Charles Thomas Armstrong, the brother of Alex Armstrong of Cumberland, British Columbia, served with the 6th Field Ambulance, Australian Army Medical Corps. Armstrong died November 24, 1915, of wounds received at Gallipoli age 34. The collection currently consists of more than sixty images from his photograph album.
External links:
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Harold Hartley Littler was born in Liverpool, England in December, 1881. Littler enlisted in Port Alberni, British Columbia and then was later sworn in at Victoria, British Columbia in November, 1915. The collection consists of a short memoir written by Littler in the 1920s which describes his time from enlistment until his return home.
Private Harry Davies was born December 22, 1897, in Hamilton, Ontario, to parents Fannie and William Henry Davies.
He enlisted with the 205th (Tiger) Battalion in Hamilton, Ontario, on March 16, 1916, and proceeded overseas to England on the SS Saxonia in April 1917. Davies was sent to France in August 1917 where he served with the 1st Machine Gun Battalion until wounded in August 1918. After hospitalization in France and England, he was invalided back to Canada on the SS Megantic in June 1919, and then discharged in July 1919.
External links:
Private Harry Davies’ service record (Serv/Reg# 240080) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Wilfred Edgar Hawkes was born in England in 1889. Sometime later he immigrated to Canada and enlisted at Vernon, British Columbia, in August 1915. The collection constist of two letters written to his young nephew Jack, in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1916.
Louis Dureault was from Wolseley, Saskatchewan. Dureault enlisted in 1943 and served overseas with the South Saskatchewan Regiment, including the D-Day invasion. He was wounded in August, 1944 and remained in various hospitals until he returned home in October, 1945. He died in 2005 at the age of eighty. The collection currently consists of more than seventy letters from 1944 and 1945.
Albert Henry Fereday served with the 1st Battalion Prince of Wales Own Civil Service Rifles. He was killed August 22, 1918, at the age of 18. He has no known grave and is commemorated by name on Panel 10 on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, Haucourt, France. The memorial stands in the grounds of Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery and bears the names of over 9,000 men who have no known grave. This collection consists of more than one hundred letters sent by Pte. Albert Henry Fereday. The letters have been transcribed by, and are used with the kind permission of, Anthony Fereday, the nephew of Albert Fereday. These materials are part of the non-Canadian section of this project
William Lowrie Hill was born in Harrington West, Ontario in December, 1888. Hill enlisted with the 49th Battalion in Edmonton in January, 1915. He served overseas with the 49th until his death at Mount Sorrel in June, 1916. He was the brother of Edward Robert Hill who was killed at Passchandaele in October, 1917. The collection currently consists of two photographs and one 49th Battalion card.
William Vincent Gauthier was born in North Rustico, Prince Edward Island in October, 1897 and enlisted in Charlottetown in 1915. Gauthier served oveseas Enland, France, and Belgium until his return to Canada at the end of the war. The collection consists of a memoir written by Gauthier sometime after the war.
Joseph Thomas Wright was born in Toronto in 1907. He served overseas in Africa and Europe during the war and then returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection consists of one letter written to his sister Bea from Italy in September, 1944.
William Edward Grassie was born in Smithville, Ontario in 1893 and was a student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario when he enlisted in March, 1916. He returned to Canada at the end of the war and taught high school in Port Credit, Ontario. The collection consists of two letters written to his friend Helen Davis. Other correspondents to Davis include the Daniel Austin Lane Collection, the Gordon Shrum Collection, and the Fred Nickle Collection.
William Keith Dornan was born in Allenford, Ontario, in June 1897. Prior to the war he moved west and enlisted in Regina, Saskatchewan, in August 1915. Dornan served overseas until his death on March 16, 1917. The collection currently consists of six letters, clippings, a photograph, and a Christmas card.
Daniel James Sweeney was born in London, England, in September 1896. Sometime prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and worked as a labourer in Ontario. Sweeney enlisted in Cobourg, Ontario, in June 1915. He survived the war but unfortunately nothing else is known about him. The collection consists of one photograph of Sweeney and others (seated, left) taken in 1915.
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.
Private Roy Clarence Armstrong was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to parents Minnie and George Armstrong, on February 22, 1898. He was working as a clerk in Winnipeg at the time of his enlistment with the 184th Battalion in Winnipeg on March 20, 1916.
He shipped for England aboard HMT Empress of Britain on October 31, 1916, and arrived in Liverpool, England, on November 11, 1916. Armstrong was transferred to the 78th Battalion and was killed in action during the battle for Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.
External links:
Pte. Roy Armstrong’s service record (Serv/Reg# 874936) 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 Roy Armstrong can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Hubert Willliam ("Bert") Lovell was born in born in England in November, 1891. Lovell enlisted in Edmonton, Alberta, in January 1916, and served overseas with the 8th Canadian Field Ambulance. The collection consists of two photographs and a transcription of his notes for a speech given at the 8th Canadian Field Ambulance Reunion Dinner in Calgary, 1931.
Sergeant Ralph Beverly Watson (a.k.a. Joseph Ralph Watson), Canadian Army Medical Corps, was the author of the 1918 book Letters of a Canadian Stretcher Bearer. The book's letters, along with more information on Sgt. Watson, can be found in the Special Items Collections section of the website.
Albert Edward Roscoe was born in Belfast, Ireland, in December 1890 and then came to Canada as a Barnardo boy and lived with the Bateman family near Stirling, Ontario. Prior to the war he moved to the west and took up farming. Roscoe enlisted September 24, 1914, and served with the 5th Bn., Canadian Infantry (Saskatchewan Regiment). He was killed May 24, 1915, and his name is one of the over 11,000 names found on the Vimy Memorial of Canadian soldiers whose graves are not known. The collection consists of two letters and one photograph.
William Paterson was born in Leith, Scotland, in April 1893. Paterson immigrated to Canada prior to the war, and enlisted in Calgary, Alberta, in November 1914. He served overseas as a signaller with the 31st Battalion until he returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of six photographs and one postcard.
Wesley Garrod, MM, was born in Ispswich, England, in November 1891, and sometime prior to the war he immigrated to Brownlee, Saskatchewan. Garrod enlisted in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in January 1916. He served overseas as a corporal with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion and was awarded the Military Medal for bravery. Garrod was killed in September 1918. The collection consists of one letter from Garrod to his brother.
John William Fraser was born in Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec in April, 1896. Fraser enlisted in Montreal in September, 1915 and served overseas first with the 73rd Battalion and then later with the 85th Battalion. The collection consists of one letter written to his father from Fraser's commanding officer about his son as a soldier.
William Steel served with the R.C.A.F. during WWII. This collection consists of more than 20 letters between himself and family members, miscellaneous documents, as well as some photographs. Some of the letters describe his life in Ceylon where he was stationed towards the end of the war.
Owen Walsh was born in Québec, February 18, 1888. We know very little about him. Prior to his enlistment he listed his residence as Montreal, his occupation as boilermaker, and he had served three years with the 8th Royal Rifles of Québec and three years with the Queen's Own Hussars. Walsh enlisted in Montreal September 1, 1915. He saw action in France and was killed in action April 20, 1916. The collection consists of one letter of condolence to his wife.
Albert Edmund Pinder was born in North Toronto, Ontario, in November 1892. Pinder enlisted in Guelph, Ontario, in December 1915. He served overseas during the war until his return to Guelph. The collection currently consists of six postcards written by Pinder.
Perry Hooper Sanderson was born in Holland, Manitoba, in October 1893. He enlisted in Winnipeg in January 1915 and served overseas with the 28th Battalion. Sanderson was killed June 6, 1916, and is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres. The collection currently consists of more than twenty letters and seven images.
George Morton Bird was from Port Alberni, British Columbia. He enlisted in 1915 and went overseas in the spring of 1916 with the 62nd Battalion. Bird was killed in France on May 6, 1917 at the age of 26. The collection consists of more than fifty letters written by Bird.
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