Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [ca. 1920]-1975 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 cm of textual records. -- 7 photographs
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Barry Anderson Davidson, 1914-1996, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Davidson, was educated in Calgary, Alberta. His maternal grandfather, William Vicary, was the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) stationmaster at Calgary and later yardmaster at Ogden, Alberta. When the Second World War broke out, all five of the Davidson brothers enlisted. Barry became a flying officer in the Royal Air Force. He had to crash-land his plane over German territory in 1940, and was held as a prisoner of war for the duration. He was one of the organizers of the escape attempt at Stalag Luft III camp in 1944, made famous by the movie “The Great Escape”. After the war, he returned to Calgary and had a career as an insurance broker. He was active with the Cosmopolitan International Club, the Air Crew Association, and the Prisoner of War Association. He married and had at least three children, Bryanne, Liz, and Barry. For further information, see: Brian Brennan, “An Airman’s War”, Calgary Herald, November 11, 1996.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gift of Barry Davidson, 1986.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of Barry Davidson’s scrapbook containing newsclippings about his wartime experiences and postwar reunions, the telegrams received by his parents informing them of his disappearance and capture, and copies of the British birth certificates of his maternal grandparents, William Vicary and Miss Burrage. Includes photographs of Barry Davidson in a prison camp, William Vicary as stationmaster, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Ogden Yards.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
The material is in English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
No finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Digital content is available: https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/Package/2R3BF1S3CNEL0
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.
Alternative identifier(s)
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Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Tuesday, May 08, 2018