1914: War declared
By Mary Ducharme (April 2014)
One hundred years ago the Conservative government opened the first “war session” in Canada since the War of 1812. In August of that year Britain declared war on Germany, and as part of the British Empire, Canada was automatically includ- ed. To the surprise of Sam Hughes, the Minister of Militia, more than 100,000 Canadians volunteered to serve in the war. By 1917, Prime Minister Robert Borden was forced to introduce the Military Service Act, resorting to conscription be- cause voluntary recruiting failed to keep pace with causalities.
As the war progressed, women formed Volunteer Reserves, stepped into jobs traditionally held by men, and Women’s Institute branches showed members how to deal with food shortages. The Red Cross and other organizations offered financial assistance and a supportive network to help as families were decimated by battlefield deaths and injuries.
Because most people thought the war would be over by Christmas, no new taxes were levied to pay for the war, but Borden’s war-appropriations act included emergency measures. Financing this long war caused serious problems for many economic sectors including the debt-ridden railways.
By August 1914 paranoia about German-Canadians began to stir up thoughts of how to deal with these “aliens” who might join the German army or act as spies. This caused many ugly incidents in Canada, similar to those later suffered by Japanese-Canadians in World War II.
In October, a new Canadian regiment in Montreal – Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry- sailed to England with 1,098 men who were selected from 3,000 who volunteered as the result of a national poster campaign of nine days. (The regiment took its name from the daughter of the governor general, the Duke of Connaught.)
In the Archives collections is a November 15, 1916 photo in Montreal of the 5th Royal Highlanders of Canada Reinforcing Company recruited from the Armoury at 429 Bleury Street in Montreal. The photo, almost 1.80 m in width, shows men in full uniform ready to be shipped overseas. The Co. 5 RHC DEF was one of three reinforcement companies who trained and were outfitted to protect the English Channel. At this time, the full roster rolls of these companies have not been located.
By October, 31,000 men were en route to Britain from Gaspé on a convoy of thirty merchant ships. With the addition of more ships from Newfoundland, this was the largest single military contingent ever to cross the Atlantic in either direc- tion. Each division was trained in maneuvers at Salisbury Plains and other sites.
The war ended in 1919 in a 25 minute ceremony in Paris at the Palace of Versailles. Because Borden had stubbornly insisted that Canada have a voice in the general conduct of the war, he represented Canada at the resulting peace conferences, was a signatory of the peace treaties, and became a founding member of the League of Nations.
The final estimate of war-dead for Canada was 60,000. Often overlooked is another fact: the “Spanish Flu” of 1918 killed more people than any war or disease in history, including an estimated 50,000 Canadians, and 25 million people world- wide. Among war measures were strict censorship policies regarding revelations of the numbers of dead and sick because of the flu. It was wrongly thought in Canada that the Germans had intentionally introduced germ warfare and that admission of the true toll would create a perception of weakness.
In Figsby Hall is a memorial plaque with the name of Pte. Albert Stuart of the 224th Battalion C.F.C., a soldier of the Great War who died in France – not of wounds, but of The Spanish Flu. In all, there were about 66 soldiers from Hemmingford known to be soldiers of World War I, though only 29 are listed in Hemmingford 200 Years of Hope and Challenge. What are their stories? What does your own family history reveal of those hard times a century ago? Please let us know!
To see the complete list of Hemmingford men who served, visit the Archives Room at the Elementary School: open Mon, Tues., Wed. 9am to 3pm or by appointment. Call 514-778-2845.