Relaxing

54th Battalion soccer team, 1919

The 54th (Kootenay) Battalion, raised in Nelson, British Columbia, fielded a very successful soccer team during the First World War.

The Princess Pats

This postcard honoured Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the first Canadian unit to enter the front lines during the First World War.

Field Service Postcard

The Field Service Postcard came into use during the First World War, as a way to speed mail delivery by reducing the time needed for censorship.

Badges of Canadian units

William Scully Ltd., a Montreal manufacturer of military badges, issued this series of regimental postcards early in the Second World War: Royal Canadian Artillery; Canadian Grenadier Guards; 6th Duke of Connaught's Royal Canadian Hussars; Royal Canadian Corps of Signals; Royal Montreal Regiment; Loyola College Contingent, Canadian Officers' Training Corps; McGill University Contingent, Canadian Officers' Training Corps; Les Fusiliers Mont Royal; Royal Canadian Air Force; Royal Canadian Army Service Corps; Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers; Regiment de Maisonneuve; Le Contingent de l'Univer

Give to the Hitler War Fund

This card is typical of the irreverent humour favoured by soldiers during the Second World War.

Happy Christmas Greetings

Typical First World War Christmas cards, highlighting patriotic themes and symbols.

Hitler’s Christmas Present

This card, saved by a Canadian soldier serving in the campaign in north-west Europe in 1944-45, is typical of the irreverent humour favoured by soldiers during the Second World War.

xmascardhitler.pdf (3.87 MB)

Merry Christmas - 1915 style

A couple of Chapleau, Ontario, chose an image of a British battle cruiser to adorn their 1915 Christmas card.

xmascardlion.pdf (1.24 MB)

Camp Borden Military Theatre

Soldiers training at Camp Borden, Ontario, during the Second World War had a wide range of entertainment options available.

Philo Woitas, “War”

In September 1939, a church magazine in Holland, Manitoba, printed this poem about the coming of war.

ghsept1939.pdf (4.83 MB)