Gordon Joshua Dennison (referred to as Billy or Billy) was born in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan in July, 1922. He enlisted with the RCAF in January, 1941 and served first as an Air Engine Mechanic. Dennison later switched to Gunnery School. He went overseas in January, 1944 and served as a tail gunner with the 199th Sqaudron. Dennison was shot down September 16, 1944.  The collection currently consists of more than one hundred letters.

External links:
Pilot Officer Gordon Joshua Dennison’s service record (Serv/Reg# J95170) 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 Dennison can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

William Henry Walker was born in Clinton, Ontario, in 1897. He worked as a drug clerk until his enlistment at Clinton on January 20, 1915. Walker served overseas and was killed December 19, 1916, at the age of nineteen. The collection consists of one photograph of Walker.

Spanish-American War Collection
William Haslam Dickson was born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1873 to Canadian parents. When the Spanish-American war broke out in 1898 he volunteered with the 14th Minnesota Volunteers. The Dickson family moved back to Canada sometime after 1900. William died in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1922. The collection consists of eighteen letters written during 1898.

Alfred Frank Warn was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, England, in November 1889. Prior to the war Warn immigrated to Canada. He enlisted with the 75th Battalion in August 1915, at Niagara-on-the-Lake. The collection currently consists of one photograph of Warn.

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.

Thomas Poolton was born in Birmingham, England, in May 1888. At some time prior to the war Poolton immigrated to Canada and enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1914. He served overseas with the 20th Battalion and was wounded in 1916 as indicated by the postcards to him. The collection consists of a number of postcards to Poolton, as well as a number of miscellaneous items.

Gunner Walter James Lantz was born in Pinette, Prince Edward Island, on February 2, 1881, to parents Joseph T. and Bessie Lantz. Prior to WWI he served two years in the Militia with the 82nd Regiment (Abegweit Light Infantry).  

Lantz enlisted with the 98th Canadian Siege Battery (C.S.B.) in Charlottetown, P.E.I., on October 6, 1915. Shipping for England on board the S.S. Lapland in late November, he proceeded to France in late May of 1916, where he continued to serve with the 98th C.S.B. until he was killed in action by a German shell on July 12, 1916. Lantz was buried at Dartmoor Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt, France.

After Lantz was killed, his old school friend and fellow 98th C.S.B. soldier Lieutenant James Parker Hooper (later promoted to Major) made a memorial photo album for Lantz’s parents with pictures of Walter and other members of the 98th taken in and around the front-line trenches in the Somme/Mametz region of France. The photographs were taken by Hooper and Lantz in the weeks immediately preceding Lantz’s death in July of 1916. Images of each page of the album, including both the text and photographs, have been posted with transcriptions in the Collection Contents “Album” section; additionally, larger views of each of the photographs have been posted separately in the Collection Contents “Photos” section.

More information about the album’s creator can be found on the WWI Collection page of Major James Parker Hooper, MC.

Several other members of the 98th C.S.B. who appear in the album’s photographs have been identified as: Gunner Ernest Franklin Kelly (page 4);  Major William Stephen Trenholme (page 7); Major Temple William Faber MacDonald’s (page 8); Sergeant Percy Wilfred MacNevin (page 8). The crosses in the forefront of page eleven’s photograph of Dartmoor Cemetery mark the graves of two soldiers of the 4th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, United Kingdom: Corporal B.A.G. Creasey and Private James Sharpe.

External links:
Gnr. Lantz’s service record (Serv/Reg# 92921) 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 Lantz can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Major James Parker Hooper’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned*).
Gnr. Ernest Franklin Kelly’s service record (Serv/Reg# 92875).
Major Temple William Faber MacDonald’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned*).
Sgt. Percy Wilfred MacNevin’s service record (Serv/Reg# 92891).
Major William Stephen Trenholme’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned*).

Cpl. B.A.G. Creasey’s burial information, Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Pte. James Sharpe’s burial information, Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

*[WWI officers were not routinely assigned Service/Regimental #s]

[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated September 2022. Some additional materials have been added and some changes to categorization of Collection Contents have been made; transcription of the album’s written content has been added; photo descriptions have been reviewed and expanded.]

Lieutenant Ivan Clark Maharg was born in Teeswater, Ontario, in 1897 and enlisted in Brandon, Manitoba, in March 1916. He served in France with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (Saskatchewan Regiment). Maharg was killed in France September 29, 1918, at the age of 21. The collection consists of one extended letter, his diary from 1918, and five photographs.

William Stanley Lane was born in June, 1891. Lane was a law student at his time of enlistment in November, 1914 with the 29th Battalion. He served in France as signaller and was killed on April 6, 1916 in the Battle of St. Eloi. Three of his brothers also served - James Eldon Lane, Robert Wallace Lane, and Walter Ross Lane.  The collection currently consists of seven photographs, four newspaper articles, and several miscellaneous items.

Reginald John Paul was born on December 14, 1895, in Burin, Newfoundland. He enlisted on December 21, 1914, and served with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. Paul served both at Gallipoli and on the Somme and was killed on the first day of the Somme, July 1, 1916. The collection consists of two letters from the chaplain to his family, and one photograph. Paul's service file is available online through the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (The Rooms).

Archibald (Archie) Polson was born in Gimli, Manitoba. Polson enlisted at Gimli in February 1916, and was later transferred overseas with the 2nd Divisional Machine Gun Corps. Polson served in France, including the battle of Vimy Ridge. At Vimy he was wounded, resulting in the amputation of his arm. While almost fully recovered from his wound he contracted tetanus and died on September 1, 1917, and was buried in England. The online collection currently consists of twenty four letters exchanged between himself and his mother. The complete Polson collection is housed at The University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections and the materials contained herein are used with their permission.. The Project greatly appreciates the cooperation and assistance of The University of Manitoba in making these letters available.