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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Albert John Simpkins was born in Walthamstow, London, England, in November 1878. He was a mineral water manufacturer. Prior to the war he had travelled and worked in Canada, living for some time in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Simpkins was back in England during the war, and enlisted at Seaford, Sussex, in May 1918. He served overseas with the 8th Battalion, and was killed in action on September 29, 1918, age 39. The collection currently consists of numerous letters, photographs, postcards, and digital images of his personal effects returned to the family after his death.
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.
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.
Andrew Ernest Tait was born in Durham, England, in February 1879. Prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and enlisted in May 1916 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tait served overseas with the 72nd Battalion until his death in March 1918. The collection currently consists of eight letters, one photograph, and one miscellaneous item.
Cullen Hay Perry was born in Whitby, Ontario, in 1898 and enlisted in the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada on August 12, 1914. Perry went to Europe with the First Canadian Contingent where he was wounded in the Battle of St. Julien, wounded again in 1916, and wounded a third time at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917. After recovering from his wound, Perry joined the Royal Flying Corps, and his letters represent his training time in England, then on to France, and finally to Alexandria, Egypt, where he was stationed. On February 3, 1918, Perry was killed in a plane crash in Alexandria, and was buried in the Chatley Cemetery in Alexandria. The biographical information for Perry has been extracted from Chronicles of a County--Whitby Past and Present (1999) by Brian Winter, Town of Whitby Archivist. This collection consists of seven letters written by Cullen Perry home to his mother in Whitby, Ontario, and one photograph.
James Henderson Fargey was born in Belmont, Manitoba, in December 1897. He enlisted in July 1915 in Winnipeg and served overseas with the 43rd Battalion. Fargey was killed in action October 15th, 1916. The collection currently consists of more than eighty letters, as well as photographs, postcards, telegrams, and other miscellaneous items.
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.
Flight Sergeant Edward "Ted" Gordon Coke Richards was born on October 10, 1916 and served as a gunner with the 49th Squadron. He was killed on a raid over Germany, March 15, 1945, leaving behind a wife and infant daughter in Canada. The collection consists of five letters, two photographs, and seventeen poems he wrote while stationed overseas.
External links:
Flight Sergeant Edward Gordon Coke Richards’ service record (Serv/Reg# R252612) 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 Richards can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
George Bland was born on a Manitoba farm in 1919. He worked for Kraft Foods before applying to be part of the R.C.A.F. in 1941. He was asked to join a "secret project" as a Radar Mechanic, and worked in the U.K. and India until the summer of 1945. He returned to Canada, where he married and had three sons, and became the Vice-President of Kraft Foods before retiring in 1984. The Collection consists of letters, photographs,and his own personal recollections, and other miscellaneous items.
The collection consists of letters of Ernest Mosley Taylor and Wilfrid Entwisle "Bill" Bury from Vermilion, Alberta. They were related by marriage, as Ernest's brother Raymond had married Wilfrid's sister Elisabeth in 1914.
Ernest Mosley Taylor was born in England in May 1885, the youngest of a family of eleven. He immigrated with his brother Raymond to the Vermilion, Alberta, area in 1905, where they took up farming. Ernest enlisted at Vermilion in January 1915, and served with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (Saskatchewan Regiment). He was killed May 7, 1916, and is buried in the Menin Road South Military Cemetery in Belgium.
Wilfrid Entwisle Bury was born in England in 1881, the fifth child of seven of Edward and Augusta Bury. Wilfrid moved to the Vermilion area in 1909 where he took up farming. He enlisted in Vermilion in January, 1915, and served in the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (Saskatchewan Regiment). He was killed November 5, 1917, and is buried in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.
The collection consists of 20 letters from the two soldiers.
James Stokesbury Thorpe was born in Iowa, U.S.A., in January 1889 and immigrated to Canada in the pre-war years. Thorpe enlisted in July 1915 at Vernon, British Columbia, and served as a Lieutenant in the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. Thorpe was killed on June 13, 1916, and is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium. The collection consists of one letter written from Flanders home to his mother and older sister.
John Gardner was born in Belfast, Ireland, in October 1890. He immigrated to Ottawa, Ontario, where he enlisted in November 1915 with the 77th Overseas Battalion. Gardner served overseas with D Coy., 47th Battalion, and was killed January 3, 1917. The collection consists of two postcards and a newspaper article regarding his death.
Albert Norman Gould was born on July 19, 1923, the son of Albert and Dorothy Gould of Toronto, Ontario. He enlisted with the RCAF in early 1943. Following his training in Canada, Pilot Officer Gould was posted overseas in 1944. Gould was flying with the 101st Squadron when he and his crew were shot down over Speck, Germany on November 4, 1944. He and his crew are buried at the Rheinberg War Cemetery in Germany. The collection currently consists of thirty-seven letters.
External links:
Pilot Officer Albert Norman Gould’s service record (Serv/Reg# J95288) 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 Gould can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
