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,
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.
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 S.S. 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 emigrated 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 6th, 1895. He was living in Sundridge, Ontario when he enlisted in Parry Sound with the 162nd Overseas Battalion on April 11th, 1916.
Shipping for England on board the S.S. Caronia in November of 1916, he was called-up to action in France in February of 1917. Minorgan was killed in action on April 17th, 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 emigrated 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.
Cecil Moody was born in England in November, 1892 and emigrated to Canada prior to the war. Moody enlisted in October, 1915 and served overseas with the 8th Canadian Field Ambulance until the end of the war. The collection currently consists of thirty-nine letters, as well as photographs and other miscellaneous items connected to his service.
Donald Mackenzie was born in New Brunswick in 1877 and enlisted on November 9, 1914 in Victoria, British Columbia. Moore served as a Captain with the 30th Battalion. He was killed May 22, 1915. The collection consists of one newspaper clipping, three letters from Donald to his brother Art and one letter from their cousin Cyrus Peck regarding Donald's disappearance.
William Addison Moore was born in Derbyshire, England in October, 1895. Prior to the war William and his brother emigrated to Canada and farmed in Alberta. Moore enlisted in November, 1914 in Red Deer, Alberta with the 31st Battalion. He was with the 31st until he took a commission with the Essex Regiment in early 1916. He was killed May 5, 1916. The collection currently consists of one letter, one memorial, and three photographs.
Arthur Norman Morris was born in Manchester, England in 1893. His date of emigration is unknown. He enlisted in Regina, Saskatchewan in July, 1915 and served in Belgium with the 9th Canadian Field Ambulance. The collection consists of two letters.
Harry Morris was born in Montreal in 1882 and enlisted 87th Battalion in Montreal in November, 1915. He served in France with a trench mortar battery and was wounded early in 1917. Morris was discharged in February 1918 as a result of his wounds and returned home to Montreal. The collection consists of numerous photographs, telegrams, four letters, one poem, and miscellaneous documents. One of the letters is an extended account of the being wounded and the process of medical treatment.
Gordon J. Morrisette was born in the Eastern Townships of Quebec near Minton in 1895. He attended elementary school in North Hatley where he first met Marjorie Reed, whom he married after WWI, and who was the recipient of these letters. While attending McGill University he enlisted May 1, 1916 with the siege battery raised by the principal of McGill, Sir William Peterson, which eventually became the 7th Canadian Siege Battery overseas. At the end of the war he returned to Canada, completed his engineering degree at McGill, and married Marjorie in 1924. The collection consists of more than forty letters sent by Gordon to Marjorie from 1916 to 1919.
Private Fredrick James Duncan Morrison was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, on December 19, 1892, to parents Murdock and Mary Morrison. Fred was still quite young when his family, which included five older sisters, moved to Ladysmith, B.C.
With prior military experience in the 101st Edmonton Regiment, he enlisted in Valcartier, Quebec, on September 24, 1914, and shipped overseas that October. He served in France with the 5th Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade. He was killed in action near Courcelette, France, on September 27, 1916, and is commemorated in France on the Vimy Memorial.
Morrison’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Morrison, had wartime letters published by The Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (see links below).
The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.
External links:
Pte. Morrison’s Service Record (Serv/Reg# 13016) 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 Morrison can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Pte. Morrison is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France, and on the Ladysmith Cenotaph, Rotary Memorial Peace Garden, Ladysmith, British Columbia.
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in The Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society through their work with the Ladysmith Archives.
[Note: There are some name-related discrepancies within Duncan’s Service Record, with his first middle name variously appearing as James, John, and Jason.]
Laura Margaret Morton was born in Kingston, Ontario in March, 1891. She trained as a nurse in Ontario and in 1917 she enlisted with the CAMC. Morton served overseas in France and Britain during the war. The collection consists of her photograph album from her time at the Winwick Hospital in Britain, which during the war was known as the Lord Derby War Hospital. We have scans of the complete album pages as they appeared, as well as the individual photographs on those pages.
Lieutenant Grant Davidson Mowat was born in Meaford, Ontario, on June 10, 1894, to parents Alexander and Annie Elizabeth Mowat. The family later moved to Peterborough, Ont. Following his graduation from Peterborough Normal School, Mowat worked for several years as a schoolteacher. Shortly before his enlistment he had been accepted as a law student at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, Ont.
He was commissioned as an officer with the rank of Captain in February of 1916, and shipped overseas aboard the S.S. Empress of Britain the following July to join the 93rd Battalion in England. Mowat’s military records show that while stationed in England in April of 1917 he requested to revert to the rank of Lieutenant in order to be posted to France; Lt. Mowat joined the 21st Bn. in France on May 1, 1917.
Mowat was killed in action on August 15, 1917, during the Battle for Hill 70 near Lens. Mowat’s remains were not identified at the time of his death and as such his name was inscribed on the Vimy Memorial. In the 1990s Mowat’s gravesite was identified; he had been buried as an unknown soldier in the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. A new headstone identifying Mowat’s gravesite was made at that time.
Content notes:
Most of the collection’s letters were written by Mowat to his parents while he was stationed overseas in England and France. Often mentioned is his cousin “Mina” whose letters of the same time period can be found in the Nursing Sister Wilhelmina Mowat Collection.
On rank discrepancies: Mowat’s final rank appears in many records and sources as Captain, however his service record indicates his final rank as Lieutenant; this rank is used for his records with Library and Archives Canada and as such it is what has been used in his collection here.
External links:
Lt. Grant Mowat’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
WWI Circumstances of Death Registers record card (page # 91), Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Mowat can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Mowat is also commemorated on the World War I Memorial Honour Roll in the Great Library at Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ontario.
