Percy Roy Shannon was born in Walkerton, Bruce County, Ontario, in December 1887. Shannon first enlisted in March 1915 as a stretcher-bearer in the 34th Battalion. At that time he was a medical student at the University of Toronto. He went overseas but was sent back to complete his medical training and graduated in 1917. Shannon received his commission and served with the No.12 Field Ambulance of the R.A.M.C. He was killed serving with the Field Ambulance on November 3, 1918. The collection consists of two letters and one photograph.
Clifford Henry Callcott was born in August, 1916 and served overseas with the RCAF as a mechanic from 1943 to 1945. The collection consists of nine letters, photographs, cards, and miscellaneous items. Callcott died in 1969.
William John Howe left Valcartier with the 1st Contingent in September 1914, arriving in England in October. He was killed in action on 24 April 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres, while serving with the 3rd Battalion. Private Howe’s body was never found; he is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. The collection consists of four letters he wrote to his wife in Toronto, including one written just two days before his death.
James "Jim" Lloyd Evans was born in 1879 in Wales. He served with the British forces in the South African War and following the war he immigrated to Manitoba in 1903. Evans enlisted in Winnipeg in December 1914, and went overseas in 1915. He was killed in action September 1, 1918. The collection consists of 79 letters and numerous photographs.
Frank Clifford Cousins was born on October 24, 1893, in Belmont, Ontario. He began his university studies at the University of Toronto in 1911, and then moved west to the Regina area where he taught school and attended university. Cousins enlisted in Regina, Saskatchewan, in July 1917 and arrived in England in December of that year. In April 1918 he was sent to France where he took part in the Battle of Amiens in August. Later that month he was wounded and sent to England for surgery and to recuperate, and remained in England until the end of the war. Upon returning to Canada he resumed his teaching and his university studies, received his L.L.B. in 1924, and was called to the bar in 1926. He was a partner with the future Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in the firm of Diefenbaker, Cousins & Godfrey. Frank Cousins died in his sleep in June 1927. This collection consist of ninety letters and other miscellaneous materials.
William MacKinnon was born in Scotland in June 1886. He immigrated around 1912 to Canada and enlisted in Edmonton, Alberta, in December 1914. MacKinnon served overseas with the 31st Battalion until his death on November 7, 1915. The collection currently consists of one letter. See also the collections of his nephews Ronald and Archibald MacKinnon.
Harold James Ross was born in Toronto, Ontario, in June 1898. Ross was a student when he enlisted in Toronto in July 1915. He served overseas with the 75th Battalion until his death on August 9, 1918. The collection consists of one letter to his brother and numerous photographs.
Albert Playfoot was born in Kent, England, in June 1894. He immigrated to Canada prior to the war and enlisted with the 70th Battalion in October 1915 and served overseas in France with the 58th Battalion until his demobilization in 1919. The collection currently consists of two photographs and his discharge certificate.
Theodore Kenneth Melligan was born in Durham, Ontario, in 1897 and enlisted with the 71st Battalion in Wiarton, Ontario, in October 1915. Melligan served in France with the 44th Battalion and was discharged in February 1918 due to the result of his injuries. The collection consists of one letter and several photographs.
John Leslie McNaughton was born in 1886 in Glengary County, Ontario. McNaughton was a graduate of McGill University when he enlisted in June 1915, and served overseas in France and Belgium. He was wounded and taken prisoner in May 1917, and remained a prisoner until the end of the war. The collection consists of fifteen letters from 1915 to 1919.
Winifred Chapman was born in 1900 and worked at the Tankerton Hospital, Kent, England during the First World War. She kept an autograph book from her time there, which includes inscriptions from four Canadians. There is an incription from Pte. Bruce Nelson Sandford, 27th Battalion from September 29, 1918; an inscription from G. West, 78th Battalion, from September 29, 1918; an undated incription from Pte. Ryan, 26th Battalion; and an undated inscription from Cpl. Thomas Wells.
Private Edwin Charles Askew was born in London, England, on October 12, 1885, to parents George Frederick Askew and Harriet Askew.
Askew enlisted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the 144th Battalion on December 28, 1915. He shipped to England aboard the SS Olympic, leaving Halifax, Nova Scotia, on September 18, 1916, arriving in Liverpool, England, on September 25. Due to illness Askew remained in England until 1918, and was then demobillized and returned to Canada in the spring of 1919.
External Links:
Pte. Edwin Charles Askew's service record (#830032) can be viewed/downloaded in pfd format through Library and Archives Canada.
Edward Bryer was born in May, 1920, the son of George and Annie Bryer of Marchwell, Saskatchewan. He enlisted with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada and served overseas until his death on August 3, 1944. Bryer is buried in Brettevill-sur-laize Canadian cemetery in France. The collection currently consists of seven letters.
William Cameron Hay was born in Toronto, Ontario in March, 1925 and joined the RCAF in 1943. He served overseas with the RCAF until the end of the war. The collection consists of more than forty letters from 1943 to 1945 between Bill Hay and his girlfriend and later wife, Hilda Cook.
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 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.
Edgar William Marlow, MM, was born in London, England, in November 1886. Prior to the war Marlow emmigrated to Canada and he enlisted in August 1915 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Marlow served overseas with the 1st Bn. Canadian Machine Gun Corps until his return to Canada in 1919. The collection currently consists of letters, photograqphs, postcards, personal and printed matter.
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.]
Gordon Stanley Thornton was born in Peterborough, Ontario, in June 1887. At the time of his enlistment in August 1915 he was practising as a barrister in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thornton served with the 78th Batt., rising to the rank of Major by the end of the war. He was wounded in 1918 and returned to Canada after the war. The collection currently consists of fifty eight letters, some personal items and telegrams, and a photograph.
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.
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.
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.
Samuel Giles McNeil was born in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, in June 1895. He immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war and enlisted in April 1915 in New Westminster, British Columbia. He served overseas, returned to Canada at the end of the war and died in Nanaimo, British Columbia, in 1954. The collection currently consists of two postcards sent to the parents of Frederick Henry Smith.
John Row Jr. was born in Whitewood, Saskatchewan, in April 1896. Row enlisted in Winnipeg in October 1914 and served overseas with the 27th Battalion. Both his brothers Sydney Arthur Row and Francis Dibley Row served in the 27th with him. The collection currently consists of more than seventy letters.
Charles Thomas Armstrong, the brother of Alex Armstrong of Cumberland, British Columbia, served with the 6th Field Ambulance, Australian Army Medical Corps. Armstrong died November 24, 1915, of wounds received at Gallipoli age 34. The collection currently consists of more than sixty images from his photograph album.
External links:
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
