Documenting Your Canadian Ancestors who served in WWI (1914-18) or WWII (1939-45) with the Canadian Navy - 2024 Edition

By Kenneth G. Cox

This research guide is designed to help family historians who want to discover more about an ancestor who had ‘gone to sea’ during one of the two World Wars fought in the last century. It references navy documents held at Library and Archives Canada; provides photographs and illustrations of uniforms, ranks and medals, and includes a case study highlighting the service records that a family historian can expect to access.

Contents include:

• Putting your ancestor in context - WWI & WWII
  • Part A, WWI 1914-1923: Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve
    • Service Records: World War I - where to find them
    • Case study Timothy Emery Fitzgerald, V.R.2748
  • Part B, WWII 1939-1945: Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Volunteer Reserve and Merchant Navy.
    • Trade badges
    • Service Records: World War II - where to find them
    • Case study: Ray Mecoy, V46784
• Service Medals - WWI & WWII - Overview and examples
• Ranks and Ratings - WWI & WWII - Introduction to ranks and structure
• Merchant Navy WWII - Overview
  • Merchant Navy Service Records WWII - where to find them
• Merchant Navy WWI
  • Merchant Navy Service Records WWI - where to find them
• Appendix: Mercantile Marine War Medals awarded to Canadians (partial list of 256 individuals of the 624 awarded in total)
• References & Bibliography

Hopefully this guide encourages a researcher to go beyond listing the basic notation of an ancestor’s navy experience and acts as a segue into further investigation. Identifying the substantive and non-substantive ratings, trade and skill-at-arms badges and cap tally band that a navy ancestor might have worn and which might appear in that faded family photograph is only one step.

For a family historian to understand, through further reading, what the terms square rig, fo’c’sle, jimmy-the-one, dog-watch, mick, red-lead, tiddley, Newfyjohn or Westomp meant to our naval ancestors makes a researcher closer to understanding the fighting service in which that ancestor risked their life. To read about North Atlantic convoys, or life aboard a Canadian Corvette during a winter crossing or night action in the English Channel aboard a Motor Torpedo Boat, helps to complete an image of an ancestor who left their everyday life to fight for our country.

This updated 2024 edition includes more information on WW1 Merchant Seamen records. Otherwise identical to the previous edition.

The pdf of this book is provided in high definition, including front and back covers, suitable for printing your own physical copy in 8 1/2" x 11" format.

Details

27 pages
8.5 X 11"
Illustrations & Photos (B&W and color)
Published by Global Heritage Press, Carleton Place, 2024
ISBN13: 978-1-77240-221-4 (digital)