72nd Battalion Regimental History

Regimental Histories and War Diaries are a wonderful resource when researching a soldier of the First World War. When used in conjunction with a soldier’s Service Record they provide a wealth of valuable background material that can be used to reconstruct the movements and experiences of your soldier.

Unfortunately Regimental Histories are hard to find and often quite expensive when you do lay your hands on a copy. It’s not unusual to see them sell for well over $100 each and this is hard to justify if you are only researching one or two soldiers from a regiment. There are alternatives of course. Archive CD Books Canada offers digitized versions on CD for $20-30 each (currently on sale for 50% off) and FindMyPast.com includes many Regimental Histories as part of it’s Canadian collection. Subscriptions typically run $20-$30 per month although you will also gain access to a wealth of other records.

The good news is that Canadian Military Histories, a joint venture between the University of Calgary and The Military Museums of Calgary, provides FREE access to a wonderful selection of military reference material. Canadian Military Histories covers all Canadian conflicts however I’ve included direct links to all the current WW1 titles in the list below. I’ll maintain this list on my new WW1 Canadian Reference Books page.

The good news continues because these reference books are searchable. Ten years ago I needed the help of the Royal Montreal Regiment’s archivist in order to find a reference to my great-grandfather. Today I can discover this fact using a simple search of the digitized edition of the Royal Montreal Regiment, 14th Battalion, C.E.F., 1914-1925.

A big thank you to the folks at Canadian Military Histories for making this possible!

Regimental Histories (in numerical order)

• 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles (British Columbia Horse) in France and Flanders (1932)
• 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, 1914-1919, The (1926)
• Stretcher-bearers– at the double! : history of the Fifth Canadian Field Ambulance which served overseas during the Great War of 1914-1918 (1937)
• Winnipeg Rifles, 8th Battalion, C.E.F. allied with the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own) : fiftieth anniversary, 1883-1933, The (1933)
• The Story of the Tenth Canadian Battalion, 1914-1917 (1918?, note: this is on the Internet Archive)
• Diary of the Eleventh Canadian Field Ambulance (1919)
• 13th Battalion Royal Highlanders of Canada, 1914-1919, The (1925)
• Royal Montreal Regiment, 14th Battalion, C.E.F., 1914-1925, The (1927)
• History of the the 16th Battalion (the Canadian Scottish) Canadian Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1919, The (1932)
• History of the Twentieth Canadian Battalion (Central Ontario Regiment) : Canadian Expeditionary Force, in the Great War, 1914-1918, The (1935)
• Histoire du 22e bataillon canadien-francias. Tome 1, 1914-1919 (1952, en Francais)
• 42nd Battalion C.E.F. Royal Highlanders of Canada, The (1931)
• Story of the Sixty-Sixth C.F.A. (1919)
• History of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada (1920)
• Royal Canadian Regiment, 1883-1933, The (1936)
• Short Memoirs of the Third Canadian Divisional Mechanical Transport Company (1919)
• C.A.M.C. with the Canadian Corps during the last hundred days of the Great War (1924)
• Canadian “Emma Gees” : a history of the Canadian machine gun corps, The (1938)

Government Publications (in chronological order)

• Quarterly Militia list of the Dominion of Canada : corrected to 30th June, 1914, The (1914)
• Two years of war : as viewed from Ottawa (1916)
• Report of the Ministry, Overseas Military Forces of Canada, 1918 (1919)

Honour Rolls (in chronological order)

• Roll of honour, British Columbia Land Surveyors, the Great War, 1914-1918 (1920)
• Letters from the front : being a record of the part played by officers of the bank in the Great War, 1914-1919. Vol. 1 (1920)
• Letters from the front : being a record of the part played by officers of the bank in the Great War, 1914-1919. Vol. 2 (1920)
• Five strenuous years : the McGill chapter of Alpha Delta Phi during the Great War (1920)
• War book of Upper Canada College, Toronto, The (1923)
• McGill University at war : 1914-1918, 1939-1945 (1947)

Other Great War Accounts (in chronological order)

• Thrilling stories of the Great War on land and sea, under the water, in the air : with vivid descriptions by eyewitnesses on the firing line (1915)
• With the First Canadian Contingent (1915)
• Red watch with the First Canadian Division in Flanders, The by Col. J.A. Currie (1916)
• Private Peat by Harold R. Peat (1917)
• Surgeon in arms, A (1918)
• Mopping up! by Lieut. Jack Monroe (1918)
• Kaiser’s guest, The by Private Frank McDonald, 1st CMR (1918)
• Holding the Line by Sergeant Harold Baldwin (1918)
• Our heroes in the Great World War : giving facts and details of Canada’s part in the greatest war in history (1919)
• Nova Scotia’s part in the Great War (1920)
• Canadian front in France and Flanders, The (1920)
• Piper in peace and war, The (1927)
• Only this : a war retrospect (1927)
• Thirteen Years After by Will R Bird (1932)
• Number 4 Canadian Hospital : the letters of Professor J.J. Mackenzie from the Salonika front (1933)
• Red Chevron. Number one, 1914 (1934)
• Our bit : memories of war service by A Canadian Nursing Sister (1934)
• Short story of the 37th Battalion, Haldimand Rifles, and of the 114th Battalion, Canadian Edpeditionary Force, for overseas service, in the first Great War
• Souvenir 210th Battalion, C.E. F. Reunion, January 28th, 1920, Moose Jaw, Sask (via ourroots.ca)
• Canada’s Black Battalion : No. 2 Construction, 1916-1920 by Calvin W. Ruck (via ourroots.ca)
• I, That’s Me : Escape from a German Prison Camp and Other Adventures by Peter Anderson (via ourroots.ca)