Private David Gordon Duncan, son of John A. Duncan, enlisted at Toronto, Ontario, with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (R.C.A.S.C.), on September 7, 1939, just days before Canada’s official declaration of war with Germany.

Duncan shipped to England as part of Canada’s First Contingent in December 1939, serving in 1st Corps Ammunition Park, Canadian Active Service Force. He served throughout the war in England and Continental Europe. Collection documents identify “#3 Canadian Medium Regiment Park, R.C.A.S.C.,” as his final unit prior to his return to Canada, having been granted the opportunity of discharge in June 1945 based on his long length of service.

Content notes:
The Duncan materials include a set of five documents issued by the Canadian military to soldiers outlining expectations and procedures governing things such as leave in England (“Leave Without Tears,”) and the process of returning to Canada for discharge. Included with the collection’s letters is a personal greeting from King George VI to members of the “first contingent of the Canadian Forces to reach these shores.”

External links:
Pte. David Duncan’s service record (Serv/Reg# B83849) is not open to public access through Library and Archives Canada at this time.

Craftsman Allen G. Cochrane, son of Wayne and Hannah Cochrane, grew up around Arrowwood, Alberta.

He served overseas in WWII with the 1st Canadian Ordnance Base Workshop,  Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (mid-1944 onwards as Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers), and later with No. 2 Canadian Advanced Base Workshop.Cochrane was demobilized following his return to Canada at the end of the war.

Content notes:
The collection’s letters were written by Allen Cochrane between May 1942 and June 1945, mainly addressed to his sister Phyllis Cochrane in Calgary (or in Arrowwood), Alberta. Often mentioned in the letters is their brother Gunner Keith  Cochrane, M34923, who was serving overseas with the 15th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery.
Letter transcriptions have been limited to twenty-five only at this time.

External links:
Cfn. Allen Cochrane’s service record (Serv/Reg# M40905) is not currently open to public access through Library and Archives Canada.

Private John Hillyard Leech (known as “Hillyard” or “Hill”) was born in Lansdowne, Ontario, on April 4, 1866, to parents John Leech and Sarah Webster Leech (née Moles). The family moved to Manitoba in 1879, settling in Brandon in 1882. In 1885 Leech served with the Winnipeg Battalion Light Infantry during the North West Rebellion. A graduate of the University of Manitoba, he was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1892. He soon joined his brother, Ernest Tennyson Leech, and two other colleagues to found the Winnipeg law firm of Leech, Leech, Sutton & Hamilton.

Married to Ida Laura Allin on July 5, 1888, the couple had two sons and one daughter: Hart, Vernon Mayne, and Eurith Hillida. Following the outbreak of WWI, their oldest son Hart was commissioned in June 1915. Lieut. Hart Leech was killed in action September 16, 1916, at Mouquet Farm (part of the Battle of Somme) with the 61st Battalion.    

Fifteen months after the death of his son, on January 5, 1918, Leech managed to get himself enlisted as a Private with Winnipeg’s No. 10 Engineer & Railway Construction Recruiting Depot. He served with the Recruiting Depot for just over seven months before being discharged due to poor health.

Content notes:
The collection documents Hillyard Leech’s efforts to gather information about the death of his son Hart Leech. Correspondents such as Major General Sir Samuel Steele and Prime Minister Robert Bordon indicate that Hillyard Leech was able to make his personal appeal direct to the very highest levels, resulting in an unusual collection of formal, yet personal, military statements from soldiers who were serving in the field with Hart at the time of his death. 
For additional materials relating to his son’s wartime service see CLIP’s Lieut. Hart Leech Collection.

External links:
Pte. John Hillyard Leech’s WWI service record (Serv/Reg# 2184539) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada. [Note: In order to enlist Hillyard lied about his age, giving 1874 as his year of birth.]
Also at Library and Archives Canada is a record of Leech’s service in the North West Rebellion (1885).
Lieut. Hart Leech’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Record links for other letter/document writers:
     Pte. Charles Billington’s service record (Serv/Reg# 151803).    
     Captain Walter Buchanan Caswell, MC, service record (Serv/Reg# unassigned).
     Major Charles Fraser’s service record (Serv/Reg# unassigned).    
     Sgt. James Kirk’s service record (Serv/Reg# 108326).
     Lieut. Howard James Garfield Morgan, MC, service record (Serv/Reg# unassigned).
     Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, KCMG, CB, MVO: Fenian Raids (1866) medal record; Red River (1870) medal record; North West Resistance (1885) medal record; South African War service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned); WWI service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned). Military service information also appears in Steele’s North West Mounted Police record.
     Major Donald Williamson’s service record (Serv/Reg# unassigned)..

Private Joseph Robert Norton was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, England, on May 28, 1892. He was a student at Columbian College in New Westminster, British Columbia, at the time of his enlistment.

Norton enlisted on November 14, 1917, with the 2nd Depot Battalion in Victoria, B.C. He shipped to England in May 1918 aboard the SS Ajana where he joined the 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion, and in September was deployed to France to join the 72nd Battalion. Demobilized back to Canada following the end of the war, Norton was discharged in June 1919 in Calgary, Alberta.

Content notes:
The collection’s single letter, written by Norton in June 1918, was found together with a letter by Pte. Norman Robert Cassels Bryce in an abandoned house in Armstrong, B.C.

External links:
Private Joseph Robert Norton’s service record (Serv/Reg# 4082506) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Fred Dillon served during WWII with No. 7 Canadian Light Field Ambulance, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (R.C.A.M.C.), a mobile medical unit that served in the European Theatre in support of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, 1st Canadian Corps. The R.C.A.M.C.’s Field Ambulance units operated in close proximity to active combat areas, and were responsible for providing medical aid and evacuation of the wounded. Dillon returned safely to Canada following the end of the war.

Content notes:
Collection materials were donated directly from the Netherlands, by a family that Dillon had stayed with while stationed in Groningen, Holland. Among the photographs are two unit-type pictures of the No. 7 Can. Lt. Fld. Amb. taken in 1945 (based on unit history for Groningen, presumably between April 22 and May 22). The photographs and message written by No. 7’s “Bill Hutt” are those of acclaimed Shakespearian actor William Ian DeWitt Hutt, CC, OOnt, MM. The collection also contains a programme for the 5th Canadian Division’s travelling show “Hold Your Hat.”

External links:
[rank unknown] Fred Dillon’s service record (Serv/Reg# unknown) is not open for public access at this time.
Corporal William Hutt’s service record (Serv/Reg# B93303) is not open for public access at this time.
The official history of the R.C.A.M.C., including information about the No. 7 Canadian Light Field Ambulance, is provided online by the Government of Canada’s Directorate of History and Heritage: Official History of the Canadian Medical Services, 1939-1945, Vol 1 Organization and Campaigns (for a general explanation of the structure and deployment of Field and Light Field units, see book-pages 186, 198; No. 7’s deployment to Groningen, pg. 289).
The Canadian Army Newsreels series includes film clips of “Hold Your Hat” – see Newsreel No. 94, just after the eight minute mark (a short description is provided on page 99 of the War Amps guide to the newsreel collection).

Captain (Chaplain) Wilmot Gercon Clarke was born in Brighton, Ontario, on April 8, 1866. A Methodist clergyman prior to the war, Clarke lived in Bowmanville, Ont., with his wife Lois and their two teenage daughters, Nora and Doratha.

Clarke enlisted on May 29, 1916, at Bowmanville, Ont., and was appointed to commissioned rank as a Captain, with the 235th Battalion, Chaplain Services. Shipping for England on board the SS Metagama in May of 1917, he served in England and France. Following his return to Canada in 1919, Clarke was demobilized on December 26.

Content notes:
The collection contains a letter of condolence that was written by Clarke following the death at sea of Pte. David Wesley Kerr during the voyage to England aboard the SS Metagama.

External links:
Capt. Wilmot Clarke’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Pte. David Kerr’s service record (Serv/Reg# 853573), can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Wilma Cross was born in Verdun, Québec, in 1926. In 1934 she moved with her family to St. Andrews, Scotland.

In 1944, at age eighteen, Wilma travelled to London, England, to enlist with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. Following the end of the war she returned to Canada in 1946 aboard the SS Île de France. She remained with the C.W.A.C. another two years, before leaving to enter business school in Montreal. In 1949, she re-enlisted, and served for a period in Goose Bay, Labrador. Her final rank and date of discharge is unknown.

Wilma Cross’s brother Stewart also served during the Second World War. He was a pilot in Britian’s Royal Air Force; several of his letters and other materials are held in the Stuart Marshall Cross Collection.

Content notes:
The collection contains several 1945/1946 photographs of Cross overseas, as well as later images from her time at the airbase at Goose Bay, Labrador.

External links:
Wilma Cross’s service record (rank and serv/reg# unknown) is not publicly available at this time.

Private David Craig was born August 17, 1895, in Wick, Scotland, to parents David M. and Jane Craig. He was one of four children in the family.

Craig enlisted with the 74th Overseas Battalion in Toronto, Ontario, on July 28, 1915, and proceeded overseas to England aboard the SS Empress of Britain in March 1916. From there he was sent to France the following June, where he was transferred to the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Craig was serving with that battalion when he was killed at the Battle of Passchendaele on October 30/31, 1917. His body was never found. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.

Content notes:
The collection’s main item is the Memorial Cross received by Craig’s mother following his death on active duty.

External links:
Pte. David Craig’s service record (Serv/Reg# 135121) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
WWI Circumstances of Death Registers record card (page #67), Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Craig can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Sapeur Fernand Liboire "Larry" Landry est né le 17 juin 1919. Il s'est engagé dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale avec le Génie royal canadien en 1939, et a servi outre-mer où il a participé au débarquement de Juno Beach en Normandie, en France, puis en Belgique, en Hollande et en Allemagne. Landry a survécu à la guerre, est rentré au Canada et a mené une vie d'après-guerre à Robertsonville, au Québec.
Sapper Fernand Liboire “Larry” Landry was born June 17, 1919. He enlisted in WWII with the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1939, and served overseas where he took part in the Juno Beach landings in Normandy, France, and then onto Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Landry survived the war, retuning to Canada and a post-war life in Robertsonville, Québec.

Notes sur le contenu:
La collection Landry est une collection de langue française. Le donateur de la collection a fourni des transcriptions dactylographiées ainsi que des photocopies des lettres originales. Ces transcriptions dactylographiées ont été utilisées pour créer les versions numériques affichées ici, car la lisibilité des originaux photocopiés varie. Des photocopies de tous les documents donnés (photocopies et transcriptions dactylographiées) ont été fournies avec chaque lettre.
Content notes:
The Landry Collection is a French language collection. The collection donor provided typewritten transcriptions along with photocopies of the original letters. These typewritten transcriptions were used to create the digital versions posted here, as the legibility of the photocopied originals varies. Jpgs of all donated materials (photocopies and typed transcripts) have been provided with each letter.

Liens externes:
Spr. Les états de service de Liboire Landry (Serv/Reg# E3019), conservés par Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ne sont pas accessibles au public pour le moment.
External links:
Spr. Liboire Landry’s service record (Serv/Reg# E3019), held by Library and Archives Canada, is not open to public access at this time.

Private Dennis Quinn was born March 17, 1923, in Crow Lake, Ontario, to parents Alexander Quinn and Ethel Quinn (later remarried as Ethel Cooper).

Quinn enlisted with the Canadian Infantry Corps on October 28, 1942, in Toronto, Ontario. On March 13, 1943, one month prior to shipping overseas to England, he was married to Doryne Shirley Jenkins.

Following several months spent training in England, Quinn fought in the Italy Campaign with the 48th Highlanders of Canada. He was wounded in action on October 4, 1943, and died that same day. He was 18 years old. Quinn was buried in Italy, initially in Foggia Civilian Cemetery, and later reburied in Bari War Cemetery.

Content notes:
Single letter collection, written by Quinn to his sister Mary during the time he was stationed in the Central Mediterranean Forces area. Quinn wrote his wife’s name as “Doryne” but it also appears in some records as “Doreen.”

External links:
Private Quinn’s service record (Serv/Reg# B134908) 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 Quinn can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Major (Chaplain) Alexander MacLennan Gordon, DSO, MC, was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on May 26, 1873, to parents Dr. Daniel Miner Gordon and Eliza Simona Gordon (née MacLennan).

A Presbyterian clergyman, Gordon was serving as a member in the Non-Permanent Active Militia at the time of his mobilization for Active Service with the 5th Regiment, Royal Highlanders of Canada (R.H.C.), in Septemberr 1914. He attested at Valcartier Camp in Québec on September 23, 1914, and was appointed as Chaplain to the 13th Battalion, R.H.C.

Gordon embarked for England with the First Contingent that October, aboard the SS Alaunia. Proceeding to France with the 3rd Infantry Brigade in January 1915, he was then transferred to the No.1 Canadian Field Ambulance. In July of 1916 he was appointed as Senior Chaplain of the 4th Division, Canadian Chaplain Service.

Wounded in August 1918, Gordon was treated in England before being invalided back to Canada in June of the following year. He was demobilized in September 1919.

Content notes:
Gordon’s informative and expressive letters were written between October 1914 and April 1915. The earliest, written during his crossing to England aboard the SS Alaunia, is particularly notable for the amount of descriptive detail conveyed.
Among the family names appearing in the letters are references to Gordon’s brother Major George Huntly Gordon, OBE, (“Hunt”), his sister Wilhelmina Gordon (“Min”), and his father, Daniel Miner Gordon (“the Principal”), who was Principal of Queen’s University at that time. Mentions of “Canon Scott” are to Lt. Col. (Canon) Frederick George Scott, CMG, DSO, FRSC, noted poet and author of the 1922 memoir The Great War As I Saw It.

External links:
Major Alexander MacLennan Gordon’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Major George Huntly Gordon’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) at Library and Archives Canada.
Lt. Col. (Canon) Frederick George Scott's service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) at Library and Archives Canada.

Operation Spartan was one of the largest training exercises conducted in Great Britain during WWII. Staged in the first half of March 1943, it employed ten divisions of Army troops along with large numbers of supporting ground and air forces. Under Spartan’s war game scenario, an area in southwestern England was divided into three sections, each under varying degrees of occupation and control by “Allied,” “German,” and “Neutral” forces.

The Advance Post was Operation Spartan’s daily newspaper, explained in its own words as:

 “The original intention was that the British Army should have a lithographed news-sheet which would both excite and maintain their interest in the Exercise just completed, as well as furnishing them with at least the world’s news headlines of the real war, day by day. In other words, to put you in the Exercise picture and keep you there, letting you see what was happening on the broad, as well as the narrow, front.” (Issue No. 13)

The papers were received by the Canadian Letters & Images Project as part of the Robert James Duncan Collection.

Content notes:
The collection consists of eight issues the Advance Post, dated March 6-13.
By nature of their creation, the core content of each of the papers is simultaneously both factual and fictitious. On the one hand they may be considered to follow the tradition of “spoof-paper” publications, in that many of the articles describe events that clearly never took place (e.g., the headline “German Atrocities in Oxford”). On the other hand, the occurrences described and individual stories told all represent a factual reporting of real events as experienced throughout Operation Spartan. Supplementary articles that provided readers with genuine news about non-Spartan related events (such as updates on the latest Canadian Hockey scores), also support a view of the Advance Post as following in the tradition of a regular trench newspaper, intended not to deceive but to inform and entertain its soldier audience.
Included with all transcriptions is a warning about the importance of understanding context when interpreting these materials.