This morning, Paul Marsden of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) was interviewed on CTV’s Canada AM about the WWI military service files digitization project that is underway. Once completed, more than 18 million pages of service files will have been digitized and available online sometime in 2015. The digitization work is being done incrementally, and 40,000 files are now online.
The service files include the attestation paper, completed with the soldier or nurse enlisted, a medical form, details about where they were moved and trained, and other information. A typical file contains about 18 to 50 pages. Unfortunately, there is little correspondence in the files because Veterans’ Affairs stripped the files many years ago to include only the records required for calculating benefits.
Part 2: Family military research
Mr. Marsden’s interview was the first in Canada AM’s five-part series this week to mark the beginning of WWI. The video is available here. Tomorrow, part two will be about searching for your family’s military history.
