John Newton, MC, was born in Limehouse, Ontario, in 1887. He attended The University of Toronto where he was the captain of the University of Toronto football team that won the first Grey Cup in 1909 and then coached the Toronto Argonauts for three years prior to the war. Newton enlisted in May 1916 and served overseas with the Canadian Field Artillery until the end of the war. He was awarded the Military Cross for actions on September 30, 1918. The collection consists of two letters to his wife, several photographs, and his diary from 1916 to 1918.

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.

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.

The Women's Alliance of the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto sent packages of food and other items to members of the congregation serving overseas. The collection consists of twelve letters of thank you from recipients to the Women's Alliance for the items they received.

The two letters in the collection were originally published in a Charlottetown newspaper in late 1916 and the clippings were part of a scrapbook kept by one of the residents of the city during the war. Few details are known about either the individuals in the letters or the circumstances of publication. The Cudmore letter was from John Richard Cudmore, born on Prince Edward Island in May 1898. Cudmore enlisted in March 1916 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Herbert H. King enlisted and served with the Newfoundland regiment. Both soldiers appear to have survived the war. If anyone can provide any further information about these letters, please contact The Canadian Letters and Images Project.

Alexander Hubert Matthews was born in Albeton, Prince Edward Island, in January 1892. He was one of twelve children of Anthony and Barbara Matthews. He enlisted in February 1917 and served overseas as a sapper with the No. 58 Railway Operating Co. The collection consists of a postcard, pages from his paybook, and a certificate of gallantry from the Royal Engineers Transportation Branch.

Francis (Frank) Michael Scandiffio was born on December 24, 1913 and served as a Pilot Officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war. Frank was killed on July 15, 1944. The collection consists of twenty-nine letters written home by Tom as well as official correspondence relating to his death. See also the correspondence of his brother Thomas.

External links:
Pilot Officer Francis Michael Scandiffio’s service record (Serv/Reg# J88799) 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 Scandiffio can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

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.

Flying Officer Peter Joseph Biollo was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on September 1, 1923, to parents Peter Paul and Doris Mae (née Casewell) Biollo. Prior to enlistment he was employed as a sheet metal worker in Victoria, British Columbia.  

Biollo enlisted into Active Service with the Royal Canadian Air Force on June 1, 1942, joining the British Commonwealth Air Training Program. After completing his initial training in Edmonton, Biollo was posted in January 1943 to #2 Bombing and Gunnery School in Mossbank, Saskatchewan. In April he advanced to #7 Air Observer School in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, where he earned his Air Bomber Badge and was commissioned as an Officer on May 14, 1943.

Following his arrival in England in July 1943, Biollo completed his training in the Royal Air Force Training Pool. In May 1944 he joined the 576 Squadron, R.A.F., as an Air Bomber. On the night of July 28/29, 1944, his plane failed to return from a mission targeting Stuttgart, Germany, and Biollo was pronounced missing in action. It was later determined that his Lancaster bomber had crashed at Renauvoid, near Epinal, France, killing all aboard except for the pilot who had managed to bail out and became a Prisoner of War. Biollo was buried at the Chaumousey Communal Cemetery, Vosges, France.

Content notes:
The majority of the letters in the collection were written by Biollo to his family in Edmonton during the time he was in training in Canada with the B.C.A.T.P., or while stationed in England with the R.A.F. His letters often mention his eight younger siblings: Miriam, Frances, Elvira, Ramona, Dolores, Loretta, Raymond, and Barbara (born in 1943).
Almost all of the 1943 letters prior to June 17 are undated. In order to allow these to be read in chronological order on the website, they have been assigned sequential numbers and appear in the date listings as “1943-01, 1943-02, etc.” type-format. The chronological order was established based on letter content and service file information, and is intended as a reading aid only.  
The four poems were written by Biollo between 1941-43.

External links:
F/O Biollo’s service record (Serv/Reg#s J26543; R166672) 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 Biollo can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated January, 2023. Three poems, two newspaper clippings, and jpgs of letter pages added. Letter transcriptions reviewed and emended. Additional information added to collection and content descriptions.]

Lieutenant John Ernest McLurg was born in Prospect Hill, Ontario on April 12, 1875. Prior to his enlistment in WWI, John and his wife (Annie Allan née Corry) lived in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where he worked as a sales manager and served in the Militia with the 51st Sault Rifles.

He enlisted in Valcartier, Quebec, on September 22, 1914, and was commissioned with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Canadian Infantry Division. Once overseas McLurg served in both France and Belgium before being wounded and taken prisoner at the Second Battle of Ypres on April 24, 1915. As a P.O.W. in Germany he was initially sent to Siegburd until fully recovered from the gunshot wound to the head he had suffered at Ypres, and then was transferred to the Camp at Heidelberg in July of 1915, and later to Soltau in June of 1916.

On August 12, 1916, he was transferred to the P.O.W. camp in Mürren, Switzerland (an agreement between the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government allowed many sick or injured POWs to be interned in Switzerland until eligible for repatriation), where he was joined by his wife Annie in November of 1916. Their daughter, Margaret Gillespie McLurg, was born in nearby Vevey, Switzerland, on October 26, 1917. Shortly thereafter John was repatriated, travelling with his family to England in late December of 1917, and then on to Canada where he was medically discharged from service on April 20, 1918.

The McLurg Collection has two main components. The first is a book of drawings and messages created by McLurg’s fellow prisoners at Heidelberg as a gift to him at the time of his departure from the camp in August of 1916. The second is a set of 27 photographs documenting his time at Mürren, Switzerland. Also included are a small number of other items such as John’s bullet-pierced Maple Leaf Badge, and Annie McLurg’s Visa for transit with their daughter through the United States while returning to Canada in 1918.

External links:
Lt. John Ernest McLurg’s service record (Serv/Reg# unassigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated May 2022. Some additional materials have been added and some changes to categorization of Collection Contents have been made; content descriptions have been reviewed and in many cases expanded to provide more information. No materials have been removed but duplicate postings, if present, will have been corrected.]

Owen Harper was born in Cheshire, England, in December, 1891. Prior to the war he emmigrated to Canada and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he worked as a printer. Harper enlisted in June, 1916 in Winnepeg, Manitoba. He served overseas with the Canadian Field Artillery as a driver until his death in September, 1917. The collection currently consists of more than twenty 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.