Francis Charles Williams was born in Shrewsbury, England, in April 1893. Williams enlisted at Rimouski in October 1914. The collection consists of his paybook, as well as numerous postcards and photographs.
Dr. Charles James McNeil Willoughby was born in Cookstown, Ontario, in 1894. Willoughby joined the British Royal Medical Corp in 1916 after graduating from the University of Toronto medical school. He was posted first to Mesopotamia, and then later served in England, France, and Belgium. After the war he returned to Canada where he practiced medicine in Kamloops, British Columbia. Willoughby died in 1995. The collection consists of nearly two hundred letters as well as photographs.
Arthur James Hay was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1895 and enlisted July 22, 1915. Hay served oveseas in France with the 38th Bn. In 1917 he was wounded by a gas attack, and returned to Canada in July, 1918 as a result of his injuries. Arthur James Hay died in 1963. The collection consists of a photograph of Hay and a copy of his pension identification certificate.
William Harry Jennings was born in Forest, Ontario in 1883. He enlisted in August,1914, and served overseas in France where he was wounded in 1915. He returned to Canada sometime before the end of the war and died in 1925. The collection consists of two letters and two photographs.
Harold Keith Davey was born in Enterprise, Ontario, in July 1897. Davey enlisted with the 4th Battalion Canadian Engineers in Toronto in June 1916. He served in France before being discharged and returned to Canada in May 1918. This collection currently consists of one letter, two diaries, two photograhs, one postcard, two railway passes and a rest camp ticket.
Note: In the diary section of the collection, transcriptions of all entries for 1917/1918 can be read together under the respective links to "1917" and "1918". Scans of the original handwritten diaries can also be accessed here, organized by their individual dates of entry.
Jack Malcolm Brown was born in Ontario in 1895. His only sibling, Olga Brown was born in 1903, and the two of them were orphaned when Olga was about one year old. The two children were then split up, with Jack going to live with a family in Lyndhurst, Ontario, and Olga going to live with her aunt in Frankville, Ontario. When Jack was eighteen he moved west to Saskatchewan to homestead. He worked as a teamster and enlisted at Prince Albert in December 1915. Brown served overseas in France and returned to Canada in 1919. The collection consists of over fifty letters written by him to his sister between 1914 and 1918.
Lola Passmore was born in 1899 and lived in Peel County, Ontario, near the village of Huttonville. Around 1916 she and her family moved into the city of Toronto. The collection consists of twenty-two letters from her male friends from Huttonville written to her during the war. The largest portion (15 letters) is from George Henry Tripp, who was killed May 5, 1917. As well there are letters from John (Jack) Booker and his brother Alex Booker, one from George Edward Manners, and one from her uncle, Dr. James Fraser, a Major who served with the Ambulance Corps.
Private John Herbert Bohan was born in Calgary, Alberta, on August 26, 1917, to parents Herbert and Nellie (née Bell) Bohan.
Bohan enlisted in Trail, British Columbia, in December 1941 and after training in Canada he proceeded overseas in August 1943. While serving with the Seaforth Highlanders in Italy, Bohan was killed on September 20, 1944.
External links:
Private Bohan’s service record (Serv/Reg#s K71329) 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 Bohan can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Dr. Charles Alexander McLaughlin Thrush was born in Byng, Ontario, in 1880, and then later moved to Dunnville, Ontario, where he practiced medicine. He enlisted in March 1916 with the 114th Battalion "Brock's Rangers," and then served overseas as part of the Canadian Medical Corps. The collection consists of one letter written to his hometown newspaper in 1917, as well as three photographs.
Private Thomas Henry (“Harry”) Baird was born on February 28, 1893, at Grant Settlement, Ontario, to parents Andrew and Mary Jane Baird.
Baird enlisted in Ottawa, Ontario, with the 77th Battalion on July 31, 1915, and sailed for England aboard the SS Missanabie in June 1916. He transferred to the 73rd Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada) on July 3, shortly before his deployment to France in August. Baird went missing in action and was determined to have died February 4, 1917.
Content notes:
The Baird letters were mainly written home to his family between July and December of 1916 while he was serving in the trenches in France. Both physical damage and writing style have made transcription challenging. In the supplementary documents accessed through the external links below, both “Thomas Henry Baird” and “Harry Baird” appear in Baird’s records as his full given name.
External links:
Pte. Baird’s service record (Serv/Reg# 144246) 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 Baird can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated January 2022. Transcriptions reviewed and emended. Collection Description expanded. Collection name updated – originally posted as “Harry Baird.”]
William Fraser Stagg was born in Inverness, Scotland, in May 1876. He immigrated to Canada prior to the war and enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in January 1916. Stagg served overseas during the war with the 10th Field Coy., Canadian Engineers. While returning back home at the end of the war, Stagg was killed in a train derailment outside of Edmunston, New Brunswick, on December 31, 1918. The collection currently consists of thirty letters, photographs, telegrams, and postcards.
Albert Ernest Henry was born in Sombra, Ontario in 1877 and enlisted in March, 1916. He served overseas with the Canadian Forestry Corp. The collection consists of two letters.
Joseph Handley Smith was born in Lincoln, England, in November 1890. He immigrated to Canada prior to the war and enlisted in September 1914. Smith served overseas until he was demobilized in 1919. The collection currently consists of his paybook, postcards, and miscellaneous personal items.
Samuel Hugh Ramsay was born in Aylmer, Québec, in June 1894. Ramsay enlisted in November 1915 with the Canadian Grenadier Guards Overseas Battalion and served overseas in France and Belgium. The collection consists of two letters, a field card, and one photograph.
Shorey Johnson Neville was born in Cottonwood, Saskatchewan, in September 1888. Neville enlisted at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in May 1916 and then served overseas in France until he was injured and sent to England. Due to his injuries he remained in England with the Khaki University until demobilization, at which time he returned to Canada. The collection consists of ten letters written from 1916 to 1917.
William Ewart Mawson was born in St. Bees, Cumberland, England, in 1888, and immigrated to Canada around 1912. He enlisted in July 1915 in Toronto and served overseas until his death on June 10, 1916. The collection consists of one letter written home by Mawson and one letter from 1919 from the War Office detailing efforts to locate his grave.
Arthur Norman Morris was born in Manchester, England, in 1893. His date of emigration is unknown. He enlisted in Regina, Saskatchewan, in July 1915 and served in Belgium with the 9th Canadian Field Ambulance. The collection consists of two letters.
Melville Thomas Lean was born in Camborne, Ontario in October, 1895. He enlisted in Cobourg, Ontario in December, 1915 and served with the Cobourg Heavy Battery. The collection currently consists of seven letters.
Frank Cyril Pye was born in Essex, England, in February 1896 and later moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Pye enlisted in Winnipeg in December 1915 and was serving with the Nova Scotia Regiment at the time of his death on August 11, 1918. The collection consists of twenty four letters to his sister Flo, as well as images, postcards, and miscellaneous items.
John James Jackson was born in Dudley, Worcestershire, in 1883 and immigrated to London, Ontario, around 1911. He worked as a foreman in a brickworks and spent two years in a militia artillery unit before joining the 142nd Battalion in London on December 14, 1915. The collection consists of a long letter, written to his wife and children, describing the battalion’s voyage to England in 1916.
Private William Arthur Hughes was born in North Wales, U.K., on July 27, 1894 to parents J.H. and M.J. Hughes
Hughes enlisted in Vancouver, British Columbia, on September 10, 1915, with the 72nd Battalion, the Seaforth Highlanders. He sailed to England aboard the Empress of Britain in April of 1916. In England Hughes was transferred to the 16th Battalion and sent to France in June of that year. Hughes was killed on September 2, 1918.
Content notes:
The collection consists of one partial letter written by Hughes in 1916.
External links:
Pte. William Hughes’ service record (Serv/Reg# 129126) 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 Hughes can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Eric Hearle was born in 1893 and enlisted in Hamilton, Ontario in September, 1914 with the 4th Battalion. As a result of wounds received in France he returned to Canada and studied at the University of Guelph. Following his studies Hearle became an assistant entomologist with the federal government. The collection consists of thirteen letters and twelve postcards. It also contains more than 130 photographs, beginning in 1914 with the camps in Canada and England and including a series from convalescent hospitals in Canada. Hearle died in 1934 at the age of 41.
Earle Shaw Grant was born in Hyndman, Ontario in September, 1896 and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia around 1907. Earle enlisted in July, 1917 with the Canadian Army Medical Corp, and then later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He survived the war and returned to Vancouver where he taught school. The collection consist of four photographs and an extended letter. The letter is comprised of type written excerpts from Earle's letters to his brother Harry, who compiled them in the present form.
George Arthur Henry Stevens was born in London, England, in August 1887. He immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war and enlisted in Brandon, Manitoba, in March 1915. Stevens served overseas with the 45th Battalion and returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection consists of two letters, several photographs, some personal items, and an extensive collection of postcards sent to his wife.
South African (Boer) War Collection
Walter Hill Moodie was born in Québec City, Québec. In October 1899, at age 28, Moodie enlisted in Kaslo, British Columbia, with the 2nd Bn. R.C.R. He served overseas in South Africa until his discharge in October 1900. The collection currently consists of a series of letters that he wrote during that time back to the Kaslo newspaper the Kootenaian.
