World War 2 Service Database

Sources

The following are the sources used to compile the University of Manitoba World War II Service Database.

1. The Brown and Gold Yearbook: The 1944 and 1945 yearbooks contained lists of University of Manitoba students and alumni who served and died in the war. These lists were the foundation of the database. Yearbooks were also used in some cases to confirm year of graduation.
2. University of Manitoba Telephone Directories. These directories provided address and program information of University of Manitoba students, and in most cases enabled us to verify that military personnel had indeed attended the university. The World War II database contains only the information that appeared in the latest directory that a student's name appeared. However, not all students were listed in the directories. In general, time constrains allowed us only to consult directories from the war years and the late thirties, unless we had some indication that the student had attended earlier than this.
3. University of Manitoba Convocation Proceedings. When a student didn't appear in the University of Manitoba Telephone Directory verification of attendance at the university was sought in the Convocation Proceedings, a yearly publication listing graduates by faculty. Thus, these were useful to confirm graduation dates and degrees, but did not confirm attendence of people who did not graduate.
4. University of Manitoba Calendars. In the earlier years of the university, student lists were included in the calendar, so these were sometimes used to verify attendance and program.
5. University Registrar's Newspaper Clippings. During the war, the Registrar's Office kept files of notices regarding students and alumni taken from the Winnipeg Tribune and the Winnipeg Free Press. These notices usually appeared when a serviceman was reported missing in action, or killed in action. For some individuals, the files contained both types of notice. Not surprisingly the files were not complete, so it was impossible to achieve an equal depth of information for all students. Clippings included a multitude of information about an individual's family, military service, and history prior to entering the military. The dates that the notices appeared have been included in the database to enable searchers to locate the complete notices if they wish.

Internet Sources

These sources were used to verify our information regarding students' military service:

1. The Canadian Virtual War memorial and the Books of Remembrance, .located on the Veterans Affairs Canada website (http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem).
2. The searchable database located on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website (http://www.cwgc.org).
3. The American War Dead website, specifically the World War Two subsite. (http://www.americanwardead.com/searchww.htm).
4. The Department of National Defense website (http://www.dnd.ca).
5. The various British Armed Forces websites, accessible through the British Ministry of Defense website (http://www.mod.uk).

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Please contact us if you have further information regarding University of Manitoba alumni who served in World War II.