Canadian War Veterans Memorial Project – Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to the Canadian War Veterans Memorial Project (CWVMP) FAQ. This page answers common questions about how to search for veterans, contribute new information, upload images, and take part in our community. The CWVMP is a volunteer-driven effort to document and commemorate the service of Canadians who served in military conflicts from the First World War to the present day. If your question isn’t covered here, please visit the Help page or use the Contact Form to reach us directly.

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1. What is the Canadian War Veterans Memorial Project (CWVMP)?

The CWVMP is a volunteer-driven, crowd-sourced memorial and research platform. It aims to gather service, commemoration and personal data on Canadians who served in conflicts from WWI to the present, and to make that information easily searchable and usable for family history, commemoration, and research.

2. Who can contribute data?

Anyone who registers on the site and optionally the phpBB forum and agrees to the contributor guidelines. Whether you’re a family member, researcher, hobby historian or student – you are welcome to add new entries, upload images or help verify existing records.

3. What types of conflicts/time-periods do you cover?

At present our strongest coverage is for the First World War (1914–1918) because records and published material are widely available and accessible. The Canadian Government has made the service records for those that died during the Second World War (1939–1945) available, and the records of others from that conflict are accessible under the Freedom of Information Act.

We also welcome entries for Korea, post-1945 conflicts (Cold War, peacekeeping, Afghanistan) and non-combat service, but note that data for these periods is often less complete or public. This broader timeframe allows both the individual commemoration (service of a single Canadian) and macro-analysis (e.g., “average age of nurses in the CEF”).

4. How do I search for a veteran on this site?

• Use the Search / Explore page.
• Input surname (exact or partial) and optional given name(s).
• Use filters to narrow the search.
• If nothing appears, you can either enter a new record (site registration required) or post a “Missing Veteran” request in the forum with details you have.
• Once you find a record, clicking it will show detailed information, uploaded documents and source references.

5. What if a veteran I know isn’t listed?

There are several possibilities:

• The record hasn’t yet been entered. You can add it yourself via “Add Entry”.
• The veteran served post-1945 and the data is still under restricted access or not yet digitized.
• They served under a different name / spelling / unit. Try alternative spellings or check the forum.

If you have service number, enlistment date/place or other identifying detail, you can share that in the forum to prompt other contributors.

6. What sources do you use and how accurate is the data?

• Primary sources: Library & Archives Canada attestation papers and service files; Veterans Affairs Canada records (including the Canadian Virtual War Memorial).
• Secondary sources: Unit histories, published war diaries, cemetery/commemoration records, family-submitted documents.

We strive for accuracy, but because much of the data is contributed and the records may be incomplete, we ask users to treat entries as “best available information”. Corrections are always welcome. For serious research or official use, we recommend verifying against original archival sources.

7. Can I upload a scan or photograph from my family archive?

Yes — we encourage uploads of images, scans of service documents, medals, letters, photographs — provided you hold the rights or permission, or the material is public domain. When uploading, please:

• Provide a reasonable image quality (300 dpi if possible).
• Provide a description of what the image shows (e.g., “200th Battalion attestation sheet, signed 1916”).
• Credit the source (e.g., “Courtesy of John Smith family”).
• Ensure no private living-person data is exposed without consent.

Uploaded images will be attached to the relevant veteran record and visible to other users.

8. How can I edit or update an existing record?

• You must be a registered user to add a new record.
• Navigate to the record and click the “Edit” link.
• Submit the corrected/added data (e.g., death date, burial location) and include a comment explaining your source.
• The community or site moderators will review and, if approved, update the live record with your contribution.
• If major changes are required (e.g., service file revealed large discrepancies) please also post on the forum so volunteers can verify.

9. Is the data free to use?

Yes — for non-commercial research, educational or family-history purposes you are free to use the data, provided you cite the CWVMP and any original source. If you plan to use data commercially (e.g., publish in a book for profit), please contact us to discuss licensing.

We are working toward making export tools (CSV/JSON) available to support researchers and historians.

10. What about privacy and living persons?

• We do not publish private personal contact information for living individuals.
• If you believe a record includes inappropriate data about a living person, please contact us immediately (via the forum or the contact form) and we will review and, if necessary, remove or anonymize the entry.
• For deceased persons, we rely on public records and the fact that war service usually falls under public interest. Nonetheless, we encourage respectful treatment of all records.

11. Why can’t I find post-1945 records for some individuals?

There are several reasons:

• Many post-WWII service files remain closed or restricted for privacy reasons (often a 20–30 year rule or more). In many cases the information can be requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
• Digitization may not yet be complete; some records may only exist in paper format and haven’t been entered.
• Some veterans served in reserve or peacekeeping roles which are less well documented in public archives.

If you have details (unit, service number, dates) you’re welcome to add them — even partial information is helpful and may trigger further research by contributors.

12. How can I help with the research / what’s the “macro” research about?

• By entering complete and accurate data (including birth date, enlistment date, death date, unit, rank, etc.), you enable the dataset to support statistical queries (e.g., “what was the average age of nurses who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force?”).
• You can help code/verify existing records, correct misspellings, standardize unit names/tags (e.g., “CEF” vs “Canadian Expeditionary Force”, “PPCLI” vs “Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry”).
• You can share your finds in the forum (e.g., newly discovered attestation papers, regimental histories, casualty lists) so they can be added to the database.
• Once export tools are available, researchers will be able to use the aggregated data for academic work, papers, visualizations or presentations.

13. Will new features be added?

Yes! Current planned enhancements include:

• An “Export Data” tool (CSV/JSON) for researchers.
• Improved visualizations (charts/graphs for age at enlistment, service length, casualties by year, etc.).
• Enhanced forum features (tags, user profiles, “my contributions” list).

We appreciate community suggestions – post a “Feature Request” thread in the forum to share yours.

14. How can I support or donate?

If you’d like to donate (time, scans, volunteer moderation, or financial support) you can:

• Volunteer to help review uploaded data, moderate forum posts or standardize entries.
• Donate high-quality scans of documents or photographs (with permissions) to enrich the database.
• If you’re able, you can make a small donation (via PayPal or other) to support site hosting, storage of scanned images and site maintenance.

Thank you for your support — every little helps to preserve these service stories for future generations.

15. Contact & further assistance

If you don’t find your answer here, please:

• Post a question in the forum board “Help & How-To”.
• Check the “Documentation” board for guides and screen-shots.
• Use the contact form at the top of every page for site-technical or privacy concerns.

Thank you for being part of this project.