Francis Harold McLorg was born in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, worked as a barrister and then enlisted for overseas duty in October 1914. He saw duty in France, where he was wounded in 1916. McLorg recovered and continued to serve until the end of the war, by which time he had been promoted to the rank of Captain. The collection consists of eight letters, telegrams, and photographs.
Title
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.
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.]
Howard John McMaster was born in Norwood, Ontario in February 1891. McMaster enlisted in Peterborough, Ontario, in December 1915 and served overseas with the 52nd Battalion until his return to Canada at the end of the war. He is the brother of William McMaster. The collection currently consists of twelve letters and several postcards.
William McMaster was born in Hastings, Ontario, in July 1886. He enlisted in Trenton, Ontario, in February 1917 with the 257th Battalion. McMaster served overseas with the battalion until he was wounded and subsequently discharged as medically unfit in late 1918. He is the brother of Howard McMaster. The collection currently consists of two letters.
Neil McMillan was born at Uragaig, Scotland, in May 1885. Sometime prior to the war he immigrated to Canada, settling in Toronto, Ontario, where he worked as a teamster. McMillan enlisted at Toronto in February 1916 and served overseas with the 48th Highlanders. McMillan was killed on August 8, 1918. The collection consists of one photograph of McMillan, photographs of the Colonsay War Memorial and of his CWGC headstone.
William James McNabb was born in Desboro, Ontario, in March 1891. He enlisted in December 1915 in Owen Sound, Ontario, with the 147th Grey Battalion. McNabb served overseas in France and Belgium until his death in October 1918. The collection currently consists of one letter, obituaries, a field service card, and his circumstances of death report.
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.
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 McNeill was born in Hull, Yorkshire, in December 1875. McNeill enlisted in November 1914 in Victoria, British Columbia, with the 30th Battalion. He served overseas with the 15th Battalion until he was wounded in August of 1918, and subsequently discharged as medically unfit in March 1919. The collection currently consists of more than 75 letters and several postcards.
Alexander Robertson McQueen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1892. McQueen was a student at the time of his enlistment in May 1915 with the 2nd University Companyy CEF in Edmonton. He served overseas with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry until his death from wounds on June 4, 1916. The collection currently consists of thirteen letters and numerous photographs,
William Henry George McRobbie was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in August 1897 and moved to Leross, Saskatchewan, with his family prior to the war. McRobbie enlisted in May 1916 at Watrous, Saskatchewan, with the 214th Battalion. He served oveseas with the 5th Battalion and was killed November 10, 1917. The collection currently consists of a photograph and a few personal items relating to his service.
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.
The Private Richard William Mercer Collection is located within in the Special Items section of this website.
Lieutenant Thomas Arthur Metheral was born in Singhampton, Ontario, on July 7, 1896, to parents Thomas and Martha (née Taylor) Metheral. Prior to the war he was living in Lawson, Saskatchewan, where he worked as a school teacher.
Metheral enlisted on September 5, 1916, in Gilroy, Ont., with the 196th (Western Universities) Battalion. He shipped to England aboard the SS Southland that November, where he joined the 19th Reserve Battalion. Metheral was Commissioned as a Lieutenant on March 12, 1917, and the following month was attached to the Royal Flying Corps. Crossing to France, he joined the 45th Squadron, R.F.C., on May 31, 1917, and was killed in action five days later.
Initially reported missing, having failed to return from a flight over the German lines, Metheral’s death was confirmed by a German aviator’s message drop over Allied lines, but his burial site was unknown. In 1956 Metheral’s body was found, and he was reburied in Cement House Cemetery, Langemark, Belgium.
Content notes:
The collection contains a 1956 letter from the Imperial War Grave Commission, as well as an obituary notice.
External links:
Lt. Thomas Metheral’s service record (Reg/Serv# 911062) can be viewed/downloaded through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Metheral can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
This collection consists of three letters written to Canada from a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France, between October 8, 1918 to December 15, 1918. The three letters in the Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society archives contain no definitive information about who Ralph was nor his relationship to the recipient of the letters, a Mrs. A. S. Kennedy of Winnipeg. Used with permission of the Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society.
Frederick John Milthorp was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1889 and immigrated to Canada in 1912. Milthorp enlisted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in April 1915 and served overseas in France until his discharge in 1919. The collection consists of thirty-seven letters written during 1917 between he and his fiance Miss Emily Beastall, as well as one photograph.
Company Quartermaster Sergeant James Minorgan was born in Ellengowan, Ontario on December 6, 1895. He was living in Sundridge, Ontario, when he enlisted in Parry Sound with the 162nd Overseas Battalion on April 11, 1916.
Shipping for England on board the SS Caronia in November of 1916, he was called-up to action in France in February of 1917. Minorgan was killed in action on April 17, 1917 in an attack south east of Souchez, France, and is buried in Canadian Cemetery No. 2 in Neuville-St. Vaast.
External links:
CQMS Minorgan's service record (Reg/Ser# 657846) is available online through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring him can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
The collection for Company Quartermaster Sergeant James Minorgan was created from the donation of the Gladys Hornibrook materials. Living in the small village of Sundridge near North Bay, Ontario, Gladys was only thirteen years old when World War One began. While the majority of her correspondence was with her uncles in overseas service, the letters, photos, and other memorabilia that she saved from the war years included keepsakes relating to other local solders. The Minorgan memorial card and postcard were among them.
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.
Harold Monks' attestation papers state that was born in England in 1893 (although his birth certificate indicates he was born in 1892). He immigrated to Canada in the spring of 1914 where he worked as a rancher prior to the war. Monks enlisted in April 1917 in Victoria, B.C., and served overseas as a gunner and signaller until his discharge in May 1919. This collection consists of multiple photographs, handbooks, pay books, Monks' personal memorandum books, and other materials from his service and life after the war.
William Monro was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1895 and immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the outbreak of war. He enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in July 1915 and served overseas in France. The collection consists of seven letters.
