Charles Roy Stratton was born in Brockville, Ontario, in September 1890 and then later moved to Montreal. Stratton enlisted with in Kingston, Ontario, in February 1916 with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. The collection currently consists of a portion of his diary, more than forty photographs, and some miscellaneous documents.
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.
Pte. Amos Theodore Stretch (nickname "Slim") was born in Elk River, Minnesota, U.S.A., on June 24, 1891, and later moved with his family to Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Amos was a member of the Active Militia's 104th Regiment when on January 12, 1916, he enlisted at New Westminster with the 131st Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, at the age of 24.
He embarked for England abord the SS Caronia on November 1, 1916. Shortly after arrival he was transferred to the 30th Res. Battalion, then to the 1st Res. Bn., before being sent over to fight in France. In February 1917 he transferred to the 29th Bn., Canadian Infantry, where served for the rest of his time in action.
Having suffered a burn wound to his foot, he was convalesced back to England, and from there demobilized at the end of the war, shipping back home to Canada in early 1919.
The letters and field-postcards in this collection were mainly written by Pte. Stretch to his parents James & Diana Stretch in Port Coquitlam.
John Pritchard Sudbury was born in London, England, in 1894. He immigrated to Montreal where he worked for the Montreal Gazette before enlisting in Montreal in July 1915. He was sent to Belgium in February 1916. He served throughout the Front including the Ypres Salient in 1916, the Somme in September 1916, Vimy Ridge in April 1917, and at Passchaendaele in October 1917, where he was wounded. The collection consists of more than sixty letters written to his family, photographs, a poem, a pay book, a Christmas card, and two magazines.
Earl Winstel Sutherland was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1885. He enlisted in September 1914 and served five years overseas until he returned to Hamilton in 1919. The collection consists of one letter written from France in 1919.
Daniel James Sweeney was born in London, England, in September 1896. Sometime prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and worked as a labourer in Ontario. Sweeney enlisted in Cobourg, Ontario, in June 1915. He survived the war but unfortunately nothing else is known about him. The collection consists of one photograph of Sweeney and others (seated, left) taken in 1915.
Edward Freeman Sweet was born in Switzerville, Ontario, in January 1898 and was a farmer prior to the war. Sweet enlisted with the 146th Battalion in Kingston in January 1916, just after his eighteenth birthday. He died in Kingston, Ontario, February 4, 1916. The collection currently consists of one photograph of Sweet at the time of enlistment.
Andrew Ernest Tait was born in Durham, England, in February 1879. Prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and enlisted in May 1916 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tait served overseas with the 72nd Battalion until his death in March 1918. The collection currently consists of eight letters, one photograph, and one miscellaneous item.
Charles Taylor was born in Sheffield, England, in 1895. He enlisted in Ottawa in February 1915 and served overseas with the 11th Field Ambulance until his return to Canada in 1919. This letter is to his sweetheart and future wife Florence "Flo" Welch in 1917.
Malcolm Theodore Taylor was born in Herefordshire, England, in May 1897 (a note on his attestation papers says that his birth certificate shows his date of birth as 1899). Prior to the war Taylor immigrated to Canada and enlisted in May 1916 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the 107th overseas Battalion. The collection currently consists of three photographs and one postcard.
The collection consists of letters of Ernest Mosley Taylor and Wilfrid Entwisle "Bill" Bury from Vermilion, Alberta. They were related by marriage, as Ernest's brother Raymond had married Wilfrid's sister Elisabeth in 1914.
Ernest Mosley Taylor was born in England in May 1885, the youngest of a family of eleven. He immigrated with his brother Raymond to the Vermilion, Alberta, area in 1905, where they took up farming. Ernest enlisted at Vermilion in January 1915, and served with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (Saskatchewan Regiment). He was killed May 7, 1916, and is buried in the Menin Road South Military Cemetery in Belgium.
Wilfrid Entwisle Bury was born in England in 1881, the fifth child of seven of Edward and Augusta Bury. Wilfrid moved to the Vermilion area in 1909 where he took up farming. He enlisted in Vermilion in January, 1915, and served in the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (Saskatchewan Regiment). He was killed November 5, 1917, and is buried in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.
The collection consists of 20 letters from the two soldiers.
Arthur George Teer was born in Toronto, Ontario, in September 1893. He enlisted in Toronto in June 1915 and served overseas in Belgium and France until the end of the war. The collection currently consists of 20 letters.
John Alexander Selter Thompson was born in Denver, Colarado, U.S.A., in October 1897. Thompson enlisted with the 196th Battalion in September 1916 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was killed at Passchendaele on October 26, 1917, while serving with the 46th Battalion. Thompson is commemorated on the Menin Gate. The collection currently consists of twenty-eight letters and some miscellaneous items.
Walter Cunningham Thomson was born in Hastings, Ontario, in December 1895. Thomson enlisted in February 1916 in Peterborough, Ontario, with the 93rd Battlion. He served overseas with the 21st Battalion until he was demobilized and returned to Canada at the end of the war.
The collection consists of seven letters, one newspaper clipping, two cards, and one misc. document. The letters were written to Reverend Arthur Mansell Irwin, pastor of Norwood Methodist Church, Ontario.
Howard Beverly Thorburn was born in 1898. He attended Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, during 1915 and 1916 before he left to take a commission with the Royal Field Artillery, with whom he served in France until the end of the war. The collection consists of seventy-eight letters from 1914 to 1918.
Gordon Stanley Thornton was born in Peterborough, Ontario, in June 1887. At the time of his enlistment in August 1915 he was practising as a barrister in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thornton served with the 78th Batt., rising to the rank of Major by the end of the war. He was wounded in 1918 and returned to Canada after the war. The collection currently consists of fifty eight letters, some personal items and telegrams, and a photograph.
James Stokesbury Thorpe was born in Iowa, U.S.A., in January 1889 and immigrated to Canada in the pre-war years. Thorpe enlisted in July 1915 at Vernon, British Columbia, and served as a Lieutenant in the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. Thorpe was killed on June 13, 1916, and is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium. The collection consists of one letter written from Flanders home to his mother and older sister.
Private Adrian Cracroft Thrupp was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, on August 3, 1897. His family immigrated to Canada prior to World War I and settled in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Thrupp enlisted with the 11th Canadian Mounted Rifles in Vernon, B.C., on August 20, 1915. Shipping for England on board the SS Lapland in July 1916, he proceeded that October to France where he served with the 29th Battalion.
On April 11, 1917, at Vimy Ridge, Thrupp suffered a serious head wound. After many months of hospitalization in England, he returned to Canada and was medically discharge on March 13, 1918.
The materials in the Thrupp Collection were donated as part of the Sydney Winterbottom Collection. Thrupp and Winterbottom had been friends in Kamloops before the war. Both having enlisted in 1915, they served together in the 11th C.M.R. and 29th Bn. until finally separated when Adrian was wounded in action at Vimy in 1917. Winterbottom was killed later that fall at the Battle of Passchendaele.
In the letter section below is correspondence Thrupp wrote to his father describing his voyage to England on the SS Lapland, as well as a reference list of links to the numerous letters in the Winterbottom Collection in which Winterbottom writes about Thrupp.
External links:
Pte. Thrupp’s service record (Serv/Reg# 116579) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Dr. Charles Alexander McLaughlin Thrush was born in Byng, Ontario, in 1880, and then later moved to Dunnville, Ontario, where he practiced medicine. He enlisted in March 1916 with the 114th Battalion "Brock's Rangers," and then served overseas as part of the Canadian Medical Corps. The collection consists of one letter written to his hometown newspaper in 1917, as well as three photographs.
Private Ralph Tilburt was born in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., on November 23, 1895, the sixth of eleven children of Guillaume and Emilie Charlotte Fredericke (née Bruder) Tilburt.
Tilburt enlisted with the No. 2 New Brunswick Forestry Corps Draft in July, 1917, in Sussex, New Brunswick. He shipped for England on September 5, 1917, on board the SS Megantic, landing at Liverpool, England, on September 15. He was deployed to France the following month, October 10, where he served with the No. 31 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps. Tilburt returned to Canada and was demobilized in March of 1919.
Content notes:
The letters in the collection were sent by Tilburt to his brothers while he was serving in France between August 1918 and January 1919.
External links:
Pte. Tilburt’s service record (Serv/Reg# 2304224) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated December, 2022. Six new letters have been added. All letter transcriptions have been reviewed and corrected as needed. Image files are now available for all letters. The photo of Pte. Tilburt has been updated, replacing a cropped version with the full uncropped picture. The Collection Description has been revised and expanded.]
Frank Tilbury was born in London, Ontario, in 1877 and enlisted in the 135th Battalion on December 13, 1915; he listed his occupation as musician, and noted that he had previous service in the 26th Regiment and the 1st Hussars. The diaries, which run from August 1916 to August 1917, cover his training in England and his service at the front with the 60th and 116th Battalions.
