Bristol & The War – Oct. 17, 1914
Last year I purchased ten issues of an interesting journal called Bristol and the War. It was originally issued fortnightly for a penny however by the autumn of 1915 it had […]
Author Archives
Jakealoo
Valentine Hitchcock – Part 1
Valentine Hitchcock Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 The inspiration behind this research was a four page letter written by a son to his mother several weeks after the […]
Who Goes There? With My Best Pal
One of my favourite real photo postcards and a wonderful example of the strong friendships forged during the First World War. I have no idea who these soldiers are but […]
Nominal Rolls for the Canadian Expeditionary Force
Note: this article has been replaced by an updated Nominal Rolls of the Canadian Expeditionary Force post. A Nominal Roll is a list of the Officers, NCOs and Men who served in a unit of the CEF at a specific point in time. They were often compiled prior to a […]
Who Goes There? All aboard for the Western Front
Unfortunately there is nothing written on the back of this real photo postcard to identify the train station or the regiment these soldiers belonged to. The cap badge worn by […]
Canadian WW1 Military Histories
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 […]
Great War Portraits by Keith Collman
Photo credit: Alfred Charles “Alf” Razzell, © Keith Collman I celebrate my half-centenary in 2014 and one of my greatest regrets is not having had a conversation with a Great […]
Christmas at the Front – Merry Christmas everyone!
A brief post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Should you be looking for ideas on what to serve at your First World War […]
Christmas at the Front – Rupert Henry Vaughan
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 […]
War Diaries – 9th Btn Railway Troops & 1st Pioneer Btn
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 […]