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Our Lady of the Rosary World War II Scrapbook
During the summer of 2007 contents were collected from Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Windsor as it was slated for closure. Among the contents collected from the historic church, which were to be transferred to the diocesan archives, was a scrapbook found in the rectory’s basement. The scrapbook contains biographical entries of 408 parishioners who enlisted to serve in the Second World War.
The Our Lady of the Rosary World War II Scrapbook entries were created on the back of Ford Motor Company index cards and list: the name of the individual; age; battalion/unit identification number; marital status; name of spouse; number of children; parent’s names; and home address. Also included on many of the entries are facts of interest; a photo; military service information, i.e. years of service, location of service; a white cross for those who died while in service; references to information regarding historic military campaigns, i.e. D-Day, Invasion of Normandy; Battle of Dieppe; and newspaper clippings.
It remains uncertain who was responsible for collecting and compiling the information listed within the scrapbook. Upon viewing the digitized scrapbook entries, viewers will see the extent of organization, research and community effort that was put into creating this invaluable historic record.
The Our Lady of the Rosary World War II Scrapbook is a community treasure for Windsor and also remains a national treasure for Canada. The extent of information listed for most of the individuals is remarkable and upon viewing the digitized pages viewers will find themselves engaged, entranced and even moved by the information and details provided from many of the entries.
In its current state, the scrapbook is too fragile for physical handling or public displays as the pages are deteriorating and the photos and index cards are losing their adhesion. In order to make this war record accessible for public viewing the scrapbook was digitized in its exact order. The pages are in alphabetical order however entries within each respective alphabetical grouping are not in any such order.
Warning: The scrapbook is a very large file.
Alphabetical Listing
Scrapbook Pages
CBC News Windsor article