William James McNabb was born in Desboro, Ontario, in March 1891. He enlisted in December 1915 in Owen Sound, Ontario, with the 147th Grey Battalion. McNabb served overseas in France and Belgium until his death in October 1918. The collection currently consists of one letter, obituaries, a field service card, and his circumstances of death report.
South African (Boer) War Collection
David Morrison Stewart was born in Manitoba in 1881, the youngest of eight children. In 1900 Stewart joined The Lord Strathcona Horse in Winnipeg with whom he served in South Africa. Stewart returned to Manitoba and went to war again in 1915 with the 107th Battalion where he saw service in France. David Stewart Morrison died in 1929. The collection consists of his diary entries from April 1900 to October 1900.
Arthur George Teer was born in Toronto, Ontario, in September 1893. He enlisted in Toronto in June 1915 and served overseas in Belgium and France until the end of the war. The collection currently consists of 20 letters.
Robert Hainsworth was born in England, in June 1885. Prior to the war he immigrated to western Canada, where he enlisted in Red Deer, Alberta, in January 1915. The collection consists on one letter written by Hainsworth in 1916, and one photograph.
Click link here to go to the WWI collection of Steel, George and Terrence.
Andrew John "Jack" Napier was born in Scotland in 1884. He later immigrated to Canada and enlisted in Winnipeg on September 1, 1915. He was discharged in 1919. The collection consists of one letter, his discharge certificate, and several photographs.
Douglas George Buckley was born in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, in January 1891. Buckley enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1914 and served oveseas with the 19th Battalion until his discharge on medical grounds in October 1917. The collection currently consists of forty letters, postcards, and miscellaneous personal items.
Herbert D'Alton Bolster was born in Lancaster, Ontario, and later moved to Saskatchewan where he worked as a teacher and later as a railway mail clerk. He enlisted in September 1914, served overseas until he was discharged in 1918, and then returned to Moose Jaw in 1919. The collection consists of one letter and one photograph.
Raymond Harlan Brewster was born in Boston in 1893 and later moved to Victoria, British Columbia. At the time of his enlistment in May 1917 his father, Harlan Brewster, was the Premier of the province. Brewster served overseas and was killed November 1, 1918. The collection consist of three letters and four photographs.
Hadden William Ellis was born in Dundas County, Ontario, in March 1894. He moved west to Weno, Calgary, Alberta, and was a student at the time of enlistment. Ellis enlisted in April 1916 in Calgary, Alberta. He served overseas with the Canadian Light Horse until his death on September 24, 1917. The collection currently consists of thirty letters, photographs, and some miscellaneous documents.
Pilot Officer James “Jim” Roy d’Arcy Baker was born in Killarney, Manitoba, on May 22, 1921, to parents Hugh and Marjorie Baker.
Following his enlistment in 1939, Baker served overseas with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry until joining the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943. He served in the R.C.A.F. for the remainder of the war.
Content notes:
The majority of the nearly 250 letters in the Baker Collection were written to his mother Marjorie; included with his correspondence were eleven poems he wrote during the war.
Please note: All transcriptions have been provided by the collection donor without original documents.
External links:
P/O Baker (Serv/Reg#s J95017; K85260; R225139) survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated January of 2023. Several Collection Contents categorizations have been changed (e.g. from “Printed Matter” to “Newspaper Article”); two new letters added; one duplicate & one blank posting corrected. Poems are now identified by their respective letter dates, and poem formatting updated. The Collection Description and some content descriptions have been added or expanded to provide more information, including the addition of Baker’s previously unknown middle names.]
Daniel Serrick was born in Jollimore, Nova Scotia in September, 1920. In 1938 Serrick went to England and joined the Manchester Regiment, serving with 'B' Company until his evacuation from Dunkirk in June, 1940. He then transferred to the British Commandos and then to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in July, 1942. From there Serrick volunteered for the joint American and Canadian The First Special Service Force and was killed in the Italian campaign on May 29, 1944. Daniel Serrick is buried in the Beach Head War Cemetery, Anzio, Italy. The collection consists of one letter to his sister as well as several photographs.
External links:
Staff Sergeant Daniel Serrick’s service record (Serv/Reg# U1805) 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 Serrick can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Herbert Percy Blake was born in Victoria, British Columbia, in January 1886. He enlisted at Vernon, British Columbia, on October 5, 1915, and served overseas in France. He was killed in action February 27, 1917. The collection consists of two letters written in 1917.
Lancelot de Saumarez Duke, DFC, was born in Ceylon in October 1896. He was educated in England and Canada and moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where his father was a doctor. Duke initially enlisted with the 88th Battalion, Victoria Fusiliers, in May 1915. Duke then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps with whom he served until the end of the war. He flew with the 84th Squadron and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The collection currently consists of letters from Duke, photographs, and his diary from 1918.
The materials in this collection belonged to Emily Hager, the youngest of a family of nine. Four of her brothers served overseas during WWI. The collection consists of a photograph of her brother Wesley Hager who enlisted in Saskatoon in January, 1916, and was killed in France in November, 1916, a Christmas Day 1917 menu for Canadian troops training in England, and two letters sent to her during the war. One letter is from her brother Allen who was born in February, 1892 and enlisted in November 1914. and the other is from a family friend, Harold Panabaker, who fought at Vimy Ridge and describes in his letter his experiences of the attack.
James Henry Holt was born in Manchester, England, in October 1892. Prior to the war he immigrated with his family to Victoria, British Columbia. Holt enlisted in December 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and served under the name of James Henry. He was the older brother of Harold Holt. Holt served in France with the 25th Battalion until his death in October 1916. The collection currently consists of a memorial ribbon commemorating his death, and a photograph of his grave.
James Arthur Lindsay, MM, was born in Lochwinnoch, Ontario in March, 1893. He enlisted at Ottawa in July, 1915 and served overseas with the 23rd Battery, C.F.A. Lindsay was awarded the Military Medal in October 1918, during the fighting at Cambrai. He was discharged in May 1919, and returned to Canada. The collection consists of three letters, a Christmas 1918 program and menu, a letter of appreciation from the Lochwinnoch Branch of the U.F.O., and one photograph.
Charles Gordon Shaw was born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1895. He later moved to Peterborough, Ontario, where he enlisted with the 247th Bn. C.E.F. in October 1916, and served overseas with the 3rd Canadian Reserve Battalion. The collection consists of two letters.
Fred Nickle studied medicine at The University of Toronto and joined the British Navy to serve as a Surgeon Probationer. He served in England and at the end of the war returned to Madoc, Ontario where he practised medicine. The collection consists of eight letters written between 1918 and 1919 to his cousin Helen Davis. Other correspondents to Davis include the Daniel Austin Lane collection, the Gordon Shrum collection, and the William Grassie collection.
This collection consists of three letters written to Canada from a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France, between October 8, 1918 to December 15, 1918. The three letters in the Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society archives contain no definitive information about who Ralph was nor his relationship to the recipient of the letters, a Mrs. A. S. Kennedy of Winnipeg. Used with permission of the Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society.
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.
Thomas Ernest Eardley was born in Shropshire, England, in January 1890. Eardley moved to Alberta prior to the war, and enlisted in Medicine Hat, Alberta, in December 1914. He served overseas with the Canadian Mounted Rifles until he was taken prisoner in June 1916. Eardley remained a prisoner of war until his release in 1918. The collection consists of more than eighty letters from 1914 to 1918.
John Nuttall Bland was born in Lancashire, England, in April 1880. Sometime before World War I, he immigrated to St. Catharines, Ontario, where he enlisted in May 1916. The collection consists of one photograph of Bland taken in 1916.
Private Harold Wilcox Scales was born in Virden, Manitoba, in February 1899. Prior to the war he moved to Salmon Arm, British Columbia, and enlisted in January 1917 in Victoria, British Columbia. Scales served with the 13th Canadian Field Ambulance and saw service in Europe in 1917 and 1918. This collection currently consists of a diary kept by Scales as a member of the 13th Canadian Field Ambulance from 1917 to 1919.
