August 8, 1918, is commonly known as the beginning of “Canada’s 100 Days” -- when the Canadian Corps spearheaded attacks that became known as the Battle of Amiens, a major turning point that led to victory in the Great War and the Armistice of November 11.
To mark the centennial of the end of the First World War and the heroic and tragic events that led up to it, we are pleased to announce the completion of the digitization of all Canadian military personnel records from the Great War.
Explore the First World War Database!
It took five years of work, encompassing over 30 million digitized images and 540 terabytes of data, but we now have a complete list of more than 620,000 files accessible online! Explore the personnel records of the First World War Database—you’ll be amazed at what you discover.
We also invite you to visit the 100 Stories section of our website to learn more about some of the many brave men and women who sacrificed so much for freedom and peace.
Our largest digitization project to date!
The First World War Database was the first time LAC had undertaken a digitization project of such magnitude, requiring so many resources, both technological and human. Beginning in 2013, a team painstakingly reviewed hundreds of thousands of military files, page by page, removing pins, clips and staples of all sorts. Conservators then carefully removed the adhesive from thousands of pages, separating each one to make it easier to digitize.
We wish to acknowledge the participation of the Provincial Archives Division of The Rooms Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador for access to its digitized personnel files.