Documenting the WWII Fallen of Toronto's Elementary Schools
RESOURCES
More Than A Name was germinated several years ago when I wrote a biography of Kenneth Tutton who was a classmate of my mother's at Norway School and Malvern Collegiate. It was published in The Beach Metro and the research made me curious about the lives of the other men on Norway's Honour Roll who never returned. Norway's Honour Roll wasn't the easiest one to tackle due to its inaccuracies and omissions.
After completing Norway, I continued to Danforth Park, the precursor to D. A. Morrison school, which my children attended. Its Honour Roll plaque is extremely accurate. Next, a friend challenged me to create an Honour Roll for Strathcona. The school closed in 1943 and hence never had a WWII Honour Roll. I am an alumna of Lambton-Kingsway and don't recall ever seeing a World War II memorial. Hopefully that has now been rectified here.
In general, the tone of most of the biographies is aimed at a Grade 6 audience with added local history.
Below are the websites, in no particular order, which proved invaluable for revealing the lives of these men and without them, the biographies of More Than A Name wouldn't have been written.
The Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Canadian WWII Records and Service Files of War Dead, 1939-1947
Family Search - a free account is required.
Internet Archive for Toronto's City Directories to 1969.
For King and Country - a database by the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society of transcribed Toronto school war memorials
The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail's archives - available with a Toronto Public Library card. www.torontopubliclibrary.ca
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Patrick Cain's Mapping the Dead - maps of Toronto with the WWI and WWII fallen indicated with their addresses.
Canadian Expeditionary Force attestation papers - WWI personnel records
Project '44 - an online map of the WWII Western Front based on Canadian regimental war diaries.
The Etobicoke Historical Society
Pickering Local History Collection Digital Archive
The Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society
A general Google search of the name of a fallen man can sometimes uncover unexpected information.
VIDEOS
These videos are interesting in that they give us an overview of the Canadian role in World War II and of the world of Canadian Army officers' training camp in Kingston.
The video below provides an excellent, albeit staged, example of the work of a Wellington bomber crew.
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