Neil McMillan was born at Uragaig, Scotland, in May 1885. Sometime prior to the war he immigrated to Canada, settling in Toronto, Ontario, where he worked as a teamster. McMillan enlisted at Toronto in February 1916 and served overseas with the 48th Highlanders. McMillan was killed on August 8, 1918. The collection consists of one photograph of McMillan, photographs of the Colonsay War Memorial and of his CWGC headstone.
Ira Layton Holmes was born on Prince Edward Island in July, 1893. Holmes enlisted in Regina, Saskatchewan in January, 1915 and served overseas. The collection currently consists of two letters, a short diary from 1916, photographs, and miscellaneous items.
John Labatt Scatcherd, MC, was born in Batavia, New York State, in October 1895. At sometime prior to 1914 he immigrated to London, Ontario, where he enlisted in July 1916. He served overseas in France and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in 1917. He was killed in action September 3, 1918. The collection consists of five letters written from 1914 to 1915, and one photograph.
Arthur Louis Sedgwick was born in November 1920, the son of Thomas and Jane Sedgwick of Toronto, Ontario. Sedgwick was a pilot with the 419 Squadron during the war. On the night of November 18, 1943 he was flying a Halifax on a return mission from Mannheim when the plane went into a dive. Sedgwick remained at the controls while the rest of the crew evacuated safely, but was unable to escape himself before the plane crashed. He was twenty three years of age at the time of his death. The collection currently consists of more than twenty letters, as well as photographs and miscellaneous documents.
External links:
Flight Sergeant Arthur Louis Sedgwick’s service record (Serv/Reg# R141113) 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 Sedgwick can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Bertram "Bert" Parker enlisted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in August, 1941. He was 23 years of age. During the war Parker served overseas with the 420 "Snowy Owl" Squadron, R.C.A.F. The collection currently consist of more than one hundred photographs from his time with the R.C.A.F.
James Simeon Bicknell was born in Birmingham, England, in August 1888. Bicknell immigrated to Canada sometime before the war, residing in Calgary. He enlisted in December 1914 in Calgary, Alberta, and served overseas with the 50th Battalion. The collection currently consist of his paybook, a notebook, and his discharge certificate.
Thomas Poolton was born in Birmingham, England, in May 1888. At some time prior to the war Poolton immigrated to Canada and enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1914. He served overseas with the 20th Battalion and was wounded in 1916 as indicated by the postcards to him. The collection consists of a number of postcards to Poolton, as well as a number of miscellaneous items.
Gunner Walter James Lantz was born in Pinette, Prince Edward Island, on February 2, 1881, to parents Joseph T. and Bessie Lantz. Prior to WWI he served two years in the Militia with the 82nd Regiment (Abegweit Light Infantry).
Lantz enlisted with the 98th Canadian Siege Battery (C.S.B.) in Charlottetown, P.E.I., on October 6, 1915. Shipping for England on board the S.S. Lapland in late November, he proceeded to France in late May of 1916, where he continued to serve with the 98th C.S.B. until he was killed in action by a German shell on July 12, 1916. Lantz was buried at Dartmoor Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt, France.
After Lantz was killed, his old school friend and fellow 98th C.S.B. soldier Lieutenant James Parker Hooper (later promoted to Major) made a memorial photo album for Lantz’s parents with pictures of Walter and other members of the 98th taken in and around the front-line trenches in the Somme/Mametz region of France. The photographs were taken by Hooper and Lantz in the weeks immediately preceding Lantz’s death in July of 1916. Images of each page of the album, including both the text and photographs, have been posted with transcriptions in the Collection Contents “Album” section; additionally, larger views of each of the photographs have been posted separately in the Collection Contents “Photos” section.
More information about the album’s creator can be found on the WWI Collection page of Major James Parker Hooper, MC.
Several other members of the 98th C.S.B. who appear in the album’s photographs have been identified as: Gunner Ernest Franklin Kelly (page 4); Major William Stephen Trenholme (page 7); Major Temple William Faber MacDonald’s (page 8); Sergeant Percy Wilfred MacNevin (page 8). The crosses in the forefront of page eleven’s photograph of Dartmoor Cemetery mark the graves of two soldiers of the 4th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, United Kingdom: Corporal B.A.G. Creasey and Private James Sharpe.
External links:
Gnr. Lantz’s service record (Serv/Reg# 92921) 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 Lantz can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Major James Parker Hooper’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned*).
Gnr. Ernest Franklin Kelly’s service record (Serv/Reg# 92875).
Major Temple William Faber MacDonald’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned*).
Sgt. Percy Wilfred MacNevin’s service record (Serv/Reg# 92891).
Major William Stephen Trenholme’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned*).
Cpl. B.A.G. Creasey’s burial information, Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Pte. James Sharpe’s burial information, Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
*[WWI officers were not routinely assigned Service/Regimental #s]
[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated September 2022. Some additional materials have been added and some changes to categorization of Collection Contents have been made; transcription of the album’s written content has been added; photo descriptions have been reviewed and expanded.]
Thomas Roy Stevenson was born in Lower Woodstock, New Brunswick, in 1888. During the war he joined the British Army as a sapper. The collection consists of four letters written to his sister and brother in Lower Woodstock in 1917 and 1918.
Ronald MacKinnon was born on August 27, 1893, and enlisted in Toronto on September 10, 1915, serving first with the 81st Battalion. The unit went overseas in April 1916, but was broken up to reinforce other battalions, with Ronald being transferred to the Royal Canadian Regiment. He reached France in June, and shortly thereafter was wounded in the fighting at Sanctuary Wood, near Ypres. In November 1916 he was passed fit for duty and was posted to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Private Ronald MacKinnon was killed in action at Vimy Ridge on April 9 -10, 1917. The collection currently consists of thirty nine letters and two photographs. See also the collections of his uncle William and his brother Archibald MacKinnon.
Lieutenant Ivan Clark Maharg was born in Teeswater, Ontario, in 1897 and enlisted in Brandon, Manitoba, in March 1916. He served in France with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (Saskatchewan Regiment). Maharg was killed in France September 29, 1918, at the age of 21. The collection consists of one extended letter, his diary from 1918, and five photographs.
Norvin Smith Crawford served with the 8th Princess Louise's (New Brunswick) Hussars, R.C.A.C., 5th Canadian Armoured Division as a tank driver. Crawford was killed in Italy on September 1, 1944 at the age of 28. The collection currently consists of one photograph of Crawford and one letter from his commanding officer to Crawford's fiance Grace Fulton describing the circumstances of his death.
External links:
Trooper Norvin Smith Crawford’s service record (Serv/Reg# G117) 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 Crawford can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
John Ernest Fitzgerald, DFM, was born on January 27, 1925, the son of John and Effie Fitzgerald of New Westminster, British Columbia. Fitzgerald served as a Flight Sergeant in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was killed August 27, 1944 when his Lancaster was shot down. Fitzgerald and all the crew members are buried in Denmark. The collection consists of more than forty letters, twelve photographs, telegrams, and other personal items.
External links:
Flight Sergeant John Ernest Fitzgerald’s service record (Serv/Reg# R215210) 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 Fitzgerald can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
More information about the crash in which Fitzgerald was killed can be found on the Danish site dedicated to Fallen Allied Airmen www.airmen.dk.
George Henry Redman was born in Norfolk, England, in September 1892. He enlisted in Pincher Creek, Alberta, in February 1915. Redman served overseas with the Fort Garry Horse until his death in April 1918. The collection consists of more than thirty letters from Redman to members of his family, as well as photographs, postcards, and telegrams.
John McLean was born in Sault St. Marie, Michigan, in 1894. He later moved to Echo Bay, Ontario, where he enlisted in January 1916 and then served overseas in France. He was killed in action February 2, 1917. The collection consists of more than thirty letters.
Archibald (Archie) Polson was born in Gimli, Manitoba. Polson enlisted at Gimli in February 1916, and was later transferred overseas with the 2nd Divisional Machine Gun Corps. Polson served in France, including the battle of Vimy Ridge. At Vimy he was wounded, resulting in the amputation of his arm. While almost fully recovered from his wound he contracted tetanus and died on September 1, 1917, and was buried in England. The online collection currently consists of twenty four letters exchanged between himself and his mother. The complete Polson collection is housed at The University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections and the materials contained herein are used with their permission.. The Project greatly appreciates the cooperation and assistance of The University of Manitoba in making these letters available.
Levi Dendoff was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, in October 1898. Dendoff enlisted in Nanaimo with the 102nd Battalion in February 1916 and served overseas until his return to Nanaimo at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of more than a dozen postcards, some photographs, and images of a trench art souvenier.
John Sinclair Matthews was born on Prince Edward Island in October 1897, and sometime prior to the war he and his family moved to Chatham, New Brunswick. Matthews enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1916. He served overseas in France and Belgium, and was killed at Passchendaele on October 31, 1917. The collection consists of two letters, a greeting card, and two pages of his pay record.
Trooper Val Max Harold Rimer was born in Toronto, Ontario, on February 8, 1923. His family later moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
He served in World War II with the 2nd Armoured Regiment, Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians). Shipped overseas in 1943 aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth, Rimer fought in the Italian Campaign, where he took part in the Battle for the Melfa River, and then in Belgium and Holland. Following the end of the war Rimer returned to Canada in 1946, travelling once again aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth.
In 2005 Rimer received the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation award in recognition of his work “in numerous community initiatives devoted to the care and support of Veterans.”
Content notes:
The collection’s only letter was written by Rimer to his mother in December of 1943.
Please note: there is some uncertainty regarding Rimer’s full name. In the collection’s letter his name was written with his service number and rank as “Rimer, M.H.” and the letter signed as “Max.” Following the war it appears that the name he went by publicly was “Val Rimer,” which, for example, is the name in which his Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation was issued. The collection name incorporates both war-time and post-war name formats.
External links:
Tpr. Val Rimer’s service record (Serv/Reg# H102549) is not currently open to public access through Library and Archives Canada.
Rimer’s receipt of the Government of Canada’s Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation.
[Editor’s note: Collection updated July/2023. One new postcard added, letter transcription reviewed and jpg files added, duplicate letter posting error corrected, and Collection Description updated. The collection name was originally posted as “Rimer, Val”.]
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.
Joseph Barnes, MM, was born in Nottinghamshire, England, in February 1892. Barnes emmigrated to Canada prior to war and enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, on November 11, 1914. He served overseas with the 19th Battalion until his discharge in February 1919. Barnes was wounded in 1917, and was also awarded the Military Medal. The collection currently consists of his paybook, photographs and postcards, letters, and other miscellaneous items connected to his service.
John Jackson Beck was born in Sheffield, England, in June 1882. Prior to the war Beck worked as an architect in England, Toronto, and New York before serving with the 32nd Siege Battery. Beck was a prolific writer, writing several hundered letters betweeen 1915 and his demobilization in April 1919.
Albert Norman Gould was born on July 19, 1923, the son of Albert and Dorothy Gould of Toronto, Ontario. He enlisted with the RCAF in early 1943. Following his training in Canada, Pilot Officer Gould was posted overseas in 1944. Gould was flying with the 101st Squadron when he and his crew were shot down over Speck, Germany on November 4, 1944. He and his crew are buried at the Rheinberg War Cemetery in Germany. The collection currently consists of thirty-seven letters.
External links:
Pilot Officer Albert Norman Gould’s service record (Serv/Reg# J95288) 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 Gould can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Thomas (Tom) Peter Scandiffio was born on April 12, 1912 and served as a Warrant Officer Class II with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war. Thomas was killed June 16, 1943. The collection consists of more than twenty letters written home by Tom as well as official correspondence relating to his death. See also the correspondence of his brother Frank.
External links:
Warrant Officer Thomas Peter Scandiffio’s service record (Serv/Reg# R102787) 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 Scandiffio can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
