About Me

My father commanded two reserve armoured regiments and my mother was a senior NCO; one grandfather served in the Royal Flying Corps in World War 1 and the other served with the Royal Canadian Medical Corps in World War 2 and Korea.

My husband commanded a well-known reserve infantry regiment twice, and his family has served in the Canadian forces dating back to the Fenian Raids of 1866. His grandfather served in the front lines of France and Belgium in World War 1, and his cousin flew with the Royal Flying Corps and was shot down south of Ypres, Belgium in July 1917, with no known grave. You can view both their stories in the Portfolio section.

In 2004, the family of Corporal Fred Topham, who earned the Victoria Cross in March 1945 with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, offered to sell his medals (pictured on this site). I acted as the Treasurer for the Topham VC Fundraising Project, a small group (4 people) that raised over $375,000 in private and public money from across Canada to acquire the medals and donate them to the Canadian War Museum, where they are on permanent public display.

My husband’s regiment’s first casualties were at the Battle of Ridgeway in 1866. Their graves were rapidly deteriorating due to neglect and weather, and I recommended and launched a project to install new markers near the original stones to ensure that these nine soldiers, who gave their lives for Canada, would not be forgotten. The final markers were dedicated in November 2011.

I have traveled to France and Belgium half-a-dozen times in the last ten years to tour battlefields where Canadians fought and died and the cemeteries where they are buried. I have also volunteered at the Juno Beach Centre in Normandy, helping to install their temporary exhibits.

I worked previously in accounting but my passion is military and family history. I love doing this work and I can become quite attached to the person I am researching. As a result, I tend to delve deeper to satisy my own curiosity.

I hope that I can help you learn more about your ancestor’s proud history.