This will be the site of “The Anderson Fonds”, a collection of over 100 photographs that were retrieved by the Glandbrook Heritage Society and donated to the Milton Historical Society in January 2016. This is just the beginning of this project and it will take some time to complete.

The photographs came from the collection held by Colin and Carol Anderson of Mount Hope and Oakville Ontario which were originally owned by Robert Anderson Jr. of Milton (Nassagaweya). The photographs depict various sites where Canadian soldiers saw duty, including Ypres, Courcelette and on to Mons. A number of photographs related to Milton Soldiers, such as Cedric Harrop and Frederick Walsh are included. To view the photographs in the different categories, please use the drop-down menu at the top of the page (For example: Military / Project Reports / The Anderson Fonds / Anderson Fonds: Grave Sites).

As we progress through these pictures we can start to put together a travel path and timeline. The big question also remains “who took these pictures“? There are separate pages here to deal with the major questions:

1. The Owner: Who was Private Robert Anderson, Jr., as it appears he had these pictures.
2. The Photographer: It is possible that there was more than one person and “The Owner” came into possession of both sets.
3. When & Where: The images cover towns from Northern Belgium into Northern France, the major battle zones of the First World War.
4. Known Photographs: Images known by time and location.
5. The Horses: Milton Men and their horses in Flanders.
6. The People: Individual images of people not yet identified by name.

What is written here now is part of an investigative project to unravel the mystery of these images. Much of this is hypothetical at this time but we can expect to narrow down the options as we progress. A big part of this will be to identify the men that are clearly shown in a few of the images. There appear to be two (2) key figures, the “Photographer” and the “Sergeant”. Also, we can not forget the “Horses”.

There are a number of other photographs, not posted here at this time, as they do not relate to action of the Canadian Expeditionary Force of the Men of Milton. They deal with historic British battles (Waterloo) and actions at the Belgian sea coast with the British Navy (Bruges, Ostende and Zeebrugge). There are also a series of images of the destruction of the French towns left by the retreating German Army.