A family archive
1942–1945
The letters he sent home,
preserved in his own words.
From the McQuarrie family collection
01
About the collection
Murray served with the 8th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Canadian Hussars), the reconnaissance arm of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division during the Second World War.
The letters carry a life across distance: training, friendship, homesickness, humour, and the ordinary details that survive history. Written between 1942 and 1945, they follow Murray from Western Canada to England and across Northwest Europe.
Formed near Aldershot in southern England in 1941, 8 Recce spent its first three years training and serving in coastal defence. The regiment landed in Normandy on July 6, 1944, and went on to take part in the advance through France and Belgium, the Battle of the Scheldt, the liberation of the Netherlands, and the final fighting in Germany.
Its work was to travel ahead of the main body of the division: locating enemy units, assessing roads and bridges, and finding routes forward. The role demanded speed, judgment, and an unusual willingness to move into uncertainty.
Formation
The regiment had its roots in the 14th Canadian Light Horse, a militia unit headquartered in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. It was designated a mechanized unit in 1937 and renamed the 14th Canadian Hussars in 1940. Its members joined other reconnaissance personnel in England to form 8 Recce.
In action
8 Recce helped spearhead the liberation of Dieppe and Antwerp, advanced along the West Scheldt, and entered many Dutch towns ahead of the main Canadian force. Its final major engagements were Groningen and Oldenburg in April and May 1945.
Remembered
During the war, 79 men were killed outright in action while serving with 8 Recce, and a further 27 died of wounds. Their battle honours include Caen, Falaise, the Seine, the Scheldt, Groningen, Oldenburg, and Northwest Europe, 1944–1945.
Adapted from the introduction to the family’s original PDF edition.
The journey
From England to Northwest Europe and back again, the route follows places named in Murray’s letters and the movements described in the family book.
Locations are based on places named in the letters; some operational positions were necessarily described only in broad terms.
July 1943
Arrival overseas and training before the move to the continent.
The complete book
Each letter is kept together. On a computer the manuscript sits on the left and the transcription on the right; on a phone, switch between them with one tap.
Opening the archive…
The centre album
Portraits, family photographs, postcards, and the things he kept.