Victoria to Vimy The First World War Collections at the University of Victoria Libraries

Welcome

The story of the First World War is often one told about life overseas: the trenches, the training, the comradeship. But the war was also fought in the hearts and minds of those on the home front: the brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers of Victoria, British Columbia and the rest of Canada.

Victoria to Vimy, a digital collection of First World War materials held at the University of Victoria Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives, seeks to share the local stories of the men and woman who lived through The Great War. Archie Wills, Joseph Clearihue, Theodore Monk--all from Victoria--heard the call of their country and enlisted to fight in a war far overseas. Georges Destrubé was a homesteader in Alberta who also enlisted, along with two of his brothers, and made Victoria his home after the war. Florence Westman, a young woman who lived in Ottawa during the war, contributed to the war effort through volunteering, befriending and entertaining the troops stationed for training near her home. 

We invite you to explore personal scrapbooks, photographs, and postcards,  listen to interviewsand learn more about the Canadians who served and their loved ones on the home front.

We invite students and teachers to use the guides and curriculum to learn more about the war.


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