Click link here to go to the WWI collection of Norman Sydney Richards.
Spanish-American War & World War I Collection
Alexander Matier was born in 1880 and raised in New York City where in May, 1898, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. He saw service in Cuba and returned to New York. In 1915 Matier enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and saw service overseas, where he was wounded in Belgium in the spring of 1916.
He spent more than two years in convalescent hospitals in England and Canada before he was discharged in September 1918. He died in Winnipeg in 1920. More information about this time period is available in his service file, which is unusually detailed about his medical history, including time spent at the Tuxedo Military Hospital in Winnipeg, receiving treatments such as galvanism, faradism, electric current baths and ionization (radiation).
The collection consists of two letters written home from Cuba in 1898 and an extended eighteen page letter written in 1918 detailing his wounding and convalescence.
Please note: Because of the way files are organized on the website, letters written by one author but across multiple wars may not always be visible together (the pages will look very similar, only the headings above the name and the # of letters in the "Collection Contents" list below will be different. If needed, the following links can be used to move between the two time periods of the Matier collection:
Click here to go to the Spanish-American War letters from 1898.
Peter Newman was born in Leyton, England, in 1895 and immigrated to Toronto, Canada, in 1913. He enlisted in September 1914 and served overseas in France and Belgium. Lance Corporal Newman was killed on June 6, 1916. As he has no known grave his name is listed on the Menin Gate, a memorial listing more than 58,000 individuals who died on the Ypres Salient and whose bodies were never found. The collection consists of five letters home from Newman, seveal letters of condolence following his death, photographs, postcards, a songbook, and other miscellaneous items.
Joseph Richard Boucher was born in Kent County, New Brunswick, in December 1885. Boucher enlisted in March 1915 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He served overseas and was wounded twice before returning to Canada in 1919. The collection currently consists of a family record and a diary of his service.
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.
Arthur Westwood was born in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1896. Westwood enlisted with the 75th Bn. CEF in Toronto, Ontario, in August 1915. The collection currently consists of one letter, his discharge papers, and a Christmas Day 1917 menu.
Hugh Buie was born in Colonsay, Scotland, in August 1898. In 1913 he immigrated with his family to Montreal, Québec. Buie enlisted in Kingston, Ontario, in March 1916. He served overseas with the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, and was killed at Passchendaele on October 26, 1917. Buie has no known grave. The collection consists of four photographs and his newspaper obituary.
Robert Wallace Lane was born in Belmore, Ontario in September, 1887. He later moved to New Westminster, British Columbia where he worked as a barrister. Lane enlisted in Kingston, Ontario in January, 1916 and served overseas with the 50th Battery, 13th Artillery Brigade. Three of his brothers also served - James Eldon Lane, William Stanley Lane, and Walter Ross Lane. The collection currently consists of two letters, a newspaper article, and more than thirty photographs.
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.
Joseph Roy Ferguson was born in Innisfil, Ontario, in July 1884. Ferguson enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in October 1915 with the 4th Overseas University Battalion. The collection consists of one extended letter written on the SS Lapland during his voyage to England, and two photographs.
Louis Wilfred Mullen was born in Cove Head, Prince Edward Island, in April 1896. Mullen previously was a member of the militia before he enlisted in February 1916 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the No. 11 Overseas Field Artillery Brigade Ammunition Column. He served overseas with the 43rd Battery until his return to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of his photograph album containing over one hundred photographs, a letter, postcards, and other miscellaneous personal items.
Einar Stefansson Long was born in Iceland in December 1891. He immigrated to Canada prior to the war and was a student in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Long enlisted in February, 1916, in Winnipeg. He served overseas with the 8th Battalion and was killed on August 9, 1918. The collection consists of one photograph of Long and his friend Gudmunder Gudmundson.
Alexander DeCoteau was born on the Cree Red Pheasant Indian Reserve near Battleford, Saskatchewan, in November 1887. He later moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he worked as a police officer and was champion distance runner. DeCoteau competed in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. He enlisted in Edmonton in April 1916. DeCoteau served overseas in France and Belgium, and died during the Battle of Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. The collection consists of four letters written by DeCoteau.
Robert Shortreed was born in Guelph, Ontario, on January 26, 1891. A salesman, he enlisted with the 64th Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, in Guelph on November 6, 1916, transferring to the 12th Canadian Siege Battery after arriving in England. The collections consists of letters written to his parents and sisters Elizabeth, Evelyn, and Isabel (Bell), and covers his early training in Canada to his return to England to await return home.
Walter Earnest Peter Flett, DSC, was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1887. Flett played with the Toronto Argonauts in the 1907 season and was the league leading scorer with 29 points. During the war Flett served in the RNAS with the No.3 Naval Wing. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Cross de Guerre in 1917. The collection consists of more than twenty letters from 1916 through to 1917.
Archibald "Archie" MacKinnon was born in July, 1894. He first enlisted with the 74th Battalion and later served overseas with the 58th Battalion. MacKinnon was seriously wounded in September 1916, and discharged as medically unfit in June 1917. The collection currently consists of twenty letters. See also the collections of his uncle William MacKinnon and his brother Ronald MacKinnon.
Gordon Rae MacKay was born in Findlay, Manitoba, in 1893 and later moved to Biggar, Saskatchewan. MacKay enlisted in March 1916, with the 46th Canadian Infantry. He was sent overseas in November 1916, and arrived in France in April, 1917. In June of 1917 he was wounded and spent time in hospitals in France and England before being returned to Canada in early 1918 where he spent further time in hospital before being discharged. The collection consists of more than 70 letters written by MacKay home to his family in Saskatchewan.
Samuel Greenway, from Cedar (Nanaimo) British Colulmbia was born in May, 1889 and enlisted in Vancouver in January, 1918. He served overseas with the 7th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment) until his death in September, 1918. The collection currently consists of fourteen letters, several photographs, telegram, and some official correspondence.
George Elliot Creswell was born in Saskatchewan in 1924. He enlisted in the RCAF on June 8, 1942, the day after his 18th birthday. Creswell went overseas in the fall of 1943 and served as a Flight Officer with the 432 Sqdn. He was shot down and killed on his 15th mission on February 21, 1945. The collection consists of 95 letters, photographs, and other printed items.
External links:
Flying Officer George Elliot Creswell’s service record (Serv/Reg# J35134) 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 Creswell can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
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.
Elmer David Bell was born in Drew, Wellington County, Ontario, in 1909. Elmer was practising law when he enlisted in the army in 1941. He served overseas until 1945 and was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Order of the Crown (Belgium) as a result of his service. He returned to Canada at the end of the war and died in 1998. The collection includes fifteen letters from Elmer. See also the correspondence from his brothers James Bond Bell and William Robert Bell.
Lieutenant Cullen Hay Perry was born in Whitby, Ontario to parents John Ham Perry and Louisa Hay Perry on August 15, 1893.
Perry enlisted at Valcartier, Quebec on September 22, 1914. Prior to that, Perry had served for one year with the militia in Cobourg, Ontario. He sailed to England in October 1914 aboard the SS Tunisian as part of the First Contingent and served with the 3rd Battalion, Queen’s Own Rifles, in France. In June 1915 Perry took a commission in the British Imperial Army and was attached to the Royal Fusiliers as a Second Lieutenant and from there transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He was sent to Egypt in October of 1917 and was killed in an accident on February 3, 1918. Perry is buried in the Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery in Alexandria.
External links:
Lieutenant Cullen Hay Perry’s CEF service record (Serv/Reg# 10161) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information for Perry is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Perry can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Perry’s Royal Flying Corps record can be downloaded from the National Archives in Britain. A free registration is required to access the materials.
Collection note:
The collection consists of seven letters written home to his mother in Whitby, Ontario, as well as one photograph. The original letters can be found in the Whitby Archives, Whitby, Ontario.
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated January, 2026. Scans of the original letter photocopies have been added. Additional information added to content description and additional external links added.]
Garfield Willard Weston was born in Toronto, Ontario, in February 1898. Weston enlisted in February 1917 in Toronto with the Divisional Signallers, Engineering Company. Weston served overseas during the war, and following the war he was a successful businessman, philanthropist, and served as an MP in the British Parliament during WWII. For further information on Weston, see the Weston Family Foundation website. The collection currently consists of one letter and three photographs.
Laura Margaret Morton was born in Kingston, Ontario, in March 1891. She trained as a nurse in Ontario and in 1917 she enlisted with the CAMC. Morton served overseas in France and Britain during the war. The collection consists of her photograph album from her time at the Winwick Hospital in Britain, which during the war was known as the Lord Derby War Hospital. We have scans of the complete album pages as they appeared, as well as the individual photographs on those pages.
James A. Jones was born in Lancashire, England, in 1881 and later immigrated to Alberta, Canada. Jones enlisted at Medicine Hat, Alberta, in May 1916 and served overseas in France until his death in June 1917. The collection currently consists of his diary from January 1917 until his last entry in June 1917.
