Ludlow Jackson Weeks was born in Truro, Nova Scotia, in September 1899. Weeks enlisted with the No. 10 Halifax Siege Battalion in Halifax in May 1917, having previously been rejected for being underage. He served overseas in 1918. The collection currently consists of more than forty letters, as well as postcards and photographs.
[collection has moved, please see: William Roy Gullen Collection]
James Eldon Lane was born in Bruce County, Ontario in February, 1887. He later moved to New Westminster, British Columbia where he worked as a barrister. Lane enlisted in November, 1915 in Kingston, Ontario with the 50th Field Battery, Canadian Field Artillery. He was wounded in July, 1918 and invalided back to Canada in 1919. The collection currently consists of one letter, three photographs, and a newspaper clipping.
Sydney Thomas Fisher was from Victoria, British Columbia. Fisher joined the RCAF, was attached to 35 Squadron RAF, and was shot down on September 15, 1941, and remained a prisoner of war until the end of the war. The collection currently consists of his correspondence both before and during his time as a POW, as well as clippings and other miscellaneous items.
This collection contains over 250 letters from World War One published in the Cobourg World, a local newspaper published in Cobourg, Ontario. Newspapers across Canada regularly printed letters home from overseas, either letters written directly to the newspaper by the soldiers, or first written to the family and then contributed to the paper by the family. Collections such as those from the Cobourg World provide a fascinating look at the relationship of community and war as played out in the pages of the local newspaper. All letters in the collection have been previously published in the newspaper and were also later collected by local historian Percy Climo in a book entitled Let Us Remember: Lively Letters from World War One. The dates for which the letters are listed represent the dates on which they were published, as the original dates of the letters are not always indicated. Where the original date of writing is known it will be part of the letter text. Introductions to the letters and editorial comments as they appeared in the newspaper have been left as published. All transcriptions have been taken from copies on microfilm and as such there are no scans for this collection.
George Henry Tripp was born in London, England, in July 1897. He immigrated to Huttonville, Ontario, and enlisted in July 1915 at Toronto, Ontario, with the 74th Battalion. Tripp served overseas with the 19th Battalion and was killed May 9, 1917. The collection consists of fifteen letters he wrote to his friend Lola Passmore. For more letters to Lola Passmore, see the collection of that name in the WWI collections.
Jules Julien DeCruyenaere was born in 1894 in Rollegham, Belgium. In 1912 he immigrated to Canada to join his brother Alfred, with the rest of his family arriving in 1914. He enlisted in 1916 with the Winnipeg 100th Grenadiers. He survived the war and returned to Winnipeg, where he died in 1980. The collection consists of four letters written home between 1916 and 1918, and five photographs.
Lieutenant Coningsby William Dawson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, was the author of the 1917 book Carry On: Letters in War-Time. The book's letters, along with more information on Lt. Dawson, can be found in the Special Items Collections section of the website.
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.
Arthur Lewis Fernyhough was born in Fenton, Stoke on Trent, England, in September 1890. Prior to the war he immigrated to Canada, where he worked as a butcher. Fernyhough enlisted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in December 1915 with the 144th Battalion. The collection currently consists of photographs, postcards, his paybook, the Returned Soldiers' Handbook, the 144th Winnipeg Rifles Song Book, and other miscellaneous items.
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.
Edward Porter was born in Norfolk, England, in August 1889. Prior to the war he immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, where he enlisted in November 1915. The collection currently consists of his paybook.
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.
Nurse Sarah Ellen Arnold worked at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, England, during the war. While there, she kept a journal in which she asked the patients to write. After the war Sarah married John Harold Bridgeman, one of the Canadian soldiers she had nursed.
External links:
Private John Harold Bridgeman's service record (Serv/Reg #440109) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
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.
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.
This collection contains materials presently held by the Missisquoi Historical Society. There are presently four letters from Walter Adolphe Veniez and one letter from Sydney Horace Blinn. In addition there is a concert program in aid of The Canadian Prisoners of War Fund given in Montreal, and two editions of the Canadian Hospital News from 1917. Thank you to the Missisquoi Historical Society for permitting us to use these materials.
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.
Gordon Joshua Dennison (referred to as Billy or Billy) was born in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan in July, 1922. He enlisted with the RCAF in January, 1941 and served first as an Air Engine Mechanic. Dennison later switched to Gunnery School. He went overseas in January, 1944 and served as a tail gunner with the 199th Sqaudron. Dennison was shot down September 16, 1944. The collection currently consists of more than one hundred letters.
External links:
Pilot Officer Gordon Joshua Dennison’s service record (Serv/Reg# J95170) 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 Dennison can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
