CEFRG – Canadian Expeditionary Force Research Group 1914-1919
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No.3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) in the Great War
No.3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) in the Great War describes the origins of the unit beginning in August 1914 with Herbert Stanley Birkett, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University, until May 1916. The Call to Arms (4 August 1914 – 5 May 1915) Origins of No.3 Canadian General Hospital When war declared…
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Private Joseph Henry Quinn in the Great War
One of the smallest soldiers in the CEF, the true identity of Private Joseph Henry Quinn now known. “The smallest man in the Canadians (10th Battalion?), age 15, enlisted in November 1914 at Vancouver. His name was Pte J. Quinn, 57 inches in height, wounded by shrapnel in the right hand at Lens in January…
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Sergeant William Merrifield VC MM in the Great War
Sergeant William Merrifield VC MM born in Brentwood, Essex, England on 9 October 1890. Merrifield came to Canada at the age of 12 with his father. They moved to Sudbury, onto Ottawa and eventually settled in Sault Ste. Marie. In 1914, Merrifield enlisted with the 2nd Battalion to fight in the Great War. He served…
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Pipe Major James Groat in the Great War
Pipe Major James Groat DCM, MM & Bar one of several pipers of the 16th Battalion, CEF, awarded medals of gallantry in the Great War. Groat’s Distinguished Conduct Medal, Military Medal and Bar, represent three awards for gallantry in the face of the enemy. In 1915 the 16th Battalion, Canadian Scottish, had 17 pipers, but…
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Captain Mary Plummer in the Great War
Captain Mary Plummer the daughter of James Henry Plummer and Annie (McConkey) Plummer, Sylvan Tower, Toronto. The Canadian Field Comforts Commission Headquarters – Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe. 1914 In early August of 1914, Plummer organized a fund raising group in Toronto to raise funds for war hospitals. This quickly expanded into fund raising for soldiers’ field…
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Corporal Joe Keeper in the Great War
Corporal Joe Keeper MM, a member of the Norway House Cree Nation born at Walker Lake, Manitoba on 17 January 1886. A long-distance runner, Joseph Benjamin Keeper a member of the 1912 Canadian Olympic team. 1912 Olympics Joseph Benjamin Keeper won seven-mile road races (11,265 m) in 1910 and 1911. In 1911, he set a…
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Lt Wallace Lloyd Algie VC in the Great War
Alton’s Finest Lt Wallace Lloyd Algie born in Alton, 10 June 1891, now part of the Town of Caledon, Ontario. He graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada and in April 1916, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Son of Dr. James Algie, and Rachel Algie, of Toronto, Ontario. Brother of Ada E.,…
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Sergeant Richard Baxter in the Great War
Golf Professional Sergeant Richard Baxter 65054 served with the 24th Battalion (Victoria Rifles) out of Montreal. Born in Melrose, Scotland on 23 January 1895. At his enlistment, Richard noted his trade as a golf professional. Victoria Rifles The 24th Battalion organized in October 1914 under the Command of Lieutenant-Colonel J. A. Gunn. Mobilized at Montreal…
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Captain Samuel Wilkinson in the Great War
Chaplains Honourary Captain Samuel Wilkinson, a Methodist minister, served with the 79th Battalion, 67th Pioneer Battalion, 4th Canadian Divisional Train, 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital, and finally No 15 Canadian General Hospital during the Great War. Born in Tobley, Chesire, England, his family immigrated to Canada in 1870 and settled at Ingersoll, Ontario. He arrived in…
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Private Ichimatsu Shintani in the Great War
Born in Hiroshima Private Ichimatsu Shintani of Hiroshima City at 35 years of age a late arrival to the war in 1918. He survived the first wave of Influenza soon after his arrival at the front. Ichimatsu seriously injured later during the Battle of the Scarpe. Hiroshima City Ichimatsu Shintani born 5 October 1883 in…
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Brig-Gen James MacBrien in the Great War
Officer and Policeman Brig-Gen James MacBrien graduated from Port Perry High School in 1896 and got his first job as a Bank Clerk at the Western Bank in Port Perry. R.N.W.M.P. MacBrien started his military career as a Private with the 34th Ontario Regiment in 1878, and with the RNWMP in 1900 then the South…