John Drysdale, the son of William and Flora Drysdale, was born in Glasgow, Scotland in May, 1893. When he emigrated to Canada is uncertain. He enlisted at Sydney, Nova Scotia in September, 1915. Drysdale served in France and was killed October 7, 1918. The collection consists of annotated pages of Songs of a Sourdough, a book Drysdale carried with him in France.