On Twitter a user (@Charlie_WW1) retweeted a tweet of mine, and as habit is, I went to the profile to check it out. I found a treasure trove of historical information regarding a soldier, Charley Bailey, through the transcription of his letters home. Site located here. These sites are a labour of love and should... Continue Reading →
Updates on Blog
The journey continues... The organization taken to create some form of record keeping and organization for the soldiers' information has paid off dividends. I have tried to be more consistent in formatting the pages of the soldiers entered into the blog and have also tried to maintain this consistency with the inclusion of the Attestation... Continue Reading →
New Soldiers Pages as of February 2, 2015
Rowland, Arthur Edwin: Service no. 769139 McGovern, William: Service no. 226609 Campbell, John: Serivice no. 53324 Elliot, Robert Gordon: Lieutenant White, David Thomas: Service no. 53752 McInerney, Charles George: Service no. 657509 Bowen, Vincent: Service no. 53998 Ambrous, Archibald Charles: Service no. 53994 Snowdon, Johnston Lawrence: Service no. 651679 Berry, Ewart Gladstone: Service no. 675676... Continue Reading →
A SOLDIER AND A MAN
GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THE FLAG HE LOVED Pte. Herbert Morgan, Beloved Veteran, Dead in France SERVED EMPIRE FOR 22 YEARS Letter from "Pal" Tells of His Death and Funeral Greater love hath no man for his King and country than Pte. Herbert Morgan, of 23 Cartwright street, who game his live on May 1... Continue Reading →
Tips on Searching for Soldiers Who Did Not Perish in the War
Introduction The relative ease with which one can find basic biographical information regarding a Canadian soldier that was killed or died during World War 1 available because of the many online resources and databases is in sharp contrast to the work required for a soldier who survived the war. The original intent of this blog... Continue Reading →
Anatomy of a Soldier’s Page
Introduction In a recent post updating this blog and its progress Marika Pirie posted a picture on Twitter that initiated this post. Hopefully post will help others in their work to discovering soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces that they are researching. This post will show step-by-step the process taken to create a Soldier's Page... Continue Reading →
Update on Blog
The blog is progressing well and I am learning a lot along the way. At this time I have approximately 44 soldiers to be added to the Soldiers Pages in the blog where I have done the initial research and now need to go back and redo the research and properly document this in a... Continue Reading →
New Soldier Pages as of January 5, 2015
Ludwig, Aaron Gilbert: Service no. 126835 Atherton, Peter: Service no. 406465 Hatcher, Charles Robert: Service no. 489238 Hatcher, Charles Robert: Service no. 489238 Moore, Edward T.: Service no. 802016 Brown, John: Service no. 54333 Skilton, Lloyd Tom: Service no. 409655 Johnson, Harold Bainbridge: Lieutenant Parker, Arthur Cuthbert: Service no. 675437 Newton, Frank: Service no. 2334334... Continue Reading →
Hoskins, Frederick William: Service no. 524246
One of the great joys of my career is I get to meet many people and a lot of them identify with my passion for history and either have a small idea of the contributions their family members had made in World War 1, or they have a more complete idea as they have had... Continue Reading →
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,100 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people. Click here to... Continue Reading →
The Christmases of the 18th Battalion
The 18th Battalion's formation began in the latter part if 1914 after the 1st Canadian Contingent set sail. 3 days after the 1st Canadian Contingent set sail the then Governor General of Canada, H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught, sent a telegram to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and offer by the Dominion of... Continue Reading →
New and Modified Soldiers Pages as of December 16, 2014
Rayward, Theodore Oswald Hampton: Service no. 53279 Mewburn, John Chilton: Lieutenant Morrison, Gordon Fraser: Major Humphreys, John: Service no. 413050 Wiese, Harold John: Service no. 802732 Underwood, Clayton Elmer: Service no. 3131734 Stewart, James Charlton: Service no. 53970 Riley, Charles Herbert: Service no. 730379 Osborne, Albert Edward: Service no. 730713 Lee, John: Service no.... Continue Reading →
New and Modified Soldiers Pages as of December 6, 2014
The research forges ahead... Cater, Archibald Leonard: Service no. 730648 Bartleman, Scott: Serivce no. 730043 Aikens, John Wilson: Service no. 54125 McClinton, William Sinclair: Lieutenant Mackedie, Alan Reginald: Lieutenant CAPTAIN STUART LOWHALL GUNN: Captain Gunn was born in 1891, and received his early education in London, Ontario. He entered R.M.C. in 1909 and graduated in... Continue Reading →
A Scratching on a Wall in France
Private Archibald Leonard Cater joined the 18th Battalion on March 31, 1916 and served with the Battalion in France until the day he died 1 day after being wounded on October 1, 1918 in the Arras sector. At sometime before his death he left a stark reminder of his existence: an inscription on what appears... Continue Reading →
The Waterloo Region Record Creates Permanent Record of Region’s Soldiers
The Waterloo Region Record has created a permanent record of all the soldiers from the Waterloo Region who sacrificed their lives. The record include 455 men and one woman combatant and the site has some great info-graphics and the source file in Excel format that is downloadable. It is an amazing amount of work and... Continue Reading →
New and Modified Soldiers Pages as of December 2, 2014
Put a big push on to get all the soldiers in my database that had service numbers attached to them completed. At this time I have approximately 20 soldiers, all officers, mostly found in the War Diary that need to be researched and entered. The new soldiers are: McMullin, Leonard Calvin: Service no. 844831 Tobicoe,... Continue Reading →
The Great War Law Student Memorial Project
The Law Society of Upper Canada had put together a comprehensive list of the law students who served and gave their lives for Canada. Captain (ret'd) E. Patrick Shea, a partner of Gowlings Lafleur Henderson LLP, proposed this project to the Society and 59 men are listed in this amazing work. The Memorial Project also... Continue Reading →
New and Modified Soldiers Pages as of November 27, 2014
These are the soldiers' pages created since November 27, 2014. Please take time to view them and remember them. Of particular interest will be 18th Battalion snipers Crookshanks and Siddle. First, these are the first identified snipers in the Battalion that I have found. There is an interesting resource written by, possibly, the father of... Continue Reading →
“…the most severe conditions possible.”
Corporal Frank Bryant died on November 9, 1917 along with 14 other comrades from the 18th Battalion. They were only a portion of the 45 men of other ranks killed along with a further 6 officers and 60 other ranks wounded and 1 officer and 25 other ranks gassed in Passchendaele. Thus over only 5... Continue Reading →
Lest We Forget
The 11th has passed. Are you still remembering the fallen, the damaged, the people who serve and are serving?
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 