Introduction
When Veterans Affairs was notified of the death of a First World War veteran, a death card was created and is now in the custody of Library and Archives Canada. These cards are the extent of this set of records; there are no files relating to the notification of death.
There are approximately 130,000 cards, which are arranged alphabetically in 99 cabinet drawers. The contents of each drawer were digitized as a batch of approximately 1,300 cards each. The name on the first card in a drawer is the title of that group of cards.
What is in these records?
This collection includes death cards up until the early 1960s for:
- Many veterans of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who died after discharge or who died in Canada during the war
- Some veterans of the British Forces who died in Canada after the war
- Some members of the militia who died in Canada during or after the war
- Some navy veterans who died after the war
- A few veterans of the Newfoundland Forces who died after the war
- A few veterans of Allied Forces (e.g. Indian, French and American armies) who died in Canada after the war
- A few veterans of the North West Mounted Police who had military service
- A few veterans of the South African War and the North West Field Force (1885 Rebellion)
It does not include cards for:
Each death card includes some or all of the following details:
- Regimental service number
- Rank
- Unit, Battalion or Regiment
- Date and place of death
- Cause of death
- Place of burial
- Name and address of next-of-kin
What does it mean?
Dates were written in a standardized format: day-month-year
- C.P.C.
- Canadian Pension Commission
- Death Not Due / Death Not Related
- death was not attributed to illness or injury contracted while in service
- Death Was Due / Death Related
- death was attributed to illness or injury contracted while in service
- Farm Records
- these records were once stored in a building at the Experimental Farm
- Imp.
- Imperial (British) Forces
- HQ
- Headquarters
- M.D.
- Military District
- N/K
- next-of-kin
- Rk.
- Rank
- w.
- wife / widow
Related sites
Search the digitized cards
Go to the list below to find the name that starts the series that would include the surname of interest to you. Click on that name to open the digitized cards. You can move through the images one by one, or skip ahead by entering a new page (image) number in the page navigation box.
Tips
- Some cards have only an initial instead of the full given name.
- Some cards or groups of cards are not in exact alphabetical order. For example, you might find a Normand card filed with the Norman cards.
- Some old cards from other projects were reused, but sometimes the name on the back of the card was not crossed out. For example, an old card for H. H. Johnson was reused for R. J. Mullett, so the back of the Mullett card shows H.H. Johnson, which has no relevance to R. J. Mullett.
- Mc and Mac names are interfiled.
- For Mu, Mc/Mac, Na and Ne surnames, use this expanded list to help you determine the right series of cards. For example, the name Nadon appears in the series that starts with McNamee and ends with Neff.
- Murphy, George to McCarthy, Hugh
- McCarthy, James J. to McDonald, Duncan James
- McDonald, E. B. to McGibbon, Wm. T.
- McGibney, Robert James to McKay, Jos. P.
- McKay, K. J. to McLean, Astor B.
- MacLean, Bert to McNamara, Wm.
- McNamee, Michael to Neff, Joseph
| First Name in series |
| Aasen, O-T |
| Allen, Robert-H |
| Armitt, Harry |
| Badeau, Eugene |
| Barnes, Adam |
| Beaudry, Arthur |
| Berger, Albert |
| Blackman, Alfred |
| Bouck, James |
| Brebner, John |
| Brown, Harry |
| Bullock, John |
| Byers, Joseph |
| Cannon, Charles |
| Casson, A-J |
| Chipman, Abraham |
| Clifford, Alfred |
| Conely, Phillip |
| Cormier, A |
| Crane, Albert |
| Cunningham, A |
| Davie, Horace |
| Demers, Albert |
| Dobson, Alan |
| Draper, Alexander |
| Durand, Adalbert |
| Elliot, Andrew |
| Everest, Arthur-P |
| Fergusson, Alexander |
| Flint, George |
| Francis, Albert-E |
| Gagnon, Adelard |
| Geach, Stanley |
| Girard, Amedee |
| Gough, Albert |
| Green, A |
| Gunn, A |
| Hammond, A |
| Harrison, A |
| Hayward, A |
| Hewitt, A |
| Hodgkinson, A |
| Houghton, A |
| Hunter, A |
| Jackson, A |
| Johnson, A |
| Jones, Leonard |
| Kelly, Thomas |
| King, A |
| Lacey, A |
| Larkin, William-J |
| Lee, Albert |
| Ley, A |
| Loring, A |
| Mahoney, F |
| Marshall, L |
| Mayhew, Athol |
| Mccarthy, J |
| Mcdonald, E-B |
| Mcgibney, R |
| Mckay, K |
| Mclean, B |
| Mcnamee, M |
| Miller, H |
| Monier, A |
| Morrison, B |
| Murphy, G |
| Neff, Omer |
| Norman, Benjamin |
| Olsen, B |
| Paquin, A |
| Paynter, J |
| Phair, George |
| Pooley, Charles |
| Proulx, P |
| Raymur, Kenneth |
| Richards, W |
| Robertson, L |
| Roseback, John |
| Ryan, A |
| Schmuck, F |
| Sharpe, B |
| Simmons, G |
| Smith, C |
| Smith, William a |
| Standing, W |
| Stewart, R |
| Sullivan, L |
| Taylor, D |
| Thompson, E |
| Tommas, W |
| Turner, M |
| Vines, H |
| Walters, W |
| Wear, J |
| White, A |
| Williams, A |
| Wilson, R |
| Wordsworth, T |
