Finding your Ancestors’ World War I Personnel File: A step-by-step guide

November 11, 2020

By Laurie Leclair

In 2017, to commemorate the centennial of the Great War, Library and Archives Canada released the personnel files of those Canadians who fought in the war. Thousands of these soldiers were Indigenous.

Finding your ancestor is easy:

Go to the Library and Archives Canada home page:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scroll down to Services and Information and choose Military Heritage:

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Military Heritage page, choose First World War, 1917-1919:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scroll down to Army, Canadian Expeditionary Force to Personnel Records of the First World War database. Click Search: Database.

From here, you will find your database search page. Fill in as much information as you can. Click the blue “Search: Database” button. When you get your results, click on the name. If your search gives you more than one name, you may have to go through all of the selections until you find the correct person. You may have more than one file that pertains to your relative.  This is especially true for very young men who might have enlisted, decided against the idea, but reconsidered and reenlisted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you have found your soldier, you will see a digitized service or “B” file in PDF format, click on that to download your file:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This file will give you the entire recorded history of your relative, beginning with their Attestation Papers, the form they signed when they first signed up, to tracing their journey overseas, where they were stationed overseas, the battles that they participated in and significant events like being wounded, hospitalized, disciplined or awarded. There are also medical and dental charts, financial statements and occasionally death certificates. Library and Archives Canada also offers links to many related helpful sights that can deepen our understanding of these records.

The following document sampling is taken from the files of three Chippewas of Rama First Nation soldiers:

Medical drawing of a WWI soldier who was very badly wounded, having gunshot wounds to his eye and the lower half of his body.
Extract of Active Service Form belonging to a Chippewas of Rama First Nation WWI soldier.
Sample of dental records belonging to a Chippewas of Rama First Nation WWI soldier.

Personnel Files not only have the potential to become cherished family records, but the process of researching and reading through them also serves as a way of remembering our ancestors. And as we follow these young soldiers throughout their war journey, we get a better sense of what they experienced. And for those who never came home, these pages help us to remember and honour the Fallen as we reflect on their bravery and ultimate sacrifice.