Help to get records of Candian Overseas Expeditionary Force WW1

[tishm]

Hello again everyone thank you all for your help. I now have the files but they are very hard to read. I can make out that he returned to England on the SS Scandiavian in June 1915 spent time at Newingate Kent and went to France/Belgium in Feb 1916 attached to CORCC which I have found to be the Canadian Oversea's Railway Construction Corps but can not find where this was. He was then attached to 2nd Reserve Park CASC again I can not find where these were in France/Belgium. I am geting a good picture that he drove horse and cart supplies to and from depot to front line and he was awarded a Good Conduct Badge in 1917 and a list of his grant of leave and the fact he had defective teeth as he spent 4 days in hospital in France to fill 4 and extract 5 but no placing and there are no war diaries I can find for any of these mentioned units. Please help again thanks Tx

[Kennedy Ontario]

Hello,

We are researching our Kennedy family history from London, Ontario, which leads us to Vernon Camp, Vernon, British Columbia and we’re looking for the headstone for our Vern(on) Willard Kennedy's.  Vern’s WW1 1915 Attestation Papers indicate he signed his papers at Vernon Camp, BC September 24, 1915 after being a Vol’s? in the military for 5 years. 

So, we contacted the 54th Battalion and they sent us a ship record showing Vern coming back from overseas the month of April 1919 and then we see Vern being married the month of November 1919 in Penticton, BC, but we don’t think the marriage worked out, because we later she his wife married to the surname Bright and living in the USA.

We then discover the 1931 obituary for Vern’s mother, which says she is survived –only by two daughters, which means Vern died before 1931.  The children were two brothers and two sisters; all accounted for except Vern. 
Before Vern’s mother passed away she moved to Lethbridge, Alberta to live with her daughter after her husband and son both died a month a part back in Ontario in 1909; one daughter to Montreal.  There’s a handwritten note on the side of Vern’s Attestation Papers indicating Vern wanted his pay forwarded to a Lethbridge Bank; banker is husband of the sister / daughter in Lethbridge.

 Would anyone have some suggestions of where to look for Vern’s death date or his headstone?
1915 Attestation Papers Kennedy, Vern Willard
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/001042-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=f9ck27n4ejp4oeuul8ong630f2&q1=kennedy&q2=vern&q3=&interval=20
54th Battalion Web Site (Vernon Camp, BC)
http://www.54thbattalioncef.ca/index.htm

Regards,
Dan Kennedy
London, Ontario
Canada

[KarenM]

Hi Dan,

Have you ordered his full military file from Library and Archives Canada?

Karen

[Kennedy Ontario]

I emailed Library and Archives Canada to see if they'll look in Vern's service files for a death date and cemetery location entry / add on.  I'm waiting for their reply (a few weeks likely).  Did the Forces keep track of deaths?  The 54th Battalion said it's quite possible Vern's headstone is a white military type headstone(but is he buried in Canada?).  In the mean time, I was wondering if someone knew another route to look for Vern's headstone.  If in Canada and it likely is, the most probable locations would be BC, Lethbridge AB and Hamilton, ON (?).  The Canadian Legion suggested I contact LAC too.  Are there LAC / 1915 Expiditionary lookups?

[Kennedy Ontario]

I just received an email from LAC and a "snippet" of their email is here below.  They found found Vern!  Minnie is mom.  That was fast too.


LAC writes- When Veterans Affairs was notified of the death of a First World War veteran, a death card was created and those cards are now in the custody of Library and Archives Canada.  A search of that collection produced a reference to Kennedy, V.W,  regimental number 522879.  Unfortunately, the date of death was not indicated but Veterans Affairs was notified 7 October 1927 means that he might have died in 1927.  The next-of-kin is listed as Mrs. Minnie Kennedy, his mother, 410 – 141R St. South Lethbridge, Alterta.

[rlaughton]

Hello again everyone thank you all for your help. I now have the files but they are very hard to read.

I can help you with that, as we do hundreds of SERVICE RECORD REPORTS. If you can e-mail or post a digital version of the service record, the rest will follow. There is no charge for this, the CEFSG members do this as their hobby.

Some examples are here:

http://cefww1soldiername.blogspot.com/

In exchange we ask that we can add your soldiers digital file to the data base. You are also most welcome to write up a report and add it to the Blog Site.