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.

MacCausland, Vincent Sanford

Vincent Sanford MacCausland was born in Tyne Valley, Prince Edward Island on February 1, 1913. He enlisted in March, 1940 with the RCAF before being attached to the 617 Squadron RAF. MacCausland was killed on a raid on May 17, 1943. The collection consists of fourteen letters and several photographs.

External links:
Flying Officer Vincent Sanford MacCausland’s service record (Serv/Reg# J15309) 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 MacCausland can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

MacMillan, Joseph Francis

Engine Room Artificer 4th Class Joseph Francis MacMillan was born in Ingersoll, Ontario, on December 4, 1910, one of eight children of parents Benjamin Alexander and Mary MacMillan. In 1938 he married Beulah Maud and they had one child, son James Benjamin. At the time of his enlistment the family was living in Woodstock, Ont., where MacMillan worked as a machinist at the Morrow Screw and Nut Company in nearby Ingersoll.

He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, at London, Ont., on July 30, 1941. Following initial training Halifax at H.M.C.S. Stadacona, he went on serve aboard the destroyer H.M.C.S. St. Croix.

MacMillan was killed on September 20, 1943, while on convoy support duty in Atlantic, when H.M.C.S. St. Croix was torpedoed and sunk south of Iceland, one of nine Allied ships lost to submarine attacks over a three days period. Stoker 1st Class William Fisher was the only member of St Croix’s crew to survive the crossing.

Buried at sea, MacMillan is commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Content notes:
Three of the collection letters were written during the war by MacMillan to family members, the remainder are condolence letters.

External links:
ERA 4 Joseph MacMillan’s service record (Serv/Reg# V17743) 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 MacMillan can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Joseph MacMillan’s brother, Private John Theodore MacMillan (service record, Serv/Reg# A108862), was killed in Holland on April 28, 1945, while serving with the Perth Regiment, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps.

Maloney, Maurice Melville

Maurice Melville Maloney was born in Meaford, Ontario in February, 1918. Maloney served overseas with the 15th Canadian Ambulance Corps as well as the 4th Canadian Armoured Division Medical Corps. He returned to Canada at the end of the war and died in 1996. The collection currently consists of fourteen letters, poems, telegrams, clippings, and other miscellaneous items.

Martyn, William Wallace Haig

William Wallace Haig Martyn was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in December, 1915. He joined the RAF in 1936 and during the war he flew with Squadron Nos. 802, 758, 759, 760, and 880 and was awarded the DSC. The collection consists of more than 140 letters written by Martyn from 1939 to 1945.

McCaig, Leslie Neil

Flight Lieutenant Leslie Neil McCaig, DFC, was born in Ormstown Station, Québec, on July 4, 1915, to parents Neil and Ethel (née Sangster) McCaig. After receiving his B.A. and Teacher’s Certification at Bishops University, he worked as a school teacher at Stanstead Wesleyan College, Stanstead, and Westmont High School, Montreal, prior to beginning his military service.

He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Montreal on August 16, 1941, earning his Pilot Flying Badge in October of 1942. Once overseas he served with the R.C.A.F. No. 426 (Thunderbird) Squadron. McCaig was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on October 29, 1943, for his actions that September during a night bombing raid over Mannheim, Germany, described in part in The London Gazette as: “Displaying exceptional skill, Flight Lieutenant McCaig flew the badly damaged bomber to this country and effected a successful crashlanding at an airfield. This officer displayed courage, coolness and determination worthy of high praise.”

McCaig was later killed piloting a night mission over Berlin, Germany, on January 20, 1944, in which the entire crew of Lancaster #LL 628 was lost. He was buried in the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany, and was honoured after the war in the naming of McCaig Bay, Northwest Territories (present day Nunavut).

Content notes:
The collection’s only letter was written by McCaig to Miss Della Allen of Montreal, in August of 1943.

External links:
F/L(P) Leslie McCaig, DFC, service record (Serv/Reg# R120133 and J14907) 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 McCaig can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
The awarding of McCaig’s Distinguished Flying Cross in The London Gazette, October 29, 1943 (#36226, p. 4765).

Aircrew flying with McCaig on January 20, 1944:
R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer Ernest Stewart Hawkes, DFC, service record (Serv/Reg# J86265).
R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer Robert James Orr’s service record (Serv/Reg# J19009).
R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer Ronald Duncan Polson’s service record (Serv/Reg# J18921).
R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer Thomas James Preece’s service record (Serv/Reg# J93896).
R.A.F. Pilot Officer Raymond W. Elliot’s (Serv/Reg# 162597) British-held service record is not open to public access at this time.
R.A.F. Pilot Officer Gerald R. Ketcher, DFM, (Serv/Reg# 168963) British-held service record is not open to public access at this time.

McIntyre, Ian Gordon Hunter

Ian Gordon Hunter McIntyre was born in September, 1921. He attended school in Courtenay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia until 1936 when, at the age of 15 he signed on with the British training ship the HMS Conway. After two years he then joined Donaldson, Black and Company. He sailed with them, including the Murmansk Convoy until his ship, Empire Whale was torpedoed and sunk March 9, 1943. McIntyre was killed at that time and is remembered on the Halifax Memorial. The collection currently consists of a number of miscellaneous personal items.

External links:
As a member of the Canadian Merchant Navy, Third Mate Ian Gordon Hunter McIntyre does not have a service record available through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring McIntyre can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

McKenzie, Malcolm

Roderick Malcolm McKenzie served in the Royal Canadian Navy in WWII.

The letters in the McKenzie Collection date from the early months of Malcolm’s entry into the Navy. Writing home to his parents, he keeps them up to date on the details of his early training at H.M.C.S. Chippawa in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and H.M.C.S. St. Hyacinthe, in St. Hyacinthe, Québec.

External links:
No service information for Roderick Malcolm McKenzie (Serv/Reg# V-71336) is publicly accessible through Library and Archives Canada at this time.

McKie, James DeArze Gill

James DeArze Gill McKie served with the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry and the 2nd Canadian Guards. During World War ll he served with the PPCLI in Italy. McKie retired with the rank of Sgt. Major in 1962, having served in the Canadian Army since 1937. He died in 1987. The collection currently consists of three letters and one photograph.

Middleton, Walter Elliott

Private Walter Elliot Middleton enrolled with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on July 16, 1940. Middleton served overseas in the United Kingdom, Europe, and in the Mediterranean before returning to Canada and demobilized on September 4, 1945. The collection consists of a letter written on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Montague, Gerald Vincent

Gerald Vincent Montague was born in London, England, in August 1910. He immigrated to Canada in the 1920s. Montague enlisted in September 1939 and served with The Canadian Scottish, 7th Division, 3rd Battalion, C Company in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany before returning to Canada in 1946.

Moore, Joseph Lorne

Leading Aircraftman Joseph Lorne Moore enlisted with the RCAF in 1943 at the age of nineteen and served overseas with the 436th Squadron stationed in India. The collection consists of more than sixty letters, as well as photographs and other personal items.

Eternal links:
L.A.C. Joseph Lorne Moore, (Serv/Reg# R208467), survived the war; his service record is not open to public access at this time.

[Editor’s note: A name and linking error was made in the Joseph Lorne Moore Collection in December of 2022, misidentifying and linking to the service file of of fellow RCAF member Lorne Joseph Moore. Corrected July 2023.]

Morlidge, Arthur Bryan

Arthur Bryan Morlidge was from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. He served with the 419 Squadron as a Flying Officer until he was shot down and killed in October, 1942. He is buried in the Netherlands. The collection currently consist of personal correspondence, official correspondence concerning his death, and some photographs.

External links:
Flying Officer Arthur Bryan Morlidge’s service record (Serv/Reg# J9762) 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 Morlidge can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Mouat, William Ivan

William Ivan Mouat left Salt Spring Island in British Columbia to join the RCAF and was sent overseas in 1941. In July 1943 Mouat was shot down over Belgium and remained a prisoner of war until he was liberated in May 1945. The collection consists of eighteen letters, seven telegrams, three photos and other documents related to his experience as a prisoner of war.