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CANADIAN SOLDIERS OF WORLD WAR I, 1914-1918
IN FLANDERS FIELDS - JOHN ALEXANDER McCRAE
TIPS FOR SEARCHING MILITARY RECORDS
- Gather as much information as you can from family members and friends like the soldier’s full name, date, place of birth, occupation before the war, next of kin that may be listed on their record and any regiment or battalion info.
- You may find quite a few results for the soldier you’re searching for. Check each record to see whether the information matches any information you already have.
- At the bottom of the search page for each collection you will find information about the collection with further detail available when you click the link.
- It can be difficult to decipher handwriting and understand the military terms on these records – it may be useful to print them out and show them to others.
- There are many internet sources which will help you to understand military terms and abbreviations.
- Don’t forget that records may have multiple pages. You will often find fathers, siblings, or other family members who served in the military. You can learn when and where your ancestor enlisted, discover where they are buried, read the history of their unit and learn who was waiting for them back home.
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE FIRST WORLD WAR
The 1st Newfoundland Regiment & The Battle of the Somme
- Newfoundland wasn’t considered a part of Canada during the First World War (1914 – 1918).It was a dominion of the British Empire.
- In a show of patriotism, thousands of Newfoundlanders rushed to enlist. 12,000 “Blue Puttees” – so named because of their legging uniform colour – joined the British in battle and the same number were rejected for service.
- July 1st, 1916 - Out of the 801 Newfoundlanders fighting in The Battle of the Somme: 255 died, 386 were wounded and 91 were missing, (including 14 sets of Brothers) – only 68 answered roll call. There is a memorial at the battle location in France, The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.
Vimy Ridge – 1917
- Vimy Ridge was the first time all divisions of the Canadian Corps worked together in one formation.
- Allies dug tunnels and set explosives underneath German lines. Some tunnels had stockpiled supplies to aid Canadians in the battle.
- Soldiers would carry up to 36 kilograms of equipment into battle.
- 11,000 Canadian casualties, of those 3,600 died.
Passchendaele – 1917
- Nine Canadians earned the Victoria Cross: Private Cecil Kinross, Lieutenant Robert Shankland, Major George Pearkes, Sergeant George Mullin, Corporal Colin Barron, Private Tommy Holmes, Captain Christopher O’Kelly. Lieutenant Hugh McKenzie and Private James Peter Robertson received their medals posthumously.
- 12,000 Canadians were wounded and more than 4,000 died.
MILITARY COLLECTIONS
U.S. MILITARY RECORDS
- Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were held on the Monday of the week in which November 11 fell, from 1923 to 1930.
- It wasn’t until 1931 that Armistice Day became Remembrance Day and it was decided to be held on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month at eleven o’clock.
- Over 13 million poppies are sold in Canada a year as a symbolic reminder of the blood-red flower that to this day grows on former battlefields of France and Belgium.
- Remembrance Day poppies were officially adopted and sold in Canada for the first time in 1921. They have been attributed to John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Fields.
- Over 13 million poppies are sold in Canada a year as a symbolic reminder of the blood-red flower that to this day grows on former battlefields of France and Belgium.
- In front of Canada’s National War Memorial is The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which contains the remains of an unknown Canadian First World War soldier who was exhumed from a cemetery near Vimy Ridge. The Books of Remembrance are located in the Peace Tower in Ottawa.
- During WW1 there were more than 600,000 uniformed Canadian service people. The population of Canada was less than 8 million.
- The German’s used about 150-tonnes poisoned chlorine gas at The Battle of Ypres, Belgium. Canadian troops held their line and stopped the German advance in spite of enormous casualties.
- Vimy Ridge had over 10,000 casualties in 6 days.
- Over 700,000 Canadians under the age of 21 had enlisted in WW11; 42,000 died.
- During the Second World War, Canada decreased the driving age to 14 for farm equipment and trucks.
- 26,791 Canadians served in the Korean War and another 7,000 served between the cease-fire and the end of 1955.
- In 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy had 13 vessels and 13,000 staff.
- In 1945, Canada had the third largest Allied navy with 375 ships and 110,000 personnel.
- In WWII, only 7 German U-boats were sunk and almost 400 Allied ships were destroyed from January to July, 1942. Including 450-thousand tonnes of shipping in June alone.
SHARE YOUR WAR HERO'S STORY
We’d love to hear your military family stories to feature in our newsletter and on our website. Please email us at ancestry@mediaprofile.com