Ralph Richards was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1889. He emigrated to Canada sometime before the First World War, and enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Sydney, Nova Scotia in September, 1915. The collection consists of one photograph and one long memoir, writtten sometime during World War II, which recounts his experience during World War I as a prisoner of war.

John Walter Ellis was born in Reading, England in February, 1895. At some time unknown he emigrated to Canada and settled in Tillsonburg, Ontario. In May, 1916 he enlisted at Tillsonburg. He served overseas in France, where he was killed on May 13, 1917. The majority of the letters are addressed to his wife Katherine (Kitty) in Glasgow, Scotland who, when her husband enlisted, returned to Scotland to live with her parents. The collection consists of more than thirty letters, several photographs, and a small number of postcards.

Thomas Poolton was born in Birmingham, England in May, 1888. At some time prior to the war Poolton emigrated to Canada and enlisted in Toronto, Ontario in November, 1914. He served overseas with the 20th Battalion and was wounded in 1916 as indicated by the postcards to him. The collection consists of a number of postcards to Poolton, as well as a number of miscellaneous items.

Daniel Austin Lane was born in Pelham Union, Ontario in December, 1894, and enlisted in April, 1916. At the time of his enlistment he was a student at the University of Toronto and while there had studied Arabic at Victoria College. Due to his Arabic studies he was recruited to join the South Persian Rifles by the British and arrived in the Persian Gulf in August, 1917.  Lane returned to Canada and practiced law in Calgary. He died in 1966. The collection consists of more than thirty letters written to his friend Helen Davis, as well as several photographs.

Joseph McCartney was born in Liverpool, England in 1882 and emigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war. He enlisted in Calgary, Alberta in May, 1916. McCartney had worked for the Allin family near Whitby, Ontario, and continued to corresponded with their daughter Curtie during the war. He was killed in France on April 8, 1918, age 36 years, and is buried in the Thelus Military Cemetery at Vimy Ridge. Three of the letters were written by Joe to Curtie, and one letter was from Curtie to Joe. That letter of March 8, 1918 was returned to Curtie following Joe's death in France. One letter is from his brother in England to Canada requesting the return of Joseph's personal effects. This collection consists of five letters written between December 1917 to September 1918.

John Ernest Fitzgerald was born on January 27, 1925, the son of John and Effie Fitzgerald of New Westminster, British Columbia. Fitzgerald served as a Flight Sergeant in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was killed August 27, 1944 when his Lancaster was shot down. Fitzgerald and all the crew members are buried in Denmark. The collection consists of more than forty letters, twelve photographs, telegrams, and other personal items. See also the excellent Danish site for more information about the crash and crew.

Walter James Lantz was born on Prince Edward Island in 1891 and enlisted at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in October, 1915. He served overseas as a gunner in France and was killed July 12, 1916. The collection consists of a memory book of photographs compiled by one of his friends and fellow soldiers and sent to Lantz's parents following his death. The entire individual pages have been reproduced as well as individual photographs on those pages.

Levi Dendoff was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia in October, 1898. Dendoff enlisted in Nanaimo with the 102nd Battalion in February, 1916 and served overseas until his return to Nanaimo at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of more than a dozen postcards, some photographs, and images of a trench art souvenier.

Flight Sergeant Harry E. Hansell was born on April 13, 1923 and raised in Alberta. At the age of 19, he enlisted with the RCAF in Edmonton in February, 1942. Hansell served overseas with the 16 Squadron Conversion Unit, the 427 Squadron, and the 434 Squadron. He and his crew were shot down on a raid over Germany on September 27, 1943. The collection consists of more than twenty letter from Hansell as well as official correspondence concerning his death.

Bernard Freeman Trotter was born in Toronto in 1890 and graduated from McMaster University in Toronto in 1915. He began graduate work at the University of Toronto before leaving for England in March, 1916. Although ill health prevented him from being accepted into the Canadian army, he was determined to serve and was able to secure a commission in the British Army. Trotter went to France in December, 1916 with his Leicestershire Regiment, and was killed by a shell on May 7, 1917. The collection consists of 87 letters home to his family from March 1916 to his death in May 1917. Trotter was also a noted poet. His poems were collected by his father in 1917 and published later that year by McClelland and Stewart as A Canadian Twilight. The complete Trotter fond is located at McMaster University. All materials ©McMaster University and used with their permission.

John Jackson Beck was born in Sheffield, England in June, 1882. Prior to the war Beck worked as an architect in England, Toronto, and New York before serving with the 32nd Siege Battery. Beck was a prolific writer, writing several hundered letters betweeen 1915 and his demobilization in April, 1919.