The focal point of this collection of sheet music is the First World War. These songs do not reflect the idea of war as it is commonly thought of in popular imagination: battlefields, trenches and heroic charges. These songs were not, for the most part, written for the soldiers. Instead, they reflect the daily experience of the Canadians who remained at home during the war and the way people thought about the effect the war was having on their lives and on their country. They do not address changes in society explicitly; instead they go deeper, preserving the visceral responses of Canadians to the war as it was happening. This sheet music offers an intimate picture of the conditions out of which post-war Canada grew.

The collection consists of trench maps and aerial photographs created during the First World War. The majority of the maps were created by the British Ordnance Survey for the Allied forces, although a few German, French and other maps purchased privately by officers exist within the collection. As the collection is almost exclusively made up of British mapping, coverage is limited to the British sector of the Western Front extending from the English Channel in the north to the vicinity of Reims in the south.

The aerial photographs were produced by the [British] Royal Flying Corps (renamed Royal Air Force when it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service in 1918). However, a few French and German examples exist within the collection. Approximately 350 photographs in the collection have hand annotations ranging from simple circles indicating the location of important features on the recto to full, textual descriptions on the verso. Approximately 90 additional photographs are mounted in an Album acquired from the University of Alberta.

The fonds consists of the letters he wrote to his wife during the conflict as well as draft chapters and correspondence on the Regimental history.

Fonds consists of a diary kept by Merrylees from 1914-1918. From 1914-1916 it exists in typescript form only. From January 1917 to November 1917 his diary exists in manuscript and typescript form. Diary entries from March to June 1918 are handwritten on loose sheets. The date that the typescript was created is not known. The fonds also consists of orders issued by the adjutant, Captain Colin Dunean, Queen's Regiment, and Merrylees's correspondence with the adjutant, 1918; maps, predominately of Europe but also one of Gaza; Merrylees's commission certificate, and various printed materials and realia, including his Middlesex regiment insignia.

The fonds consists of 24 letters from Gould to his parents, 1915-1917, fifteen pencil sketches of scenes behind the British lines and a self-portrait, drawings and watercolours of landscapes (including juvenilia), Parisian architecture (1910), and nature studies, b&w photographs, news clippings, maps, letters of condolence, letters about the book Memorial and a letter concerning the Arras memorial in 1932, mostly bound in an album. There are annotations throughout by Frederick J. Gould. There are also a memorial card and letter of condolence with regard to Gould's sister who died at age six in 1893 and a photograph of St. George's Chapel Choir, Windsor, in 1865 (Frederick J. Gould was a member). A photocopy of a Memorial Notice of Julian Gould was acquired in November 2007.

The fonds (25-1993) consists of McNee's notes, entitled "Gas Cases" contained in a notebook with the printed title "Army Book 136." The notes are in pencil, 21 pages in length, and cover the period May to July 1917. Also in the fonds are reports of the Chemical Warfare Medical Committee, reports of the Special Investigation Committee on Surgical Shock and Allied Conditions, offprints and pamphlets.

The fonds consists of a portrait of Hays mounted in a memorial plaque with a poem which is written from the point-of-view of his parents. Three medals are also included: the 1914-1915 Star, the British War medal, 1914-1918, and the Victory medal, 1914-1919.

The fonds consists of 26 letters, dated between March and October 1915 and five postal receipts. It has been arranged in chronological order, the letters in folders numbered 1-26 and the receipts in a separate folder. Four of the letters were sent by Ada Hartmann to her husband, the remainder being sent by Otto to her. His letters reflect various experiences in the war, with many references to his company's movements and activities, to the transportation and work duties of the prisoners, and to the ranks, salaries, uniforms and weapons of the Prussian Army. He also touched on non-military topics, including singing, cigars, and other social matters. Among the people named in his letters were: battalion commander Major [Flienitz?]; Oberstleutnant Kuntzel; Vizefeldwebel Vick; Victor Ansaux, a prisoner at Münster; and the family of Paul Voss. Most often comprising only one folded page, his letters were sent by Feldpost, the postal service of the German Army. The letters from Ada, which were typically longer, often concerned various household purchases, payments into the Militärdienst-Versicherung (military service insurance – see receipts below), and such events as a trip with the children to Hagenbeck Zoo. Both wrote in the Spitzschrift or Kurrentschrift form of handwriting typical of the day, though Ada's writing was more flourished and regular than Otto's. Due to water damage and poor paper quality, the letters and envelopes are extremely brittle and are in places very difficult or impossible to decipher.
Note: Although encapsulated, the letters are still extremely fragile and easily damaged. Researchers are asked to use the photocopies provided wherever possible to avoid further damage.

The five Posteinlieferungsscheinen [postal receipts], are postmarked in Minden and presumably obtained by Ada Hartmann. Each consists of a printed form filled out in ink. Three blue-green receipts were issued for small deposits made in 1916 and 1917 to an account with the Deutsche Militärdienst-Versicherung of the Hanover branch of Berlinische Lebens-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft (Berlin Life Insurance Company). The remaining two receipts were issued for larger amounts sent by postal order in the same period to Gotthard Luch in Homberg an der Ohm, Oberhessen (Upper Hesse).

The fonds contains correspondence, photographs, printed materials, technical notebook and plan, and other materials.

The first accrual consists of the following items: trench maps, picket diaries, paybooks, notebooks, postcards, photographs and other items.The second accrual consists of two commemorative items: a certificate of recognition and commemorative photo of Allatt in a 35th Battalion mount.

He kept a small diary which documents the four years he served. The collection also contains sixty photographs, including formal portraits, unit photographs, aerial photographs, and 38 official Government of Canada photographs with captions added, presumably by Joyce.

The fonds covers the period of Jeffrey’s life in the few years preceding the war and during his service. It consists of diaries and notes on sermons from before the war. Correspondence regarding his plans to serve and while oversees. As well as newspapers related to his and his sister’s schooling and a number of obituaries after his death.

The fonds consists of two albums containing short accounts by soldiers at the hospital of their war-time experiences, as well as poems and addresses.

The collection consists of four photographs:
173th Battalion (Highlanders), Camp Borden, 1916 (oversize)
Mounted Rifles, Eastern Canada, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Hamilton, Ont., 25 January 1916 (oversize)
Lieut. Col. A.B. Carey and officers of the 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion, Belgium 1918
Canadian solider and officer holding unidentified flag.

The collection consists of 3 b&w group photographs. They are part of a sequence of photographs, numbered in the top left: 71, 73, 77, 54th Canadians. One photograph is labelled on the bottom: 4th Division Football Champions, 1919; a second is labelled 4th Division, Indoor Baseball Champions, 1919; the third is labelled on the top right, Band. Also in the collection is a card issued by the Food Controller of Canada.

The collection consists of two collections of communications used during World War I. One collection is labelled “postal history”; the other is called “soldiers correspondence”. Both collections contain post cards of various types including official ones. The postal history collection is mounted on nine numbered sheets, and contains explanatory text typed on the bottom. It also has one letter. It may have been compiled by Keith Powell of the Guilford Philosophy Society, as his name is written on the back of each sheet. The soldiers correspondence collection is mounted on eleven sheets which are not numbered; it also has a title page. Explanatory text appears on each page; the text has been printed from a computer.

The fonds consists of the elder Jackson’s demobilization certificate, his son’s Soldier’s Service and Pay Book and a Services Diary kept by the younger Jackson in 1942. The diary also contains a sheet of Indian Postage service stamps. There is also a map drawn by hand of the voyage Jackson took beginning on HMT Orion and ending in Bombay on HMT Almanzora.

This collection consists of:

1. A poem written and illustrated by Moyes about the Second Battle of Ypres, at Saint Julien, Belgium. [1915].
2. “Ready for the Trenches. Every man is now equipped with a splinter proof helmet before going to the Trenches.” 13th Can. Batt. Pen and ink illustration. 1916.
3. “Map showing position of Rest Billets.” A pen and ink map of the area just north of Bailleul and Meteren, France, notes the location of the 13th-16th Battalions. On the back are listed five casualties are listed on the back. [1916?].

The fonds consists of a letter, photographs and news clippings concerning McGregor's military career; and a photograph and news clippings concerning his younger son, Dr. Douglas Donald McGregor.

Bound log book titled “Information concerning P.V. Gear in 13th Flotilla”. There is an index of the 26 ships listed in the log: Medway, Moresby, Narborough, Nepean, Nictator, Nereus, Norseman, Obdurate, Octavia, Oracle, Onslow, Oriana, Orpheus, Oriole, Orsis, Oberon, Pelican, Paladin, Penn, Petard, Pigeon, Paisley, Pylades (all Admiralty M-Class); Nerissa and Rival (Yarrow M-Class) and Patrician (Thornycroft M-Class). Following the index, beginning on page 100 are entries about each ship. Paravanes (P.V.) are devices towed behind a vessel at a regulated depth, so that the cable to which it is attached can cut the moorings of submerged mines. It was a new weapon in World War I. In addition to information about the paravanes, the log also contains maintenance and circuit test notes. Two of the destroyers, Oracle (p. 149) and Pasley (p. 169) had collisions with submarines.