World War Two collections | Canadian Letters

Title

WWII

These collections contains all materials relating to Canadian from 1939 to 1945. Some individual collections may contain materials beyond this time frame. External links in collection descriptions are to casualty and burial information at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Hansell, Harry Ernest

Flight Sergeant Harry E. Hansell was born on April 13, 1923 and raised in Alberta. At the age of 19, he enlisted with the RCAF in Edmonton in February, 1942. Hansell served overseas with the 16 Squadron Conversion Unit, the 427 Squadron, and the 434 Squadron. He and his crew were shot down on a raid over Germany on September 27, 1943. The collection consists of more than twenty letter from Hansell as well as official correspondence concerning his death.

External links:
Flight Sergeant Harry Ernest Hansell’s service record (Serv/Reg# R160789) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Hansell can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Harber, T. Lloyd

Lance Corporal T. Lloyd Harber was born in Toronto, Ontario, to parents Thomas Lorenzo and Alice Jane Harber. He was the fourth of five children, with siblings Margaret, William, Marie, and Jack..

Harber enlisted in the army in December of 1942, training at Camp Borden before heading overseas the following June with the 48th Highlanders of Canada, #4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit. By September of 1943 he was serving with A Company, 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. As part of the Normandy Invasion, Harber was among the earliest of the troops landing at Juno Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. A head wound six weeks later resulted in his return to England for several months. Harber went on to serve in Holland and Germany, prior to his return to Canada for demobilization following the end of the war.

Harber’s enlistment occurred around the same time that his older brother, Flying Officer William George David Harber, was killed in action. F/O Harber had joined the R.C.A.F. in July of 1941. He died on November 7, 1942, when his aircraft was lost between Sydney, Nova Scotia and Torbay, Newfoundland.

Content notes:
The collection’s letters were written by Harber to his sisters Margaret and Marie, beginning at the start of his enlistment and continuing to mid-1945. Many letters include interesting descriptive details of military life and events. An example is his letter of July 15, 1944, which includes details about his specialized training prior to D-Day as part of the Assault Troops/Special Service Troops in preparation for leading beach landings.
Harber’s full first name (initial “T”) is unknown.

External links:
L/Cpl. Lloyd Harber’s service record (Serv/Reg# B134028) is not publicly available at this time.
F/O(P) William George David Haber’s service record (Serv/Reg# J11291) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.

Hay, William and Hilda

William Cameron Hay was born in Toronto, Ontario in March, 1925 and joined the RCAF in 1943. He served overseas with the RCAF until the end of the war. The collection consists of more than forty letters from 1943 to 1945 between Bill Hay and his girlfriend and later wife, Hilda Cook.

Healy, Malcolm Ronald

Malcolm Ronald Healy enlisted in June, 1941 in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Healy served oveseas in Europe and was demobilized in November, 1945. The collection currently consists of nine photographs and miscellaneous personal items.

Heinzman, Walter Celeste

Lance Corporal Walter Celeste Heinzman was born November 13, 1910, in Richardton, North Dakota, to parents Rudolf and Ermengarde Heinzman. Much of the family latter settled in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

Heinzman enlisted in Weyburn for Active Service on September 9, 1939, with the South Saskatchewan Regiment. While serving with that Regiment, he was part of the ill-fated Dieppe Raid (Operation Jubilee), the attempted Allied invasion at Dieppe, France, on August 19, 1942. Heinzman was killed during the raid, and is buried at the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-sur-Mer, France.

Content notes:
Government records spell Heinzman’s middle name as both “Celeste” and “Celest.”

External links:
L/Cpl. Heinzman’s service record (Serv/Reg# L12086) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring L/Cpl. Heinzman can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Henderson, Kenneth Francis

Able Seaman Kenneth Francis Henderson was born in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1922. As a sailor with Royal Canadian Navy in WWII he served for several years aboard the Bangor-class minesweeper H.M.C.S. Thunder. He married Elsie Marie (née Goodwin) on February 8, 1944, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The letters in the Henderson collection were written to Elsie during the period of June 4–25, 1944, and describe Henderson’s experiences during the D-Day landing operations on the coast of Normandy, France.

External links:
AB Henderson’s service record (Serv/Reg# unknown) is not open to public access at this time.

[Editor’s Note: The rank of “Able Seaman” was Henderson’s rank at the time the collection’s letters were written. His final rank upon leaving the Navy in the 1960’s is unknown.]

Henneberg, Carl Clifford

Major Carl Clifford Henneberg, OBE, was born on July 8, 1906, to parents Augustus and Ellen Henneberg. He studied at the Manitoba Medical School. After graduating in 1933 he moved to Flin Flon, Manitoba, where he worked as a doctor with the Flin Flon Medical Services Company and the city’s General Hospital.

Henneberg joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps on September 9, 1939, as a Lieutenant in medical unit No. 5 General Hospital. Once overseas in early 1940, he worked at the Canadian military hospital at Farnborough, England. While in England Henneberg married Canadian Nursing Sister Kay Warham.

From mid-1944 to March 1945 Henneberg was stationed in Rome, Italy. In the final months of the war he returned to Canada in April of 1945, joined by Kay a few weeks later; the couple settled in Winnipeg, Man., where Henneberg was posted at the Fort Osborne Hospital.

In recognition of his service while in Italy, Henneberg was appointed to the Order of the British Empire on July 7, 1945.

Content notes:
Letters were written between 1939-1945 by Henneberg to his friend and business partner Dr. Peter Guttormsson and family in Flin Flon, Man. (later in Vancouver, B.C.). Featured among the photographs are several with various members of the royal family, including two with the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Information on Henneberg’s overseas deployment locations and dates is somewhat limited.

External links:
Major Carl Henneberg (Serv/Reg# not assigned) survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.
His appointment to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire was published in The London Gazette on September 13, 1945 (#37262, p.4557).

Hollett, William Lloyd

William Lloyd Hollett was born in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia in September, 1913. He served overseas with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, R.C.I.C. until his death on October 26, 1944, age 33. The collection currently consists of more than forty letters.

External links:
Private William Lloyd Hollett’s service record (Serv/Reg# F11177) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Hollett can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Humewood School

Humewood School is a school in Toronto, Ontario which during WWII sent parcels to ex-Humewood students who were serving during the war. This unique collection currently consists of more than forty letters of thank you back to the school for Christmas parcels sent for Christmas of 1944.

Humphrey, John Fenton

John ("Jack") Fenton Humphrey was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, in October 1922. He enlisted with the R.C.A.F. and trained as an aircraft mechanic in 1941 and was sent overseas to Britain. In 1943 Humphrey trained as a rear gunner and then was sent again overseas. He returned to Canada at the end of the war. The collection currently consists of more than thirty letters written by Humphrey during the war.