that month.

Content notes:
Of the two collection letters, one was written by Holdsworth to his sister on Christmas Eve of 1918. The other is from the Canadian Bank of Commerce’s book Letters from the Front: Being a Record of the Part Played by Officers of the Bank in the Great War, 1914-1919.

External link:
Gnr. Milfred Holdsworth’s service record (Serv/Reg# 338006) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada [please note that the L&AC record spells Holdsworth’s first name as “Milford” (January 2024)].

Private Dennis Quinn was born March 17, 1923, in Crow Lake, Ontario, to parents Alexander Quinn and Ethel Quinn (later remarried as Ethel Cooper).

Quinn enlisted with the Canadian Infantry Corps on October 28, 1942, in Toronto, Ontario. On March 13, 1943, one month prior to shipping overseas to England, he was married to Doryne Shirley Jenkins.

Following several months spent training in England, Quinn fought in the Italy Campaign with the 48th Highlanders of Canada. He was wounded in action on October 4, 1943, and died that same day. He was 18 years old. Quinn was buried in Italy, initially in Foggia Civilian Cemetery, and later reburied in Bari War Cemetery.

Content notes:
Single letter collection, written by Quinn to his sister Mary during the time he was stationed in the Central Mediterranean Forces area. Quinn wrote his wife’s name as “Doryne” but it also appears in some records as “Doreen.”

External links:
Private Quinn’s service record (Serv/Reg# B134908) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
memorial page honouring Quinn can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Private Horace Charles Manning was born in Coldwater, Ontario, on September 13, 1898, to parents Horace and Alice Manning.

Manning enlisted in the No. 1 Draft Manitoba Depot Battalion in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on May 30, 1917, and proceeded overseas the following November aboard the SS Megantic. He served in France with the 27th Battalion. Following the end of the war, Manning was discharged at Revelstoke, British Columbia, on May 22, 1919.

Content notes:
The letters were written by Manning from England and France and addressed to his mother in Revelstoke, British Columbia.

External links:
Pte. Charles Manning’s service record (Serv/Reg# 2181339) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Major (Chaplain) Alexander MacLennan Gordon, DSO, MC, was born in Ottawa, Ontario on May 26, 1873, to parents Dr. Daniel Miner Gordon and Eliza Simona Gordon (née MacLennan).

A Presbyterian clergyman, Gordon was serving as a member in the Non-Permanent Active Militia at the time of his mobilization for Active Service with the 5th Regiment, Royal Highlanders of Canada (R.H.C.), in September of 1914. He attested at Valcartier Camp in Québec on September 23, 1914, and was appointed as Chaplain to the 13th Battalion, R.H.C.

Gordon embarked for England with the First Contingent that October, aboard the SS Alaunia. Proceeding to France with the 3rd Infantry Brigade in January of 1915, he was then transferred to the No.1 Canadian Field Ambulance.  In July of 1916 he was appointed as Senior Chaplain of the 4th Division, Canadian Chaplain Service.

Wounded in August of 1918, Gordon was treated in England before being invalided back to Canada in June of the following year. He was demobilized in September of 1919.

Content notes:
Gordon’s informative and expressive letters were written between October of 1914 and April of  1915. The earliest, written during his crossing to England aboard the SS Alaunia, is particularly notable for the amount of descriptive detail conveyed.
Among the family names appearing in the letters are references to Gordon’s brother Major George Huntly Gordon, OBE, (“Hunt”), his sister Wilhelmina Gordon (“Min”), and his father, Daniel Miner Gordon (“the Principal”), who was Principal of Queen’s University at that time. Mentions of “Canon Scott” are to Lt. Col. (Canon) Frederick George Scott, CMG, DSO, FRSC, noted poet and author of the 1922 memoir The Great War As I Saw It.

External links:
Major Alexander MacLennan Gordon’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Major George Huntly Gordon’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) at Library and Archives Canada.
Lt. Col. (Canon) Frederick George Scott's service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) at Library and Archives Canada.

Major George Huntly Gordon, OBE, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on November 16, 1882 or 1883 (both dates appear in his military records), to parents Dr. Daniel Miner Gordon and Eliza Simona Gordon (née MacLennan).

An engineer prior to the war, Gordon attested at Valcartier Camp in Québec on September 29, 1914, with the Canadian Army Service Corps (C.A.S.C.), and sailed to England as part of the First Contingent in October of 1914, aboard the S.S. Franconia. Following time spent at the front in Belgium and France with the C.A.S.C., Gordon returned to Canada, where the 4th Canadian Divisional Ammunition Sub-Park, C.A.S.C., was organized under his command, at Toronto, in April of 1916. They proceeded to England the following month, and later that August to France, with Gordon commanding what eventually became the 4th Canadian Divisional Mechanical Transport Company, formed in April of 1918 through the amalgamation of of No. 4 Canadian Divisional Supply Column and No. 4 Canadian Divisional Ammunition Sub-Park. Gordon survived the war, and demobilized in June of 1919.

Content notes:
The single letter in the collection was written by Gordon to his father on April 27, 1915, following the 2nd Battle of Ypres. Also included is a hand-written Nominal Roll of other ranks of the 4th Div., M.T. Co., C.A.S.C., from January of 1919.
Collection materials were donated together with those of Gordon’s brother, Major (Chaplain) Alexander MacLennan Gordon, DSO, MC, who served during the war with the Canadian Chaplain Service.
Spelling variants of both “Huntley” and “Huntly” appear in Gordon’s service file, and in his Library and Archives Canada record. However Gordon himself signs his Attestation Paper as “Huntly,” and this is the spelling used by his brother Alexander in his correspondence; as such it is the spelling used here.

External links:
Major George Huntly Gordon’s service record (Serv/Reg# unassigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Major Alexander MacLennan Gordon’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) at Library and Archives Canada.

Operation Spartan was one of the largest training exercises conducted in Great Britain during WWII. Staged in the first half of March 1943, it employed ten divisions of Army troops along with large numbers of supporting ground and air forces. Under Spartan’s war game scenario, an area in southwestern England was divided into three sections, each under varying degrees of occupation and control by “Allied,” “German,” and “Neutral” forces.

The Advance Post was Operation Spartan’s daily newspaper, explained in its own words as:

 “The original intention was that the British Army should have a lithographed news-sheet which would both excite and maintain their interest in the Exercise just completed, as well as furnishing them with at least the world’s news headlines of the real war, day by day. In other words, to put you in the Exercise picture and keep you there, letting you see what was happening on the broad, as well as the narrow, front.” (Issue No. 13)

The papers were received by the Canadian Letters & Images Project as part of the Robert James Duncan Collection.

Content notes:
The collection consists of eight issues the Advance Post, dated March 6-13.
By nature of their creation, the core content of each of the papers is simultaneously both factual and fictitious. On the one hand they may be considered to follow the tradition of “spoof-paper” publications, in that many of the articles describe events that clearly never took place (e.g., the headline “German Atrocities in Oxford”). On the other hand, the occurrences described and individual stories told all represent a factual reporting of real events as experienced throughout Operation Spartan. Supplementary articles that provided readers with genuine news about non-Spartan related events (such as updates on the latest Canadian Hockey scores), also support a view of the Advance Post as following in the tradition of a regular trench newspaper, intended not to deceive but to inform and entertain its soldier audience.
Included with all transcriptions is a warning about the importance of understanding context when interpreting these materials.

Armament Sergeant Major George Herbert Farlie, MSM, was born in Catford, London, England on March 17, 1880. His father was John Leonard Farlie. Prior to his enlistment in the First World War, Farlie had worked as a machinist, in addition to serving in the Active Militia and with past service in the Canadian Corps.

Farlie joined the Canadian Ordnance Corps at Valcartier, Québec, in September of 1914, and shipped to England aboard the SS Ivernia in early October. Following his arrival in England, the Attestation Paper in Farlie’s service record documents his enlistment at Salisbury Plains on December 28, 1914. He initially  served in both England and France with the 2nd Canadian Field Artillery Brigade, then subsequently with No. 26 Canadian Travelling Ordnance Workshop Unit (redesignated the 81st Canadian Ordnance Workshop Unit (Light) in November of 1918).

On January 1, 1917, Farlie was awarded the British Meritorious Service Medal. Following the end of hostilities, he returned to Canada where he was demobilized on August 17, 1919.

Content notes:
Included are two diaries kept by Farlie, beginning prior to his enlistment through to August 1917, in which he recorded details relating to his armament work along with personal observations. A content sample has been provided with a transcription of the diary’s entries for the month of April 1917. Photographs include both pre and post war military groups or individuals (date range 1893 to 1923).

External links:
S.M. George Farlie’s service record (Serv/Reg# 41669) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
The awarding of the Meritorious Service Medal to Farlie was published The London Gazette of January 1, 1917 (#29886, p.55).

Private David Wesley Kerr was born in Elmvale, Ontario, on March 23, 1888, to parents John and Janet Kerr.

Kerr enlisted in Elmvale, Ontario, with the 177th Overseas Battalion on June 9, 1916, and shipped for England aboard the SS Metagama in May of 1917. While on board he took ill and died on May 11, 1917, and was buried at sea.

Content notes:
The collection’s only letter was written shortly after Pte. Kerr’s death by Captain W.G. Clarke, Chaplain with the 235th Battalion, in condolence to Pte. Kerr’s mother Mrs. Janet Kerr of Elmvale, Ontario.

External links:
Pte. David Kerr’s service record (Serv/Reg# 853573) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
memorial page honouring Kerr can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Meet the Navy was a Royal Canadian Navy (R.C.N.) musical theatre production created during World War II. Its purpose was to provide entertainment for service members on active duty, as well as to boost recruitment, and to positively maintain and enhance the general public’s perception of the Navy. Cast and crew were recruited both from within existing R.C.N. personnel and by seeking outside civilian talent that could then be persuaded to enlist with the Navy.

The September 1943 Toronto premier showcased a cast of nearly eighty performers (including over thirty Wrens), a large orchestra and support crew. Following a highly successful year spent touring Canada, the show headed overseas in October 1944. Working under the British Entertainments National Service Association (E.N.S.A.), the initial performances throughout Britian and Scotland were followed by tours through France, Holland, Belgium, and (post VE-Day) Germany.

The popular reception in Britian was so positive that late in the war a plan was made to create a British feature film from the stage show. Featuring a mix of original and new performers, the movie Meet the Navy premiered in 1946 but met with less success than the original.

Following the end of the war the scale of the production wound down, responding both to a decrease in audience interest and to the loss of cast and crew through demobilization back to civilian life. Their last stage performance took place in Germany in September 1945, with most of the remaining show personnel returning to Canada the following January.

Content notes:
The printed theatre programme for Meet the Navy provides information about the performance, performers, and production staff. Interspersed throughout is artwork highlighting key cast members and photographs of naval ships.

External links:
Laurel Halladay’s master's thesis 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Soldiers and Artists:' Canadian Military Entertainers, 1939-46 is a helpful resource for those interested in learning more about the production of Meet the Navy and the history of Canadian military entertainment units in WWII. Hosted by University of Calgary.

Staff Sergeant Robert James Duncan served during World War II with the Canadian Postal Corps. Initially stationed in Britain, he was transferred to France in the summer of 1944, and then to Belgium with No. 1 Canadian Postal Tracing Unit in December 1944. In May 1945 he joined the No. 1 Canadian Army Base Post Office, remaining with that unit until his return to Britain in July 1945. Both units established operations in the Belgian village of Lot, southwest of Brussels.

Content notes:
Most collection correspondence was written by Duncan to his wife, and especially to his daughter Patricia Carroll Duncan, back home in Calgary, Alberta. Photos are a mix of personal and military; postcards mainly scenic Britain and France. The newspaper section contains two trench-type newspapers, with one edition of the Maple Leaf, and eight editions of Operation Spartan’s Advance Post (transcriptions of which have been posted in the Special Items Collection created for this rare and distinctive newssheet).

External links:
S/Sgt. Duncan’s service record (Serv/Reg# C97269) is not open to public access through Library and Archives Canada at this time.

Lance Corporal T. Lloyd Harber was born in Toronto, Ontario, to parents Thomas Lorenzo and Alice Jane Harber. He was the fourth of five children, with siblings Margaret, William, Marie, and Jack..

Harber enlisted in the army in December of 1942, training at Camp Borden before heading overseas the following June with the 48th Highlanders of Canada, #4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit. By September of 1943 he was serving with A Company, 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. As part of the Normandy Invasion, Harber was among the earliest of the troops landing at Juno Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. A head wound six weeks later resulted in his return to England for several months. Harber went on to serve in Holland and Germany, prior to his return to Canada for demobilization following the end of the war.

Harber’s enlistment occurred around the same time that his older brother, Flying Officer William George David Harber, was killed in action. F/O Harber had joined the R.C.A.F. in July of 1941. He died on November 7, 1942, when his aircraft was lost between Sydney, Nova Scotia and Torbay, Newfoundland.

Content notes:
The collection’s letters were written by Harber to his sisters Margaret and Marie, beginning at the start of his enlistment and continuing to mid-1945. Many letters include interesting descriptive details of military life and events. An example is his letter of July 15, 1944, which includes details about his specialized training prior to D-Day as part of the Assault Troops/Special Service Troops in preparation for leading beach landings.
Harber’s full first name (initial “T”) is unknown.

External links:
L/Cpl. Lloyd Harber’s service record (Serv/Reg# B134028) is not publicly available at this time.
F/O(P) William George David Haber’s service record (Serv/Reg# J11291) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

The Royal Canadian Air Force’s Initial Training School (No. 2) in Regina, Saskatchewan, was one of seven I.T.S. establishments operating during World War II as part of Canada’s Commonwealth Air Training Program. These schools provided new air force recruits with several intensive weeks of ground-based, pre-flight, general instruction.

Content notes:
The collection’s single photograph is of the members of “G” Flight, Initial Training School (No. 2), R.C.A.F., in Regina, Saskatchewan, taken on September 30, 1941. A transcribed list of names has been provided in the “Letter” contents section below. The photo was donated as an orphaned photograph, provenance unknown.

Nursing Sister Wilhelmina (“Mina”) Mowat, ARRC, was born January 1, 1888, in Hepworth, Gray County, Ontario.

A graduate of Brandon General Hospital’s Training School for Nurses, Mowat enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps on June 3, 1915, in Montreal, Québec. She spent several months working in England at No. 11 Canadian General Hospital, Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe, before her deployment to France in February of 1916, where she served with the No. 3 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, C.A.M.C. After returning to England in April of 1917 to recover from a severely broken leg, she resumed work at No. 11 Can. Gen. Hosp., Moore Barracks. In June of 1918 Mowat received the Royal Red Cross 2nd Class (also known as Associate of the Royal Red Cross), given in recognition of exceptional services in military nursing.

Mowat returned to Canada in June of 1919 and continued to work as a military nurse until her demobilization discharge on September 30, 1920. That same year she married Richard Douglas Waugh, a WWI army veteran who had served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force with Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians).

Content notes:
­The Wilhelmina Mowat materials were donated together with those of her cousin, Lt. Grant Davidson Mowat. Wilhelmina is mentioned in many of Grant’s letters, e.g. January 29, 1917, in which he writes about the leave they spent together in London and East Sandling. Both photographs were sourced from Library and Archives Canda (see links below).

External links:
N.S. Mina Mowat’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada; and photographs here and here.
Pte. Richard Douglas Waugh’s service record (Serv/Reg# 14451 and/or 14551) at Library and Archives Canada.
The award to Mowat of the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class, was published in The London Gazette on June 21, 1918 (#30758, p. 7313).
A biography and photos, as well as a telegram and letter related to Mowat’s ARRC award, have been posted on the provincial Archives of Manitoba website, part of a scrapbook made by her husband Richard Douglas Waugh, Waugh family fonds.

Lieutenant Grant Davidson Mowat was born in Meaford, Ontario, on June 10, 1894, to parents Alexander and Annie Elizabeth Mowat. The family later moved to Peterborough, Ont. Following his graduation from Peterborough Normal School, Mowat worked for several years as a schoolteacher. Shortly before his enlistment he had been accepted as a law student at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, Ont.

He was commissioned as an officer with the rank of Captain in February of 1916, and shipped overseas aboard the SS Empress of Britain the following July to join the 93rd Battalion in England. Mowat’s military records show that while stationed in England in April of 1917 he requested to revert to the rank of Lieutenant in order to be posted to France; Lt. Mowat joined the 21st Bn. in France on May 1, 1917.

Mowat was killed in action on August 15, 1917, during the Battle for Hill 70 near Lens. Mowat’s remains were not identified at the time of his death and as such his name was inscribed on the Vimy Memorial. In the 1990s Mowat’s gravesite was identified; he had been buried as an unknown soldier in the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. A new headstone identifying Mowat’s gravesite was made at that time.

Content notes:
Most of the collection’s letters were written by Mowat to his parents while he was stationed overseas in England and France. Often mentioned is his cousin “Mina” whose letters of the same time period can be found in the Nursing Sister Wilhelmina Mowat Collection.
On rank discrepancies: Mowat’s final rank appears in many records and sources as Captain, however his service record indicates his final rank as Lieutenant; this rank is used for his records with Library and Archives Canada and as such it is what has been used in his collection here.

External links:
Lt. Grant Mowat’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
WWI Circumstances of Death Registers record card (page # 91), Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Mowat can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Mowat is also commemorated on the World War I Memorial Honour Roll in the Great Library at Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ontario.

Flight Lieutenant Alexander (“Sandy”) Lightbody was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, on September 9, 1920, to parents David and Margaret Lightbody. He had two younger sisters, Margaret and Jennie.

Enlisting with the Royal Canadian Air Force on September 24, 1941, Lightbody served overseas with No. 430 Squadron, working mainly as a fighter pilot deployed on photographic reconnaissance. He married Jeanne Moran in the summer of 1945; the couple returned to Canada following the end of the war.

Content notes:
Most of the letters were written by Lightbody between 1943-1945 to his sister Jennie (“Buck”) Lightbody (later m. Bromley), of New Westminster, B.C. The photographs include three full colour Air Force related pictures, as well as others of various R.C.A.F. personnel.  

External links:
F/Lt. Alexander Lightbody’s service record (Serv/Reg# J12335) service record is not publicly available through Library and Archives Canada at this time.

Corporal William Hope Hardie was born in North Berwick, Scotland, on January 12, 1890, to parents James and Agnes Hope Hardie. Prior to his immigration to Canada around 1912, William Hardie married Margaret “Chrissy” Combe of North Berwick, Scotland, although the marriage may have been kept secret for several years. Settling in Manitoba, he worked as a railway clerk, as well as serving in the Winnipeg militia regiment the 79th Cameron Highlanders of Canada.

Hardie enlisted in Winnipeg with the 43rd Battalion on January 16, 1915, and sailed the following June to England aboard the S.S. Grampian. After several months of training in England, Hardie was sent in November to France to join the 16th Battalion. He returned to Canada and was demobilized in Quebec on July 4, 1919.

Content notes:
Photos are soldiers’ portraits of brothers William and Robert Hardie (a resident of Scottland, Robert served with the British Expeditionary Force). William’s portrait is notable for his Scottish kit with sheepskin coat.

External link:
Cpl. William Hardie’s service record (Serv/Reg #420946) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Chief Ordnance Artificer Leslie (“Len”) Francis Gill, DSM, was born in Victoria, British Columbia, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Gill. Prior to his enlistment he owned a locksmith business in Victoria.

After enlisting with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1939, Gill served for several years aboard H.M.C.S. St Laurent. He was later stationed at H.M.C.S. Cornwallis in the fall of 1943, before joining H.M.C.S. Iroquois in early 1944. While home on leave in Victoria, Gill married Wanda Kathleen Spencer, on August 31, 1943, at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Victoria, B.C. Their daughter Evelyn was born November 11, 1944.

Gill received the Distinguished Service Medal on November 14, 1944, among those recognized "For courage and determination in H.M. Ships Albright, Ashanti, Bellona, Diadem, Mauritius, Onslow, Tartar and Ursa and H.M. Canadian Ships Assiniboine, Haida, Iroquois, Qu’appelle, Restigouche and Skeena, in a series of successful attacks on enemy escorted convoys off the coast of France."

Content notes:
Most of the collection’s letters were written to and from Leslie and Wanda Gill (née Spencer), between 1941 and 1945. Due to project budget constraints only thirty-three letters have transcriptions at this time; a list identifying transcribed letters by date can be  accessed here in pdf format. 
Included in the letter section is a handwritten document, dated 1943-01-13, titled “Review of Attack on Convoy ONS154”, written by “Directorate of Intelligence , Naval Staff, Naval Services HQ.” It describes the December 25-29 U-boat attacks on convoy ONS-154 in which fourteen ships were lost.
The poem is a conscription crisis themed verse,“70,000 Zombies.” Photographs are a mix of personal and military subjects, including several official RCN photos. Among the personal items, #27 is an unusual document in that it appears to be a guide to converting standard message phrasing into private messages between Gill and his wife.

External links:
C.O.A. Leslie Gill’s service record (Serv/Reg# V50176) is not open to public access at this time at Library and Archives Canada.
The announcment of Gill’s Distinguished Service Medal was published in the London Gazette of November 14, 1944, (#36794, p.5224).

Major Carl Clifford Henneberg, OBE, was born on July 8, 1906, to parents Augustus and Ellen Henneberg. He studied at the Manitoba Medical School. After graduating in 1933 he moved to Flin Flon, Manitoba, where he worked as a doctor with the Flin Flon Medical Services Company and the city’s General Hospital.

Henneberg joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps on September 9, 1939, as a Lieutenant in medical unit No. 5 General Hospital. Once overseas in early 1940, he worked at the Canadian military hospital at Farnborough, England. While in England Henneberg married Canadian Nursing Sister Kay Warham.

From mid-1944 to March 1945 Henneberg was stationed in Rome, Italy. In the final months of the war he returned to Canada in April of 1945, joined by Kay a few weeks later; the couple settled in Winnipeg, Man., where Henneberg was posted at the Fort Osborne Hospital.

In recognition of his service while in Italy, Henneberg was appointed to the Order of the British Empire on July 7, 1945.

Content notes:
Letters were written between 1939-1945 by Henneberg to his friend and business partner Dr. Peter Guttormsson and family in Flin Flon, Man. (later in Vancouver, B.C.). Featured among the photographs are several with various members of the royal family, including two with the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Information on Henneberg’s overseas deployment locations and dates is somewhat limited.

External links:
Major Carl Henneberg (Serv/Reg# not assigned) survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.
His appointment to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire was published in The London Gazette on September 13, 1945 (#37262, p.4557).

Flight Lieutenant Lawrence Valentine Pollard was a British citizen who enlisted during World War II in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He served in the Royal Air Force’s No. 214 Squadron prior to being posted to a Canadian unit, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s No. 429 Squadron, on September 3, 1943. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on May 23, 1944.

Content notes:
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One August 1940 photo of Wellington L4215, No. 214 Sqdn., R.A.F., with crew signatures. Most others are R.C.A.F./R.A.F. crew, most likely of No. 429 Squadron, 1943-44.

External links:
F/L Lawrence Pollard (Serv/Reg#s 118899, 440523) survived the war; his British service record is not publicly available at this time.
His Distinguished Flying Cross award was published in The London Gazette on May 23, 1944 (#36525 p. 2349).