For Remembrance Day today, I thought this would be a good time to highlight the Canadian records available if you have ancestors that served in WW1 or WW2.

World War I

WW1 (1914 – 1918) saw over 650,000 men and women serve. A little over 66,000 gave their lives and more than 172,000 were wounded.

Library and Archives Canada has completed the huge task of digitizing the Canadian Expeditionary Force personnel files for the First World War. These records, which include soldiers, nurses and chaplains, consists of enlistment forms, training, medial history, and other information.

If you have family that enlisted in this war, you can search for their file at this address: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/search.aspx

When doing a search, remember that Slavic names don’t always translate properly to English. You might need to try phonetic spellings and perhaps do a broader search. One such name is Miscavish. For some reason both William and John’s last name was spelled Misscavish.

The first image is William (Bill)’s recruitment form, the second image is from John’s file which lists his sister, Mrs Annie Brako, as his next of kin.

Some files have quite a bit of information in them, like this example from Michael Bobick’s file. His file includes health and dental records, where he was stationed, casualty files, his will, discharge papers and more.

Even if your family member never saw service, they might have been called up and a recruitment form filled out. There were many requirements for a man to enlist. If you stammered, had a hernia, or had ulcers. If you did not have full range of motion in your limbs or if you had flat feet, or swelling in your limbs, you could also be excluded for duty.

One such person was Joseph Kwiatkowski from Huns Valley / Polonia. He was recruited very late in the war and never actually saw service overseas. He was one of many that were excluded for mobilization due to one of these many requirements, but his file still remains for us to look at.

From this one sheet alone, in addition to his birth date and next of kin, you can tell he was 5 foot 6 3/4 inches tall, had grey eyes and brown hair. One thing to note is that Joseph was most certainly Roman Catholic, not Greek Catholic.

World War II

I had heard on the news this morning that the average age (in Canada) of surviving WWII veterans is 96 years. If you are fortunate enough to have relatives still around, I would suggest talking to them now!

During the Second World War (1939 – 1945) more than 1 million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served. The number of deaths totalled over 45,000 with another 55,000 wounded.

The WWII military files are not online, but you can order them. Remember that both men and women served in WWII so don’t neglect your female ancestors.
– If the individual is still living, you will need written consent. 
– If the person you are looking for is deceased less than 20 years, limited information is released and only to an immediate family member such as spouse, child, or grandchild. You will need proof of relationship and proof of death.  
– If the individual is deceased more than 20 years personal information will be released if proof of death is provided.   A newspaper obituary, photograph of the gravestone, death certificate, funeral notice or funeral card will suffice.
You can apply here: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/Generics/atip/Documents/15-249l_EN_Request_for_Military_Service_Files.pdf Make sure you check off Genealogy package for the most information.

If your ancestor was killed in action in WWII, Library and Archives Canada is currently digitizing those files. You can search through the index here: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/second-world-war/second-world-war-dead-1939-1947/Pages/search.aspx

In 1944, Flying Officer Charles John Prawdzik was killed in action. There is no PDF file online, at Library and Archives Canada as yet and this is all the information they have.

The Canadian Virtual War Memorial, hosted by Veterans Affairs Canada, has a website that not only lists when Charles died, but also has pictures and documents. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial

Polonia has erected a very nice monument to the men who gave their lives in the service of our country. Please take a moment today to reflect on them and their family’s sacrifice and on all men and women who gave us the freedom we treasure today.