Lest We Forget Project

1. Lest We Forget Project

2. What were the experiences of a World War I soldier during and after the war? • You will be responsible for creating a biographical profile that will look at the life, experiences, and for some death, of a soldier or nursing sister who served for Canada in World War I.

3. There are many aspects that can, and must, be explored for you to fully appreciate what occurred: a look at the world beyond the name on a Cenotaph. Your write-up for each person must have the following three components: • Biographical Information • Images and/or documents • Historical Context

4. Biographical Information • This should be a brief and accurate biography. It should include: • Full name, date of birth, and date of death • Regiment, Unit, Battalion served in, and length of service (e.g., 1916 – 1918) as well as military rank, and role (e.g., Flight Sergeant; Machine gunner, etc.) • Family and individual particulars that you can find (son of, married to, worked at, address lived at, trained as, etc.) • List of battles / campaigns fought in (e.g., assault on Vimy Ridge, etc. ) • Particulars of their death (how and where killed, where buried, cenotaph, etc. ) or, if they survived, what their lives where like after the war.

5. Images and/or Documents • Photos of soldier, family members, street where they lived, old house, etc. • Photo of name on cenotaph, grave marker in Canada and/or Europe • Attestation papers (for WWI), any letters or documents (e.g., marriage, baptismal certificates, etc.) • Plane flown, gun used, uniform worn, medal earned, etc. • Photos related to battles / campaigns fought in (e.g., died at Passechendaele = photos taken during the battle of the mud, trnches, explosions, maps, etc.)

6. Historical Context • Particular aspects of the war in general as it relates to your soldier (e.g., where did his unit/battalion see action; if he died at Vimy Ridge, you need to write a synopsis of the battle; you might examine the weaponry he used, or examin a particular military campaign he was involved in, etc.

7. Other Things • Your profile must have a title page. • You should include a detailed bibliography (websites and resources used). • Your profile can be submitted either in print or electronically (use Kesi drive). • In some cases, due to various causes, you will not find a great deal of information on your soldier. No matter, you must include all the information that you can. Please notice that the evaluation for the biography and the military context is linked. This is to ensure that you are not penalized for not finding information that does not exist. You mark will rest largely, then, on the clarity and depth of your contextual information.

8. Evaluation Bio of Soldier/Historical Information /20 Photographs /Images /10 Clarity of Writing/Proofreading /5 Evidence/Sources /5 Total = /40

9. Where to Begin? • First decide if you want to work alone, or with a partner. • Then, start by choosing a name. • There are many in the list on the next few slides. • Ms. Walker has some information gathered already. • Some are local (from Spryfield or Halifax), some are Victoria Cross recipients, some are Nursing Sisters, Some were born in Canada, many were not. Some are Native, some are of African descent, some have deep ties to Europe. Some felt a deep sense of duty to enlist, some were looking for adventure, and some were looking for work. Some became known as heroes, and some were executed for their crimes. Choose someone who interests you, for one reason or another.

10. Some Ideas! • Private John Bernard Croak • Private William Richard Bird • Emery James Logan • Lieutenant Colonel William George Barker • Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Eric Bent • Lieutenant Colonel William Avery Bishop • Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae • Private John Chipman Kerr • Private Thomas Ricketts • Private Eugene Perry • Company Quarter Master Sargeant William Alexander

11. More!! • Nursing Sister Clare Gass • Nursing Sister Margaret Ann Low (Lowe) • Nursing Sister Gladys Maude Mary Wake • Nursing Sister Edith Anderson • Corporal Francis Pegamahgabow • Lieutenant Cameron Donald Brant • Dispatch Runner Thomas Longboat • Corporal Sam Glode • Private Jeremiah Henry Jones • Private Ethelbert Curley Christian • Private Percy Forman Fenton

12. Even More!!! • Pipe Major John Carson • Chief Steward John Kerr • Private William Foster Kidston • Private Percy Clarence Crocker • Sergeant Albert Miller Alberga • Nursing Sister Ann Doctor Allan • Acting Sister Marie Dow Lutwick • Private Byron Leander Verge • Private Clarence William O’Neill • Private Gordon Cleveland • Private Moses Gurana • Company Quarter Master Sergeant Gordon Clarence Bastow

13. Time to get started!!!! • There are several good websites you can use to find biographical information and contextual information. • Start with the web link below to get some of your person’s biographical information, and then you can move to the following websites. The Canadian Virtual War Memorial http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem Using this link, type in your soldier’s last name only to start, and then search through the list that comes up by matching his first and middle initials.

14. Great Website! Canadian War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp?menuid=14 This link will give you further information on your soldier, including where he is buried, grave number and location, and details on the soldiers buried with him (note: this is important because the cemeteries are often only for soldiers from certain battles or campaigns; you can use this information to narrow down your “context” section.

15. More Websites!!! The Canadian Genealogy Centre http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909.006-e.html A tremendous resource that you can use to search for attestation papers and diaries (WWI only), military medals, casualty lists, and other great resources linked to WWI. Canada’s Military Gateway http://www.cmhg-phmc.gc.ca/html/index-eng.asp A complete history of Canada’s military involvement and activities from pre-Contact to the present.

16. AWESOME WEBSITES!!! There are also some resources linked directly to WWI specifically: The Canadian Great War Project http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/ Soldiers of the First World War (attestation papers) http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/index-e.html