Category Archives: Military Heritage

Animals in War (1914–1918)

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Colour poster depicting countryside combat, with a horse-drawn tank and soldiers fleeing from the cannonade.

During the First World War, the terrain on the front lines was often muddy and without paved roads, which made it difficult to use motor vehicles. This is why armies relied on a wide array of beasts of burden, including horses. These animals were used primarily by cavalry troops, but they also served to haul cannons, ammunition and food, as well as to pull non-motorized ambulances. Horses were ever-present in the theatre of operations.In September 1914, the first contingent of troops to leave Canada for England loaded up 7,636 horses! Although they belonged to the cavalry units, most of the horses were purchased by the Canadian government from private owners to meet army needs. Hundreds of thousands of additional horses were subsequently sent to the front lines. By the end of the war, the army had lost eight million horses in combat.

Other animals were also used by the army during the First World War. Mules, donkeys and cattle primarily transported materials, ammunition and food. In eastern regions, such as Egypt, camels were also used.

The terrain—continually bombarded in some areas or very mountainous in others—made it difficult to communicate, so winged or furry messengers were called
in. There were even special units responsible for maintaining a flock of carrier pigeons, ready to be sent with messages tied to their legs. Dogs were also used as messengers.

Colour sketch of a brown dog sitting.

Colour sketch of a brown dog sitting. Source

The Canadian Army had a Veterinary Corps at the time, with blacksmith and farrier units who all saw to the care of work animals. During the conflict, veterinary hospitals and mobile veterinary units were created behind the front lines to treat animals and make sure they were well fed.
At all times, animals were alongside soldiers on the front as companions in misfortune. From the very beginning, military mascots have served to represent the group who adopted them. Even members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force had mascots during the First World War, as shown in the following image.

Group of soldiers around a goat wearing a cape with insignia.

Mascot of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Battalion, August 1916. Source

Visit our Flickr album for more photographs.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

From Enlistment to Burial Records: The Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War

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Each year, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) receives countless questions on how to locate military services files, such as:

  • How do I find out more about a soldier (or a nursing sister) in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF)?
  • When and where did he enlist?
  • How old did the soldier say he was? (Many underage soldiers gave an earlier year of birth when they enlisted)

A great place to begin your research is on our Genealogy and Family History’s Military pages.

To help guide you through the process, our experts have put together the following explanations.

Attestation papers

Also known as “enlistment” documents, these records indicate the date and place of birth, the marital status and the name and address of the next of kin.

The Soldiers of the First World War database contains references to more than 600,000 people who served during that conflict. Most of the corresponding attestation (enlistment) papers can be viewed online, including those of the Nursing Sisters.

To learn more, consult our article “Canadians and the First World War: Discover our Collection”.

Service files

These records contain key documents such as record of service, casualty form, discharge certificate and medal card. It also provides the name or number of
the unit in which the individual served overseas.

Find more information in our articles “What You Will Find in a Canadian Military Service File” and “Understand the Abbreviations Commonly Found in Military Service Files”.

War diaries

The War Diaries are a daily account and historical record of a unit’s administration, operations and activities.

Consult the War Graves page for information on the burial location of a soldier who was killed in action.

If the soldier survived the war, the Veterans Death Cards give information such as the next of kin, burial location and date of death. The digitized images, which are in alphabetical order, can be navigated in sequential order.

For the soldier who was decorated, a nominal index to medal registers, citation cards and records of various military awards provides further information on many soldiers’ achievements.

Our article “War Diaries: Discover what individuals or military units did during the war” can also guide you with your research.

Published histories

For an easy-to-read overview of the unit’s activities, we recommend starting with “published histories.” These books are often called “regimental histories” and our article Published Histories: Discover what individuals or military units did during the war” will give you more information.

Thematic guides

The Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force
lists references to records and files that complement the research in First World War records. This thematic guide further describes the contribution of most units in the CEF.

Other past articles of interest this Remembrance Day:

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

New Podcast Episode: Faces of 1812

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We are pleased to announce the release of our latest podcast episode: Faces of 1812.

Listen Now!

 For more information on recent announcements at LAC, visit ” News“.

The Canadian Coast Guard celebrates its 50th anniversary – Part II

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In a previous blog, we invited you to discover some archival holdings to mark the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), including photographs, as well as government and political records. In this blog, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) encourages you to explore holdings containing CCG caricatures, audiovisual records and publications.

Caricatures

Audiovisual Records

There are many films and interviews on the CCG. It would be nearly impossible to list them all here, but the following are a few examples that may pique your curiosity.

Visit our film, video and sound recording database for more audiovisual records.

Publications

LAC has a vast collection of publications! Here are some books on the CCG that may interest you:

For more publications, visit AMICUS.

If you wish to search the records on-site at LAC, please order them at least five business days before your visit. You may order them online by using our Request for Retrieval of Documents form or by calling 613-996-5115 or  1-866-578-7777 (toll free) and selecting option 8 in the automated menu.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Summary of comments received in French up to September 30th, 2013

  • LAC added the following resources: Usque ad mare: a history of the Canadian Coast Guard and marine services by Thomas E. Appleton. (AMICUS 612170) and The Canadian Coast Guard, 1962-2002 by Charles D. Maginley (AMICUS 28388186).

The Canadian Coast Guard celebrates its 50th anniversary- Part I

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Black and white photograph of ship cutting a path for icebound vessel.

The CGS Stanley cutting a path for icebound vessels out of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia Source

Did you know that the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG)—which celebrates its 50th anniversary this  year—is heir to a long tradition originating in Canada’s East Coast? It is there that the first Canadian lighthouses and lifeboats were built during the
18th century.

Created in 1962 by the Honourable Leon Balcer, the then Minister of Transport, the CCG’s mission is to ensure safe and accessible waterways for Canadians. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) owns many archival records that document the activities of the CCG since its creation. Today, we invite you to discover some of these holdings, including photographs as well as government and political records.

Browse a few examples of digitized documents in the Archives Search Results page .

PHOTOGRAPHS

GOVERNMENT RECORDS

The Government fonds include textual records, technical drawings and boat plans.

POLITICAL RECORDS

LAC holds the archival fonds of former ministers of Transport, which contain records of the CCG. Here are two examples:

Please remember that not all of our material is available online. To learn more, consult our article How to Consult Material that Is Not Yet Available Online.

To view images, please visit our Flickr set.

Stay tuned for our next blog to discover more Canadian Coast Guard history, including caricatures, audiovisual records and publications.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

New Finding Aid Online: Non-Permanent Active Militia

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Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce that a new finding aid for the Non-Permanent Active Militia, RG 9 II-B-7, is now available online. View the 8,800 lower level descriptions today!

During the First World War, units of the Non-Permanent Active Militia were called upon to perform a variety of military tasks in Canada, notably to guard strategic sites such as armouries, bridges and canals.

The files are arranged alphabetically and can include a variety of forms dealing with enlistment, medical and dental history, hospitalization, discipline, pay, discharge and subsequent correspondence relating to the individual’s eligibility for war service gratuities and other service-related issues. Attestation papers, which are completed at the time of enlistment, are present in a number of the files. They include the recruit’s name and address, next-of-kin, date and place of birth, occupation, previous military experience and distinguishing physical characteristics.

This sub-series also contains small quantities of exceptional files: for members of the permanent force, for members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) prior to embarkation overseas, for members of Royal Flying Corps, and for nursing sisters and other members of the Canadian Army Medical Corps.

Although the outside dates for the records are 1908-1983, the vast majority were created during the period 1914-1919.

Want to learn more about how to use finding aids? Consult our articles “Discover Finding Aids!” and “ Discover Finding Aids – Part Two”.

Be alerted when we have added new finding aids online by subscribing to our RSS feed.

For more information on recent announcements at LAC, visit “News”.

Celebrating International Day of Peace – Part I: Julia Grace Wales

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Black and white photograph of a woman with her hair pulled back and a faint smile.

Julia Grace Wales (MIKAN 3361984)

September 21 is recognized as International Day of Peace. To celebrate this event, our blog will feature Canadian women who played a key role in the international peace movement, as documented in the collections of Library and Archives Canada (LAC). We will begin by presenting Julia Grace Wales, who played a key role in promoting peace during the First World War, an unusual role for a woman at this time in history. LAC holds the Julia Grace Wales fonds. Born in the Eastern Townships of Quebec in 1881, Wales was an academic who pursued her studies first at McGill University in Montreal, and later at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where she taught English literature. Horrified by the news reports of the brutal struggle under way in Europe, Wales responded by proposing a plan to end the fighting.

In December 1914, Wales produced a draft of the now famous document entitled “Continuous Mediation Without Armistice,” which later came to be known as the
Wisconsin Plan. This plan proposed that the United States organize a conference composed of intellectuals from all neutral nations to act as mediators. These individuals would propose solutions that incorporated not only their own ideas, but those of warring nations.

The work of Wales was immediately endorsed by the newly formed Wisconsin Peace Party. State officials around the United States also supported it. The  National Peace Party was so impressed that it sent a delegation to Washington to present the idea to President Woodrow Wilson and Congress. In Europe, Wales presented the plan to the International Congress of Women, whose members unanimously selected it as the solution to the war. They had it printed in four languages and distributed throughout Europe and North America.

By 1916, however, the peace movement began to decline and, despite the efforts of influential citizens like industrialist Henry Ford and leading pacifists, the plan never gained official support from the American government. The entry of the United States into the war in 1917 essentially meant that the mediation plan of Julia Grace Wales was no longer up for discussion.

After returning from Europe in 1917, Wales continued with her academic career, but always maintained an interest in the peace movement. She published articles on the subject, as well as one book. She returned to Quebec in 1947 to retire, and died there in 1957.

For more information, consult the digitized copies of the writing of Julia Grace Wales and other images in our Flickr set or consult her fonds.

Please remember that not all of our material is available online. To learn more, consult the article How to Consult Material that Is Not Yet Available Online.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Anniversary of the participation of military tanks in combat

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Tanks first appeared for military use in September 1916 at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in France. The First World War was at a pivotal point, since the Battle of the Somme had begun a few months earlier.

Developed in great secrecy over a number of years, the tanks did not, in general, inspire confidence from military authorities of the time. However, their trial in combat conditions in 1916 revealed their true potential. Well-known officers, such as American George S. Patton, were firm believers in the role of the tank; Patton was one of the first officers to command an armoured unit.

Tanks were heavy, slow, loud and could be easily located by the cloud of black smoke they spewed behind them. The first models were made of wood with metal frames; a full metal structure was quickly adopted, since it was fire resistant and shellproof.

The period between the two World Wars saw some major improvements to the tanks. When the Second World War began in 1939, the usefulness of tanks was no longer in doubt. Tanks became a common feature of any army. In 1941, Canada produced its first tank, the Cruiser, and its production continued during the entire conflict.

Canadian armoured units used numerous tank models during the Second World War, such as the Sherman, an American model.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Summary of comments received in French up to September 30th, 2013

  • A user asked when and where the Canadian tanks were used. LAC answered that the Canadian tank « Cruise » also called « Ram » was used for the training of Allied Forces in England from 1941 until mid-1944. This tank was not used for combat during the Second World War.