Canadian Genealogy · Genealogy How Tos · Stories of WWII

First and Second World War Files at LAC and Ancestry

In honour of Remembrance Day, here are my two recent posts on finding First and Second World War files at Library and Archives Canada.

Exploring First World War Files online at LAC: A Top 10 List

First World War Files Cover

In this two part series, I begin exploring military files at Library and Archives Canada, beginning with the First World War.

Requesting Second World War Files from LAC in Oct 2021: what you need to know now

Photo of WWII
Pte. DW Yip and company, location unknown, abt. 1944. © Archives of Dick and Yvette Yip. All rights reserved.

In this companion post, I discuss Second World War files, including my experience in a recent application for a Second World War military service file, and then look at the surprising depth of military files online at Library and Archives Canada.

Ancestry’s Military Collection: free to access until Nov 12

Ancestry will honour Remembrance Day by offering its worldwide collection for free until tomorrow. To access, you”ll need to go to http://www.ancestry.ca/remembrance and register. (Please don’t try to access any other way or you’ll be disappointed.)

Included in this release will be two new Canadian collections: Canada, World War II Newsreels, 1942-1945, and Canada, World War II, Faces of the Second World War, 1941-1945. Here is a screenshot of a partial list of Canadian military records. Thanks to Gail Dever at Genealogy à la carte for her excellent roundup of genealogy news.

In the Canada, World War II Newsreels, 1942-1945, No. 101, you can find Force 136 assembling at Aldershot, England, for a brief interview. Watch the entire film or fast forward to about 5 minutes, 30 seconds. For more about the Chinese Canadians commandos, see The James Bonds of Chinatown: meet Force 136.

Force 136 at Aldershot, UK, 1945 Canadian Army Newsreel No. 101, Ancestry

Thank yous

On this day, thanks to all those who served their country, regardless of when or who.

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