NewsLeaf - Part I

In May of every year, NewsLeaf (the quarterly newsletter of the Ontario Genealogical Society) doubles in size to accommodate reports from each of the Branches, as well as the news that has happened over the past four months.

The Reports in this issue are the Annual General Meeting Reports about the meeting that was held last year at the Conference, plus the Treasurer Report, along with reports from Region I and the Branches of Essex, and Lambton; Region II plus Reports from Elgin, Oxford; Region from Bruce & Grey, Huron, Perth, Waterloo, and Wellington Branches; Report from Region IV plus reports from Brant, Haldimand, Hamilton, Niagara, and Norfolk Branch; Reports from Huron-Peel, Simcoe, Toronto, and York Region Branch; Region VIII Branch Reports plus reports from Durham, Kawartha, Quinte Branch; Region VIII Region Branch and Reports from Kingston, Ottawa, Leeds & Grenville Branch; Region IX Branch Report plus Reports from Nipissing, and Sudbury Branch; and the Irish Palatine Branch.

If you would like to read the yearly reports on each of the Regions to see what special projects they are involved in, or what they have planned for the upcoming year, you must be a member of OGS to receive a copy of NewsLeaf. Or, if you are in Hamilton, drop by and see us in the Marketplace at the Hamilton Convention Centre on Friday, Saturday or Sunday (May 13th to 15th).

We Are Off!

We are on the road today as we travel from Ottawa to Hamilton to the Ontario Genealogical Society's 50th Anniversary Conference.

I have all of my papers in order (because I have a number of meetings to attend), and I have planned to go to areas close to Hamilton where I will do some client research on Thursday and Friday.

In the meantime, I have completed a number of blog posts which will uploaded to the blog once a day, and I will see you when I get back next Tuesday!

Thanks for dropping by!

Elizabeth

V-E Day in Europe

Sunday, May 8th, was the 66th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day).

Over 1,159,000 men and women served in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War (1939-1945), and 44,093 lost their lives.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that "Leading up to that historic day, hundreds of thousands of Canadians left behind their families, friends and hometowns for the battlefields of Europe to defend the fundamental values that all Canadians cherish dearly - freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights. Hundreds of thousands of other Canadians laboured tirelessly on the home front to produce the war material needed by our soldiers in uniform as well as by our allies".

There are some records online for the Second world War, and they are located at -

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/war-dead/index-e.html - There are members of the Canadian Armed Forces who died in service between 1939 and 1947, including those killed in action, those who subsequently died of injuries related to service, and those who died as a result of accident or illness while in service.

All other records are held by the Library and Archives Canada, and are not available for online access due to privacy laws.

www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar - For a history of Canada in the Second World War, this is an excellent website covering The Battle of the Atlantic, The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Dieppe, to name just a few of the battles.

www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/sub.cfm?source=collections/books/bww2 - You can search the Remembrance Book online, and the people are listed in the year in which they died.

www.museedelaguerre.ca/cwm/exhibitions/chrono/1931crisis_e.shtml - The Museum of War in Ottawa is a great place to go to when you are in Ottawa. They have extensive displays for you to check, and a exhaustive number of Second World War vehicles that can mean a great deal to your family history if your ancestor was in the Second World War.

Happy Mother's Day

Korean War Anniversary

Photo Credit: Mario Lapointe CD

May the 3rd was the 58th Anniversary of the battle for Hill 187 during the Korean War by Canadians who fought in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.

In marking the Anniversary, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that "The Korean War, like all wars, was marked by both losses and triumphs. One most notable achievement, particularly for Canadians, was the Battle of Kapyong on Hill 677. April 24th, 2011 marked the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong, a battle in which the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry defended the front line against enemy forces that greatly outnumbered the Canadians. The Battle of Kapyong in April 1951 earned the brave Canadians a United States Presidential Citation for their undeniable valour".

A total of 26,791 Canadians served in the Korean War.

Some of the websites which talk about the Korean War are -

www.korean-war.com/canada.html This site provides a good, basic account of the war, and the Canadians action in it.

www.kvacanada.com/canadians_in_the_korean_war.htm The site goes into detail about the Canadian action in the Korean War by the Korea Veterans Association of Canada Inc. It has the awards and medals won by Canadians, and the Wall of Remembrance in Brampton, Ontario.

www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/sub.cfm?source=history/koreawar The website breaks down the war into the battles.

To look at the Remembrance Book of those who died in the war, go to
www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/sub.cfm?source=collections/books/bkorea.

The World Memory Project

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has teamed with Ancestry.com to put the "millions of historical documents containing details about survivors and victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution during World War II" on the Ancestry.com website at The World Memory Project at http://www.worldmemoryproject.org/.

Together, the two organizations have created the World Memory Project to allow the public to help make the records from the Museum searchable by name online for free—so more families of survivors and victims can discover what happened to their loved ones during one of the darkest chapters in human history.

Anyone, anywhere, can contribute to this effort; even just one record and a few minutes at a time can make a world of difference to someone.

Getting started is as simple as downloading a free software program and then typing details from a record image into a database that will then become searchable online.

By being part of the World Memory Project, you'll be helping to create the largest online resource of information about individual victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution. You'll also be restoring the identities of people the Nazis tried to erase from history, and making sure future generations never forget.

Get started today. The power of truth is in your hands".

The website says that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has gathered more than 170 million pages on 17 million individuals, which include names, dates, locations, conditions, and physical descriptions of victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution.

The database will be available in the late summer or early fall of 2011 at Ancestry.com.

2011 Canadian Census

Shirley L. Sturdevant, Vice-President of the Ontario Genealogical Society, has just issued this statement concerning the 2011 Canadian Census -

"If you have not already completed your electronic census, please consider doing the following:

1. Print each page before you go to the next set of questions and store it with your family documents

2. Check 'yes' to the last question which will give permission to release your information in 92 years for the next set of family historians who might be looking for you. (If you say 'no', or leave it blank, your information will not be released.)

If you feel comfortable doing so, please forward this message to family and friends.

Thanks!"

Shirley can be reached at vp@ogs.on.ca.