Keith Macgowan - WWI letters

A typescript collection of letters written by Keith Macgowan during his army service in the 131st Battalion of the New Westminster Regiment, the majority to his mother, Fanny Owen Macgowan. The letters date from April 30, 1916 to November of 1919 and cover Captain Macgowan's training at Victoria and Vernon BC, the battlefields in France and Belgium and postwar in Belgium and Canada. The letters describe daily life at the front, difficult conditions in the trenches, death and injury to friends and fellow soldiers, the work of his batmen, and experiences on leave in Paris and London. A number of letters describe Macgowan's legal work during the war, when he was occasionally assigned to defend soldiers accused of crimes, including desertion(a hanging offense). Biography: Keith Campbell Macgowan was born in Gowan Brae, PEI in 1890 and died in New Westminster BC in 1934. He was admitted to the bar in 1912, and joined the 131st Battalion of the New Westminster Regiment in 1916. During World War I, Macgowan was promoted to the rank of Captain, and was also engaged in scouting missions and providing legal work for the army.

In Collection:

• Victoria to Vimy First World War Collection

Creator

• Macgowan, Keith C. (Keith Campbell), 1890-1934

Contributor

• Macgowan, Fanny

Subject

• Soldiers
• Battlefields
• Soldiers--Training of
• Macgowan, Keith C. (Keith Campbell), 1890-1934
• World War (1914-1918)
• Soldiers--Social conditions
• Intrenchments
• Soldiers--Conduct of life

Language

• eng

Date created

• 1916 to 1919

Resource type

• Text

Rights statement

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Extent

• 159 pages

Geographic coverage

• British Columbia--Victoria
• France
• British Columbia--Vernon
• Belgium--Passendale

Coordinates

• 50.89979, 3.02133
• 48.4359, -123.35155
• 46, 2
• 50.26729, -119.27337

Physical repository

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Collection

• Victoria to Vimy First World War Collection

Provider

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Genre

• letters (correspondence)
• correspondence

Archival item identifier

• Accession Number: 1995-016

Fonds title

• Keith Macgowan fonds

Fonds identifier

• SC074

Is referenced by

• Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/keith-macgowan-fonds

Technical note

• Metadata by M. Gerber and K. Bohlman. Migration metadata by KD.

Rights

• This material may be protected by copyright. Use of this material is permitted for research and private study purposes only. For all other uses, contact University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives.

DOI

•  https://doi.org/10.58066/5r12-4x22

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