Remembering

The Army and Navy Veterans in Canada

Although it traces its roots to the nineteenth century, the Army and Navy Veterans in Canada was not granted a federal charter until 1917. It was one of the few organizations that did not join the new Canadian Legion when it was created in 1926.

Brantford - The Telephone City

This fund-raising booklet said little about Brantford in the First World War, but rather used photographs of local landmarks and statuary as a form of civic boosterism.

Brantford.pdf (78.78 MB)

One of the originals

Charles Pocock of Montreal enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at the beginning of the First World War, making him eligible to join the association of original members of the 13th Battalion.

Two brothers at war

The two Iceton brothers enlisted in the 124th Battalion in Toronto in December 1915, but only one returned home after the war. Family members put together a small collections of letters, photographs, and other keepsakes as a tribute to their service and sacrifice.

To the people of Maganetawan

The school in Maganetawan, in northern Ontario, dedicated an impressive plaque to townspeople who served during the First World War, and also distributed handsome souvenir portfolios of the memorial.

The grave of a Canadian soldier

Nelson Hodgson of the 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, was killed in the fighting around Passchendaele in November 1917. This photograph of his grave near Ypres, Belgium, was sent to his family in Guelph, Ontario.

Veterans of the 18th Battalion

On the back of this card were listed to most important events in the battalion's history - including the first issue of rum to the soldiers.

Remembering in Winnipeg

A Winnipeg tradition was the Armistice Day dinner hosted at the Fort Garry Hotel by the 90th Regiment, Winnipeg Rifles, to honour the battalions it had helped to recruit for service in the First World War.

Poppy Day

In this leaflet, the Canadian Legion's Manitoba Command provided a suggested order of service for Armistice Day and reprinted John McCrae's famous poem "In Flanders Fields" - although the author's name and the date of the poem are given incorrectly.

Poppy Day.pdf (10.09 MB)
Poppy Day.pdf (10.09 MB)
Poppy Day.pdf (10.09 MB)
Poppy Day.pdf (10.09 MB)
Poppy Day.pdf (10.09 MB)
Poppy Day.pdf (10.09 MB)

An airman's keepsakes

John Bridgman of Roseland, Ontario, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943 and qualified as a bomb aimer at #9 Air Observer School in St Johns, Quebec. Amongst his wartime souvenirs are a certificate indicating that he had completed a tour of operations and aerial photographs taken on some of the bombing raids in which he participated.