Private George Samuel Fardoe was born in Brandon, Manitoba, on February 1, 1893, to parents William and Sarah Fardoe. The family later moved to Hayfield, Man., where George was working as a farmer prior to the outbreak of World War I. He enlisted in Winnipeg, Man., on December 26, 1915, with the 53rd Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force.

Shipping for England on board the SS Empress of Britain in March 1916, he soon proceeded to France the following June where he served with the 28th Battalion. Towards the end of the war, in June 1918, he transferred to 2 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps. Fardoe returned to Canada in early May 1919 and was demobilized May 19, 1919.

While there are only two letters in the Fardoe Collection, much of his war-time correspondence was done via postcards. In recognition of this, correspondence-type postcard messages have been transcribed and added to the “Letters” section of “Collection Contents” below. The postcards themselves can also be viewed without the transcriptions in the “Postcard” section, along with over thirty other individual postcards and three souvenir postcard albums. Additionally there are three diaries Fardoe kept during his time in service for the years of 1916, 1917, and 1919, as well as several photos and other items.

A completely transcribed issue of the trench newspaper The Listening Post, edition No. 18 of July 21, 1916, published by the 7th Canadian Infantry Battalion, can be read in the “Newspaper Articles” section.

External links:
Pte. George Fardoe’s service record (Serv/Reg# 441804) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Armament Sergeant Major George Herbert Farlie, MSM, was born in Catford, London, England on March 17, 1880. His father was John Leonard Farlie. Prior to his enlistment in the First World War, Farlie had worked as a machinist, in addition to serving in the Active Militia and with past service in the Canadian Corps.

Farlie joined the Canadian Ordnance Corps at Valcartier, Québec, in September of 1914, and shipped to England aboard the SS Ivernia in early October. Following his arrival in England, the Attestation Paper in Farlie’s service record documents his enlistment at Salisbury Plains on December 28, 1914. He initially  served in both England and France with the 2nd Canadian Field Artillery Brigade, then subsequently with No. 26 Canadian Travelling Ordnance Workshop Unit (redesignated the 81st Canadian Ordnance Workshop Unit (Light) in November of 1918).

On January 1, 1917, Farlie was awarded the British Meritorious Service Medal. Following the end of hostilities, he returned to Canada where he was demobilized on August 17, 1919.

Content notes:
Included are two diaries kept by Farlie, beginning prior to his enlistment through to August 1917, in which he recorded details relating to his armament work along with personal observations. A content sample has been provided with a transcription of the diary’s entries for the month of April 1917. Photographs include both pre and post war military groups or individuals (date range 1893 to 1923).

External links:
S.M. George Farlie’s service record (Serv/Reg# 41669) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
The awarding of the Meritorious Service Medal to Farlie was published The London Gazette of January 1, 1917 (#29886, p.55).

Oscar James Fearman was born in Middleport, Ontario, in January 1893. Fearman enlisted with the 125th Battalion in Brantford, Ontario, in December 1915. He served overseas with the 1st Battalion until his death on April 9, 1917 at Vimy Ridge. The collection currently consists of one letter and one postcard.

Joseph Roy Ferguson was born in Innisfil, Ontario, in July 1884. Ferguson enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in October 1915 with the 4th Overseas University Battalion. The collection consists of one extended letter written on the SS Lapland during his voyage to England, and two photographs.

Walter Fick was born on the Isle of Man in April 1884. Sometime prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and worked in Toronto, Ontario, as a conductor on the Toronto Street Railway. Fick enlisted in Toronto on May 1, 1916. He served with the 21st Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment). Fick died in hospital in England in 1918. The collection consists of one letter to his wife Mona, several Red Cross letters, two telegrams, and three photographs.

Lance Corporal John "Jack" Lindsey Fisher was born in Wales in 1887, and immigrated to Canada in 1899, and by 1910 was living in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Having previously served with the British Army Royal Artillery, Fisher returned to England and enlisted with the Royal Engineers on May 23, 1916. He was discharged following gas-related injuries in August 1917, and returned to Canada.

The letter in the Fisher Collection was published in the Ladysmith Chronicle, and was compiled along with those of other local WWI soldiers through the work of the Ladysmith & District Historical Society (links shown below).

The complete list of soldiers in the can be found in the Ladysmith and District Historical Society collection.

External links:
L/Cpl. Fisher (Serv/Reg# 649-F-11207) is listed in the Imperial Gratuities records at Library and Archives Canada, but information is limited to the record identification only.
The record of his Medal card with the Royal Engineers, (Reg# 158208), is held by the National Archives, Kew, U.K.; registration is required for access.
A collection of WWI soldiers' letters published in The Ladysmith Chronicle was undertaken by the Ladysmith & District Historical Society through their work with the Ladysmith Archives.

Bombardier Walter Taylor Fitzpatrick was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on January 4, 1890.

Fitzpatrick enlisted in Ottawa in January 1916 with the 32nd Battery, Canadian Field Artillery. He sailed February 5, 1916, aboard the SS Metagama, arriving in England on February 14. Here the 32nd Batty. was assigned to the 9th Brigade, 3rd Divisional Artillery, C.F.A. They proceeded to France on July 13, 1916, where they were reassigned to the 8th Army Field Brigade.

At the end of the war Fitzpatrick returned to Canada aboard the SS Northland, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 5, 1919. He was demobilized three days later.

External link:
Bde. Walter Taylor Fitzpatrick's service record (Serv/Reg# 311885) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Harry Henry Foote was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1892 and enlisted in September 1914. The collection consists of one letter written enroute to England in October 1914 and one photograph taken at Valcartier, Quebec in 1914.

Captain Jordan Mott Fowler was born in Redbank, New Jersey, U.S.A. on April 16, 1884, to parents Jordan M. and May Pricilla (née Harvey) Fowler. He was a student at the University of Toronto, graduating as a medical doctor in 1908. After spending two years interning in Michigan and New York, Fowler moved to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, eventually going into practice in 1914 with Dr. R.L. Fraser in Victoria, B.C.

He received his commission as Captain in the Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.) on April 13, 1916. Arriving in England in September of 1916 he served as a Medical Officer with the 15th Brigade, Canadian Field Ambulance (C.F.A.). In early 1917 Fowler was posted to the 14th Brigade, C.F.A., and was sent over to France later that August. With the conclusion of the war Fowler returned to Canada and was demobilized on June 24, 1919.

The Fowler Collection contains the diary he kept from December of 1917 to December of 1918. Also included are the letter and certificate that he received in recognition of his being Mentioned in Dispatches by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, in Haig’s letter of March 16th, 1919, “for gallant and distinguished services in the Field.”

External links:
Capt. Fowler’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Fowler’s Mentioned in Dispatches was published in The London Gazette on July 8, 1919 (#31448, p.8824).