William Henry Smith served with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders in France. Unfortunately we know nothing more about Smith than this journal. The journal came into the possession of another Highlander, James Briand, who preserved it. The collection currently consists of Smith's journal from 1941 to 1944, and several photographs.
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.
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.
Frank Skeet was born in Yorkshire, England, in October 1897. Skeet enlisted with the 226th Battalion in Swan River, Manitoba, in January 1916. He served overseas with the 16th Battalion until his death in August 1918. The collection currently consists of more than seventy letters written by Skeet.
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.
This collection consists of four letters written to the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation during World War II. Two of the four letters recognize the contributions made for relief efforts for orphans both in Canada and in Britain, while another letter is from the Soviet Minister to Canada for contributions made for clothing to the Soviet Union. The fourth letter is announcing the awarding of the British Empire Medal to Chief Peter Moses, BEM.
James Gibson was from Irving's Landing, British Columbia. He served as a Pilot Officer with the 425 Squadron RCAF. He died July 29, 1944 and is commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial in The United Kingdom. The collection consists of one airgraph home to his father, one group photograph, a birth certificate and several condolence messages regarding Gibson's death.
External links:
Pilot Officer James Gibson’s service record (Serv/Reg# J90957) 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 Gibson can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
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.]
Driver James Orian Aitken was born in Treherne, Manitoba on August 21, 1895, the son of widowed father Robert Aitken. Working as a school teacher in Baldur, Manitoba, he enlisted with the 76th Battery Canadian Field Artillery in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on November 27, 1917 and proceeded to England on the SS Canada, arriving April 22, 1917. Whle overseas Aitken served with the 4th C.D.A.C. At the end of the war, Aitken returned to Canada aboard the SS Aquitainia, embarking from South Hampton, England, on May 18, 1919, and arriving in Halifax May 25, 1919. He then proceeded to Montreal, Québec, where he was demobilizes later that month.
External links:
Driver James Orian Aitken's service record (Serv/Reg #1250186) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Norman Ewart was born in Toronto, Ontario, in December 1892. Ewart enlisted in September, 1915, and served overseas until his return to Canada following the war. The collection consists of more than 100 postcards sent by Ewart, as well as one letter.
Alexander McCheyne, MM, was born in Scotland in April 1893, and sometime before the war he immigrated to Manitoba where he worked as a farm labourer. McCheyne enlisted in January 1915 at Virden, Manitoba. He served overseas and was awarded the Military Medal for his actions on October 30, 1917, at Passchendaele Ridge. The collection currently consist of thirty six letters he wrote to his sister Mary.
Austin Newton Van Allen was born in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1919. He grew up in Alberta and enlisted with the RCAF in the fall of 1940. Van Allen flew with the 116th Squadron and died on September 9, 1941. The collection consists of more than twenty letters and several photographs.
Robert William Shirley was born in 1897 and enlisted in February 1916 at Swan Lake, Manitoba. He served overseas in France and was killed August 11, 1918. The collection consists of one letter from his commanding officer to his mother, and an undated obituary from the local newspaper.
Frederick Ernest Carter was born in Essex, England, in 1871 and immigrated to Kamloops, British Columbia, sometime prior to the war. His wife died in 1912, leaving him with two small children. Carter enlisted in May 1915 at the age of 44. He served overseas in France where he was killed in action April 14, 1916, leaving behind two orphaned daughters in Canada. The collection consists of four letters.
Frederick Edward Wilkinson was born in St. Albans, Hants, England, in March 1890. Prior to the war Wilkinson immigrated to Canada where he worked as a teacher in Regina, Saskatchewan. Wilkinson enlisted in March 1916 in Regina and served overseas with the Canadian Medical Corps. The collection currently consists of two letters written to one of his former pupils, Lois Purdy, and one Christmas card.
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.
George Ridgeway was born in Cheshire, England, in April 1887. He immigrated to Canada around 1912 and moved to Saskatchewan to farm. Ridgeway enlisted in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in January 1916 with the 128th Battalion, and served overseas in France and Belgium with the 49th Battalion. Wounded in 1917 he was invalided back to the military hospital in Moose Jaw, and discharged in 1919. After his discharge he returned to England. The collection currently consists of fifteen images.
Private Arthur Lawrence Turner was born in Liverpool, England, on September 10, 1890. Prior to WWI, Turner had served in the British Territorial Army with the Royal Engineers and in the Canadian Militia with the 58th Westmount Rifles.
He enlisted with the 148th Battalion in Montreal, Québec, on March 8, 1916. Turner proceeded overseas on September 27, 1916, aboard the SS Laconia from Halifax, Nova Scotia, arriving on October 6 in Liverpool, England. He was sent to France in December of that same year, where he served with the 24th Battalion. Turner returned to Canada and was demobilized in November of 1918.
External Link:
Pte. Arthur Turner’s service file (#841715) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format from Library and Archives Canada.
Earl Winstel Sutherland was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1885. He enlisted in September 1914 and served five years overseas until he returned to Hamilton in 1919. The collection consists of one letter written from France in 1919.
The collection consists of one letter from May Grenville, a nurse who had served overseas with the A.E.F. home to her mother in Thorold, Ontario, at the end of the war in 1918. Used with permission by Heritage Thorold.
This collection contains over 30 letters from World War One published in The Nanaimo Daily News, a local newspaper published in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Newspapers across Canada regularly printed letters home from overseas, either letters written directly to the newspaper by the soldiers, or first written to the family and then contributed to the paper by the family. Collections such as those from The Nanaimo Daily Free Press provide a fascinating look at the relationship of community and war as played out in the pages of the local newspaper. The dates for which the letters are listed represent the dates on which they were published, as the original dates of the letters are not always indicated. Where the original date of writing is known it will be part of the letter text. Introductions to the letters and editorial comments as they appeared in the newspaper have been left as published. All transcriptions have been taken from copies on microfilm and as such there are no scans for this collection.
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 #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 service file is available online through the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (The Rooms).
Edward Robert Hill served with the 58th Battalion. He was killed at Passchendaele in October, 1917. His brother, William Lowrie Hill served with the 49th Battalion until his death at Mount Sorrel in June, 1916. The collection currently consists of one letter and two photographs.
