Hugh Charles Sproule was born in Toronto in January 1898, the twin brother of Noble Sproule listed below. Sproule enlisted in September 1914 and sailed as part of the First Contingent in October 1914. He served with the 3rd Battalion until his death sometime between the 22nd and 26th of April 1915. The collection currently consists of nine letters from Hugh, official correspondence, and one postcard.
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.
Joseph Goulding Sproule was born in Toronto, Ontario, in June 1897, the younger brother of Hugh and Noble Sproule. Sproule enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in October 1915 with the 81st Battalion and served overseas in France with the 3rd Battalion Canadian Machine Gun Corps. He was discharged at the end of the war and returned to Canada in 1919. The collection currently consists of more than twenty five letters, as well as numerous postcards and photographs.
Noble Sproule was born in Toronto, Ontario, in January 1895, the twin brother of Hugh Sproule listed above. Sproule enlisted in September 1914 at Valcartier, Québec, and sailed overseas with the First Contingent in October 1914. Sproule served with the 3rd Battalion until he was killed July 9, 1916. The collection currently consists of five letters, two postcards, and several miscellanous items.
Private Percy Sprunt was born in Greenfell, Saskatchewan, on February 2, 1893, to parents Thomas and Charlotte Sprunt. Prior to enlistment he worked in Manitoba as a clerk at the Eaton's Department Store. On May 11, 1915, he enlisted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the 44th Battalion C.E.F. (having previously served with the Royal Winnipeg Riffles 90th Battalion).
He shipped for England on October 23, 1915, on the troopship SS Lapland. He was deployed to France with the 8th Battalion Canadian Infantry, Manitoba Regiment. Pte. Sprunt was killed in action on June 14, 1916, and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.
The collection consists of a single letter sent from Bramshott Camp, England, and two photos.
External links:
Pte. Sprunt 's service record (Reg/Ser# 622347) is available online through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring him can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Percy Sprunt is among those commemorated on the T. Eaton Company Memorial Plaques, which currently reside at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, and at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Nursing Sister Lucy Gertrude Squire, RRC, known as Gertrude, was born in Wolverhampton, England, to parents James Lane Squire and Emily Pace Squire in April 1884. The family immigrated to Canada in 1887 and settled in Norwood, Ontario. Prior to the war Squire studied nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Québec.
She sailed to England in December 1914 and attested as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.), in January 1915 in Hampstead, England. After initially serving in England and France, in July 1916 she was assigned to the Anglo-Russian Hospital in Petrograd, Russia, where she remained until the outbreak of the Russian Revolution forced a return to England in April 1917. Later that same year she spent several weeks on leave back in Canada, before retuning to work in Europe.
Squire was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class, in October 1917. In March 1919 she was promoted to the rank of Matron (equivalent to that of Captain) but reverted in rank back to Nursing Sister (equivalent to that of Lieutenant) on her return to Canada to work at the Dominion Orthopedic Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. In June 1919 she was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 1st Class, (RRC). Her wartime service with the C.E.F. officially ended on July 5, 1920, with her appointment to Canada’s reconstituted Permanent Force.
External links:
Nursing Sister Lucy Gertrude Squire’s service record (Serv/Reg# not assigned) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Squire’s appointment to rank of Nursing Sister (supernumerary) on December 21, 1914, was published in The Canada Gazette on March 6, 1915, (Vol. 48, No. 36 , p. 2744 [p. 16 of 95 in website’s document viewer]); her promotion to Matron was published in The London Gazette on March 9, 1919, (#31546, p. 11425).
Awarding of the Royal Red Cross (2nd Class) was published in The London Gazette on October 24, 1917, (#30350, p. 10983); awarding of the Royal Red Cross (1st Class) was published in The London Gazette on June 3, 1919, (#31370, p. 6839).
William Fraser Stagg was born in Inverness, Scotland, in May 1876. He immigrated to Canada prior to the war and enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in January 1916. Stagg served overseas during the war with the 10th Field Coy., Canadian Engineers. While returning back home at the end of the war, Stagg was killed in a train derailment outside of Edmunston, New Brunswick, on December 31, 1918. The collection currently consists of thirty letters, photographs, telegrams, and postcards.
William James Stares was born in London, England, in November 1884. Prior to the war he immigrated to Norwood, Ontario, and enlisted in Kingston, Ontario, in November 1914. Stares served overseas with the 21st Battalion until his return to Canada following a medical discharge in June 1917. The collection currently consists of more than forty letters.
Eric Gauntlett Steele was born in Hamilton, Bermuda, in 1891 where he enlisted in August 1916. He served overseas and was killed in action July 7, 1917, at Vimy. The collection consists of a copy of the Bermuda Colonist & Daily News 1918 and various documents and letters concerning Steele's death.
George Edward Steele was born in Rutland, England, in October 1889. Steele immigrated to Canada prior to the war with his two brothers. He enlisted in September 1914 and served overseas until the end of the war. Terrence Steele was born in Rutland, England, in October 1894 and immigrated to Canada with his brothers prior to the war. He enlisted in November 1914 and served overseas with the 21st Battalion until the end of the war. The collection currently consists of three photographs.
George Arthur Henry Stevens was born in London, England, in August 1887. He immigrated to Canada sometime prior to the war and enlisted in Brandon, Manitoba, in March 1915. Stevens served overseas with the 45th Battalion and returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection consists of two letters, several photographs, some personal items, and an extensive collection of postcards sent to his wife.
Thomas Roy Stevenson was born in Lower Woodstock, New Brunswick, in 1888. During the war he joined the British Army as a sapper. The collection consists of four letters written to his sister and brother in Lower Woodstock in 1917 and 1918.
Wesley Andrew Stevenson was born in Norwood, Ontario, in November 1898. He enlisted in August 1916 at Kingston, Ontario, with the 74th Battery, C.F.A. Stevenson was one of the correspondents with Reverend Arthur Mansell Irwin from Norwood, Ontario, whose collection also apppears in this project. The collection currrently consists of one letter.
Thomas Otto Stewart was born in Ottawa, Ontario, in December 1888. He later moved to Fort William, Ontario, where he enlisted in October 1914 with the 68th Battalion. Stewart served overseas with the 68th until he was killed June 6, 1916. The collection currently consists of one letter to his friend Harry Evans whose brother, Charlie, had been missing since April, 1915.
Wilfred Henry Stoll was born in July 1898 in Nottawa, Ontario, and enlisted at Collingwood, Ontario, in March 1916. He served overseas in France until he was discharged in 1918 for medical reasons. The collection consists of one photograph and one postcard.
John Caldwell Strang was born in Usborne Township, Ontario, in June 1897. He enlisted at the age of eighteen in May 1916 in Exeter, Ontario. Strang served overseas with the 58th Battalion. He was killed in action on August 23, 1917, and is buried at La Chaudiere Military Cemetery. The collection consists of eleven letters.
Charles Roy Stratton was born in Brockville, Ontario, in September 1890 and then later moved to Montreal. Stratton enlisted with in Kingston, Ontario, in February 1916 with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. The collection currently consists of a portion of his diary, more than forty photographs, and some miscellaneous documents.
Pte. Amos Theodore Stretch (nickname "Slim") was born in Elk River, Minnesota, U.S.A., on June 24, 1891, and later moved with his family to Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Amos was a member of the Active Militia's 104th Regiment when on January 12, 1916, he enlisted at New Westminster with the 131st Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, at the age of 24.
He embarked for England abord the SS Caronia on November 1, 1916. Shortly after arrival he was transferred to the 30th Res. Battalion, then to the 1st Res. Bn., before being sent over to fight in France. In February 1917 he transferred to the 29th Bn., Canadian Infantry, where served for the rest of his time in action.
Having suffered a burn wound to his foot, he was convalesced back to England, and from there demobilized at the end of the war, shipping back home to Canada in early 1919.
The letters and field-postcards in this collection were mainly written by Pte. Stretch to his parents James & Diana Stretch in Port Coquitlam.
John Pritchard Sudbury was born in London, England, in 1894. He immigrated to Montreal where he worked for the Montreal Gazette before enlisting in Montreal in July 1915. He was sent to Belgium in February 1916. He served throughout the Front including the Ypres Salient in 1916, the Somme in September 1916, Vimy Ridge in April 1917, and at Passchaendaele in October 1917, where he was wounded. The collection consists of more than sixty letters written to his family, photographs, a poem, a pay book, a Christmas card, and two magazines.
Earl Winstel Sutherland was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1885. He enlisted in September 1914 and served five years overseas until he returned to Hamilton in 1919. The collection consists of one letter written from France in 1919.
Daniel James Sweeney was born in London, England, in September 1896. Sometime prior to the war he immigrated to Canada and worked as a labourer in Ontario. Sweeney enlisted in Cobourg, Ontario, in June 1915. He survived the war but unfortunately nothing else is known about him. The collection consists of one photograph of Sweeney and others (seated, left) taken in 1915.
