William Wood-Write Ltd., located in Guelph Ontario, is an independent, family-owned business and Canada's premier, one-stop shopping source for penmaking supplies and other small lathe turning projects. Thank you for shopping with us - we appreciate your support and your business. For the last several years, you may have noticed a Royal Canadian Legion digital poppy at the top of our website in November, in memory of Wilfred Collier. Just who is Wilfred Collier and what does he mean to William Wood-Write Ltd?
Wilfred Collier came to Canada alone in 1932 at age 16 as a British Home Child, first working on farms in southwestern Ontario and eventually finding a job at a hardware store in Tillsonburg, Ontario. He enlisted with the Elgin Regiment in July 1940 and headed overseas in 1942 on the HMT Awatea, a New Zealand steam ocean liner that had been converted into a Royal Navy troop ship at the start of the war. When the Elgins changed to a tank recovery regiment in 1944, Wilfred chose a reassignment to the West Nova Scotia Regiment and served with them, including fighting at the Battle of the Hitler Line in Italy, until the end of the war. After the war, he returned to Tillsonburg where he worked as a carpenter, got married and raised a family of four spirited boys. The youngest of those boys, Bill, is the founder of William Wood-Write. A life-long woodworker with a true passion for the craft, he’s joined today in our family business by his daughters, Chantelle and Celine, who are continuing the family woodworking tradition into a third generation of Colliers. As we mark Remembrance Day, we honour the memory of our father and grandfather and give thanks to all veterans for their service to our country. |