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WWI

These collections contains any material relating to Canada from 1914 to 1918 from either the home front or the battlefront. External links in collection descriptions are either to online attestation papers at Library and Archives Canada or casualty and burial information at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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The materials in this collection belonged to Emily Hager, the youngest of a family of nine. Four of her brothers served overseas during WWI. The collection consists of a photograph of her brother Wesley Hager who enlisted in Saskatoon in January, 1916, and was killed in France in November, 1916, a Christmas Day 1917 menu for Canadian troops training in England, and two letters sent to her during the war. One letter is from her brother Allen who was born in February, 1892 and enlisted in November 1914. and the other is from a family friend, Harold Panabaker, who fought at Vimy Ridge and describes in his letter his experiences of the attack.

Robert Hainsworth was born in England, in June 1885. Prior to the war he immigrated to western Canada, where he enlisted in Red Deer, Alberta, in January 1915. The collection consists on one letter written by Hainsworth in 1916, and one photograph.

Robert Hale was born in England in 1893 and immigrated in his late teens to Canada, where he settled in Montreal. He enlisted in February 1915 and served overseas until his discharge in 1919, being wounded three times during his service. The collection consists of more than forty letters written in 1915 and 1917 to his sweetheart Alice, whom he was to marry in 1920.

Private William Harold Hamilton, known as “Harold”, was born in Sundridge, Ontario, on July 20, 1897. He enlisted at Burk’s Falls on February 7, 1916, with the 162nd Overseas Battalion.

Shipping for England on board the S.S. Caronia in November of 1916, he was sent to France in April of 1917 with the 123rd Pioneer Battalion. In November of 1917 he was injured in action and convalesced back to England with gas poisoning, where he was eventually medically discharged on January 30, 1919, with a partial loss of vision from the gas exposure.

External links:
Pte. Hamilton’s service record (Reg/Ser# 657521) is available online through Library and Archives Canada.

The Collection for Pte. W. Harold Hamilton was created from the donation of the Gladys Hornibrook materials. Harold was Gladys’ step-uncle, the step-brother of Gladys’ mother Martha Jane Hornibrook (née Hamilton); after the death of Martha’s mother Eliza Jane Hamilton (née Crowder), their father George Henry Hamilton married Harold’s mother Henrietta (née Raney). Living in the small village of Sundridge near North Bay, Ontario, Gladys was only thirteen years old when World War One began. The majority of her correspondence was with her enlisted uncles Joseph, Charles, and step-uncle Harold Hamilton, but she also saved other letters, photos, and keepsakes from the war years which can be viewed together on the main Gladys Hornibrook Collection page.

Allan Hamm was born in Bunbury, Prince Edward Island in July, 1897. He worked as a carpenter prior to his recruitment in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1917. The collection consists of more than seventy letters, as well as photographs, postcards, telegrams, and other items.

Charles Bovyer Hamm, MM, was born in Bunbury, Prince Edward Island in June, 1889. Hamm enlisted in April, 1915. He served overseas, where he was wounded in September, 1916. The collection consists of more than forty letters, as well as postcards and other items.

Sydney Thomas Hampson was born in England in October 1893. Prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and enlisted in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in January, 1915. The collection currently consists of thirteen letters, excerpts from his diary, photographs, and personal items.

Corporal William Hope Hardie was born in North Berwick, Scotland, on January 12, 1890, to parents James and Agnes Hope Hardie. Prior to his immigration to Canada around 1912, William Hardie married Margaret “Chrissy” Combe of North Berwick, Scotland, although the marriage may have been kept secret for several years. Settling in Manitoba, he worked as a railway clerk, as well as serving in the Winnipeg militia regiment the 79th Cameron Highlanders of Canada.

Hardie enlisted in Winnipeg with the 43rd Battalion on January 16, 1915, and sailed the following June to England aboard the S.S. Grampian. After several months of training in England, Hardie was sent in November to France to join the 16th Battalion. He returned to Canada and was demobilized in Quebec on July 4, 1919.

Content notes:
Photos are soldiers’ portraits of brothers William and Robert Hardie (a resident of Scottland, Robert served with the British Expeditionary Force). William’s portrait is notable for his Scottish kit with sheepskin coat.

External link:
Cpl. William Hardie’s service record (Serv/Reg #420946) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

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.

Wilfred Edgar Hawkes was born in England in 1889. Sometime later he immigrated to Canada and enlisted at Vernon, British Columbia, in August 1915. The collection constist of two letters written to his young nephew Jack, in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1916.

Arthur James Hay was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1895 and enlisted July 22, 1915. Hay served oveseas in France with the 38th Bn. In 1917 he was wounded by a gas attack, and returned to Canada in July, 1918 as a result of his injuries. Arthur James Hay died in 1963. The collection consists of a photograph of Hay and a copy of his pension identification certificate.

Roland Hayes was born in Armstrong, British Columbia in October, 1895.  He worked as a farmer until he was concripted in 1917.  Hayes served with the 72nd Battalion in England and France and returned to Canada at the end of the war.  The collection currently consists of one letter and two photographs.  We are grateful to the Historic O'Keefe Ranch in Vernon, British Columbia for sharing these materials.

Eric Hearle was born in 1893 and enlisted in Hamilton, Ontario in September, 1914 with the 4th Battalion. As a result of wounds received in France he returned to Canada and studied at the University of Guelph. Following his studies Hearle became an assistant entomologist with the federal government. The collection consists of thirteen letters and twelve postcards. It also contains more than 130 photographs, beginning in 1914 with the camps in Canada and England and including a series from convalescent hospitals in Canada. Hearle died in 1934 at the age of 41.

William Henderson, MM, was born in Wick, Caithness, Scotland, in 1892 and immigrated to Canada in early 1914. Henderson enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in August 1915 with the 48th Highlanders and eventually served with the 24th Battalion Queen Victoria Rifles in France, with whom he was awarded a MM in August, 1918.

Albert Ernest Henry was born in Sombra, Ontario in 1877 and enlisted in March, 1916. He served overseas with the Canadian Forestry Corp. The collection consists of two letters.

James Hepburn, born in Scotland in 1891, enlisted in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 1915. He was badly wounded at the Somme, losing his right arm. The collection consists of one letter written to his father from the hospital in England, while he was recovering from his wound, as well as pages from his paybook and some miscellaneous items.

The collection consists of one letter from May Grenville, a nurse who had served overseas with the A.E.F. home to her mother in Thorold, Ontario, at the end of the war in 1918.  Used with permission by Heritage Thorold.

Victor Hicks was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1889 where he worked as a teamster until he enlisted in Toronto in July, 1915. He served overseas in France and was killed July 13, 1916. The collection consists of one letter written to his mother in 1916.

Frederick Charles Higgerty was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in November 1893.  Higgerty enlisted in Winnipeg in December 1915 with the 108th Battalion.  While in England Higgerty took a commission in the Imperial Army in August of 1917.  He then served with the London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) until he was killed November 30, 1917.  Higgerty is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial.  The collection currently consists of a poem, a clipping, and one photograph.

John Patrick Crawford Higgerty was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta in March 1891.  Higgerty enlisted with the No. 10 Forestry and Railway Depot in Winnipeg in February 1918.  He was discharged in July, 1918 as medically unfit.  The collection currently consists of his discharge certificate.

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Latest Readings from World War One collections

James Moore

Reads a 09/21/1916 Letter by Drader, Eugene Robert from World War One collections. View full Letter

RH Thomson

Reads a 07/06/1917 Letter by Mayse, Amos William (Will) from World War One collections. View full Letter

RH Thomson

Reads a 07/05/1917 Letter by Mayse, Amos William (Will) from World War One collections. View full Letter