Thomas Arthur Searight was born in Norwood, Ontario, in February 1894. Searight was a student at the time of his enlistment in January 1916 in Peterborough, Ontario, with the 57th Battalion. He served overseas with the 21st Battalion until his death on August 15, 1917. The collection currently consists of six letters, a clipping, and a field service card.
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.
Private Arthur Shannon was born in Fork River, Manitoba on September 19, 1897. He enlisted with the 210th Battalion in Kindersley, Saskatchewan on June 13, 1916.
Shipping for England on board the SS Northland in April 1917, he was sent to France in September 1917, where he soon joined the 46th Battalion. In late October Shannon was badly wounded in action at Passchendaele, requiring the amputation of his lower leg. He was invalided back to Canada the following June, and was discharged in December 1918.
A letter from Nursing Sister A. Adamson of the 12th Casualty Clearing Station, British Expeditionary Force, was also donated along with Arthur Shannon’s letter.
External links:
Pte. Arthur Shannon’s service record (Serv/Reg# 255918) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Percy Roy Shannon was born in Walkerton, Bruce County, Ontario, in December 1887. Shannon first enlisted in March 1915 as a stretcher-bearer in the 34th Battalion. At that time he was a medical student at the University of Toronto. He went overseas but was sent back to complete his medical training and graduated in 1917. Shannon received his commission and served with the No.12 Field Ambulance of the R.A.M.C. He was killed serving with the Field Ambulance on November 3, 1918. The collection consists of two letters and one photograph.
Thomas S. Sharland was born in York Township, Toronto, Ontario, in June 1882. Sharland enlisted in Toronto in April 1915 and served overseas until 1919. The collection consists of four letters, postcards and several photographs.
Clifford Shaver was born in Mountain, Ontario, in 1896, one of ten children of William and Jessie Shaver. He enlisted on February 1, 1916, went to England in October of 1916, and then to France in May 1917. He was killed by a shell October 30, 1917, at the age of 21. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium. The collection consists of six letters that he wrote home, three letters of condolence written to his parents and published in the newspaper, as well as several photographs.
Charles Gordon Shaw was born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1895. He later moved to Peterborough, Ontario, where he enlisted with the 247th Bn. C.E.F. in October 1916, and served overseas with the 3rd Canadian Reserve Battalion. The collection consists of two letters.
Russell Shaw was born in Arthur Township, Ontario, in July 1894. He was a farmer before his enlistment in Arthur, Ontario, in March 1916. Shaw served with the 47th Battalion in France. The collection consists of one letter and one photograph of Shaw.
Terence Sheard was born in Toronto, Ontario, in February 1898. Sheard enlisted at Cobourg, Ontario, with the Cobourg Heavy Battery and served overseas in France until his return to Canada and discharge in 1919. The collection consists of two letters and five photographs.
Robert William Shirley was born in 1897 and enlisted in February 1916 at Swan Lake, Manitoba. He served overseas in France and was killed August 11, 1918. The collection consists of one letter from his commanding officer to his mother, and an undated obituary from the local newspaper.
Robert Shortreed was born in Guelph, Ontario, on January 26, 1891. A salesman, he enlisted with the 64th Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, in Guelph on November 6, 1916, transferring to the 12th Canadian Siege Battery after arriving in England. The collections consists of letters written to his parents and sisters Elizabeth, Evelyn, and Isabel (Bell), and covers his early training in Canada to his return to England to await return home.
Gordon Merritt Shrum was born in Smithville, Ontario, in 1894 and enlisted in April 1916 while a student at the University of Toronto. He served overseas and returned to Canada to teach in 1919. The collection consists of two letters written to Helen Nickle of Smithville. Other correspondents to Davis include the Bill Grassie Collection, the Daniel Austin Lane Collection, the Fred Nickle Collection, and the William Grassie Collection.
Albert John Simpkins was born in Walthamstow, London, England, in November 1878. He was a mineral water manufacturer. Prior to the war he had travelled and worked in Canada, living for some time in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Simpkins was back in England during the war, and enlisted at Seaford, Sussex, in May 1918. He served overseas with the 8th Battalion, and was killed in action on September 29, 1918, age 39. The collection currently consists of numerous letters, photographs, postcards, and digital images of his personal effects returned to the family after his death.
Harold Henry Simpson, MM, was born in March 1897 in Bayview, Prince Edward Island. Simpson enlisted in September 1915 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and served overseas in France, Belgium, and Germany until his return to Canada at the end of the war. The collection consists of more than one hundred forty letters from 1915 to 1919.
Sergeant Thomas Nesbit Simpson, MM, was born in Northfield (present day Nanaimo), British Columbia, on August 16, 1890, son of William and Elizabeth (neé Good) Simpson. He enlisted with the 31st Regiment British Columbia Horse on August 13, 1914, followed by a transfer that September to the 5th Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade, and three weeks later shipped for England.
The following February of 1915 he arrived in France where he continued to serve with the 5th Battalion. Simpson was awarded the Military Medal “for bravery in the field” one month prior to his being killed in action while taking part in the Somme offensive at Courcelette. The date of his death is anomalously recorded throughout official records as September 26/27, 1916. He was buried at the Courcelette British Cemetery, Courcelette, France.
Simpson’s name is listed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph along with forty other soldiers who were born, lived, or worked in Ladysmith, B.C., and who died during the First World War. Seven of these soldiers, including Simpson, 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:
Sgt. Simpson’s service record (Serv/Reg# 13306) 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 him can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Simpson’s name is inscribed on the Ladysmith Cenotaph, Rotary Memorial Peace Garden, Ladysmith, B.C.
The awarding of Simpson’s Military Medal was published in The London Gazette on August 23, 1916 (# 29719, p. 8365).
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.
Lawrence Charles Sinclair was born in Québec in April 1895. He enlisted June 5, 1915, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the 61st Battalion, CEF. Sinclair served overseas with the 3rd Battalion until his death on April 23, 1917, at age 22. He is remembered on the Vimy Memorial. The collection currently consists of more than fifty letters, photographs, postcards, and other miscellaneous items.
Frank Skeet was born in Yorkshire, England, in October 1897. Skeet enlisted with the 226th Battalion in Swan River, Manitoba, in January 1916. He served overseas with the 16th Battalion until his death in August 1918. The collection currently consists of more than seventy letters written by Skeet.
Andrew Hurst Skidmore was born in Areola, Saskatchewan, in 1894. Skidmore enlisted in September 1914 and served overseas during the war with the 1st B.C. Regiment, being wounded several times. The collection currently consists of three newspaper clippings, three postcards, and one photograph from his time in hospital in England.
Laurence William Webster Slack was born in Kings County, Nova Scotia, in February 1891. Slack served overseas as a Lieutenant with the 60th Battalion. The collection consists of one letter written to a Miss McCammon informing her of the death of Joseph William George Robinson, also a Lieutenant with the 60th Battalion, who was killed September 16, 1916. Robinson is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial. See also the Joseph William George Robinson collection which contains one letter of condolence from Robinson's commanding officer to Robinson's mother.
Malcolm David Sloan was born in Norwood, Ontario, in 1896 and was enlisted in 1917 under the Military Service Act and served in England in 1918. Sloan was one of the correspondents with Reverend Arthur Mansell Irwin from Norwood, Ontario, whose collection is also contained in this project. The collection currently consists of one letter.
William John Smallacombe was born in Clinton, Ontario, in August 1896. He originally enlisted with the 81st Battalion in St. Catharines, Ontario, in September 1916, and then transferred to the 4th Machine Gun Company with whom he served with in France. Smallacombe returned to Canada and was demobilized at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of one photograph and one letter written April 10, 1917, at Vimy Ridge.
