The artist of this wonderful pen and ink Christmas card is Rupert Henry Vaughan. Vaughan, a civil engineer, emigrated from England in 1908 and worked in Nelson, British Columbia before settling on Vancouver Island. He worked in the surveying department for the E&N Railway before joining the 1st Pioneer Battalion […]
I’ve updated my WW1 Canadian War Diaries page to include diaries for both the 9th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops (pdf, 99mb) and 1st Pioneer Battalion (pdf, 71mb). The 1st Pioneer Battalion was formed in Victoria, BC in July 1915 and recruited “good husky chaps” from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba “who […]
I don’t know who they are but I like their expressions and thought this postcard was worth sharing. The only thing know about this group of Artillery men is that […]
This Christmas card was sent from Driver John Fleming of the Canadian Army Service Corps to his wife back in Saskatchewan. The couple were both from Scotland but emigrated to […]
Could this be an important piece of Australian WW1 history, and if so what is it doing in Victoria … Victoria, British Columbia that is? I’m hoping readers from Australia […]
This small photo (view larger version here), with 17 signatures on the back, was owned by Driver John Fleming who is seated with his arms folded in the lower right […]
This well worn programme commemorates a concert held near the front lines just before Christmas 1915. It names 44 officers, NCOs and men from the First Brigade Canadian Mounted Rifles. The brigade […]
In early November I attended the launch of a new website called A City Goes To War. The event, held at the University of Victoria, included announcements on several other […]
A simple Christmas card saved by Private John Denholm of the 16th Battalion Canadian Scottish and pasted into a scrapbook after the war. Denholm joined the 79th The Queen’s Own […]
We’ll never know exactly what the Liddell brothers were thinking when they made their way down Peel Street towards the 148th Battalion recruiting office on January 31, 1916. The rain […]
