Frederick Ernest Carter was born in Essex, England, in 1871 and immigrated to Kamloops, British Columbia, sometime prior to the war. His wife died in 1912, leaving him with two small children. Carter enlisted in May 1915 at the age of 44. He served overseas in France where he was killed in action April 14, 1916, leaving behind two orphaned daughters in Canada. The collection consists of four letters.
William Paterson was born in Leith, Scotland, in April 1893. Paterson immigrated to Canada prior to the war, and enlisted in Calgary, Alberta, in November 1914. He served overseas as a signaller with the 31st Battalion until he returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of six photographs and one postcard.
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.
Private Arthur Lawrence Turner was born in Liverpool, England, on September 10, 1890. Prior to WWI, Turner had served in the British Territorial Army with the Royal Engineers and in the Canadian Militia with the 58th Westmount Rifles.
He enlisted with the 148th Battalion in Montreal, Québec, on March 8, 1916. Turner proceeded overseas on September 27, 1916, aboard the SS Laconia from Halifax, Nova Scotia, arriving on October 6 in Liverpool, England. He was sent to France in December of that same year, where he served with the 24th Battalion. Turner returned to Canada and was demobilized in November of 1918.
External Link:
Pte. Arthur Turner’s service file (#841715) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format from Library and Archives Canada.
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.
The collection consists of one letter from May Grenville, a nurse who had served overseas with the A.E.F. home to her mother in Thorold, Ontario, at the end of the war in 1918. Used with permission by Heritage Thorold.
Albert Edmund Pinder was born in North Toronto, Ontario, in November 1892. Pinder enlisted in Guelph, Ontario, in December 1915. He served overseas during the war until his return to Guelph. The collection currently consists of six postcards written by Pinder.
Michael Francis Murphy was born February 27, 1894, in St. John's, Newfoundland. Murphy enlisted on December 15, 1914, with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (sevice #754), part of the original "C" coy. Murphy served in Gallipoli, Egypt, and France, and returned to Newfoundland at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of two photographs of Murphy and one letter to his daughter. Murphy's service file is available online through the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (The Rooms).
Perry Hooper Sanderson was born in Holland, Manitoba, in October 1893. He enlisted in Winnipeg in January 1915 and served overseas with the 28th Battalion. Sanderson was killed June 6, 1916, and is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres. The collection currently consists of more than twenty letters and seven images.
William Wallace Haig Martyn was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in December, 1915. He joined the RAF in 1936 and during the war he flew with Squadron Nos. 802, 758, 759, 760, and 880 and was awarded the DSC. The collection consists of more than 140 letters written by Martyn from 1939 to 1945.
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.
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.
Frederick Edward Wilkinson was born in St. Albans, Hants, England, in March 1890. Prior to the war Wilkinson immigrated 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.
Lawrence Earl Johns was born in Elimville, Ontario in December, 1893. Johns enlisted at Exeter, Ontario on April 11, 1916 with the 161st Huron Battalion, C.E.F. He served overseas with the 58th Battalion and died September 12, 1917. The collection consists of more than one hundred twenty letter as well as a rich visual component of photographs, postcards, and other personal items.
George Ridgeway was born in Cheshire, England, in April 1887. He immigrated to Canada around 1912 and moved to Saskatchewan to farm. Ridgeway enlisted in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in January 1916 with the 128th Battalion, and served overseas in France and Belgium with the 49th Battalion. Wounded in 1917 he was invalided back to the military hospital in Moose Jaw, and discharged in 1919. After his discharge he returned to England. The collection currently consists of fifteen images.
One part of the collection consists of letters written by Harry Clark, Jr., to his mother, Jane (Jennie) Clark, in London, Ontario, after he had enlisted in the Canadian Army. The other letters were received by a distant relative, Kathleen Jackson (ne Hastings), while she was recovering from tuberculosis in London, Ontario. The letters, which describe conditions in wartime Britain, were written by relatives of Kathleen,s father Hugh Hastings, who died while convalescing from wounds sustained in the First World War.
James R. Chisholm was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1885 and immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war. He enlisted at Lethbridge, Alberta, in December 1914. James served overseas in France and was killed June 3, 1916. Alexander Chisholm was born in Inverness, Scotland, in March 1888 and immigrated to Canada prior to the war. He enlisted in Brandon, Manitoba, in April 1915. He served overseas in France and was killed October 9, 1916. The collection consists of one undated photograph of the brothers.
Lewis G. Billard was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, in 1923. He joined the R.C.A.F. in 1943 and worked on the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in Lancaster bombers in England and in Mosquito Nightfighters in Europe. The collection consists of more than one hundred letters written home by Billard from 1943 to 1946.
This collection contains over 30 letters from World War One published in The Nanaimo Daily News, a local newspaper published in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Newspapers across Canada regularly printed letters home from overseas, either letters written directly to the newspaper by the soldiers, or first written to the family and then contributed to the paper by the family. Collections such as those from The Nanaimo Daily Free Press provide a fascinating look at the relationship of community and war as played out in the pages of the local newspaper. The dates for which the letters are listed represent the dates on which they were published, as the original dates of the letters are not always indicated. Where the original date of writing is known it will be part of the letter text. Introductions to the letters and editorial comments as they appeared in the newspaper have been left as published. All transcriptions have been taken from copies on microfilm and as such there are no scans for this collection.
Henry Ralph was born in Dover, England, in November 1885 and immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, sometime prior to the war. Ralph enlisted in September 1914 and served overseas with the 48th Highlanders. During the war he was taken prisoner and returned to Canada after the war. The collection consists of an extended letter written in 1918 describing his experiences as a prisoner, as well as one photograph.
Edward Robert Hill served with the 58th Battalion. He was killed at Passchendaele in October, 1917. His brother, William Lowrie Hill served with the 49th Battalion until his death at Mount Sorrel in June, 1916. The collection currently consists of one letter and two photographs.
Maurice Melville Maloney was born in Meaford, Ontario in February, 1918. Maloney served overseas with the 15th Canadian Ambulance Corps as well as the 4th Canadian Armoured Division Medical Corps. He returned to Canada at the end of the war and died in 1996. The collection currently consists of fourteen letters, poems, telegrams, clippings, and other miscellaneous items.
William Douglas Watson was born in 1924 and resided in Grand Valley, Ontario. He enlisted in the R.C.A.F. in 1943 and graduated as a Navigator in December, 1943. He was killed on July 23, 1944 along with all of his crew while practicing night flying in a Wellington bomber over Cardigan Bay in Wales. The collection consists of twenty seven letters written home to his parents in 1944.
External links:
Flying Officer William Douglas Watson’s service record (Serv/Reg# J39281) 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 Watson can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Ed Gallagher was from Australia, born in 1916. He was a Wireless Airgunner who spent his war years (1941-1943) flying out of Mt. Batten (Plymouth, England) and Pembroke Dock (Wales) on Sunderlands. These two letters, part of a collection of 106 letters, describe his impressions of Canada as an Australian on his way to war in 1941 and in 1943 waiting to return to Australia. He was at the time writing to Molly Thomson, who he married in 1943 on his return to Australia.
William Cunliffe was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England, in August 1891. Prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and enlisted in September 1915 at Niagara, Ontario, with the 109th Battalion. Cunliffe served overseas with the 84th and then with the 75th Battalion until his return to Canada in 1919. The collection currentlly consists of several letters, postcards, a photograph, and miscellaneous personal items.
