Ernest Corbett was born in Orangeville, Ontario, in February 1893 and later resided in Wellington, British Columbia. He enlisted in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in March 1916 and served overseas with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles. Corbett was killed August 21, 1917. The collection currently consists of one letter and one photograph.
Title
WWI
These collections contains any material relating to Canada from 1914 to 1918 from either the home front or the battlefront. External links in collection descriptions are either to online attestation papers at Library and Archives Canada or casualty and burial information at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
John Andrew Corcoran was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in August 1886. Corcoran enlisted in Vancouver in January 1916 with the 102nd Battalion. He served overseas, was wounded in August 1918 and was demobilized back to Canada in 1919. The collection currently consists of twenty-seven letters as well as photographs and miscellaneous items related to his servce.
Arthur Donovan Corker, MM, was born in February 1894 in Victoria, British Columbia. Corker enlisted in September 1914 and was part of the First Canadian Contingent. He was serving with the 7th Battalion when he was taken prisoner during the Second Battle of Ypres on April 24, 1915. As a prisoner, Corker attempted to escape six times, was recaptured, and finally succeeded in his seventh attempt in 1918. The collection consists of one letter written shortly after he made his escape to Holland. As well, Corker did an interview in 1983 describing his escape, which is part of the University of Victoria archives. To listen to Corker, click here.
William Hubert Corrigan was born in Brandon, Manitoba, in July 1881. Corrigan enlisted in Regina, Saskatchewan, in May 1916 and served overseas with the 217th Battalion and the 209th Battalion, after having served the previous seven years with the 90th Winnipeg Rifles. He was demobilized and returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists several photographs and postcards from his time overseas.
Frank Clifford Cousins was born on October 24, 1893, in Belmont, Ontario. He began his university studies at the University of Toronto in 1911, and then moved west to the Regina area where he taught school and attended university. Cousins enlisted in Regina, Saskatchewan, in July 1917 and arrived in England in December of that year. In April 1918 he was sent to France where he took part in the Battle of Amiens in August. Later that month he was wounded and sent to England for surgery and to recuperate, and remained in England until the end of the war. Upon returning to Canada he resumed his teaching and his university studies, received his L.L.B. in 1924, and was called to the bar in 1926. He was a partner with the future Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in the firm of Diefenbaker, Cousins & Godfrey. Frank Cousins died in his sleep in June 1927. This collection consist of ninety letters and other miscellaneous materials.
John ("Jack") Arthur Cowles was born in Oxford, England, in March 1893. He was a member of the Balliol Boys Club, a club run by the students, graduates, and tutors of Balliol College in Oxford. It was under the Club's auspices that Jack came to Canada in 1913. Jack enlisted with the Canadian forces in Saskatchewan in 1914. Cowles served overseas with B Coy. 28th Battalion and he was killed June 6, 1916. The collection consists of several letters to his sister and to the Balliol Boys Club, three postcards, four photographs, and a letter of condolence from Sam Hughes.
Gunner Bertram Howard Cox was born in Barbados on December 13, 1894, to parents Charles Henry and Isabel Cox. He immigrated to Canada prior to the war and was working as a bank clerk in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at the time of his enlistment there with the 59th Overseas Battery, 15th Brigade, on March 26, 1916.
He shipped out to England in September 1916, where he was transferred to the 60th Battery, 14th Brigade C.F.A., and was sent over to France in August 1917. He remained with the 60th until the end of the war and was demobilized on June 28, 1919.
The collection consists of nearly forty letters written by Bertram to family and friends between 1916 to 1919. The majority are addressed to: his parents, his two brothers Carl (and wife Mabel) and Murrill (and wife Ella), and his sisters Ina and Leila (and husband Jack).
Also included is a transcription of the 1917 Christmas edition of the trench-newspaper The O’Pip, published “Somewhere in France” by the 58th Battery C.F.A. The paper was enclosed with a letter sent by Bertram to his sister Leila on January 11, 1918. (It has been posted below under the content category of “Newspaper Articles”)
External links:
Gunner Bertram Cox’s service record (Serv/Reg# 327964) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Please note: all letter transcriptions, including annotations to the letters, were provided by the donor.
Private David Craig was born August 17, 1895, in Wick, Scotland, to parents David M. and Jane Craig. He was one of four children in the family.
Craig enlisted with the 74th Overseas Battalion in Toronto, Ontario, on July 28, 1915, and proceeded overseas to England aboard the SS Empress of Britain in March 1916. From there he was sent to France the following June, where he was transferred to the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Craig was serving with that battalion when he was killed at the Battle of Passchendaele on October 30/31, 1917. His body was never found. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.
Content notes:
The collection’s main item is the Memorial Cross received by Craig’s mother following his death on active duty.
External links:
Pte. David Craig’s service record (Serv/Reg# 135121) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
WWI Circumstances of Death Registers record card (page #67), Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Craig can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Jack Crawley was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in October 1893. He enlisted in December 1914 in Brandon, Manitoba, and served overseas with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles. Crawley was killed June 5, 1916. His photograph is also a part of the Perry Sanderson collection. Sanderson mentions him in his letters; he was killed one day after Crawley. The collection currently consists of one photograph.
Frank Cronk Smith, MC, was born in Brockville, Ontario, in May 1891. He enlisted in Toronto in February 1916 with the 169th Battalion. Cronk served overseas with the 169th and the 20th Battalions, was wounded in August 1918, and demobilized and returned to Canada in 1919. The collection currently consists of one photograph, his officer commissions, a Christmas card, and copy of the Canadian Daily Record from December of 1918.
Keith Bruce Crosby was born in Carleton, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, in 1897. He enlisted in August 1915 and arrived in France April 7, 1916. He was killed April 11, 1916. The collection consists of three letters and one photograph.
Herbert Cunliffe was born in Lancashire, England, in 1885, and his brother William was born in 1891, and both immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war. Both brothers, Herbert and William, enlisted at Niagara, Ontario, in September 1915. Herbert was killed October 18, 1916, leaving behind a wife and infant daughter. The collection consists of more than twenty letters from Herbert to his wife, a few letters from William, and two photographs.
William Cunliffe was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England, in August 1891. Prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and enlisted in September 1915 at Niagara, Ontario, with the 109th Battalion. Cunliffe served overseas with the 84th and then with the 75th Battalion until his return to Canada in 1919. The collection currentlly consists of several letters, postcards, a photograph, and miscellaneous personal items.
William Howard Curtis, MM, was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, where he served in the 57th Regiment. He was in Alberta when the war broke out and joined the 9th Battalion in Edmonton in August 1914. After brief training at Valcartier, Québec, Curtis went to England with the 1st Contingent and shortly after arrival transferred to the 2nd Battalion. He later served in the battalion's machine gun section, was three times wounded in action, and was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in the field. Lance-Sergeant Curtis was killed in action on October 8, 1916, in the closing stages of the Battle of the Somme. The collection consists of eighteen letters from Curtis to his mother and sister, and three letters to the Curtis family sent after his death.
