4 August 1916: Two years of war If you asked most people two summers earlier, many wouldn’t believe the war would last longer than six months. Experts poo-pooed the idea: all the numbers pointed to bankruptcy for any nation that embarked in an extended conflict. If the main players foresaw years of fighting, they might […] Read more…
Held up by the post(master) Waiting for the postmaster general’s decision may have been as excruciating as waiting for King George V’s long silence to end. Weeks had passed since officials sent Canada’s head postie the referendum results. After a prod from the local MP, the acting postmaster sent a letter to Mr Millar, the city […] Read more…
Sir Sam, you need to reconsider who your friends are The Royal Commission that investigated the fuse and shell scandal released their findings. Both Militia Minister Sir Sam Hughes and Colonel Carnegie, the Shell Committee’s ordinance expert, were cleared of negligence. The minister was in the dark; the ordinance expert was overworked and “under-qualified” to […] Read more…
Life at Camp Borden Heat and dust continued to bedevil Borden’s battalion boys. After long days training and marching, keeping clean was the hardest thing to do. This seemed especially so for those who were used to someone else doing their washing. “Mothers, sisters and friends of the 118th boys, if you could see them […] Read more…
Leaving Carling Heights. Arriving at Camp Borden. Moving to the big camp near Barrie, Ontario loomed heavy over soldiers’ heads. After four countermands, the 118th Battalion received their orders to pack and board the train to Camp Borden. “Huronto,” The Berlin News-Record’s special correspondent told readers after the boys packed everything up, they “lay around […] Read more…
Dominion Day, 1916 Canada celebrated its 49th birthday on 1 July 1916. Today it’s sometimes difficult to think of what it was like when Canada was a fledgling nation. In 1916, many people were alive (and remembered) the Charlottetown Conference so thinking back to those early days shouldn’t have been a great stretch. A bit of […] Read more…