Canadians stationed near Catterick?

[Grant Bowker]

Unlike the UK, where birth, marriage and death certificates seem to be considered public record and freely available, my experience trying to track my grandfather's service and death records in Canada was somewhat trying. Given his date and place of birth I was able to call and get a copy of his birth certificate from Northern Ireland without any trouble, the same for his marriage certificate from England. I haven't yet found his immigration records to Canada for pre WW1. Getting his death certificate in Canada was a whole different situation. They wanted me to prove that he had been dead for over 20 years or to have his (and/or my mother's, as next of kin) permission. Luckily the PPCLI museum could provide enough information (service # for WW1 & WW2 ) that I could then consult Veterans Affairs who could provide a date and place of death as a result of his pension stopping which lead to the death certificate. Similar restictions to those on Canadian Vital Statistics certificates apply to the release of WW2 service records from the Canadian National Archives. Have you looked at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/gene...909.007-e.html for WW2 service records? That said, it was amazing how much information (130 pages...) the Veterans Affairs people had available for a $5.00 access fee which was less than the postage for them to send it to me.
Long story short, Canadian WW1 records are open as the veterans are presumed dead, WW2 can be trickier. It makes a world of difference if the person you contact is in a co-operative mood when interpreting the rules.
Good luck with your search.