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.

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 InformationImages and/or documentsHistorical Context

This should be a brief and accurate biography. It should include:

Full name, date of birth, and date of deathRegiment, 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.

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.)

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.

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.

Bio of Soldier/Historical Information/20

Photographs /Images /10Clarity of Writing/Proofreading

/5Evidence/Sources

/5Total = /40

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.

Private John Bernard CroakPrivate William Richard BirdEmery James LoganLieutenant Colonel William George BarkerLieutenant Colonel Phillip Eric BentLieutenant Colonel William Avery BishopLieutenant Colonel John McCraePrivate John Chipman KerrPrivate Thomas RickettsPrivate Eugene PerryCompany Quarter Master Sargeant William

Alexander

Nursing Sister Clare GassNursing Sister Margaret Ann Low (Lowe)Nursing Sister Gladys Maude Mary WakeNursing Sister Edith AndersonCorporal Francis PegamahgabowLieutenant Cameron Donald BrantDispatch Runner Thomas LongboatCorporal Sam GlodePrivate Jeremiah Henry JonesPrivate Ethelbert Curley ChristianPrivate Percy Forman Fenton

Pipe Major John CarsonChief Steward John KerrPrivate William Foster KidstonPrivate Percy Clarence CrockerSergeant Albert Miller AlbergaNursing Sister Ann Doctor AllanActing Sister Marie Dow LutwickPrivate Byron Leander VergePrivate Clarence William O’NeillPrivate Gordon ClevelandPrivate Moses GuranaCompany Quarter Master Sergeant Gordon Clarence

Bastow

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 Memorialhttp://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmemUsing 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.

 

Canadian War Graves Commissionhttp://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp?menuid=14This 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.

The Canadian Genealogy Centrehttp://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909.006-e.htmlA 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 Gatewayhttp://www.cmhg-phmc.gc.ca/html/index-eng.aspA complete history of Canada’s military involvement and activities from pre-Contact to the present.

There are also some resources linked directly to WWI specifically:

The Canadian Great War Projecthttp://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/

Soldiers of the First World War (attestation papers)http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/index-e.html