Robert G. Combe was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1880. He emigrated to Moosomin, Saskatchewan where he worked as a chemist. He enlisted at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in April, 1915. [note: there is a discrepancy between his attestation papers which date his enlistment as 1915 and other records which date his enlistment as 1916] He was killed on May 3, 1917 and has no known grave. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery. The collection consists of one letter to his grammar school magazine and his citation for bravery.
George Henry Tripp was born in London, England in July, 1897. He emigrated to Huttonville, Ontario and enlisted in July, 1915 at Toronto, Ontario with the 74th Battalion. Tripp served overseas with the 19th Battalion and was killed May 9, 1917. The collection consists of fifteen letters he wrote to his friend Lola Passmore. For more letters to Lola Passmore, see the collection of that name in the WWI collections.
James Claude Whyte was born in Galletta, Ontario in November, 1891. Prior to the war Whyte served with the 99th Manitoba Rangers Band. He enlisted in Brandon, Manitoba in March, 1916 with the 181st and served overseas with the band. The collection consists of his diary of 1917 and early 1918.
Arthur Lawrence Turner was born in Liverpool, England, in 1890 but was living in Lachine, Quebec, when he enlisted in the 148th Battalion in Montreal on 8 March 1916. He was later transferred to the 24th Battalion. The collection consists of twelve letters to a woman he refers to only as Miss Lola.
Norman Cecil Nayler in Marmora, Ontario in October, 1898, and enlisted in Marmora in March, 1917. He served overseas with the Canadian Forestry Corps and returned to Canada in 1919. The collection consists of one photograph and three letters written by Nayler while in France.
Frederick George Pearson was born in Lancashire, England in September, 1894. He emigrated to Canada in 1909 and settled in the Red Deer District. Pearson enlisted in Calgary in July, 1916 and served overseas with the 10th Battalion. The collection currently consists of his diary from 1917.
Private John Allan Hunter was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1892 and later moved to Meteor, Saskatchewan. He enlisted at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in March of 1916. He served in France in 1917 and died of wounds in November, 1917. The collection currently consists of six letters and one photograph.
Claude Senton was born in Simpson, Saskatchewan in July, 1919. He enlisted with the RCAF in the summer of 1941 and served with the 422 Squadron as a Pilot officer. Senton was killed on May 24, 1944 when his plane was shot down, and is buried in Norway. The collection currently consists of personal correspondence, official correspondence regarding his death, as well as photographs and other miscellaneous items.
Michael Francis Murphy was born February 27, 1894 in St. John's Newfoundland. Murphy enlisted on December 15, 1914 with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (sevice no. 754), part of the original "C" coy. Murphy served in Gallipoli, Egypt, and France, and returned to Newfoundland at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of two photographs of Murphy and one letter to his daughter. Murphy's complete service file is also available online.
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.
Frederick John Milthorp was born in Yorkshire, England in 1889 and emigrated to Canada in 1912. Milthorp enlisted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in April, 1915 and served overseas in France until his discharge in 1919. The collection consists of thirty-seven letters written during 1917 between he and his fiance Miss Emily Beastall, as well as one photograph.
Sarah Ellen Arnold worked at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, England during the war. While there she kept a journal in which she asked the patients to write. After the war Sarah married John Harold Bridgeman, one of the Canadian soldiers she had nursed.
Donald McPherson Fraser was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, on October 3, 1912. His family had emigrated to Canada. He joined the Canadian army in 1939, with the Rocky Mountain Rangers. He spent the first part of the war in the Canadian army, until the British loss at Dunkirk . Donald then became one of the CanLoan officers lent to the British Army by Canada in an effort to refill the British officer ranks. Donald served with the Duke of Wellington regiment and subsequently with the Welsh Borderers; both units part of the 49th Polar Bear Division. He took part in the D-Day invasion and was wounded in the early days of that action, but returned to active service by July 1944, when he won the Military Cross. During his service with the British Army Donald received two battlefield promotions, being discharged with the rank of Major. He married and had four children after the war, spending the rest of his life in British Columbia. He settled in Nanaimo, where he lived until his passing in 1997. This collection consists of one photograph and a number of personal items.
Gordon Budd Irving was born in Toronto on 16 May 1888, the only son of Mary Maude Irving and William Henry Irving, of the legal firm of Kilmer, Irving, and Davis. He worked for the National Trust Company in Toronto before joining the Royal Flying Corps in May 1917. After training at Camp Borden, Gordon Irving was sent to England in July 1917, and then to France, where he was posted to 19 Squadron. He rose to the rank of Captain, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and was credited with twelve enemy aircraft downed. On 11 August 1918, he was reported missing, believed killed in action. His body was never recovered. The correspondence consists primarily of letters from Gordon to his father and his sister Fern (Mrs. M.C. Purvis). There is also official correspondence from military authorities, and letters from one of W.H. Irving's business associates in England.
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.
Charles Douglas Richardson was born in Grenfell, Saskatchewan in December 1891 and graduated from the Manitoba Agricultural College in 1915. Richardson enlisted at Regina, Saskatchewan in October 1915 and reached the front in the spring of 1916. While serving with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, he was severely wounded in the Ypres sector in June 1916, returning to the trenches in December. Richardson took part in the assault on Vimy Ridge and died on April 9th or 10th, 1917. The collection consists of more than sixty letters written by Richardson to his family.
This collection contains materials presently held by the Missisquoi Historical Society. There are presently four letters from Walter Adolphe Veniez and one letter from Sydney Horace Blinn. In addition there is a concert program in aid of The Canadian Prisoners of War Fund given in Montreal, and two editions of the Canadian Hospital News from 1917. Thank you to the Missisquoi Historical Society for permitting us to use these materials.
Henry Ralph was born in Dover, England in November, 1885 and emigrated to Toronto, Ontario sometime prior to the war. Ralph enlistd in September, 1914 and served overseas with the 48th Highlanders. During the war he was taken prisoner and returned to Canada after the war. The collection consists of an extended letter written in 1918 describing his experiences as a prisoner, as well as one photograph.
Francis Dibley Row was born in Whitewood, Saskatchewan in December, 1887. Row enlisted in Winnipeg in November, 1915 and served overseas with the 27th Battalion. Both his brothers Sydney Arthur Row and John Row Jr. served with him in the 27th. The collection currently consists of two letters.
Thomas Orval Wilson was born in Craik, Saskatchewan in 1923 and raised in Regina, one of a family of eight brothers. He enlisted with the R.C.A.F. in 1941, training in Canada before being posted overseas in 1943. Warrant Officer Thomas Orval Wilson was shot down and killed on his first mission, February 20, 1944. The collection consists of more than forty letters, as well as numerous photographs and miscellaneous documents.
Norwood MacLeod was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1886. He enlisted in September, 1914 with the Canadian Field Artillery, and then later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He was shot down and killed October 14, 1917. The collection consists of more than fifty letters transcribed by Norwood's father at the end of the war, although the originals have since been lost.
Gerald Smedley Andrews was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in December, 1903. He taught school from 1926 to 1930, and then joined the British Columbia Forest Service where he worked as a surveyor until World War Two. During the war he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and he was responsible for charting the Normandy beaches in preparation for the D-Day landings. At the end of the war he returned to Canada, and served as the Surveyor General of the Province of British Columbia. Andrews was a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and was awarded the Order of British Columbia and was made a member of the Order of Canada. Andrews died in December, 2005 at the age of 102. The collection currently conists of more than two hundred eighty letters, as well as telegrams and miscellaneous items.
Hart Leech enlisted in Winnipeg in 1914 and served as a lieutenant with the 61st Battalion in France. He was killed in September of 1916 and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial.. This collection currently consists of four letters. Three of the letters were written by Leech in 1916 and one by his commanding officer in 1928. The last letter written by Leech to his mother in September, 1916 was not found until 1928. There are also two clippings and a photograph.
Walter Liddiard was born in Montreal, Quebec in May, 1894. He moved to Victoria, British Columbia and was recruited in 1917. Liddiard served overseas as a Gunner with the No. 5 Coy, Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery. The collection currently consists of nearly forty letters, as well as several letters and postcards.
Ernest Albert Underwood was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1915. Ernest along with his brother, Leslie, enlisted in Victoria in 1939 with the 3rd LAA Battery, RCA. They arrived in England in 1941 and were recognized as members of the first Canadian gun crew to destroy an enemy aircraft (Junkers 88) on August 6/7 1941. Both brothers participated in the Dieppe Raid in August of 1942. Ernest was wounded on the beach and became a Prisoner of War. He was released at the end of hostilities and returned home safely to Victoria, British Columbia in 1945. The collection consists of numerous letters, pictures and miscellaneous documents.
