It's only 17,702 records, but what records!
"This collection contains records of Canadians who fought in British Imperial services (navy, army or air) instead of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during WWI and received payments (gratuities) after the war was over. Recipients had lived in Canada before the war and returned there afterward. The payments were equal to what the soldier would have received as a member of the CEF and depended on rank, length of service, etc.It should be emphasized that these records relate to those who served in the British forces so will be of particular interest owing to the destruction of First World War British military records during the Second World War.
Documents typically provide name, residence/address, year of registration, beneficiary, rank, and unit. The listing of a beneficiary is particularly helpful because this may be a spouse or next of kin."
One record I looked at, for John Campbell Wright Reid included correspondence from the 1960s including the date of his death in the USA.
The records originate at Library and Archives Canada.
1 comment:
These are interesting records, but the Ancestry description of the records needs to be clarified. There is no beneficiary except the soldier who applied for the increase gratuity and he (or she) had to be living to be eligible. In cases where a soldier was supporting a parent or a dependent sibling during the war, he might claim an additional amount depending on the circumstances. I am not sure what is meant by year of "registration". Persons applying for the gratuity had to provide a summary of their service, i.e., units, dates etc. This information was provided to the Department of Militia and Defence in Ottawa and subsequently verified with British officials in London as part of the process.One learns when a man or woman (e.g., Canadian women who served with British nursing services)arrived in the UK and took up their duties. Enlistment maybe, but not registration.
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