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.

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.

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.]

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.

Private Leslie Abram Neufeld was born near Lost River, Saskatchewan, on January 17, 1922. He was among the oldest of ten children in the Mennonite farming family of Henry and Anna Neufeld.

He enlisted in the Army on January 13, 1942, in Saskatoon, Sask., initially serving overseas with No. 10 Field Ambulance, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. As planning for D-Day intensified, Neufeld transferred to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in February of 1944 and trained as a paratrooper. Late in the evening of June 5, the plane carrying Neufeld’s “C” Company of the 1st Can. Para. Battalion took off from England, to parachute into Normandy, France, ahead of the main Allied landing forces of D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Neufeld was killed in action June 6, 1944; his body was never recovered. He is commemorated at the Bayeux Memorial in Bayeux, Normandy, France.

Content notes:
The first of the collection’s two letters was written by Neufeld to his family the day before his D-Day deployment. The second letter was to his brother Leonard H. Neufeld  from the Saskatchewan government, informing him of the naming of “Neufeld Bay” in the Lac La Ronge district in honor of his brother Leslie.
The three poems, about war, duty and soldiering, were written by Neufeld in 1939, several years prior to his military service while he was still in high school.

External links:
Pte. Neufeld’s service record (Serv/Reg# L74243) 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 Neufeld can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

[Editor’s note: Collection reviewed/updated January 2023. One  additional letter, three poems, and one telegram added. Transcriptions reviewed and errors corrected. Collection Description expanded (date of death of June 6, 1944, is the date designated by both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and by Library and Archives Canada).]

Bertram "Bert" Parker enlisted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in August, 1941. He was 23 years of age. During the war Parker served overseas with the 420 "Snowy Owl" Squadron, R.C.A.F. The collection currently consist of more than one hundred photographs from his time with the R.C.A.F.

Edwin "Eddie" Frederick Patzer  was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan in August, 1920.  He was a star defenceman with the Yorkton Terriers during the 1940-41 and 1941-42 seasons.  Patzer enlisted with the RCAF and was flying with the 432 Squadon when he was shot down and killed over Germany, February 21, 1945.  The collection currently consists of personal and official correspondence, photographs, as well as miscellaneous items as clippings and cards.

External links:
Flying Officer Edwin Frederick Patzer’s service record (Serv/Reg# J87362) 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 Patzer can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Flight Lieutenant Lawrence Valentine Pollard was a British citizen who enlisted during World War II in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He served in the Royal Air Force’s No. 214 Squadron prior to being posted to a Canadian unit, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s No. 429 Squadron, on September 3, 1943. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on May 23, 1944.

Content notes:
­One August 1940 photo of Wellington L4215, No. 214 Sqdn., R.A.F., with crew signatures. Most others are R.C.A.F./R.A.F. crew, most likely of No. 429 Squadron, 1943-44.

External links:
F/L Lawrence Pollard (Serv/Reg#s 118899, 440523) survived the war; his British service record is not publicly available at this time.
His Distinguished Flying Cross award was published in The London Gazette on May 23, 1944 (#36525 p. 2349).

Flight Officer Dennis John Quinlan was born in Edmonton, Alberta on April 4, 1920 and later moved to Calgary. Quinlan joined the R.C.A.F. in September of 1940 and participated in 25 operations before he was killed on August 17, 1942, at the age of 22.

External links:
Flying Officer Dennis John Quinlan’s service record (Serv/Reg# J6130) 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 Quinlan can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.