New CEF Collection on Fold3 - An Overview

Just over a month ago Fold3 added a new collection to their site, the "Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1919" collection. When this collection was first released I found that there was a bit of confusion in several Facebook groups I frequent and in some blogs as to what it held.

Like any collection that is new to me on the various genealogy sites I try to find a collection overview or description. On Fold3 they make it easy:

Screen capture from Fold3 for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1919 collection.

Note that it doesn't say personnel records or service files. For those records you can search the "Canada, World War I CEF Personnel Files, 1914-1918" collection on Ancestry or the Personnel Records of the First World War database on Library and Archives Canada (LAC). I will often use the Ancestry collection as my initial starting place just because the Ancestry search engine is more flexible when it comes to name searches than the system on Library and Archives Canada. However, once I have the regiment number I will go the LAC database to download the available service file as a PDF instead of the individual images of the pages as found on Ancestry.

You might also see that the overview page on Fold3 provides a starting template for your source citation (always a nice thing to do), and the "Content Source". It was the content source that got my attention. The documents came from the Internet Archive, one of the favourite places on the Internet for free, generally out of copyright or public domain, material. A search on "Subject:(Canadian Expeditionary Force)" on the Internet Archive returns 151 results.

Yet if all this stuff is free on the Internet Archive why should I use a pay site like Fold3 to look at the same material?

For me, it is a trade off between time and money.

Let's look at an example. In this case, I'm interested in learning more about my McKinlay relatives that served in the First World War for Canada. I know of the following, all sons of Samuel McKinlay and Elizabeth Murdoch residing in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, that joined the CEF:

• Samuel McKinlay, 7656
• William Hamilton McKinlay, 111575
• Francis Murdoch McKinlay, 195145
  

I had already retrieved their service files from Library and Archives Canada so I knew when and where they enlisted, their service details, and in the case of Samuel, when and where he died. However, I'm always interested to see what else I can learn about their service.

When I searched the Fold3 "Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1919" collection I used "McKinl?y" as the name since I know that it is often written as "McKinley".

I found "Samuel McKinley" recorded in the "1st Canadian Contingent of British Expeditionary Force" unit as being in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Brigade, "A" Company. Using the virtual filmstrip icon at the bottom of the image I quickly moved to the start of the book where I found that the title is "List of Officers and Men Serving in the First Canadian Contingent of the British Expeditionary Force, 1914". Yes, that book is on the Internet Archive, but to find Samuel McKinlay on the Internet Archive I would have had to have known to look in that one book and to read possibly the 364 page (includes the cover) to locate his entry. Fold3 took a few seconds to bring up the page.

For Francis, AKA Frank, his entry was found in the "Canadian Expeditionary Force 93rd Battalion Nominal Roll of Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men". Unlike Samuel's entry which only had his regimental number, if I didn't have Franks details I would have learned that he was formerly with the 57th Regiment, his next of kind was Mrs. Catherine Wallace McKinlay and her address was 310 Margaret Ave., Peterboro', Ont. He was born in Scotland and taken on strength with the 93rd on 31 Aug 1915. Oh, and his all important regimental number was 195145.

Could I have found Francis in that book on the Internet Archives? Sure. But his name is 11 pages in (at least it is alphabetical) and I would have to know that he was in the 93th Battalion.

You might also come across some war diaries. I stumbled up on the transcriptions of the war diaries of the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade. Yes, there are digitized originals available from Library and Archives Canada with search instructions on their "War Diaries of the First World War" page but you have to manually find the applicable diary via the Collection Search and then read each page i nthe hopes of finding a name of interest to you. Having some of the transcribed war diaries available and searchable might help you learn if a relative was mentioned.

Sometimes, if you are really lucky, the regimental books and histories might have a picture of your ancestor like that of the Photographic Record and Souvenir of the Canadian Grenadier Guards Overseas Battalion "Eighty Seventh" from 1916.

Fold3, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1919 (/title/1094/canadian-expeditionary-force-1915-1919 :accessed September 23, 2020), database and images, https://www.fold3.com/title/1094/canadian-expeditionary-force-1915-1919; Photographic Record and Souvenir of the Canadian Grenadier Guards Overseas Battalion "Eighty Seventh", p 35

This collection of Fold3 doesn't give the sort of details found in the service file but you may uncover additional information about your relative that served in the First World War for Canada. It is one more collection in your Canadian genealogy research toolkit.

Mere Boy (or is he?) But Dies Like Man

As a new family history researcher or genealogist we often take certain records and bits of information as gospel. We very quickly discover that the spelling of names varies, ages can easily differ by several years, and the locations of events may be called by different places depending on the time.

Yet two sources are still commonly treated as if they must always be correct: grave markers and newspaper articles. In my post from 2013, "Zombie in the census?" I dispelled the notion that grave markers are always correct and that the dates chiselled on them need to be verified through other documents. However, what about newspaper articles? I'm not talking about death notices or obituaries¹ but articles written by journalists to highlight a newsworthy event that affected our ancestor.

Let's look into this article about the death of Private Walter J. Hayes from the November 9th, 1916 edition of The Ottawa Citizen:

"Mere Boy But Dies Like Man," The Ottawa Citizen, 9 Nov 1916, p. 10, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 Jul 2019).

The headline would definitely get a reader's attention, especially the part under the all capital letters, "Sixteen Year Old Walter Hayes Ready to Do Duty. Ottawans in Casualties." The article starts off with:

"Pte. Walter J. Hayes, sixteen years of age, youngest member of his battalion and one of the youngest members of the Canadian forces serving in the ranks overseas, has made the supreme sacrifice on the field of action, "somewhere in France."

That is quite the claim and would mean that Walter was born about 1900 and probably would have lied about his age when he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Not unheard of but we really need to do our due diligence in our research to confirm this very important detail in the article.

For attestation papers from the First World War for those that served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force my go to site is the Library and Archives Canada page "Personnel Record of the First World War". On that site one cannot only see the attestation papers but also download a PDF copy of the surviving service file. Searching for Walter Hayes returns 8 entries but in the article they say his name is "Walter J. Hayes" and there is a Walter Joseph Hayes, regiment number 177799, listed in the search results. A quick check of the other "Walter Hayes" listed show that they either enlisted too late to be our Walter J. Hayes or they lived and enlisted in the wrong place. So seem that Walter Joseph Hayes is the one we want. It helps that the next of kin address on his attestation matches that of his mother, Mrs. Margaret Hayes of 391 Cooper Street, that was provided in the article. Only one "minor" issue...he stated in his attestation that he was born "Aug. 4th.,1896." when he enlisted in Ottawa on November 19th, 1915.

Library and Archives Canada, "Personnel Records of the First World War," database, Library and Archives Canada (www.bac-lac.gc.ca : accessed 29 Jun 2019), Attestation Paper; citing the service file for Walter Joseph Hayes, regimental number 177799, RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4188 - 51.

That makes him 19 years and 3 months old when he enlisted. Definitely not the 16 years old when he died between the 21st and 22nd of October, 1916². But did he lie about his age to serve? Where else can we look? How about the census enumerations of Canada? If he was born in 1900 then in the 1901 census he would be recorded as being 0 or 1 years of age. Fortunately the article goes on to list the names of several siblings of Walter: Edward J., John P., and Miss Margaret P., along with his mother Margaret. This can help with our searching.

Using Ancestry.ca we find the family with the surname recorded as "Hays"³ living in the Wellington Ward census sub-district of Ottawa:

1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 100, sub-district G-4, Ottawa, p. 12, dwelling 106, family 106, Household of John Hays; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 Jun 2019); citing Library and Archive Canada microfilm T-6488.

There in that census it is recorded that he was born on August 5th, 1897 in Ontario. Hmmm...5th instead of the 4th and 1897 and not 1896. Well at least he isn't listed as being born in 1900. That means that he isn't 16 years old when he died or even enlisted. One thing to keep in mind that the birth date listed in the census isn't always right. It all depended on who answered the questions and if they remembered the details correctly. I've personally found that the birthday has been wrong more times than right in the 1901 census of Canada.

Can we find a birth registration or baptism record for Walter James Hayes to clear up the mystery of when he was born since we have two possible birth dates for him?

I couldn't find an Ontario birth registration record for him but I did find a baptism record for him in the records for St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Fallowfield:

Saint Patrick Roman Catholic Church (Fallowfield, Ontario, Canada), p. 61, B. 15,  baptism of Walter Joseph Hayes, 22 Aug 1897; FHL microfilm 1,302,152, item 5.

"On the twenty second day of August in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety seven We the undersigned Parish Priest of this parish baptized Walter Joseph born on the 4th inst of the lawful marriage of John Hayes and Margaret Weathers of this parish. The godfather was James Hayes and the godmother was Ann Wallace who have declared that they cannot sign
   J A Sloan Pt"

With the baptism taking place on August 22nd, 1897, a few weeks after he was born on the "4th instant⁴" it means that it is highly likely that he was born in August 4th, 1897. A combination of the dates recorded in the census and his attestation papers.

With all that information now in our possession we now know that he was 18 years and 3 months old when he enlisted in the C.E.F. and 19 years and 2 months old when he died in the Great War. Did someone stretch the truth when writing the article or providing the "facts" to the journalist? We will never know.


This means that even in newspaper articles, like with any document which provides information about our ancestors, we just can't take the "facts" at face value. We need to dig deeper to see if we can confirm what has been recorded.

---

1. Which can have their own challenges.

2. Library and Archives Canada, "Personnel Records of the First World War," database, Library and Archives Canada (www.bac-lac.gc.ca : accessed 29 Jun 2019), Casualty Form - Active Service; citing the service file for Walter Joseph Hayes, regimental number 177799, RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4188 - 51.

3. Remember what I said at the start that the spelling of names can vary?

4. See https://blog.genealogybank.com/understanding-terms-found-in-historical-newspapers.html for a great explanation of terms you may find in newspapers, and in our case a baptism, such as "instant" and "ultimo".

Canadian First World War Resources - A Recap

Many of us in Canada have a connection to a relative or ancestor that fought or served in the First World War. With this year's Remembrance Day also commemorating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice I thought it was important to look at some of the resources available to us when doing our genealogy and family history research for those that fought or served during the Great War.

Library and Archives Canada

The first place I always recommend is the First World War landing page at the Library and Archives Canada web site. Take the time to look through the various resources available either online or onsite. Some of the resources include:

• Canadian Expeditionary Force
• Aboriginal Soldiers
• Royal Newfoundland Regiment and Newfoundland Forestry Corps
• Imperial War Service Gratuity files
• Non-Permanent Active Militia
• Royal Canadian Navy and Naval Reserve
• Nursing Sisters that served with the CEF
• Military Medals, Honours and Awards, 1812-1969

Don't forget to look at the "Published Sources"since those books can shed some light on the lives of those that served. Some of the online record collections at Library and Archives Canada might only be indices. However, often the digitized documents may be found elsewhere.

Do you have a War Bride in the family? If so, review the War Brides page at Library and Archives Canada for possible collections that you might want to check out.

The War Diaries of the First World War are not the diaries of the individual service member but daily accounts of the CEF units. Searching for the diaries for a specific unit is not a straight forward task but the results can be worth while. There you will find that serving could be days of boring routine followed by hell in the trenches. If you know the unit of your soldier and when they were injured or killed, the war diaries can often help pinpoint where the unit and quite possibly the soldier was on that date.

Maps

Once you have the service file and know where your soldier was on the group through reading the War Diaries then being able to find them on the ground during the fighting is often the next step. McMaster University has an amazing Digital Archive in their Maps Collection for the First World War. You can even look at the Trench Maps for the Western Front.

Newfoundland

FamilySearch has the digitized collection "Newfoundland military service records for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and the Newfoundland Forestry Corps, 1913-1918" available online. You will need to review the digitized index first to determine the volume and file number. Then you can go to the appropriate digitized microfilm roll to review the service records. You will also find military records and other information about Newfoundlanders in the First World War at the Newfoundland's Grand Banks site.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission helps you find where a service member that died during the Great War is buried or memorialized. You will often find the Grave Registration Report included on the page. If no body was recovered the name may be found on one of several memorials. A photo of the panel when the name is written may also be included on the page.

Memorials

Those Canadians in uniform that died during the First World War (and other wars), you can find their name inscribed in the Books of Remembrance housed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Town in Ottawa. You can search the books and view the page from the specific Book of Remembrance.

Veterans Affairs Canada houses the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. The CVWM is a registry to honour and remember the sacrifices of the Canadians and Newfoundlanders who have given their lives serving in uniform.

Ancestry

If you have a paid Ancestry subscription or you are accessing Ancestry from a library or archive then you will find a number of collections including:

• Canada, WWI CEF Personnel Files, 1914-1918 - This collection is the same as what is available directly from Library and Archives Canada. However, the individual services files at Library and Archives Canada come bundled as a PDF whereas on Ancestry you need to retrieve the individual images for each service member.
• Canada, Imperial War Service Gratuities, 1919-1921 - At the end of the First World War, all Canadian service personnel received a payment to help in the transition from military service to civilian life. In December 1919 the Canadian government decided to increase the gratuity for all Canadian residents that served with the British forces during the Great War. These are the records of applications for the increased gratuity payment. Most of the applications were from those personnel that served with the Royal Flying Corp, Royal Navy, and the British Expeditionary Force.
• England, Queen's Canadian Military Hospital Registers, 1914-1919 - This collection includes registers of admission and discharge, and rolls of patient transfers for the Queen's Canadian Military Hospital at Beachborough Park, Shorncliffe.
• U.S., Residents Serving in Canadian Expeditionary Forces, 1917-1918 - The CEF didn't just have Canadians in their ranks. Americans that didn't want to wait for the United States of America to join the war against the Central Powers also joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
• Canada, Nominal Rolls and Paylists for the Volunteer Militia, 1857-1922 - Often you will find on the CEF Attestation Papers a mention that the recruit had served in the militia. You may be able to find their name in these nominal rolls and paylists.
• Canada, War Graves Registers (Circumstances of Casualty), 1914-1948 - This database has the death and burial information for Canadian military personnel
• Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919 - The "Black Binder" registers were used to record the final resting place of those that died during the First World War in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom.
• Canada, Military Honours and Awards Citation Cards, 1900-1961 - These index cards documenting awards and honours received by service personnel may include your service member or Nursing Sister.
• Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 - Don't forget that those that served overseas needed to come back home to Canada. You will often find them in the passenger lists of the ships that were seconded to act a troop ships.

Other Collections

There is also the Military History Research Centre at the Canadian War Museum. You can search their online catalogue or make an appointment to review the onsite resources.

Was your relative or ancestor a prisoner of war during the First World War? If so, search the Prisoners of the First World War collection at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

A number of the Nominal Rolls for the Canadian Expeditionary Force have been digitized and made available on the Internet Archive by searching for "nominal roll canadian expeditionary force".

Do you have a picture of the service member and you can't figure out the badge on the uniform? Check out the "Badge Registry: The Canadian Expeditionary Force" pages.

The Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group is a group of enthusiasts with an interest in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. They have amassed a large collection of files and information concerning the CEF and are a great research when digging into the lives of service members and history of the units.

If your ancestor or relative did something particularly brave during the war they might have been "gazetted" with a mention in the Canada Gazette or London Gazette. Remember that some of the awards, honours, and medals were done post-war.

Don't forget to check the newspapers in the villages, towns, and cities that your relative or ancestor lived. Often there will be a mention of them heading off to war, returning, getting injured or killed, and also in memory post-war.

Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay of New Zealand, part 1

I'm continuing my research into the New Zealand branch of my line descended from Charles McKinlay and Jane(t) Finlay by looking at Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay.

Ancestors of Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay

The reason I got interested in him was that one of the public trees on Ancestry had the following location for his death, "Panama in route to New Zealand" in 1918. That got me curious. What was he doing going to New Zealand by way Panama? So I took a look at that tree and noticed that there was record pointing to the "UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947" collection on Ancestry. The image of the record had the following text:

REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

COROZAL AMERICAN MILITARY CEMETERY

McKINLAY, Pte. Charles Thomas Walter, 63390. Wellington Regt., N.Z.E.F. Died at sea en route to New Zealand 22nd April, 1918. Age 30. Son of Mrs. F. B. Thomas (formerly McKinlay), of Cumberland St., Dunedin; husband of Isabella McKinlay, of 54, Murray St., Caversham, Dunedin. Sect C. Row 2. Grave 14.

Hmmm, some very interesting details in that record. I knew that Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay's father, James, had died shortly after Charles birth. I hadn't realized that Johan Riddell (or Riddle as she signed it in the marriage register) had remarried. Looks like I might need to look for an F. B. Thomas and a possible marriage in New Zealand or even Australia for him to a Riddel/Riddle/McKinlay [added to my to-do list].

I now also know that he married an Isabella. I need to keep focused so I add another to-do item and that is to search for marriages to an Isabella by Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay.

Yet this record states that he died at sea not Panama but he wasn't buried at sea. Curiouser and curiouser.

So I turned to an old friend of mine for assistance, Google. I typed in Charles' full name and asked Google to search for him in the hopes something of interest might pop up. And did it as can be seen below:

Google search results for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay

So I clicked on the Auckland Museum link for the online cenotaph for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay. A treasure trove of information was displayed including a picture of Charles in uniform from the Auckland Weekly News in 1918. I wonder if I could find any mention of his death in a New Zealand newspaper. Yet another item in my to-do list, this time to search in Papers Past courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand.

But continuing with the Online Cenotaph page (keep focused!) I see all kinds of additional information about Charles and towards the bottom I see something I was least expecting. A list of the sources used to create the page:

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• Military Personnel File
• FamNet: The Family History Network record page

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission site and information I knew about and the FamNet site search didn't find anything in their search engine. But that middle one, Military Personnel File, that pointed to the Archive New Zealand web site. Have they done what Library and Archives Canada is still working on? Digitizing the service files from World War I?

Screen capture of Archives New Zealand search results for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay, 63390

Clicking on the "record online" tab on the screen and then Charles' name brought up his services file and I could download each page to my computer. Can you say a happy researcher?

Screen capture of Archive New Zealand military service file for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay

Much downloading and reading was then started. Page 2 of his file had the answer to the question of "Where did he really die?"

New Zealand, "WW1 Army Service file for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay, 63390," History Sheet; digital images, Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand, Archives New Zealand (http://archives.govt.nz/ : accessed 21 Jan 2018). 

"He died on board the H.S. [Hospital Ship] Marama during the passage through the Panama Canal at Pedro Miguel of Carcinoma Rectum 22 April 1918."

and

"Died 11 am. 22.4.16 during passage through Canal. Buried at Balboa Cem by Chap. Read with full Mil Honours. The U.S. Army supplying firing party."

So that question has been answered but what else can be found about him? That's for part 2!

Searching the Files of Rejected CEF Volunteers

Sometimes, despite everything we do and know, we can have problems when following instructions given to us by another researcher as we try to duplicate a search result. A few weeks ago I helped another researcher in her attempt to search a collection on the Library and Archives Canada web site. She had sent a query to LAC and the instructions sent back looked like they should have worked but she was just not having any luck.

It all started off with receiving instructions on how to search the Files of rejected CEF volunteers. The description of this collection, from the LAC web site, is as follows:

"Sub-series consists of personnel files belonging to CEF volunteers who were not sent beyond Valcartier, generally on medical ground. Shortly after the British declaration of war in August 1914, Canada offered an initial contingent of twenty-five thousand men for service overseas. Volunteers gathered at a hastily-erected camp at Valcartier, Québec, prior to being despatched overseas in October. Most files contain simply an attestation paper. Completed at the time of enlistment, it indicated the recruit's name and address, next-of-kin, date and place of birth, occupation and previous military service, and distinguishing physical characteristics. In the case of those rejected on medical grounds, the reason is recorded on the attestation paper."

As you can see, this collection can be quite useful in finding out more about those that volunteered yet were not fit to serve overseas.

The instructions to search this collection is to go to the Advanced Search page, enter in the MIKAN number of 136933 and also the last name. Should be simple, right?

Regrettably it wasn't. Below is my search using the MIKAN number and the last name. The initial query was to look for records concerning George John Seale in this collection. Instead of using his full last name I used '*' as a wildcard just in case there was a spelling issue. The result was not what was expected:

"Library and Archives Canada Archives Search - Advanced using MIKAN number." Library and Archives Canada.

"Library and Archives Canada Archives Search - Advanced using MIKAN number search results." Library and Archives Canada.

So where do you go from here?

I decided to just search on the MIKAN number and it brought me to the description page for that collection and I then clicked on the "3280 lower level description(s)" link to see what was going to be shown.

"Library and Archives Canada - Description of MIKAN 136933." Library and Archives Canada.

"Library and Archives Canada - MIKAN 136933 Lower Level results." Library and Archives Canada.

Now I wasn't about to go through all the 3,280 possible lower level records to look for the person that may or may not be there but what I was looking for was something that may be common to all of them. Notice that "RG9-II-B-13, R180" appears in all the search result entries. Let's give that a try for the search instead of the MIKAN number.

"Library and Archives Canada Archives Search - using RG9-II-B-13, R180." Library and Archives Canada.

"Library and Archives Canada Archives Search - using RG9-II-B-13, R180 search results." Library and Archives Canada.

That worked much better! There isn't a George Seale in the list but there is a George Searle. Since this isn't a digitized collection, without ordering the record, we don't know if this is a transcription issue or it is a different person. However, a check of the Soldiers of the First World War: 1914-1918 database would seem to indicate that there were also several George Searles that enlisted in the CEF. Unfortunately the resulting page in the "Files of rejected CEF volunteers" collection for George Searle doesn't provide a regimental number or any other descriptive details and without seeing the records we just don't know if this is the right person.

In Honour of Samuel McKinlay

A hundred years ago today or tomorrow, the date is a little uncertain, my grand-uncle Samuel McKinlay, like many others during the First World War, gave his life in the service of his country. The only picture I have of Samuel McKinlay, Jr. as an adult is that of the eldest sons found in the "The McKinlay Family" article by Bill McKinlay in A History of North Monaghan Township, 1817-1989 (Samuel Jr. is circled in red).

McKinlay, Bill. "The McKinlay Family." The North Monaghan Historical Research Committee, editor, A History of North Monaghan Township, 1817-1989. Canada: The North Monaghan Historical Research Committee, 1990. p. 99.

In a situation seen across Canada several of the McKinlay sons enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Unfortunately for Samuel he was the only one that didn't make it back home.

Sometime between April 22^nd and 23^rd, 1915 he was killed when the Canadians were brought up to fill the gap due to the lines collapsing during the Ypres Gas Attack.

So for all those that went off to fight for their country, regardless of the nation they were fighting for, yet never came home thank you for your sacrifice. For all those that have served or are still serving their country, thank you for your service.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
- John McCrae¹

---

1. John McCrae, In Flanders Fields and Other Poems. Edited by Sir Andrew Macphail, Toronto, Briggs, 1919.

Christmas in the Trenches

As part of the focus on the commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of the start of World War I this year's Sainsbury Christmas advertisement focused on the events that happened during Christmas 1914.

 

What occurred were a number of informal truces at various places along the Western Front. However, what needs to be remembered is that these truces did not extend throughout the theatre of war and there were still skirmishes occurring between Christmas Eve (December 24) and Boxing Day (December 27).

In various war diaries of the time there are hints of these events. From the The Bedfordshire Regiment in the Great War 1914 War Diary transcription:

24 Dec 1914 Relieved by Manchester Regt. at 8pm. Battn took over a section on their right from Dorset Regt. at about 9 pm. without any casualties. Wolverghem & Battn. Hd Qrs shelled by enemy. Reinforcements 69 R & File arrived.

25 Dec 1914 Christmas cards from Their Majesties the King & Queen distributed to all ranks of the Battn. Also present from Her R. Highness Princess Mary. Cold & frosty day. Quiet day. Germans semaphored over that they were not going to fire. Hard frost all day.

26 Dec 1916 Another quiet day. A little shelling by both sides. Some Germans came forward unarmed apparently with a view to friendly intercourse. A few shots fired in their direction as a hint to withdraw. Later, enemy shelled trenches & Wolverghem: damaged several rifles, but only wounded 1 man.

The personal diary of Regimental Sergeant-Major George Beck, of 1st Warwickshire Regiment, included details of those days. An image of the diary pages from the Dorset History Centre along with a transcription was included in the August 24, 2014 article "Midland soldier's poignant war diary reveals Christmas truce of December 1914" in the Birmingham Post:

24th Dec 1914 - Point 63
Quiet day. Relieved 2nd R DUB FUS [Royal Dublin Fusiliers] in the trenches in the evening. Germans shout over to us and ask us to play them at football, and also not to fire & they would do likewise. At 2 a.m. (25th) A German Band went along the trenches playing “Home, sweet Home” and God Save the King which sounded grand and made everyone think of Home. During the night several of our fellows went over “No Man’s Land” to German lines & was given a drink & cigars.

25th Dec 1914 - Trenches St Yves
Christmas Day. Not one shot was fired. English and German soldiers intermingled and exchanged souvenirs. Germans very eager to exchange almost anything for our bully beef and jam. Majority of them know French fluently. A few men of the regiment assisted in burying the dead of the Somerset Light Infantry who were killed on 19.12.14. Fine frosty day. Very cold.

26th Dec 1914 - Trenches St Yves
Unofficial truce kept up and our own fellows intermingled still with the Germans. No rifle shots fired, but our artillery fired a few rounds on the German 3rd and 4th lines and Germans retaliated with a few rounds on D Coys (Company’s) trenches. Two wounded.

In 1984 John McCutcheon wrote the song "Christmas in the Trenches" that poignantly described the scenes and thoughts through the eyes of a fictitious soldier named  Francis Tolliver.

For Canadians the version by John McDermott is probably most familiar to us.

So during this Christmas season, sometime between doing your Christmas shopping and attending those parties, take a moment to remember all those affected by war regardless of the side they were on during the conflicts.

The Diary of Regimental Sergeant Major George Beck

The Dorset History Centre has embarked on an interesting project as part of commemorating the Great War of 1914-18. Daily they are posting the entries from the personal diary of Regimental Sergeant Major George Beck of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. The full entries from his diaries will be posted but they are also tweeting the entries 100 years after RSM Beck wrote them.

Some of the diaries are of the usual stuff that soldiers deal with on a daily basis and can be quite drab and boring.

"29th November: NIEPPE", Dorset History Centre, The diary of Regimental Sergeant Major George Beck, 19 Nov 2014, (http://news.dorsetforyou.com/rsm-beck-diary/2014/11/29/29th-november-nieppe/ : 30 Nov 2014)

While other entries in his diary describe the action and activities of the battalion in detail:

"13th October – CAESTRE", Dorset History Centre, The diary of Regimental Sergeant Major George Beck, 13 Oct 2014, (http://news.dorsetforyou.com/rsm-beck-diary/2014/10/13/13th-october-caestre/ : 30 Nov 2014)

What makes this interesting, at least to me, is that his diary is a personal one and not the official battalion or regimental diary. Although it may parallel what is written in the official diaries, he will also include items of a personal nature or of interest just to him.

If you are interested in reading the World War I battalion level war diaries (AKA WO 95) of the 10 Infantry Brigade: 1 Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment for the period of 1 Aug - 31 Dec 31 1914, they can be downloaded from The National Archives for the cost of £3.30 or viewed for free in The National Archives reading room at the archives itself.

Canadian Expeditionary Force Online Research Resources

On November 22, 2014 I gave an update of my talk titled "A Soldier of the Great War: A Research Case Study" to those that attended the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society meeting. There I talked about the various resources I used to learn more about two Canadian soldiers of the First World War: Victor Sornberger and Samuel McKinlay.

For those that couldn't make it out to the meeting here are some of the resources I make use of when delving deeper into the lives of Canadian First World War personnel.

Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/).

This is the first place I visit when I learn that someone has served with the Canadian military during the 1st World War. There are many useful pages on the LAC site. LAC is currently working on digitizing all the serviced files of those that served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. If the file isn't digitized yet, periodically (monthly) check the site for updates. Some highlights from their online collections are:

• Introduction to First World War research at the LAC
• Soldiers of the First World War: 1914-1918 database
• War Diaries of the First World War (Battalion level)
• Service Files of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1910-1941 - Ledger Sheets
• Veterans Death Cards: First World War

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (http://www.cwgc.org/)

Here you will find details on some of the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars. You may come across grave registration documents, registers along with photographs of the grave markers and cemeteries.

Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca/)

Among the many collections on Ancestry there are some that directly pertain to those that may have served in the Great War:

• Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919
• Canada, War Graves Registers (Circumstances of Casualty), 1914-1948
• Canada, Military Honours and Awards Citation Cards, 1900-1961
• Canada, Soldiers of the First World War, 1914-1918
• Canada, Selected Service Records of Soldiers, 1914-1918
• Canada, Ledgers of CEF Officers Transferring to Royal Flying Corps, 1915-1919

Internet Archive (http://archive.org/)

The Internet Archive is one of those resource that keeps on giving. Here you will find archives of many web sites and also digitized books that are no longer in copyright. For example, searching using the terms nominal roll CEF returns 77 documents with titles as diverse as "Nursing Sisters Nominal Roll 1914" and "Yukon Machine Gun Section Nominal Roll 1915"

The Maple Leaf Legacy Project (http://www.mapleleaflegacy.ca/wp/)

The Maple Leaf Legacy Project is a volunteer led effort to photograph of every Canadian War Grave from the various conflicts that Canada has been involved in. This includes the South African War (1899-1902), World War 1 (1914-18), World War II (1939-45), Korean War (1950-52), and all United Nations Peacekeeping Missions to the present day conflict in Afghanistan.

Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group (http://cefresearch.ca/)

Many times when I can't find an answer to a question dealing with the CEF I may turn to the forums and documents made available by the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group. Often my question has already been asked and the participants of the CEF Study Group have provided a detailed answer on their forum.

World War 1 Trench Maps at McMaster University (http://library.mcmaster.ca/maps/ww1/WW1_Maps.htm)

When I'm looking for a World War 1 trench map then I come here. They have digitized a number of trench maps for your viewing pleasure. You can zoom in on the map and actually read the names of the individual trenches. When combined with the battalion level war diaries found on the Library and Archives Canada site you may just be able to pinpoint where your ancestor fought in Europe.

Military History Research Centre (http://www.warmuseum.ca/military-history-research-centre/)

This resource is available through the Canadian War Museum. In addition to being a physical library and archive the online presence has a catalogue of their holdings. Quite a few of their photographs have been digitized and are available to view via the Internet. Are you looking for the "Pigeon Service manual, Royal Air Force"? Then you are in luck since they have it in their collection. Many of the documents in the collection are available through interlibrary loan. Howveer, if you are in Ottawa and are planning on visiting the MHRC then call ahead or e-mail first to make arrangements since it is by appointment only.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial (http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial)

The Canadian Virtual War Memorial lists more than 118,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who have given their lives serving Canada or the United Kingdom. What is nice about this site is that you can upload your own images of your ancestors that fought in the various wars. That means you may also discover a picture that you had never seen before of the soldier you are researching.

Prisoners of the First World War (http://grandeguerre.icrc.org/)

The International Committee of the Red Cross has created a database of those that were held as prisoners of war during the First World War. If the civilian or serviceman was listed as a prisoner of war with their service record then checking this database and reading the information about life in the camps may shed some light into their life at that time.

"A Soldier of the Great War: A Research Case Study" video

At the November 22nd, 2014 meeting of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society I gave an update of my talk titled "A Soldier of the Great War: A Research Case Study". In this presentation I spoke about the various resources that are available to family history researchers to learn about those that served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War of 1914-1918.

With the magic of technology along with the recording and creative efforts of John D. Reid a video has been created of the slides and yours truly talking about researching Victor Sornberger and Samuel McKinlay.

So for those that weren't able to attend the meeting in Ottawa  here is the presentation for your viewing enjoyment.

Canadian Gravemarker Gallery - Beechwood National Cemetery photographed

From the Canadian Gravemarker Gallery Update Newsletter that came out October 1^st:

"We are very pleased to announce that The Beechwood National Cemetery in Ottawa is now completely photographed and online. There are over 50,000 grave marker photographs to browse; and the cemetery owners report that there are over 90,000 burials in this "park-like" beautiful cemetery."

For those that don't know about this wonderful resource for images of grave markers in Canada they have almost 865,000 images from over 1,400 cemeteries across Canada and they are constantly adding more images every month.

Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada was established in 1873 and is the home of the National Military Cemetery and the RCMP National Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery registers for Beechwood Cemetery can be found digitized and indexed on Ancestry in the "Ottawa, Canada, Beechwood Cemetery Registers, 1873-1990" collection.

John D. Reid has mentioned he is slowly exploring the lives of the 98 soldiers of the Great War of 1914-18 that are buried in Beechwood Cemetery. He will be posting some of those details on the anniversary of their death in his well-known blog Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections. On September 21^st John gave details on what he was able to find about the first WW1 Ottawa soldier, Thomas William Hardingham, that was buried at Beechwood Cemetery.

World Wars Commemoration in Ottawa - Aug 4, 2014

From the Veterans Affairs Canada web site concerning World Wars Commemorations:

"August 4, 2014 marks the 100th Anniversary of the beginning of the First World War and the start of Canada's First and Second World Wars Commemoration period."

On Monday, August 4th, 2014 join myself and many other fine folks from Ottawa and the surrounding area at Canada's National War Memorial from 11 am until 11:45 as we commemorate the start of the Great War of 1914-1918 (AKA "The War to End All Wars") when Great Britain declared war on Germany  (and thus also brought Canada into this war) and also the 75th anniversary of the start of the Second World War (September 10th, 1939 when the Parliament of Canada declared war on Germany).

This being the Civic Holiday in Ontario, there is practically no reason for those able-bodied souls in Ottawa (and not at the cottage) not be there to remember all those that served, that were affected, or were unwilling participants in these two world wars.


Type: Commemorative Ceremony
Date: August 4, 2014
Time: 11:00 - 11:45
Details: 100th Anniversary of the beginning of the First World War and the start of Canada's First and Second World Wars Commemoration period. The event serves to launch the National Sentry Program, complete with a General Salute and a Fly Past. Dominion Carillonneur will perform a musical interlude and Interpretation staff dressed in authentic World War uniform will be on-site. Please plan to arrive at the National War Memorial by 10:40.
Location: National War Memorial
Address: National War Memorial
City: Ottawa, Ontario

Private Samuel McKinlay, Regimental Number 7675, died 22 Apr 1915 (photograph taken 6 Nov 2008 by Ken McKinlay)

They Served Canada But I Want to Know More

You've found your ancestor's Canadian World War I "Attestation Paper" or "Particulars of Recruit" document so now what?

In my talk I gave in October at the "Canada in the First World War" event hosted by the Ottawa Public Library, the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa I touched upon a number of the resources I used to explore what happened to Victor Sornberger. I have previously listed the resources I used in my post 'Resources for "A Soldier of the Great War: A Research Case Study' but I never went into detail as to how I approached my research.

The first step in my research was to request Victor Sornberger's World War I service file from Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. Since I live in Ottawa I was in the position of requesting the file to be viewed at their facility at 395 Wellington Street. I had my LAC User Card but if I didn't already have it I could have requested one via this form. Next I completed the Request for Retrieval of Document online form so I could look at the file when I next came to Library and Archives Canada (about once every two weeks). Now if I didn't live in Ottawa I could request via the Order Form for Reproductions the service file and the staff at LAC would digitize the file for me and send me an e-mail with the instructions to access the images. This isn't a free service but it also isn't very expensive as can be seen at their price list page.

Once I had reviewed the file, and since I was actually at LAC I also photographed the contents, I had some key documents I could use to find out more about Victor. The first was actually the file folder. On the front of the folder is was written "Deceased 28-3-52" so now I knew he died on 28 Mar 1952. A useful bit of information if I didn't already have that recorded.

Next was his Discharge Certificate. That document gave me the date and where he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and also when he was discharged . Plus it listed the places overseas where he served. Then there is his Casualty Form - Active Service paperwork. This document has details such as when he left Canada, when he arrived in England, and which ship. It lists when and where he was Taken On Strength (T.O.S.) and Struck Off Strength (S.O.S.) as he joined and left the various battalions and depots. Dates of disciplinary actions are listed (well ... not in Victor's case) and also when he was wounded plus the hospital stays.

Within Victor's file were a number of other forms that documented his wound and his care. These included details such as why his leg had to be amputated. Sometimes you will also come across dental charts, clinical charts with the patient's temperature fluctuations recorded, and maybe even wills.

I now knew when he was shot and with what battalion he was serving with at that time. The next step was finding out where the battalion was located. Fortunately the War Diaries of the First World War have been digitized. These are not personal diaries but the often dry and boring operational details of the brigades and battalions. Most of the time those mentioned are officers but occasionally a name of an enlisted man is recorded ... most often for heroism. Reading through the diary I was able to determine where in France his battalion was fighting on the day Victor was shot. Even better, included with that month's diary were the trench maps and the then secret orders for that specific operation.

Finally with all that information at hand I could use Google Maps to plot, within a few hundred meters, the location where Victor Sornberger was probably fighting when shot.

Overall it was about 8 hours of work from the reviewing and digitizing of the file to finally using Google Maps to figure out where he was when he was shot. During that time I learned more about what was happening at that time during the war and a bit more about a soldier's experience.

Never Forgotten - Samuel McKinlay

Samuel McKinlay

'A' Company, 2nd Infantry Battalion, C.E.F.

2 Mar 1891 - 22 April 1915

A casualty of the Second Battle of Ypres

Resources for "A Soldier of the Great War: A Research Case Study"

On Saturday, October 26, 2013 I gave a talk at the Ottawa Public Library called "A Soldier of the Great War: A Research Case Study". The talk was a case study giving real-life examples. Below are the web pages I referenced in the talk.

Library and Archives Canada:
Main Page: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca
Service & Opening Hours: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/visit-us/010001-1000-e.html
User Card registration: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/the-public/005-4060-e.php
Soldiers of the First World War Search page: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/001042-100.01-e.php
War Diaries of the First World War: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/020152_e.html
Courts-Martial of the First World War: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/courts-martial/index-e.html
Thematic Guides to Units of the CEF: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/the-public/005-1142.29-e.html
Service File Abbreviations: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909.006.01-e.html
Reading a Casualty Form: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909.006.02-e.html

Ancestry.ca: http://www.ancestry.ca/

Canadian Virtual War Memorial: http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/virtualmem

C.E.F. Paper Trail: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~brett/cef/cefpapertrail.html

CEF Research : http://cefresearch.ca/

Commonwealth War Graves Commission: http://www.cwgc.org/

Internet Archive: http://archive.org/

The Maple Leaf Legacy Project: http://www.mapleleaflegacy.ca/wp/

WW 1 Trench Maps (McMaster University): http://library.mcmaster.ca/maps/ww1/WW1_Maps.htm

WW1 Hospital Locations & Casualty Clearing Stations: http://www.vlib.us/medical/CCS/ccs.htm 

Oct 26th, 2013 Talk - A Soldier of the Great War: A Research Case Study

At the Nepean-Centrepointe branch of the Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) Public Library on Saturday, October 26th, 2013 at 11 a.m. I will be giving a presentation as part of their "Canada in the First World War" program. This day is being held in partnership with the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa and the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogy Society. Along with my talk, archivist and historian Glenn Wright will give an overview on searching for information on your military ancestor, historian and strategic analyst Andrew Godefroy will present the Ottawa Branch's Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture on the contributions of Canada and Ottawa to the Great War, and Robbie Robertson and Bob Anglin from the Canadian War Museum will be there to help identify Great War artifacts. This free event starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. and you don't even have to register in advance, just show up and learn more about Canada in the First World War.

My part of this will be a talk titled "A Soldier of the Great War: A Research Case Study". At the recent BIFHSGO Conference in September one of the visitors to the research room asked me to find out how her cousin Victor Lou Sornberger lost his leg in the Great War of 1914-18. I will be going through the steps I took to get the file, what was found and where I looked next for more details. I will cover the basics of visiting the Library and Archives Canada building in Ottawa to review his service file, locating digital copies of  the war diaries, and finally figuring out roughly where on the battlefield he suffered his wound.

If you are in Ottawa I sincerely hope you will be able to make it out to the "Canada in the First World War" day.