March Keywords

It’s time to look at key words again. As I have mentioned before, I follow very closely the key words that land people onto my blog. As much as possible, I try to tie blog entries to what people are looking for. Even so sometimes I truly wonder what it is that triggers Google to send them to this blog.


How many veterans in Ontario
Interesting question. Are they asking how many there were or how many are left? I see various numbers out there. Across Canada the accepted figures seem to be over 600,000 men and women for World War One, and around 1.1 million men and women for World War Two. I am not sure what the numbers are for the Boer War, Korean War, or various peace keeping missions. For Southwestern Ontario somewhere around 75,000 for the First World War, and probably triple that for the Second World War.

Ojibwa boots they were
What ? I assume that Google zeroed in on the name of the submarine.
 
мемель фото 1944-1945

No idea.

Arthur sippi London Ontario
The Sippi’s were a fairly prominent family in London, Ontario, in the late 19th. century. The only Arthur Sippi that I am aware of was a professional baseball player. Attestation papers list Lt. William Griffin Sippi.

Library and Archives Canada.

Southwestern Ontario trench mortars

Actually we save them for elections. They help keep politicians away.

Photos of men of London who served in ww1
There are a few in the blog, and I will be adding more as I get them. So far I have around 200 saved on disk which I have scrounged from various sources. Not all are Londoners, many are from the region. It’s a thing with me to try and put a face to these men and women where possible.

February Keywords

As I have mentioned in previous posts I keep a close eye on keyword search terms to see what people are looking for when they reach this blog. Overall the google search terms seem to make sense - with an occasional exception. I suspect that a good deal of this is for school research papers considering the generality of the questions. Today I will look at a few.


1. Air raid shelters Ontario Canada
Pretty rare in Ontario. Most, I believe, date to the Cold War The most famous would be the “Diefenbunkers”. Called “Emergency Government Headquarters” over 50 of these shelters were authorized by the then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1961. The one outside of Ottawa is now a historic site, and Cold War Museum. I know that some individuals built their own. My Dad couldn’t be bothered.
 
2. Canadian Boer War nominal roll

They are online. All you need is a name.
 
3. Danny Hugh Plunkett

No idea how this led to my blog ? From what I can see he is a preacher. I suspect that google zeroed in on “Hugh”.

4. Sir Sam Hughes attestation paper
He joined the South African War as a civilian, and badgered his way into a command. For the First World War there is an attestation paper; but not online. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4598 - 1, Library and Archives Canada.

5. Duchess of Connaught Canadian Red Cross Hospital
Apparently the Astor family invited the Canadian Red Cross to build a hospital on their estate next to Taplow Lodge , Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It was named “The Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital” after Louise Margarete wife of the Duke of Connaught (Governor General of Canada 1911-1916). Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert (May 1, 1850 - January 15, 1942) Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Colburg.

During the Second World War the hospital was expanded and renamed “The Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital”. The building was apparently demolished in 2006.
 
6. London Newspapers

I assume it means London, Ontario, papers. Here they are:

The London Advertiser 1863-1868: The London Weekly Advertiser & The London Evening Advertiser 1868: The London Evening Advertiser 1869-1869; The London Advertiser 1869-1936 (on microfilm)
The Canadian Free Press 1849-1851; The London Free Press 1851- present (on microfilm)
The Farmer’s Advocate 1866-1936 (on microfilm).
After the 1950’s the numbers increase. For my research papers that published up to the Second World War are the important ones.

Recent Key Word Activity

I admit that I do pay attention to key word activity to see what draws readers to my blog. Listed below are some of the most recent. I apologise if some of my responses are a little cheeky. I can not help myself sometimes.


1.Boer war and southwestern Ontario
2.canadian contingent for south africa

I have written a little bit on the Boer War. If you believe the press coverage of the period Southwestern Ontario was behind the British Empire 110%. Probably that was not far off what the majority of people thought. Library and Archives Canada has “Soldiers Of The South African War (1899-1902)" if you are searching for a specific name.
 
3.”great war commands” wingard


I’M AHEAD OF THE GAME ! See previous blog.

4. how to apply for history of Canadian Veteran ww2
Online form is at Library and Archives Canada.
 
5.elgin county home front ww2


Online very little. Looks like library time.

6. submarine port burwell

I mentioned this in an earlier post and eliminated the dirty politics that went on.

7. Nominal Roll of the 161st Battalion London Ontario
    Nominal Rolls 18th. Battalion

Online at “The Matrix Project”.
 
8. photo of Major V.W. Odlum 1915


Victor Wentworth Odlum (21 October 1880-4 April 1971) reached Major General in the First World War. He was known by his men as “old Lime juice” after he made them drink lime juice rather than a rum ration before an engagement. It was not appreciated. Here’s his picture.

9. “German P.O.W.” London ontario


Got me stumped. Could be. Have not run into one yet in my research. If so, it is far more likely to have been from the Second World War.

10. canadian veterans second world war from ontario canada

Wow ! Not asking for too much here. There was somewhere around 179,000 men and women from Southwestern Ontario serving in all services. Maybe twenty years from now (should I last that long) I will have a partial list. Do not expect Library and Archives Canada to digitalize all of these records anytime soon. There were 1.1 million men and women from across Canada serving from 1939 to 1945. The volume of paperwork is stagering.
11. home guard fenian raid


Yep its here: but tongue in cheek.

12. Pictures of English military medals 1800’s

I’M not that into it ! Up until recent years though Canada tended to follow the British lead.

13. Was all cdn infantry battalions effective ww2 ?

Got me. Could be.
 
14. Names of the 18 battalion 1915


Usually - “The poor bloody infantry”.

15. veterans cemetery london ontario

Not as such. Veterans are scattered in cemeteries throughout London. The practice here is each November 11th to put little flags on the burial of each veteran .



16. mabel mccalla Ontario

This shows google search at it best (tongue in cheek here). How this resulted in a hit on this blog heaven only knows; but I did check just in case, and found no Mabel McCalla in World War One Canadian data bases.