Howard Beverly Thorburn was born in 1898. He attended Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, during 1915 and 1916 before he left to take a commission with the Royal Field Artillery, with whom he served in France until the end of the war. The collection consists of seventy-eight letters from 1914 to 1918.
Gerald Smedley Andrews was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in December 1903. He taught school from 1926 to 1930, and then joined the British Columbia Forest Service where he worked as a surveyor until World War Two. During the war he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and he was responsible for charting the Normandy beaches in preparation for the D-Day landings. At the end of the war he returned to Canada, and served as the Surveyor General of the Province of British Columbia. Andrews was a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and was awarded the Order of British Columbia and was made a member of the Order of Canada. Andrews died in December 2005 at the age of 102. The collection currently conists of more than two hundred eighty letters, as well as telegrams and miscellaneous items.
Walter Liddiard was born in Montreal, Quebec in May, 1894. He moved to Victoria, British Columbia and was enlisted in 1917. Liddiard served overseas as a Gunner with the No. 5 Coy, Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery. The collection currently consists of nearly forty letters, as well as several letters and postcards.
Gerald Dow enlisted on January 11, 1943 and served overseas with the Essex Scottish Regiment. Dow was taken prisoner at Caen, France on July 20, 1944 and remained a prisoner until his liberation by American troops in April 1945. The collection currently consists of eight letters, three telegrams and three postcards.
Flight Lieutenant Conrad Anthony ("Tony") Selfe, DFM, was born July 22, 1922, in Comox, British Columbia, to parents Richard and Irene Selfe.
He enlisted on July 29, 1941, in Vancouver, B.C., as an Aero Engine Mechanic with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Posted overseas in May 1943, Selfe was promoted to Flight Sergeant rank in October of that same year. He served with No. 425 (Alouette) Squadron before joining No. 426 (Thunderbird) Sqn. in May 1944. Released from service following the end of the war, Selfe rejoined the R.C.A.F. as a pilot in 1951 and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on July 1, 1955, retiring from military service sometime thereafter (date unknown).
The memoir in the Selfe Collection, written in 1990, is an account of the D-Day mission he flew as pilot of a Halifax bomber with the 426 Sqn., and for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM). The award was published in The London Gazette on August 22, 1944, with the following commendation:
“One night in June, 1944, Flight Sergeant Selfe captained an aircraft detailed for an operational mission. Whilst over the target the aircraft sustained severe damage. Both the port engines were rendered useless and a large part of one of the wings was torn away. The aircraft became difficult to control but Flight Sergeant Selfe released his bombs. Some height had been lost but course was set for home. When within sight of the English coast, the aircraft suddenly dived to 400 feet. The situation was critical but, by skilful airmanship, Flight Sergeant Selfe regained some height. As the coast was crossed he ordered his crew to leave the crippled aircraft by parachute. This done, he headed the aircraft out to sea before abandoning it himself. This airman displayed great courage, tenacity and devotion to duty in the face of perilous circumstances, setting a most inspiring example.”
External links:
F/S Selfe (Serv/Reg# R110459) survived the war; his Service Record is not open to public access at this time.
The awarding of the Distinguished Flying Medal, published in The London Gazette on August 22, 1944 (# 36665, p. 3883).
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated October 2022. Some additional material was added (the newspaper clipping of 1945-03-10), and the collection description expanded.]
William Ivan Mouat left Salt Spring Island in British Columbia to join the RCAF and was sent overseas in 1941. In July 1943 Mouat was shot down over Belgium and remained a prisoner of war until he was liberated in May 1945. The collection consists of eighteen letters, seven telegrams, three photos and other documents related to his experience as a prisoner of war.
Michael John Quinlan was born in July, 1915, the son of Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Quinlan of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Quinlan served with the RCAF as a Pilot Officer until his death in March, 1944. The collection currently consists of thirteen letters and three photographs.
External links:
Pilot Officer John Michael Quinlan’s service record (Serv/Reg# J85433) 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 Quinlan can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Charles Douglas Richardson was born in Grenfell, Saskatchewan, in December 1891 and graduated from the Manitoba Agricultural College in 1915. Richardson enlisted at Regina, Saskatchewan, in October 1915 and reached the front in the spring of 1916. While serving with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, he was severely wounded in the Ypres sector in June 1916, returning to the trenches in December. Richardson took part in the assault on Vimy Ridge and died on April 9th or 10th, 1917. The collection consists of more than sixty letters written by Richardson to his family.
John Stewart was born in Ballamoney, Ireland, in 1924. He immigrated to Canada at age 5 and settled in Pickardville, Alberta. He served overseas with the Sherbrooke Fusiliers and was wounded in Holland. He returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of two photographs and three telegrams.
Private Sidney Bainbridge was born in Carlisle, England, on April 13, 1893. Bainbridge was a theological student at the University of Alberta when he enlisted with the 5th Overseas University Co. in Montreal, Québec, on December 13, 1915. He proceeded overseas to England on the SS Olympic in April 1916, and then to France in June 1916 where he was attached to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. While serving with the PPCLI Bainbridge was wounded, and a result of his wounds was invalided back to Canada on the hospital ship HS Letitia in June 1917 and then demobilized in July 1918.
External Links:
Pte. Sidney Bainbridge's service record (#487386) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Sydney Arthur Row was born in Whitewood, Saskatchewan, in June 1897. Row enlisted in Winnipeg in October 1914 and served overseas with the 27th Battalion. Row may possibly been only 17 at his time of enlistment, although his attestation papers state his age as 18. Both his brothers Francis Dibley Row and John Row Jr. served oveseas with him in the 27th. The collection currently consists of five letters.
Norman Sydney Richards was born in Bristol in 1897 and immigrated to Salmon Arm, British Columbia, in 1914. He returned to England to enlist and went to France in 1917, where he was severely wounded and remained in England recovering until 1919. In 1919 he married a woman who had worked as a V.A.D. in the hospital and together they returned to Salmon Arm in 1919. Richards died in 1986 at the age of 89. The collection consists of miscellaneous documents relating to his life and service.
Victor Arthur Green, DCM, was born in Kent, England, in January 1895. Green immigrated to Canada prior to the war and enlisted in Victoria, British Columbia, in November 1914 with the 88th Fusiliers. He was wounded three times, including at Vimy Ridge, and was awarded the DCM. The collection currently consists of sections of his pay book, telegrams, a newspaper clipping, several photographs, and an undated memoir of his service experiences.
William Lowry was born in Bannbridge, Ireland, in 1893 and immigrated to Prince George, British Columbia, sometime prior to World War I. He enlisted in January 1916, served in France and was wounded late in 1916. He was sent first to England and later back to British Columbia to recover. The collection consists of seventeen letters covering his convalescence both overseas and in Canada.
Arthur Bryan Morlidge was from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. He served with the 419 Squadron as a Flying Officer until he was shot down and killed in October, 1942. He is buried in the Netherlands. The collection currently consist of personal correspondence, official correspondence concerning his death, and some photographs.
External links:
Flying Officer Arthur Bryan Morlidge’s service record (Serv/Reg# J9762) 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 Morlidge can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
South African (Boer) War Collection
Robert Robinson enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in January 1900 at the age of twenty-five, and served with the Canadian Mounted Rifles during the South African War. The collection consists of three letters written back to Canada from April 1900 to September 1900.
John Melody Dever was born in Montreal, Québec, in June 1897. He enlisted in August 1916 at Kingston, Ontario. Dever served overseas in France until the end of the war, when he returned to Canada. The collection consists of several postcards, photographs, his signalling certificate, and a copy of Arthur Currie's special order for the troops of March 27, 1918.
Roderick Anderson Todd was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1890 and immigrated to Canada prior to the war. He enlisted in Victoria, British Columbia, in February 1914. He served overseas in France and was wounded in 1917. The collection currently consists of fifteen letters written by Todd, most of them while in hospital.
James Wells Ross was born in Toronto, Ontario, in August 1890. At the time of his enlistment in September, 1914, he was a medical student at the University of Toronto. He served overseas during the war, and at the end of the war returned to Canada to practice medicine. The collection consists of several diary enteries and more than eighty letters, the majority of which are an extended dated journal entry that begins in 1914. See also the Gladys Hope Sewell Ross collection in WWI (his wife) and the Colin Sewell Ross collection in WWII (his son).
Arthur Calvin Smith was born in Dunnville, Ontario, in April 1897. Smith enlisted in February 1916 in Dunnville, Ontario, with the 114th Battalion, Brock's Rangers. While overseas he was transferred to the 19th Battalion. He was wounded in the Battle of Lens August 16, 1917, and died the same day. The collection currently consists of more than forty letters, photographs, postcards, and other miscellaneous items.
John ("Jack") Arthur Cowles was born in Oxford, England, in March 1893. He was a member of the Balliol Boys Club, a club run by the students, graduates, and tutors of Balliol College in Oxford. It was under the Club's auspices that Jack came to Canada in 1913. Jack enlisted with the Canadian forces in Saskatchewan in 1914. Cowles served overseas with B Coy. 28th Battalion and he was killed June 6, 1916. The collection consists of several letters to his sister and to the Balliol Boys Club, three postcards, four photographs, and a letter of condolence from Sam Hughes.
Lt. Harvey Simion Burnard was from Theodore, Saskatchewan. Burnard enlisted in January, 1942 and served overseas with the South Saskatchewan Regiment, R.C.I.C until he was killed at age twenty-five on July 25, 1944 in France. The collection consists of more than fifty letters written by Burnard.
Herbert Laurier Irwin was born in Weston, Ontario in 1896. Irwin enlisted in Toronto, Ontario in October, 1915 with the 41st O.S. Battery and served overseas in France and Belgium. The collection consists of twelve letters, four postcards, and two photographs.
Keith Bruce Crosby was born in Carleton, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, in 1897. He enlisted in August 1915 and arrived in France April 7, 1916. He was killed April 11, 1916. The collection consists of three letters and one photograph.
David Pool was born in Annan, Scotland, in October 1888. He immigrated to Canada and resided in Blaine, Saskatchewan, until he enlisted in May 1916 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, with the 232nd Battalion. David Pool was serving with the 5th Canadians when wounded in August 1918, and he died in a military hospital in September 1918. His older brother William Pool was born in Annan, Scotland, in March 1884. He joined the CEF in January 1918 in Calgary, Alberta. William Pool was serving with the 10th Battalion at the time of his death in September 1918. The collection currently consists of two letters from David, one photograph, a Christmas card, remembrance cards for both brothers, and death notices for both brothers.
