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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The collection of Canadian War Diaries of the First World War published by Library and Archives Canada is a wonderful resource for researchers. Unit diaries, when used in conjunction with service records, regimental histories […]
2014 marks the centenary of the First World War and over the next four years there will be hundreds if not thousands of events commemorating the occasion. Many will take […]
I have a new mystery to unravel and it involves a Staff Sergeant from the 50th Battalion CEF. Identifying”Jack” should have been relatively straight-forward but this has proven not to […]
Photo: City of Vancouver Archives, Ref: AM54-S4-: VLP 76.9 The St. Helens Roll of Honour website have created a tribute page to St. Helens born Lieutenant William Lea Cook. Cook died […]
Matt Liddell The second candidate for the Mysterious Uncle Mat is Durham-born Matthew Liddell. He was born to Matthew and Isabella (nee Pickles) Liddell on July 6, 1896 and, like […]
Matthew Lynn Matthew Lynn was born on January 9th, 1895 in Stevenston, near the Clyde Estuary on Scotland’s west coast. He was one of 8 children and could have been “Uncle Mat” to many nieces and nephews. Matthew’s father James and his older brother William were employed as dynamite workers […]
Doing Our Bit 