Have you seen the Disney movie Coco? I learned a lot about the traditions of the Día de Muertos such as the ofrenda. I love the ritual involved in remembering and honouring ancestors. I think this is especially important when the ancestor in question has no direct descendants to remember them, like my third great uncle, George Thomas MacBean. George was a military man, a bachelor with no children. He was killed in WWI during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette on 15 September 1916 (1). Thanks to really great archives, I am able to learn more about him over a hundred years later.

Looking for your Canadian ancestors who fought in WWI? Check out these links:

Library and Archives Canada WWI Personnel Records (2)

Canadian Virtual War Memorial (all fallen Canadian and Newfoundland soldiers who have died in battle since Confederation are remembered here) (3)

If your Canadian ancestor who fought in WWI, WWII or the Korean Conflict had no known grave, you can register (4) to help identify them. If newly discovered human remains of Canadian war dead are found, you will be contacted and, using DNA, the remains could be identified as your ancestor. Since George is on the Vimy Memorial with over 11,000 other soldiers with no known burial place (5), I have registered for this project.

Another great site is The Canadian Letters and Images Project. This website is “online archive of the Canadian war experience, from any war, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves.” You can look through what has already been submitted, or, if you have documents and images from a Canadian ancestor who fought in a war, you can submit it to the project. (6)

Finally, Regimental Rogue (7) has an amazing website. If you really want to get into the nitty gritty of your ancestor’s military service, this is the place to start!

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1  “Personnel Records of the First World War,” database with images, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/personnel-records.aspx : accessed 31 October 2019), service file for George MacBean, Regiment no. 622417; citing LAC Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 6589 – 39: 144519.

2  “Personnel Records of the First World War,” database with images, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/personnel-records.aspx : accessed 31 October 2019); citing LAC Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166.

3 Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial (https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial: accessed 31 October 2019).

4 Government of Canada, Register to help identify Canadian war dead with no known grave  (https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/casualty-identification-military/register-missing-military-family.html : accessed 31 October 2019).

5 Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial (https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/overseas/first-world-war/france/vimy/fast-facts: accessed 31 October 2019), “Fast facts – Canadian National Vimy Memorial.”

6 Stephen Davies The Canadian Letters and Images Project (https://www.canadianletters.ca/content/about-us : accessed 10 November 2019), “About Us.”

7 Regimental Rogue (http://regimentalrogue.com/misc/researching_first_world_war_soldiers.htm : accessed 31 October 2019), “Researching Canadian Soldiers of the First World War.”

8 George MacBean, photograph ca. 1915; digital image ca. 2018, privately held by Jennifer Wiebe, Montreal, Quebec, 2019.