Search Canada, McGill University Honour Roll, 1914-1918

These records are fairly consistent and offer the following information:

• Name
• Birth year
• Birth location
• Date of entry to the University, program and degree
• Death year
• Death location and circumstances
• Short biographical note of their military service
• Photograph

Information on individuals who survived the war and those who enlisted in other ways, such as with the US Army, is more limited.

You can directly learn more about the activities of the Canadian forces during World War I by utilizing the Canada publication on Findmypast. Covering the year of 1916, this monthly publication was distributed directly to the men, and listed news from home, alongside lists of wounded, killed, missing in action, and activities across all divisions of the military. Also available are histories and publications for individual units, such as the

2nd Canadian Heavy Battery.</a and similar in the All Record Sets page on Findmypast.

James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball, attended McGill University and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1887. While there, he played football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer and was a recognized gymnast. He was the first director of athletics at McGill. He is enlisted in the American Army, serving as the Chaplain in the First Kansas Infantry and later with the YMCA, serving in France as a lecturer of “moral conditions and sex education” immediately following the war. He passed away in 1939, but saw basketball become an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

John Edisforth Reddy Barrett was born in Montreal on 31 December 1894 and entered McGill in 1912. He enlisted with the 5th Canadian Mountain Rifles and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He was killed in action at Sanctuary Wood on June 2, 1916, leaving behind his parents, John and Margaret Barrett, and two siblings: Margaret and Arthur.

Images courtesy Internet Archive.

Transcription copyright Findmypast