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June 7, 2014

Expanded Version of the Service Files of the Second World War – War Dead, 1939-1947

Expanded Version of the Service Files of the Second World War – War Dead, 1939-1947
Telegram re James Nevin Bonar's Death WW2
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has just published Expanded Version of the Service Files of the Second World War – War Dead, 1939-1947


I found the digital PDF file for my Uncle James Nevin Bonar who was killed in Europe in October 1944 at the age of 29. There are 140 pages of scanned documents in his file and it's amazing to be able to read them.

There are letters from my Aunt (his widow) and other genealogical goodies in the file. Among the items were his will, a copy of the official telegram to my aunt about his death (how dreadful that must have been to receive!), and dozens of official documents.
Nev & my Aunt at their wedding in 1936

Nev and my aunt Lily were married in Guelph Ontario in 1936 in a double wedding ceremony with my mother and father. They had one son who was just 6 years old when his father was killed in the war. At the time of Nev's death, Lily lived with her son and my mother and her 3 children in Ajax Ontario.  My father was also overseas at the time.

Lily looked after the children while my mom worked in the Munitions Factory to earn money to support the families while their soldier husbands were overseas. Lily never remarried and raised her son alone, dying in 2004 at the age of 88.

If you have an ancestor or other family member who died during WW2 you will want to take a look to see if their file is online.


2 comments:

  1. Crystal Bonar4:21 PM

    Hi. My name is Crystal Bonar. Lillian was my great grandma. Charles was my grandpa. He adopted my Dad when he was just a baby. I have been doing research on WW2 and was intrigued to find out that my great grandpa was in the military. I asked my Mother about him who said that she believed he went of to war when Grandma Lily was pregnant was grandpa. I have recently found out that grandpa was a little boy when James joined. I found this post and was hoping that you may have know more about Great Grandpa. My email is CrystalAnnBonar1@outlook.com. Hope to hear back soon. :)

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  2. Hi Crystal - so nice to hear from you! I will write you and share my info on your great grandfather Nev Bonar.

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