“A Bunch of the Boys”…France, Dec. 13, 1917

David Sproule of Vancouver shares this excellent group photo from the First World War. His father, Private J.G. Sproule, is seated—legs crossed—in the middle of the front row.

David says Private Sproule was a Vickers machine gunner and a signaller in No. 3 Machine Gun Company, 8th Brigade, 3rd Division. He also notes that his dad wrote the names of the other men on the back of the photo. They are identified as (standing, from left) McCullough, Loftus, Lockhart, Squires, Brown, Mayes, Gilles, Lawrence, Young, Barrett and McCarty, and (seated, from left) Desand, Sproule and McCloud. David says his father also served in the Second World War at Royal Canadian Air Force Station Trenton in Ontario.

We thank David for his contribution to Find-Share-Discuss, and invite readers to share similar memories of wartime or peacetime service.