Browse "First World War"

While they may not have had access to the battlefields, a number of Canadian women artists made their mark on the visual culture of the First World War by representing the home front. First among these were the women affiliated with the Canadian War Memorials Fund, Canada’s first official war art program. Founded in 1916, the stated goal of the Fund was to provide “suitable Memorials in the form of Tablets, Oil-Paintings, etc. […], to the Canadian Heroes and Heroines in the War.” Expatriates Florence Carlyle and Caroline Armington participated in the program while overseas. Artists Henrietta Mabel May, Dorothy Stevens, Frances Loringand Florence Wyle were commissioned by the Fund to visually document the war effort in Canada.

Robert Leckie, air marshal (b at Glasgow, Scot 16 Apr 1890; d at Ottawa 31 Mar 1975). A much-decorated flying-boat pilot in WWI, Leckie was the only airman to be credited with downing 2 Zeppelins.

​Robert Shankland, soldier, accountant, Victoria Cross recipient (born 10 October 1887 in Ayr, Scotland; died 20 January 1968 in Vancouver, BC). During the First World War, Lieutenant Robert Shankland was one of three soldiers, all from the same street in Winnipeg, to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire. The three VCs earned by the men of Pine Street — later named Valour Road — was a feat unmatched in any other part of the Empire.

Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, mounted policeman, soldier (born 5 January 1848 in Medonte, Canada West; died 30 January 1919 in London, England). As a member of the North-West Mounted Police, Steele was an important participant in the signing of Treaty 6 and Treaty 7, the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the North-West Rebellion and the Klondike gold rush. His military career began as a private in the Red River Expedition, included service in the South African War as an officer commanding Lord Strathcona’s Horse and as a major general during the First World War.

Samuel Glode (also spelled Gloade), Mi’kmaq lumberjack, hunting and fishing guide, trapper, soldier and war hero (born 20 April 1880 in Milton, NS; died 26 October 1957 in Halifax, NS) was a veteran of the First World War. He served as an engineer and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his heroic actions after the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

Sherwood Lett, soldier, lawyer, chief justice of BC (b at Iroquois, Ont 1 Aug 1895; d at Vancouver 2 July 1964).

Sir Archibald Cameron Macdonell, KCB, CMG, DSO, police officer, soldier (b at Windsor, Canada W 6 Oct 1864; d at Kingston, Ont 23 Dec 1941).

Sir Arthur William Currie (changed from Curry in 1897), soldier, educator (born 5 December 1875 in Adelaide (near Strathroy), ON; died 30 November 1933 in Montréal, QC).

Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, soldier, governor (b at Galt, Ont 20 July 1869; d at Bexhill, Eng 21 Apr 1930). Commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1889, he served first in Singapore, then at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and as a surveyor in West Africa 1902-14.

Sir Richard Ernest William Turner, KCMG, VC, DSO, businessman and soldier (b at Québec 25 July 1871; d there 19 June 1961). In 1891 he entered his family's wholesale grocery and lumber business.

Sir Samuel Hughes, teacher, journalist, soldier, politician (born at Darlington, Canada W 8 Jan 1853; died at Lindsay, Ont 24 Aug 1921). A Conservative and an enthusiastic supporter of Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy, Sam Hughes was elected to Parliament for Victoria North in 1892.

Sir William Dillon Otter, soldier (b at Clinton, Ont 3 Dec 1843; d at Toronto 6 May 1929). A veteran of the Battle of RIDGEWAY in 1866 and a part-time soldier, Otter joined the permanent force in 1883.

At the beginning of WWII, Stephenson was placed in charge of British Security Co-ordination (counterespionage) in the Western Hemisphere, with headquarters in New York C (where the telegraphic address was INTREPID - later popularized as Stephenson's code name).

Sir Willoughby Garnons Gwatkin, soldier (b in Eng 11 Aug 1859; d at Twickenham, Eng 2 Feb 1925). Educated at King's College, Cambridge, and commissioned in the British army in 1882, Gwatkin was permanently seconded to Canada in 1911.

Thomas (Tommy) Ricketts, soldier, pharmacist, Victoria Cross recipient (born 15 April 1901 in Middle Arm, White Bay, NL; died 10 February 1967 in St. John’s). During the First World War, Private Tommy Ricketts was the youngest soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire.

​Thomas-Louis Tremblay, soldier, commander and civil engineer (born 16 May 1886 in Chicoutimi, Québec; died 28 March 1951 in Québec City, Québec).

Constable Robert McBeath stopped a drunk driver on Granville Street in the wee hours of an October morning in 1922. It was routine police work for the twenty-four year-old constable, but it would cost him the life he had risked just a few years before, when he earned the Victoria Cross at the Somme.

Charles Vincent Massey, PC, CC, governor general 1952-59, historian, business executive, politician, diplomat, royal commissioner, patron of the arts (born 20 February 1887 in Toronto; died 30 December 1967 in London, England). Massey was the country’s first Canadian-born governor general. He helped create the Order of Canada in 1967, and as a champion of the arts in Canada laid the groundwork for the Canada Council, the National Library of Canada and the National Arts Centre.

Field Marshall Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, Commander of the Canadian Corps from 1915 to 1917 and Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926 (born 11 September 1862 in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom; died 6 June 1935 in Essex, United Kingdom). Byng led the Canadian Corps to victory at the Battle of Vimy Ridge during the First World War. As governor general, he is best known for his role in the King-Byng Affair, when he formally refused Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King’s advice to dissolve Parliament and call a federal election.

Walter Hose, naval officer (b at sea 2 Oct 1875; d at Windsor, Ont 22 June 1965). After 21 years in the Royal Navy, Hose transferred to the Canadian navy in 1912. Until 1917 he commanded the RAINBOW on the Pacific coast, then the trade defence forces on the Atlantic coast in 1917-18.