03 June 2019

New Brunswick Great War Project

From the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, the New Brunswick Great War Project is an ongoing program to preserve and illustrate a collection of sources relating to this province’s commitment to the Great War (1914-1919). Its principal aim is to provide both researcher and genealogist alike the foundation for a better understanding of the relationship between war and society. While great effort has been made to balance local with provincial topics, the project is heavily biased towards those sources dealing with military personnel, their families, and the wartime activities they engaged in.

The first of the project's two parts provides the names and vital statistics of approximately 32,000 soldiers and nurses of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) who are linked to New Brunswick’s military effort. Not all of the men and women who are connected to New Brunswick’s wartime record have been identified. Efforts are underway to correct deficiencies.

The second part of the project provides users with 106,000 articles drawn from eight provincial newspapers, namely the Kings County Record, the St. John Standard, Fredericton’s Daily Gleaner, the Campbellton Graphic, the Daily Telegraph and the Sun(Saint John), the Daily Times(Moncton), the North Shore Leader(Newcastle), and the Tribune(Campbellton). Articles, ranging in date from 1914 to 1920, the largest category of clippings details the extent of New Brunswick’s military contribution to the Great War, from recruiting to the publication of personal letters and the twice-daily casualty list. Eventually, this project will be expanded to include a total of ten provincial newspapers – five of New Brunswick’s largest dailies and five regional weekly newspapers – and upwards of 150,000 articles in both official languages. Indexes have been provided to narrow potential searches by location, by topic, by title keyword, and by date.

See also The Fredericton Soldier Biography History Initiative giving short biographies of over 100 soldiers from Fredericton and vicinity.

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