World War One collections | Page 27

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.

Walton, Richard David

Pte. Richard David Walton was born in London, England on December 22, 1896, son of Richard and Louisa Walton. He enlisted with the 33^rd Overseas Battalion in Clinton, Ontario on August 18, 1915.

Shipping for England on board the S.S. Lapland in March of 1916, Walton proceeded to France in June of 1916 and was transferred to the 4^th Canadian Mounted Rifles on his arrival.

He was killed in action September 15, 1916 and was buried near Albert, France. Subsequent fighting saw his grave lost, and he is now commemorated on the Vimy Memorial.

External links:
Pte. Richard Walton’s Service Record (Serv/Reg# 401511) 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 Richard Walton can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Warn, Alfred Frank

Alfred Frank Warn was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, England in November, 1889. Prior to the war Warn emigrated to Canada. He enlisted with the 75th Battalion in August, 1915 at Niagara-on-the-Lake. The collection currently consists of one photograph of Warn.

Warren, Edgar Cecil

Edgar Cecil Warren was born in Liverpool, England in January, 1888, Prior to the war he emigrated to Canada and enlisted in September, 1914, part of the First Contingent that sailed in October, 1914. Warren served with the 1st Divisional Supply Column until January, 1917 when was discharged to take a commission with 1st Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). Edgar Warren was killed May 3, 1917. The collection currently consists of twelve letters and two photographs.

Watson, Ralph Beverly

Sergeant Ralph Beverly Watson (a.k.a. Joseph Ralph Watson), Canadian Army Medical Corps, was the author of the 1918 book Letters of a Canadian Stretcher Bearer. The book's letters, along with more information on Sgt. Watson, can be found in the Special Items Collections section of the website.

Weeks, Ludlow Jackson

Ludlow Jackson Weeks was born in Truro, Nova Scotia in September, 1899. Weeks enlisted with the No. 10 Halifax Siege Battalion in Halifax in May, 1917, having previously been rejected for being underage. He served overseas in 1918. The collection currently consists of more than forty letters, as well as postcards and photographs.

Wellman, Albert Edward

Albert Edward Wellman was born in Rawdon Township, Ontario, in July 1895. Wellman enlisted with the 155th Battalion in December 1916 in Marmora, Ontario. He served overseas with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry until his discharge at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of six letters and three postcards.

Welsh, Murray

Murray Welsh, DCM, was born in Kincardine, Ontario in August, 1889. Welsh enlisted with the Fort Garry Horse in June, 1915. He served in France and earned the DCM before his death on March 30, 1918. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial. The collection currently consists of nine letters, photographs, and personal items.

West, Alfred Henry

Alfred Henry West was born in Muskoka District, Ontario in May, 1889. West enlisted with his brother Charles on January 18, 1916 in Victoria, British Columbia with the 103rd Battalion. He served overseas with the 54th Battalion. West was wounded in July, 1917 and was discharged as medically unfit in 1918. The collection currently consists of five letters.

West, Charles Edgar

Charles Edgar West was born in Muskoka District, Ontario, in July, 1891. West enlisted with his brother Alfred on January 18, 1916 in Victoria, British Columbia with the 103rd Battalion. He served overseas with the 54th Battalion until he was demobilized and returned to Canada in 1919. The collection currently consists of three letters.

Weston, W. Garfield

Garfield Willard Weston was born in Toronto, Ontario in February, 1898. Weston enlisted in February, 1917 in Toronto with the Divisional Signallers, Engineering Company. Weston served overseas during the war, and following the war he was a successful businessman, philanthropist, and served as an MP in the British Parliament during WWII. For further information on Weston, see the W. Garfield Weston Foundation site. The collection currently consists of one letter and three photographs.

Westwood, Arthur

Arthur Westwood was born in Toronto, Ontario in November, 1896. Westwood enlisted with the 75th Bn. CEF in Toronto, Ontario in August, 1915. The collection currently consists of one letter, his discharge papers, and a Christmas Day 1917 menu.

White, Alexander

Private Alexander White was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on January 10, 1886. Prior to immigrating to Canada he served eighteen months with the British Army in the 4th Scottish Rifles.

White enlisted at Valcartier Camp, Québec, in September of 1914 and sailed to England as part of the First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in October of that year aboard the S.S. Lapland. From England he proceeded to France with the 5th Battalion and from there to Ypres, Belgium. White was part of the Second Battle of Ypres during the first gas attack of the war. As a result of a head wound and the effects of gas, White was sent to hospital in England. He returned to Canada in October, 1915, and was demobilized as medically unfit for further service due to his injuries.

The collection consists of the diary White kept from February to May of 1915. Of particular note is his detailed account as a participant in the Second Battle of Ypres, written during the battle between April 22^nd and 25^th.

External links:
Pte. Alexander White’s service record (Serv/Reg# 13693) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

[Editor’s note: The dates in the above description have been taken from White’s military service record and in some cases may conflict with those found in his diary.]

White, Herbert Hill

Herbert (Bert) Hill White was born July 30, 1880 in Grey County, Ontario Canada. Sometime after his father's death in 1895 Bert moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where his brother and mother then resided. He returned to Canada in 1916 and enlisted in October, 1916 as part of the Canadian Railway Battalion. White served overseas as a member of the Canadian Railway Battalion until his return to Canada in 1919. This collection consists of his diary from 1916 to 1919, and one photograph. He died in Ottawa in 1943.

Whyte, James Claude

James Claude Whyte was born in Galletta, Ontario in November, 1891. Prior to the war Whyte served with the 99th Manitoba Rangers Band. He enlisted in Brandon, Manitoba in March, 1916 with the 181st and served overseas with the band. The collection consists of his diary of 1917 and early 1918.

Wilcox, Charles

Charles Wilcox was born in July, 1889 at Stanstead, Quebec. Wilcox enlisted in October, 1914 and served with the 4th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He served overseas in France and was wounded twice, the second time at Passchendaele late in 1917. Wilcox returned to Canada in 1919. The collection consists of nine letters that he wrote home while overseas. These letters are reproduced here with the kind permission of the Georgeville Historical Society and were originally published in The Georgeville Enterprise (Winter 1996).

Wilkinson, Frederick Edward

Frederick Edward Wilkinson was born in St. Albans, Hants, England in March, 1890. Prior to the war Wilkinson emigrated to Canada where he worked as a teacher in Regina, Saskatchewan. Wilkinson enlisted in March, 1916 in Regina and served overseas with the Canadian Medical Corps. The collection currently consists of two letters written to one of his former pupils, Lois Purdy, and one Christmas card.

Williams, Francis Charles

Francis Charles Williams was born in Shrewsbury, England in April, 1893. Williams enlisted at Rimouski in October, 1914. The collection consists of his paybook, as well as numerous postcards and photographs.

Willmot, Percy Charles

Percy Charles Willmot, MC, was born in Birmingham, England in April, 1886 and emigrated to Canada prior to the war. Willmot enlisted in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1914 and served overseas with the 25th Battalion. He was invalided back to Canada in 1919 and died in December of that year. The collection currently consists of three letters and one Christmas card written to a schoolgirl, Doris Fulbrook of Benito, Manitoba, whose class had knitted scarves for soldiers in 1915, and Willmot had received her scarf. The complete Percy Willmot collection can be found at the Beaton Institute Archives, Cape Breton University.

Willoughby, Dr. Charles James McNeil

Dr. Charles James McNeil Willoughby was born in Cookstown, Ontario in 1894. Willoughby joined the Royal Medical Corp in 1916 after graduating from the University of Toronto medical school. He was posted first to Mesopotamia, and then later served in England, France and Belgium. After the war he returned to Canada where he practiced medicine in Kamloops, British Columbia. Willoughby died in 1995. The collection consists of nearly two hundred letters as well as photographs.

Wilson, Andrew

Andrew Wilson was born in Brussels, Ontario in 1880, moved west in 1906, and enlisted in Rosetown, Saskatchewan in 1916. He served in France from October 1917 to September 1918 until being wounded, returning to Canada in December 1919. The collection currently consists of his diary from October 19, 1917 to December 31, 1917, and one letter home to his wife.