Henry Ralph was born in Dover, England, in November 1885 and immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, sometime prior to the war. Ralph enlisted in September 1914 and served overseas with the 48th Highlanders. During the war he was taken prisoner and returned to Canada after the war. The collection consists of an extended letter written in 1918 describing his experiences as a prisoner, as well as 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.
Samuel Hugh Ramsay was born in Aylmer, Québec, in June 1894. Ramsay enlisted in November 1915 with the Canadian Grenadier Guards Overseas Battalion and served overseas in France and Belgium. The collection consists of two letters, a field card, and one photograph.
Private Edward "Eddie" Cresswell Ramsey was born on February 2, 1896, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Immigrating to Canada prior to the outbreak of World War I, Ramsey enlisted in Toronto on December 8, 1914, with the Canadian Expeditionary Force's 2nd Divisional Cyclist Corps in Toronto, Ontario.
He arrived in England aboard the SS Corinthian in May 1915 and was soon on his way to France where he would serve a remarkable total of 42 months without being seriously wounded or ill.
He remained with the Cyclists for the entirety of his service (within his letters there are several name changes from the original "Divisional Cyclist Corps," most notably in mid-1916 to the "Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion"). Following the armistice in November of 1918, Ramsey was demobilized on April 23, 1919.
The letters in the collection were written by "Eddie" Ramsey to his father Capt. E.C. Ramsey, his mother Nellie Ramsey, his sister Eve, and his Aunt Madge & Uncle Jack (J.R. Arkley).
Included are photos of Pte. Ramsey and the Cyclist Corps, as well as photos of the funeral and gravesite of fellow 2nd Division Cyclist Private Thomas Hughes. Hughes had enlisted alongside Ramsey in 1914 but died in Belgium of pneumonia on January 27, 1919, only a few months before he would have been demobilized back to Canada.
External link:
Pte. Ramsey's Service Record (Reg/Ser# 40) is available online through Library and Archives Canada.
George Henry Redman was born in Norfolk, England, in September 1892. He enlisted in Pincher Creek, Alberta, in February 1915. Redman served overseas with the Fort Garry Horse until his death in April 1918. The collection consists of more than thirty letters from Redman to members of his family, as well as photographs, postcards, and telegrams.
Lance Corporal David Leslie Reekie, MM, was born in Camperdown, Ontario, on March 2, 1896, to parents Alexander and Isabella Reekie (née Walker).
He enlisted in Meaford, Ontario, on December 14, 1915, with the 147th Overseas Battalion (Grey County), embarking for England on board the SS Olympic in November 1916. He served in France with the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, where he was awarded the Military Medal on February 2, 1918. Reekie was demobilized on March 19, 1919.
External links:
L/Cpl. Reekie’s service record (Serv/Reg# 838674) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
The David Reekie letters are part of the Sandy Stevenson Collection at the Grey Roots Museum & Archives in Owen Sound, Ontario, and were transcribed through the work of the Grey Roots Volunteers in the Fall of 2021. Minor changes have been made by the Canadian Letters and Images Project to these originals to conform with CLIP transcription protocols, and as such responsibility for any errors or omissions is ours.
Private George Abraham Reekie was born in Lyleton, Manitoba, on July 18, 1893.
He enlisted with the1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force, on January 12, 1918. Shipping for England on board the SS Megantic in March 1918, he was called-up to action in France beginning in August of that year with the 27th Battalion. Following the cessation of hostilities Pte. Reekie returned to Canada and was demobilized on May 25, 1919.
The letters in the collection were written by George Reekie to his aunts in Camperdown, Ontario.
External links:
Pte. Reekie’s service record (Serv/Reg# 2129198) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
The George Reekie Collection was donated through the work of the Grey Roots Museum & Archives in Owen Sound, Ontario.
Daniel Spencer Reid was born in Middle Musquodobit, Nova Scotia, in October 1896. Reid enlisted in October 1915. He served overseas with the 85th Overseas Battalion, the Nova Scotia Highlanders. Reid was killed at Passchendaele, October 30, 1917. The collection consists of more than thirty letters and one postcard.
Donald Calderwood Reid was born in Middle Musquodobit, Nova Scotia, in January 1895. Reid enlisted in May 1916 and served overseas with the 85th Overseas Battalion, the Nova Scotia Highlanders. He was killed September 25, 1918.
Wallace Aubrey Reid was born in Peterborough, Ontario, in 1891 and moved to Vermillion, Alberta, with his family in 1911. Reid enlisted in Edmonton, Alberta, in September 1915 and served overseas in France. The collection consists of one letter written to his mother in 1916, which was subsequently reprinted in The Peterborough Review in February 1917, as well as one photograph.
Sydney Rhodes was born in Mansfield, England, in May 1888. Prior to the war Rhodes immigrated to
Canada, where he enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1914. Rhodes served overseas with the 20th Battalion. The collection currently consists of postcards and photographs.
Norman Sydney Richards was born in Bristol in 1897 and immigrated to Salmon Arm, British Columbia, in 1914. He returned to England to enlist and went to France in 1917, where he was severely wounded and remained in England recovering until 1919. In 1919 he married a woman who had worked as a V.A.D. in the hospital and together they returned to Salmon Arm in 1919. Richards died in 1986 at the age of 89. The collection consists of miscellaneous documents relating to his life and service.
Ralph Richards was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1889. He immigrated to Canada sometime before the First World War, and enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Sydney, Nova Scotia, in September 1915. The collection consists of one photograph and one long memoir, writtten sometime during World War II, which recounts his experience during World War I as a prisoner of war.
Charles Douglas Richardson was born in Grenfell, Saskatchewan, in December 1891 and graduated from the Manitoba Agricultural College in 1915. Richardson enlisted at Regina, Saskatchewan, in October 1915 and reached the front in the spring of 1916. While serving with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, he was severely wounded in the Ypres sector in June 1916, returning to the trenches in December. Richardson took part in the assault on Vimy Ridge and died on April 9th or 10th, 1917. The collection consists of more than sixty letters written by Richardson to his family.
George Ridgeway was born in Cheshire, England, in April 1887. He immigrated to Canada around 1912 and moved to Saskatchewan to farm. Ridgeway enlisted in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in January 1916 with the 128th Battalion, and served overseas in France and Belgium with the 49th Battalion. Wounded in 1917 he was invalided back to the military hospital in Moose Jaw, and discharged in 1919. After his discharge he returned to England. The collection currently consists of fifteen images.
Charles Frederick Ritchie, DSO, MC, was born in Trois Riviere, Québec, in October 1888. Ritchie enlisted in Montreal in October 1914 and served overseas until his return to Canada with the 24th Battalion, Victoria Rifles of Canada, in 1919. Ritchie returned to Canada with the rank of Lt. Col., as well as being awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross. The collection consists primarily of photographs, including photos of Canadian participation in a victory parade in London, England.
George Malcolm Roach was born in Boston, Mass., U.S.A., in February 1894*. Roach first enlisted with the Canadian Grenadier Guards in November 1915 in Cowansville, Québec. He was subsequently discharged as medically unfit in February 1916 but reenlisted in May 1916 with the 117th Eastern Township Overseas Battalion in Magog, Québec. Roach served overseas and was wounded at Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917, and due to his wounds discharged near the end of the war as medically unfit. The collection currently consists of a large collection of post cards sent home to Canada by Roach.
*(on his attestation papers of 1916 his year of birth is given as 1895).
Charles Eric Robertson was born in Walkerton, Ontario, in April 1889. After taking private flying lessons he was given a commission in the Royal Flying Corps on December 7, 1915. At the time of his death on July 12, 1917, he was commanding the 11th Sqdn. RFC. The collection currently consists of 121 letters, as well as photographs and other miscellaneous items. Although the original letters have been lost, these transcriptions are from a typed version of the letters done following the war.
David Robertson was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in September 1890 and immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war. Robertson enlisted in September 1914. He was severely wounded and taken prisoner in 1915, repatriated, and then discharged in 1916 as medically unfit for service. The collection currently consists of several letters, postcards, personal items, and the first issue of the Maple Leaf magazine.
Gordon Stuart Robinson was born in Fort William, Ontario, in August 1897. Robertson enlisted in April 1916 in Fort William with the 94th Overseas Battalion. The collection currently consists of eighteen letters, as well as several photographs and postcards.
John Hill Robertson was born in Wellington, British Columbia, in June 1898. Robertson was recruited in October 1917 and served overseas in England and France until he was demobilized and returned to Canada in 1919. The collection consists of more than thirty letters, as well as postcards, photographs, and his paybook.
