William Wallace Haig Martyn was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in December, 1915. He joined the RAF in 1936 and during the war he flew with Squadron Nos. 802, 758, 759, 760, and 880 and was awarded the DSC. The collection consists of more than 140 letters written by Martyn from 1939 to 1945.
Title
WWII
These collections contains all materials relating to Canadian from 1939 to 1945. Some individual collections may contain materials beyond this time frame. External links in collection descriptions are to casualty and burial information at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Flight Lieutenant Leslie Neil McCaig, DFC, was born in Ormstown Station, Québec, on July 4, 1915, to parents Neil and Ethel (née Sangster) McCaig. After receiving his B.A. and Teacher’s Certification at Bishops University, he worked as a school teacher at Stanstead Wesleyan College, Stanstead, and Westmont High School, Montreal, prior to beginning his military service.
He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Montreal on August 16, 1941, earning his Pilot Flying Badge in October of 1942. Once overseas he served with the R.C.A.F. No. 426 (Thunderbird) Squadron. McCaig was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on October 29, 1943, for his actions that September during a night bombing raid over Mannheim, Germany, described in part in The London Gazette as: “Displaying exceptional skill, Flight Lieutenant McCaig flew the badly damaged bomber to this country and effected a successful crashlanding at an airfield. This officer displayed courage, coolness and determination worthy of high praise.”
McCaig was later killed piloting a night mission over Berlin, Germany, on January 20, 1944, in which the entire crew of Lancaster #LL 628 was lost. He was buried in the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany, and was honoured after the war in the naming of McCaig Bay, Northwest Territories (present day Nunavut).
Content notes:
The collection’s only letter was written by McCaig to Miss Della Allen of Montreal, in August of 1943.
External links:
F/L(P) Leslie McCaig, DFC, service record (Serv/Reg# R120133 and J14907) 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 McCaig can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
The awarding of McCaig’s Distinguished Flying Cross in The London Gazette, October 29, 1943 (#36226, p. 4765).
Aircrew flying with McCaig on January 20, 1944:
R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer Ernest Stewart Hawkes, DFC, service record (Serv/Reg# J86265).
R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer Robert James Orr’s service record (Serv/Reg# J19009).
R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer Ronald Duncan Polson’s service record (Serv/Reg# J18921).
R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer Thomas James Preece’s service record (Serv/Reg# J93896).
R.A.F. Pilot Officer Raymond W. Elliot’s (Serv/Reg# 162597) British-held service record is not open to public access at this time.
R.A.F. Pilot Officer Gerald R. Ketcher, DFM, (Serv/Reg# 168963) British-held service record is not open to public access at this time.
Ian Gordon Hunter McIntyre was born in September, 1921. He attended school in Courtenay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia until 1936 when, at the age of 15 he signed on with the British training ship the HMS Conway. After two years he then joined Donaldson, Black and Company. He sailed with them, including the Murmansk Convoy until his ship, Empire Whale was torpedoed and sunk March 9, 1943. McIntyre was killed at that time and is remembered on the Halifax Memorial. The collection currently consists of a number of miscellaneous personal items.
External links:
As a member of the Canadian Merchant Navy, Third Mate Ian Gordon Hunter McIntyre does not have a service record available through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring McIntyre can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Roderick Malcolm McKenzie served in the Royal Canadian Navy in WWII.
The letters in the McKenzie Collection date from the early months of Malcolm’s entry into the Navy. Writing home to his parents, he keeps them up to date on the details of his early training at H.M.C.S. Chippawa in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and H.M.C.S. St. Hyacinthe, in St. Hyacinthe, Québec.
External links:
No service information for Roderick Malcolm McKenzie (Serv/Reg# V-71336) is publicly accessible through Library and Archives Canada at this time.
James DeArze Gill McKie served with the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry and the 2nd Canadian Guards. During World War ll he served with the PPCLI in Italy. McKie retired with the rank of Sgt. Major in 1962, having served in the Canadian Army since 1937. He died in 1987. The collection currently consists of three letters and one photograph.
Private Walter Elliot Middleton enrolled with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on July 16, 1940. Middleton served overseas in the United Kingdom, Europe, and in the Mediterranean before returning to Canada and demobilized on September 4, 1945. The collection consists of a letter written on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
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.
Leading Aircraftman Joseph Lorne Moore enlisted with the RCAF in 1943 at the age of nineteen and served overseas with the 436th Squadron stationed in India. The collection consists of more than sixty letters, as well as photographs and other personal items.
Eternal links:
L.A.C. Joseph Lorne Moore, (Serv/Reg# R208467), survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.
[Editor’s note: A name and linking error was made in the Joseph Lorne Moore Collection in December of 2022, misidentifying and linking to the service file of of fellow RCAF member Lorne Joseph Moore. Corrected July 2023.]
Arthur Bryan Morlidge was from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. He served with the 419 Squadron as a Flying Officer until he was shot down and killed in October, 1942. He is buried in the Netherlands. The collection currently consist of personal correspondence, official correspondence concerning his death, and some photographs.
External links:
Flying Officer Arthur Bryan Morlidge’s service record (Serv/Reg# J9762) 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 Morlidge can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
William Ivan Mouat left Salt Spring Island in British Columbia to join the RCAF and was sent overseas in 1941. In July 1943 Mouat was shot down over Belgium and remained a prisoner of war until he was liberated in May 1945. The collection consists of eighteen letters, seven telegrams, three photos and other documents related to his experience as a prisoner of war.
Alfred Fern Nelson was born in Victoria, British Columbia in July, 1922 and served overseas with the Calgary Highlanders. Nelson was wounded in France in the summer of 1944 and then taken prisoner in the fall of 1944. He remained a prisoner of war in Germany until the end of the war. The collection consist of more than thirty letters.
Private Leslie Abram Neufeld was born near Lost River, Saskatchewan, on January 17, 1922. He was among the oldest of ten children in the Mennonite farming family of Henry and Anna Neufeld.
He enlisted in the Army on January 13, 1942, in Saskatoon, Sask., initially serving overseas with No. 10 Field Ambulance, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. As planning for D-Day intensified, Neufeld transferred to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in February of 1944 and trained as a paratrooper. Late in the evening of June 5, the plane carrying Neufeld’s “C” Company of the 1st Can. Para. Battalion took off from England, to parachute into Normandy, France, ahead of the main Allied landing forces of D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Neufeld was killed in action June 6, 1944; his body was never recovered. He is commemorated at the Bayeux Memorial in Bayeux, Normandy, France.
Content notes:
The first of the collection’s two letters was written by Neufeld to his family the day before his D-Day deployment. The second letter was to his brother Leonard H. Neufeld from the Saskatchewan government, informing him of the naming of “Neufeld Bay” in the Lac La Ronge district in honor of his brother Leslie.
The three poems, about war, duty and soldiering, were written by Neufeld in 1939, several years prior to his military service while he was still in high school.
External links:
Pte. Neufeld’s service record (Serv/Reg# L74243) 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 Neufeld can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated January 2023. One additional letter, three poems, and one telegram added. Transcriptions reviewed and errors corrected. Collection Description expanded (date of death of June 6, 1944, is the date designated by both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and by Library and Archives Canada).]
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.
Bertram "Bert" Parker enlisted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in August, 1941. He was 23 years of age. During the war Parker served overseas with the 420 "Snowy Owl" Squadron, R.C.A.F. The collection currently consist of more than one hundred photographs from his time with the R.C.A.F.
This collection currently consists of one letter written in 1943 to Tom Paterson from his father while Tom was serving in Italy.
Edwin "Eddie" Frederick Patzer was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan in August, 1920. He was a star defenceman with the Yorkton Terriers during the 1940-41 and 1941-42 seasons. Patzer enlisted with the RCAF and was flying with the 432 Squadon when he was shot down and killed over Germany, February 21, 1945. The collection currently consists of personal and official correspondence, photographs, as well as miscellaneous items as clippings and cards.
External links:
Flying Officer Edwin Frederick Patzer’s service record (Serv/Reg# J87362) 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 Patzer can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Thadeus (“Ted”) Patzer was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, on August 11, 1912, to parents Benjamin and Pauline Patzer.
He served in World War II with the Canadian Army. Patzer was one of several thousand Canadians who took part in the Aleutian Campaign Operation Cottage, the American-Canadian invasion of Kiska Island, Alaska.
Content notes:
The photographs in the collection were taken by Patzer during his time on Kiska Island, following the landings of the American and Canadian troops beginning August 15, 1943.
His brother Edwin also served in the war; see collection of F/O Edwin Frederick Patzer.
External links:
Thadeus Patzer’s service record is not open to public access at this time through Library and Archives Canada.
Donald Elwood Pinder was born in Guelph, Ontario, in 1924. During WWII he served in the Merchant Marine, as well as in the Canadian Navy. Pinder served on the Nipigon in convoys in the North Atlantic, and for a short time on the Haida. The collection currently consists of numerous photographs and documentation from his time in the navy.
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:
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).
Kenneth Wheatley Priske was born in 1923 and joined the RCAF. He was part of 10 Squadron RCAF when he was shot down and killed May 2, 1944. The collection currently consists of two newspaper clippings, a telegram, and a photograph.
External links:
Pilot Officer Kenneth Wheatley Priske’s service record (Serv/Reg# J88911) 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 Priske can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
