Robert Gordon Brown was born in Beamsville, Ontario, in March 1896, and enlisted at Kingston, Ontario, in January 1916 while a student at Queen's University. He went overseas in 1916 as a gunner but later joined the Royal Flying Corp, with which he served until the end of the war. He returned to Canada in 1919 and finished his education, graduating from Queen's in 1920. The collection consists of more than one hundred letters covering the period from 1916 to 1919, as well as diaries and photographs from his service.

Robert Hale was born in England in 1893 and immigrated in his late teens to Canada, where he settled in Montreal. He enlisted in February 1915 and served overseas until his discharge in 1919, being wounded three times during his service. The collection consists of more than forty letters written in 1915 and 1917 to his sweetheart Alice, whom he was to marry in 1920.

Edward ("Ted") Loney was born in October 1920 in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1943 Loney joined the Royal Canadian Artillery and served as an anti-aircraft gunner until he returned to Canada in 1946. The collection consists of more than one hundred letters.

The collection contains three letters from Robina Evelyn Lee home to her parents in Glasgow detailing her journey from Britain to Vancouver. She was coming to Canada as a war bride after marrying Alfred Roberston Lee, a member of the Canadian Navy whom she met in Britain during the war. Also included are other items such as some individual photographs, wedding photographs, and a photograph of the ship on which she came to Canada.

William John Parker was born in Birmingham, England, in August 1878. Prior to the war he immigrated to Canada where he worked as a plumber. Parker enlisted in July 1915 in Guelph, Ontario, and served overseas with the 34th Battalion. The collection currently consists of two letters written while at Bramshott.

Harold Henry Simpson, MM, was born in March 1897 in Bayview, Prince Edward Island. Simpson enlisted in September 1915 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and served overseas in France, Belgium, and Germany until his return to Canada at the end of the war. The collection consists of more than one hundred forty letters from 1915 to 1919.

Clifford Shaver was born in Mountain, Ontario, in 1896, one of ten children of William and Jessie Shaver. He enlisted on February 1, 1916, went to England in October of 1916, and then to France in May 1917. He was killed by a shell October 30, 1917, at the age of 21. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium. The collection consists of six letters that he wrote home, three letters of condolence written to his parents and published in the newspaper, as well as several photographs.

Private Albert Evans was born on May 1, 1899 in Burwardsley, Cheshire, England, to parents Edward and Emma Evans.

Evans enlisted at Youngstown, Alberta, on February 19, 1916, with the 175th Battalion, and sailed to England from Halifax, Nova Scotia, aboard the SS Saxonia in October 1916. Once in England Evans was transferred to the 21st Reserve Battalion, and then to the 50th Battalion, with whom he was sent to France in March 1917. While serving with 50th, Evans was wounded near Lens, France on August 21, 1917, and died of his wounds September 2, 1917.

[Editor note:  His attestation paper mistakenly lists his birth year as 1899, not 1889.  He was 26 at the time of enlistment]

External links:
Private Albert Evans’s service record (Serv/Reg# 696403) 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 Evans can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Karl Vincent Butler was born May 6, 1912, son of Horace and Violetta Butler of Sydney, Nova Scotia. Butler served as a Lance Corporal with the West Nova Scotia Regiment, R.C.I.C. and was part of the invasion of Italy in 1943. He was killed August 2, 1943 in Italy, age 31. The collection consists of more than seventy letters, some photographs, postcards, and other miscellaneous items.

External links:
L/Cpl. Butler’s service record (Serv/Reg# F54612) 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 Butler can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Seymour McLeod Gerard was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on March 31, 1911, the second of five children of Theodore Isaac and Euphemia Estella (née McLeod) Gerard.

He served overseas with the Canadian military in WWII. His demobilization date is unknown.

Content notes:
The earliest letter in the collection was written to Seymour’s younger sister Helen McLeod Gerard, from a Cpl. J Pennington, while Pennington was in hospital in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The other letter was from Seymour to his Aunt “Myrt” (Myrtle Jean McLeod).
Both of the personal items, including an RCAF Pass to the Eastern Air Command Headquarters in Halifax, N.S., belonged to Seymour’s older brother Ira Goodwin, who worked at that time as a plumber in Halifax.

External links:
Seymour McLeod Gerard (Serv/Reg# unknown) survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.

[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated December/2022. Original collection name was “Gerard, Helen and Seymour.” Two photographs and two personal items have been added. Letter transcription been reviewed and any errors found corrected. The Collection Description has been revised and expanded.]

Sergeant George Walter Adams was born in East Finchley, England, on September 25, 1896, to parents Walter and Emily Adams. Prior to enlistment he lived with his widowed mother in Toronto, Ontario, where he worked as a clerk.

He enlisted with the #2 Canadian Army Service Corps Training Depot, in Toronto on October 27, 1916. Adams was transferred to the 257th Battalion the following January, shipping with them to England on board the SS Missanabie February 16‑27, and then on to France on March 29, 1917. (The 257th Battalion was redesignated as the 7th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops, on March 8, 1917.) He remained with the 7th Bn. C.R.T. until his demobilization on March 21, 1919.

The Adams Collection contains letters written to George by his mother Emily Adams in the period following the cessation of hostilities with the Armistice of November of 1918, and prior to his return to Canada in March of 1919. Also included are transcriptions of the diaries he kept throughout the war years.

External links:
Sgt. George W. Adams’s service record (Serv/Reg# 513165) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated November 2022. The collection description has been expanded; the daily diary entries have been consolidated into a more user-friendly yearly format.]

Dr. Charles James McNeil Willoughby was born in Cookstown, Ontario, in 1894. Willoughby joined the British Royal Medical Corp in 1916 after graduating from the University of Toronto medical school. He was posted first to Mesopotamia, and then later served in England, France, and Belgium. After the war he returned to Canada where he practiced medicine in Kamloops, British Columbia. Willoughby died in 1995. The collection consists of nearly two hundred letters as well as photographs.