The Infantry Battalion (1914)

Supplies Required for One Day

(Annex E); Field Service Manual, 1914; Infantry Battalion (Expeditionary Force)

The following table, which is inserted for purpose of easy reference, shows the detail of supplies which would be required by a battalion for one day:—

‡Excludes A.S.C. drivers and horses of the train.

(a) To be issued when available, but not to be carried in regimental transport when troops are marching daily.

(b) Lime juice is issued when fresh vegetables are not supplied, or at the discretion of the G.O.C. on recommendation of the medical officer.

(c) Issued at the discretion of the G.O.C. on recommendation of the medical officer.

† Not carried normally in supply columns of A.S.C. trains.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 13 June 2015 9:35 AM EDT

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Every Soldier has a Story: Hercul Bureau

As an avid collector of medals and badges of my own Regiment, I often scan the offerings at ebay to see if anything matching my collecting theme has shown up. In doing so I always review the newest offerings of medals awarded to Canadians. Among these, the Military Medals, awarded to soldiers for bravery on the field of battle, always catch my eye and cause me to look at the recipients regardless of their unit. Sadly, the specific act or acts for which a Military Medal has been awarded is seldom recorded in accessible documentation, but sometimes this examination leads to a soldier with a story that goes far beyond the answer to that query.

One such recent auction listed, now completed, was for the Military Medal awarded to 144743 Private Hercul Bureau of the 14th Canadian Infantry Battalion.

The auction listing, describing a medal with damage to the rim, did not even provide the soldier's full details:

A search of the CEF Soldiers Database at Library and Archives Canada revealed that two soldiers had been given that service number (a rare error, but not unusual in itself), and the one whose personal details matched the medal was 144743 Private Hercul Bureau.

With a surname sufficiently early in the alphabet that his file has been digitized (27 Mb pdf) and uploaded by Library and Archives Canada (in a project that is starting to look like it will last longer than the Great War itself), we find some interesting notes about the military service of young Hercul.

Hercul Bureau, standing all of 5-foot, 2 and ½ inches in height, enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 16 August, 1915, at the age of 18. On enlistment, he joined the 77th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Ottawa. After the 77th Battalion sailed to England, it was broken up to feed the reinforcement stream. Young Hercul found himself serving in France with the 14th Canadian Infantry Battalion, joining his new unit in the field on 8 June 1916.

Bureau's record of service demonstrates clearly that following rules was one of his weaker attributes. He becomes fully acquainted with the military justice system, as shown in these entries in his service record:

• 20 March 1916 – 15 days detention for disobedience.
• 20 June 1916 – 7 days Field Punishment No. 1 for being in town without a pass.
• 17 August 1916 – 1 day F.P. No. 2 for being improperly dressed on parade.
• 26 August 1916 – 1 day F.P. No. 2 for absence from parade.
• 15 January 1917 – 7 days Field Punishment No. 2 for late for parade.

On 7 July 1917, Hercul Bureau was admitted to hospital with a severe bayonet wound in his left thigh. The battalion War Diary reports seven casualties that day, one killed and six wounded, the result of a German raid on the front trenches.

But Hercul's performance was clearly not always such to keep him in the Sergeant Major's crap list. On 7 November, 1917, the entry was made in his service record that he had been awarded the Military medal in the field. Private Hercul Bureau was not just the recipient of the Military Medal, he was actually awarded the Military Medal and Bar, which means he was decorated twice for bravery, each time being the deserving recipient of the Military Medal. The Bar to his Military Medal was recorded in his service record on 26 August 1919, catching up to him long after the end of the War as the backlog of paperwork and recommendations for awards were being cleared away.

In addition to his awards for bravery, Bureau's abilities as a soldier were clearly supported in his appointment as an Acting Corporal in October 1918 and the promotion to substantive rank in January 1919.

After the War, Bureau remained overseas with the CEF. This, unfortunately, led to his worst offences. His service records records the details of 5 August 1919:

"Joining in mutiny in His Majesty's Forces in that he, at South Camp, Ripon, on 17th of June joined in a mutiny by combining with soldiers of 23 Reserve Battalion to obstructing a fire picket in the execution of their duties in case of fire in Camp and to loot a canteen and maliciously to destroy public property namely building in said camp by fire and otherwise and to release by violent means prisoners lawfully confined in the guard room of said Battalion."

The result of Bureau's participation in the mutiny are also recorded:

"Tried by District Court Martial at Ripon 5 August 1919, and sentenced to be Reduced to [the] Ranks and two years Hard Labour, and discharged with ignominy from His Majesty's Service. In arrest 17 June 1919. Sentenced 5 August 1919. Confirmed 7 August 1919. Promulgated 8 August 1919."

On 12 September, 1919, Hercul Bureau's service record notes that the remaining portion of his sentence would be remitted on his discharge with ignominy. This was effected with his return to Canada in December, 1919.

If you only heard the story of Bureau's battlefield valour, you might call him a hero. But if you only heard the story of his role in a mutiny, you might call him a reprobate. Each soldier of the Canadian Expeditionary Force has a story. Each of these stories is worthy of being researched and brought back to light, and the work being done at Library and Archives Canada is enabling researchers to do this much more easily than ever before. Rediscovering the stories of soldiers like Hercul Bureau, both hero and reprobate, emphasizes that each soldier was as complex an individual as we like to perceive ourselves, and simplistic labels do not capture the depth of their characters.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 11 June 2015 6:23 PM EDT

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Services Mascots earn Place in Photo Gallery

Ottawa Citizen, 8 May 1948
By James B. Roe, Evening Citizen Staff Writer

As part of its week-long "Be Kind To Animals" campaign the Ottawa Humane Society's display of animal photographs in the Little Gallery on Spark street has already been visited by hundreds of persons. Although the display is devoted mainly to a pictorial appeal on behalf of the British Society fo the Protections of Animals in North Africa, which is supported by Canadian funds in part, two panels commemorate mascots of the Canadian armed forces who served with our fighting men during the war.

Made Life Happier

Many Ottawa ex-servicemen will remember these doughty comrades, whose devotion and friendship frequently made life a little bit happier for soldiers, sailors and airmen in strange wartime surroundings.

Mrs. James Schwartz, convener of the display for the Society, says that it will remain open another week. Already a considerable amount has been collected through voluntary contributions to aid the North African society in its efforts to rehabilitate thousands of mules, horses, and camels who served and suffered with the Allied troops during the Tunisian campaign of 1942-43.

Many a Canadian ex-soldier will remember the "wonderful mules of Tunisia" who were hastily pressed into service to meet the exigencies of the moment in war and are now returned to the old ill treatment and over-work disabilities at the hands of their North African civilian masters.

The display panels concerned with Canadian service mascots strike a lighter, happier note. Here are shown "Cheetah", the little monkey who served as an Able Seaman in HMCS "Restigouche" on many a North Atlantic convoy. Among "Cheetah's" Ottawa ship-mates in those days were the writer, Lieut. Commander Ralph Hennessey, Lieut. Commander Fred Toller and John Dunne, and many others.

Another naval protagonist shown is "George," a sea-gull who served his time, fair weather and foul, in HMCS "St. Stephen", serving as a weather ship in Arctic waters under command of Lieut. E.M. Chadwick, RCN, of whom he was a special chum.

Then there is another "George", the English bull mascot of the Royal 22nd Regiment in Sicily, who usually took great pride in mounting guard outside battalion headquarters.

Shown also are the Saskatoon Light Infantry's donkey, "Flakers"; the kitten mascot of HMCS "Sault Ste. Marie", who was part of the ship's company on her maiden voyage in 1943, and scores of others.

In a world eternally an unfortunately distinguished by the propensity to talk too much and act too sparingly, man has long valued the animal as a companion and work-mate. When the going gets tough, the animal conforms in mute devotion and wordless sympathy. Sometimes that trust is abused.

From the Library and Archives Canada on line archive Faces of the Second World War, the following images of unit mascots can be viewed:

• "Princess Louise", the mascot of the 8th Princess Louise's (New Brunswick) Hussars, who was found badly wounded after the battle of Coriano and nursed back to health by members of the regiment. Italy, 1944.
• Able Seaman Daniel Ralph with the mascot of the patrol vessel ALLAVERDY of the Fishermen's Reserve, Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada, 8 November 1941.
• Able Seaman Freddy Derkach (right) with personnel of the 65th Chemical Company, U.S. Army, aboard H.M.C.S. PRINCE DAVID off Omaha Beach, France, 5 July 1944.
• An unidentified member of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment with his unit's canine mascot, England, 20 April 1944.
• Crew of H.M.C.S. ASSINIBOINE and their mascot returning from sea after sinking the German submarine U-210 on 6 August 1942. St. John's, Newfoundland, 9 August 1942.
• Gunner G.D. Bracken, 4ht Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (R.C.A.), holding Skippy, the unit's mascot, Ossendrecht, Netherlands, 23 October 1944.
• Infantrymen of "C" Company, Royal Rifles of Canada, and their mascot en route to Hong Kong. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, ca. 27 October 1941.
• Presentation of painting of mascot Wallace to the Canadian Scottish Regiment, London, England, 6 December 1945.
• Private Peter Bross, and mascot Bob, of a Canadian Highland regiment aboard the troopship H.M.T. NEA HELLAS en route to Philippeville, Algeria, 8 July 1943.
• Regimental Sergeant-Major W.J. Clark of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion with Johnny Canuck, the battalion's mascot, Carter Barracks, Bulford, England, 4 April 1944.
• Sub-Lieutenant A. Roberts with Able Seaman "Terry", the mascot of the frigate H.M.C.S. LEVIS, Lauzon, Québec, Canada, 6 June 1944.
• Unidentified piper with the mascot "Wallace" of the 1st Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment, England, 10 June 1943.
• Unidentified ratings with their mascot Buddy at the Royal Canadian Navy Gunnery School, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, October 1941.
• Wallace, the mascot of the 1st Battalion, The Canadian Scottish Regiment, being fed at a ceremonial dinner at the Mansion House attended by H.R.H. the Princess Royal, London, England, 6 December 1945.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 3 May 2015 6:59 PM EDT

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Picture of Trench Life that is Very Different from War in Other Days

The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah, 23 June 1917
(Special Correspondent)

London, June 13.—The British infantryman in the trenches in France, where he will soon be joined by General Pershing's soldiers, live all his days and nights in danger. If he goes for six months unhurt he is an object of curiosity, a man with a strange fortune.

His working hours are governed only by the limits of his strength, yet he grumbles merely by way of diversions, for his desire is to win this war, and nothing else very much matters. If you were to ask him how he was winning the war, he would tell you, in his ironical way, that, so far as he could see, the way to win the war was not by fighting, as some who had never seen war, mistakenly thought, but by working, and that life for him was one long interminable working party. He would also tell you some entertaining things about them, for they are of endless variety.

There is nothing in the trenches that pays more than hard, well regulated work. In this way in a few weeks a miserable ditch can be transformed into a model habitation, complete with reception rooms, bedrooms, and all modern conveniences. Take as instance the largest and most enterprising work party on which a certain battalion was ever engaged. Its orders were simply to march out half-way across "No Man's Land" and dig there an entirely new trench complete with barbed wire entanglements, firestep and communications trenches. This task was accomplished in two nights, and remarkable as it may sound, with no casualties.

"Tommy's" private opinion was that "Fritz" was too much frightened by the mysterious something that was going on out there in the darkness, to fire straight. These trenches were subsequently revetted and equipped with dug-outs. Soon they became flooded, knee-deep in mud and slush and had to be drained day and night with scoops and pumps. Later they were furnished with scaling ladders and an attack launched from them. Still later they were completely obliterted by an enemy barrage and were entirely re-built more strongly than ever. There is always work for working parties in this changing world.

Work While They "Rest."

You might think, since war is nearly all working parties, that when a battalion "rests," it "rests" from working parties. But this is not so. On the contrary. Being comparatively fresh, a battalion "resting" is regarded as an ideal source of labor supply. A five mile march "there" at dusk and a five mile march "back" at dawn, irrespective of weather conditions, is very often how the night passes when you go to "rest."

Wire can never be too thick. That is one of the laws of working parties. Twenty men plus a "covering party" of say five men and an N.C.O. is an average size wiring party for a single Company frontage, making 100 men for the battalion. But if the wiring is urgent, it may be necessary to double or even treble these numbers. You must be a good soldier and well trained to do wiring properly. The knowledge that he is standing upright in the open without a vestige of cover, with machine guns, rifles, shrapnel, high explosive and "minnies" blazing all around, often tends to make it difficult for a man to concentrate his mind on what he is doing. Then the wire has a peculiar tendency to get entangles; the metal-work, screw-pickets clank together like church bells; the tin flaps at the sides of the coils clatter and scrape enough to rouse the dead, or so it at least seems to the wiring party as it gets to work in the open.

Almost equally important trench work is revetting; that is to say, strengthening by means of stakes, angle irons, wire netting, and sandbags, the walls of the trenches, the firestep and parapet, Unless a firestep is revetted almost at once it will quickly crumble away, and it is an only less urgent work to revet the trench wall and parapet. Rain plays havoc with a trench and it is far more difficult to repair a fallen-in section than it is to revet strongly in the first instance. Sandbag revetting is perhaps the most important of all, but like other simple things, a mystery until you know the way, for unless you know the way, bags piled on the top of one another with whatever care you do it, will bulge and collapse in two days. But by the proper use of "headers" and "stretchers" by keeping "chokers" turned inwards; by not filling the bags too full, and by properly "binding" angles and corners, you will make a sandbag revetment that will endure. Good revetting is a work of art.

Lively When Targets Appearance

It is most eerie of all when you must work standing at two or three paces interval along the top of the parapet, for then you become silhouetted against the sky or the glare of the enemy flares. A night may be as serene and quiet as paradise; but place half-a-dozen with pick and shovels on the parapet, and in two minutes it is as though there were a frontal attack in progress. In no other form of working party is the call more often heard of "pass the word for the stretcher-bearers."

So the nights pass. Hardly a trench or communications trench is without its own particular workers, and all are employed simultaneously. In one spot there may be pumping, in another revetting:—in another section of trench that has blown in during the day is being re-built; in another a party is deepening and widening; in another digging "sumppits;" in another constructing dug-outs. In yet another endless streams of carrying parties go past—some with engineers' materials, some with rations, some with mails, some with ammunition. But in every trench some working party is at work.

While all this is in progress the vigilant look-out is never for one moment relaxed. Each "post" and gap is properly provided with its look-outs and their reliefs (on urgent occasions—as at Loos and the Somme—even the sentries had to put in a spell of work during their "2 hours off"); the scouts have to make their usual excursions; the Lewis gunners carry out their fire orders, the company signallers are continuously linked by wire with the battalion headquarters, the officers on duty ceaselessly patrol their company lines, the bombers, the machine gunners, the trench mortar batteries, and behind all the artillery, are always in the alert. Everyone knows exactly what to do in case of a gas alarm or an attack; and each man as he works has his gas helmet, his rifle and ammunition ready to his hand.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Recruiting Information Card
CF-18 Hornet

This information card highlighting the characteristics of the CF-18 Hornet was probably produced for use by the Canadian Armed Forces recruiting system or for Royal Canadian Air Force public relations activities.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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The Carden-Lloyd "tankettes" at Wolseley Barracks. Between the Wars, even these were occasionally deployed in Aid of the Civil Power on strike duty.

Calling Out the Militia

Handbook of Canadian Military Law; Singer and Langford, 1941

The law in regard to the Militia being called out in aid of the civil power wil1 be found in the Militia Act, Sections 75-85 inclusive. K.R. (Can.) 848.

Who is Liable to be Called Out

"The Active Militia, or any corps thereof, shall be liable to be called out for active service, within or without the municipality in which such corps is raised or organized, with their arms, ammunition and equipment, in aid of the civil power, in any case in which a riot or disturbance of the peace requiring such service occurs, or is, in the opinion of the civil authority, hereinafter designated in that behalf, anticipated as likely to occur, which is beyond the powers of the civil authorities to suppress, or to prevent, or to deal with." M.A. 75.

Section 120 of the Militia Act provides that every officer and man of the Militia who, when his corps is lawfully called upon to act in aid of the civil power, refuses or neglects to go out with such corps, shall, if an officer, incur a penalty not exceeding $100.00 and, if a man, a penalty not exceeding $20.00.

"In any case where a riot or disturbance occurs, or is anticipated as likely to occur, the Attorney-General, or acting Attorney-General, of the province in which is situated the place where such riot or disturbance occurs, or is anticipated as likely to occur, on his own motion or on receiving notification from a judge of a superior or county or district court, having jurisdiction in such place, that the services of the Active Militia are required in aid of the civil power, my by requisition in writing (see M.A. 80) addressed to the district officer commanding the military district in which such place is situated, require the Active Militia or such portion thereof as the district officer commanding considers necessary, to be called out on active service to assist the civil power." M.A. 76

An Order-in-Council was passed on August 7th 1940 empowering certain other Provincial officials to requisition the services of the Active Militia when necessary. This was passed by reason of representations to the Minister of National Defence that situations might arise, during the state of war now existing, necessitating military action in aid of the civil power, and that delay might ensue, by reason of the Attorney-General or acting Attorney-General being absent or otherwise not available, or by reason of the locality where military aid was required being so distant from the place where the Attorney-General or acting Attorney-General could be found, that communication with him would entail considerable loss of time.

Accordingly, regulations under the authority of this Order-in-Council, empowering "any Crown Attorney or any other provincial official or class of provincial official designated from time to time for that purpose by the Attorney-General or acting Attorney-General of "the province concerned " as persons who, in the manner prescribed by the Militia Act, may requisition the services of the Active Militia in aid of the civil power, and "may notify the district officer commanding that their services are no longer required in aid of the civil power."

"The district officer commanding a military district, or the officer for the time being performing his duties, shall call out the Active Militia in the district of which he is in command, or such portion thereof as he considers necessary for the purpose of suppressing or preventing any actual or anticipated riot or disturbance upon receiving requisition in writing made by the authority hereinbefore designated in that behalf; Provided that, so far as the Permanent Force is available, it shall be employed upon the duty of suppressing or preventing such actual or anticipated riot or disturbance, and recourse shall not be had to other militia corps except to the extent that the Permanent Force is not available." M.A. 11.

"A district officer commanding, upon receiving a requisition from the civil authority empowered by law to make the same, has no discretionary power as to the necessity for aid, nor has he the power to call out the Active Militia in any district other than the one of which he is in command. (M.A. 78(1). Such district officer commanding has, however, complete discretion as to the number of troops he shall employ. If such district officer commanding considers that the services of the Active Militia in districts other than the one of which he is in command are necessary for the purpose of preventing any such actual or anticipated riot or disturbance as recited in the requisition, he is required by law (M.A. 18(Z), to notify the Adjutant-General of the number of officers and other ranks, together with their horses and equipment, which he considers necessary and of which number he is the sole judge, and upon receiving such notification the Adjutant-General is empowered to call out such of the Active Militia as in his judgment are available to meet the requirements of the said district officer commanding as set forth in the notification, and to cause them to be dispatched to him." M.A. 78(2), K.R. (Can.) 850.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Qualities of Good British Infantry

A Defence of Close-Order Drill; A Reply to "Modern Infantry Discipline" by Major M.K. Wardle, D.S.O., M.C., The Leicestershire Regiment
Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Vol. LXXIX, February to November, 1934

In the training of troops for warm it is essential in the first place to be clear about the sort of man it is desired to produce. In the British infantry the emphasis necessarily falls more heavily on certain points than in other arms and armies; but I do not believe that the qualities that are the groundwork of good British infantry in 1934 are any other than they were in 1334, or 1734, or 1834. They are, and sure always have been:—

(1)     Physical fitness, that will make it possible for the man to answer the demands made upon him;

(2)     Steadfastness, that will enable him to endure fatigue, hunger, cold, heat, hardships and deprivations of all kinds, and fear, to the end;

(3)     Confidence in his leader's character and military efficiency, so that he will be immune from the insidious inroads of distrust and misinformed criticism;

(4)     Pride in the efficiency of his platoon, company, battalion, and in the certainty that they will do their duty under all possible circumstances, and in the knowledge that they have done so in the past;

(5)     Obedience, by which he embraces the intention of his leader as his own objective, to be attained by the exercise of every faculty, of courage, knowledge, or initiative, that he possesses in co-operation with the rest of his sub-unit;

(6)     A sense of solidarity with his leaders and comrades, by which it becomes impossible for him to fail them, as it is inconceivable that they should fail him.

These are the military virtues of the British infantryman.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Regimental Goats and Rams

Regimental Mascots, by Major T.J. Edwards, M.B.E., F.R. Hist.S.
The Army Quarterly, Volume LXIII (October 1951 and January 1952)

Possibly the most well-known animals of this kind are goats of The Royal Welch Fusiliers and The Welch Regiment. When on parade attired in their "full canonicals" they make a fine show. Their "full dress" consists of a handsome cloth embroidered with badges, etc., draped over the body, horns and hooves gilded and harness of high quality. They are led by goat-majors at the head of their units and lend a picturesque touch to ceremonial occasions. It is not known precisely when The Royal Welch Fusiliers had their first goat, but they certainly had one at the Battle of Bunker's Hill on the 17th of June, 1775, during the American War of Independence. It is not recorded whether his butting powers were put to any tactical use, but Major Donkin in his "Military Recollections and Remarks" has noted the following amusing incident:

"Every 1st March, being the anniversary of their tutelar Saint, David, the officers give a splendid entertainment to all their Welch brethren; and after the cloth is taken away a bumper is filled round to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (whose health is always drunk to first that day), the band playing the old tune of "The Noble Race of Shenkin," when a handsome drum-boy, elegantly dressed, mounted on the goat richly caparisoned for the occasion, is led thrice round the table in procession by the Drum Major. It happened in 1775, at Boston that the animal gave such a spring from the floor, that he dropped his rider upon the table, and then, bounding over the heads of some officers, he ran to the barracks with all his trappings to no small joy of the Garrison and populace."

This must have been a super-lusty goat for none of his successors appear to have given such a performance.

Queen Victoria appears to have liked the idea of this regiment having goats for in 1844 Her Majesty presented one to each of the two regular battalions, and all "replacements," for a considerable number of years afterwards, came from the Royal Herd at Windsor.

The Welch Regiment had a goat during the Afghan War, with which it marched into enemy territory, but died in the Bolan Pass in 1842. For many years these goats also came from the Royal Herd, but the early ones were gifts from distinguished personages, including the Duke of Wellington. During the South African War of 1899-1902 one was obtained in the theatre of operations for a pound of butter, which might be regarded as suitable exchange for a "butter."

In the matter of diet goats have a fairly catholic taste and hardly anything about barracks comes amiss. Even so they ought to exercise some discretion in what they eat. We remember one goat of pre-Great War vintage that celebrated Christmas Day by eating the paper decorations around a barrack room. Flour paste and tissue paper apparently have a habit of expanding considerably when "housed" together inside a goat. What the limit of expansion is we do not know, but we do know that this animal's interior had not the requisite elasticity—with fatal results.

Rex, the goat of The Welch Regiment, caused some embarrassment on Church Parade at Aldershot in November, 1932. Adorned in all his finery, he stood at the head of the battalion, but when the C.O. ordered "Quick March," Rex lay down and refused to budge. Neither persuasion nor threats could make him rise so he was dragged somewhat unceremoniously from the parade and placed "under arrest." His case was inquired into and it was found that the regular goat-major was on leave and Rex would take no orders from his deputy.

Rams seem to have some affinity to goats if only in general appearance and the 2nd Bn. The Sherwood Foresters had rams as their mascots ever since the first one was captured from the enemy at Kotah during the Indian Mutiny. Now that the 2nd Bn. has been disbanded the 1st Bn. is continuing the custom. During an assault on the mutineers the O.C., Lieut.-Colonel Raines, noticed a fine ram tethered in a temple compound, so he remarked to Private Cody of the Grenadier Company, "Do you think you could capture that ram?" and Cody replied assuringly, "Yes, Sorr, I'm sure I could." "Right-o, go ahead," said the C.O., and handing his rifle to a nearby sergeant the Grenadier crept towards his prize. The regiment watched with anxiety as Cody slithered over low walls under fire from a hidden enemy but fortune favoured him and he reached the ram without being hit. He fussed the animal a little to gain its confidence and then returned to his unit, lifting the animal over the walls. When the rebels saw their "rations on the hoof" being taken from them they increased their fire, but although bullets spattered on the wa1ls around him, Cody was unscathed.

The ram immediately became a firm favourite with all ranks and although he was originally intended "for the table" he was spared this fate and instead became the regimental mascot, being dubbed "Derby I," the old 95th Foot having had "Derbyshire" inc1uded in its official title in 1825. He proved to be the first of a long line for "Derby XVII" reigns at present [1952]. Derby I had a strong sense of ownership, and if any other ram came near the regiment he was "for it." Usually only one round was sufficient to settle any argument. The ladies of the regiment made him a beautiful scarlet coat and a plume for his brow: on the coat he wore the Indian Mutiny medal which has also been worn by all of his successors in the "appointment." Derby III was remarkable for the fact that he had two pairs of horns, the second pair curving towards the front, a few inches below his ears. He was the gift of the Maharajah of Kashmir. Derby VIII was a born atheist and strongly objected to attending Divine Service mainly, it is thought, because he did not like the music played by the band on church parade. He suffered from ingrowing horns which was incurable and he had to be "put away." The Regimental Magazine recorded his premature demise thus: "Deaths. At Solon on the tenth of October 1893, Derby VII. By the hand of a butcher." He became a hearthrug in his next reincarnation.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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The Sabre

Military Men and Matters
The Montreal Gazette, 8 January 1892

"The Sabre," said Colonel John S. Mosby, the famous Confederate soldier, recently, "is about as useless in actual warfare as the fifth wheel of a coach. It is only a tradition. Gunpowder knocked it out, and it has been retained in the service largely on sentimental grounds. On dress parades and occasions of ceremony the sabre does well enough, but no sane man would think of using a sabre in a modern battle, During the Franco-Prussian war only seven men were killed by the sabre on both sides, and you could count up the men killed in our own war by that weapon on your fingers. We discarded it altogether in my command. In the ancient days when King Arthur was on earth the sabre was of some use, but it is entirely out of place in the nineteenth century. The government could save money and at the same time improve the efficiency of the service by abolishing the sabre from the army.. Fiction writers will of course cling to it, for its loss would deprive them of one of the chief articles of their stock in trade. The paper hero must 'cut his way through the ranks of the enemy' just so often or his is no good. Then, it looks well—on paper—for a regiment or army to 'charge one the enemy with sabres drawn,' etc. All that kind of stuff may 'go' in books, but it is supremely ridiculous to military men."

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Charging Trench Easier Than Holding It

Takes the Disciplined Soldier to Stand the Shelling

The Milwaukee Journal, 22 February, 1918

"It is easy enough to teach men to charge—to get out and take a trench—but the greatest difficulty is to train men to stand the shell fire after they are in their new positions," said Capt. A.E.H. Coo, who is in Milwaukee visiting his wife and children at the home of her mother, Mrs. Thomas Delaney, 111 Eighth-st.

Capt. Coo is a member of the Twenty-seventh Canadian overseas expeditionary force [sic] and is on a leave of two months as a result of being wounded in action. He has served in France and Belgium two years.

Troops need Experience

"The training that the Americans get in this country will be almost valueless," he said, "The real training consists in getting used to the hard knocks after they get over there. The Americans are bound to have reverses until they get used to the discipline of warfare. They are less used to discipline than the English and will probably make the same errors that the green Canadians did. With orders to take the next line of trenches only, they would go farther down the road and extend their conquests and would not be able to hold any of their new positions.

"After they are trained the soldiers from the states are bound to make good. Probably of all troops the English soldier is the easiest to train. He is more used to discipline and accustoms himself tio orders easier.

Must Stand Shell Fire

"Green troops are easily taught how to charge. But as soon as they have taken a position the Germans start shelling the place, and unless the men have been especially trained to stand this they will flee to their original trench. This training cannot be given in America. It is necessary to take the troops to the actual firing line to get them used to it."

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Standing Orders, Rogers' Rangers
Major Robert Rogers, 1759

Ranger Handbook, Ranger Training Brigade, United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, February 2011

1.     Don't forget nothing.

2.     Have your musket clean as a whistle, hatchet scoured, sixty rounds powder and ball, and be ready to march at a minute's warning.

3.     When you're on the march, act the way you would if you was sneaking up on a deer. See the enemy first.

4.     Tell the truth about what you see and what you do. There is an army depending on us for correct information. You can lie all you please when you tell other folks about the Rangers, but don't never lie to a Ranger or officer.

5.     Don't never take a chance you don't have to.

6.     When we're on the march we march single file, far enough apart so one shot can't go through two men.

7.     If we strike swamps, or soft ground, we spread out abreast, so it's hard to track us.

8.     When we march, we keep moving till dark, so as to give the enemy the least possible chance at us.

9.     When we camp, half the party stays awake while the other half sleeps.

10.     If we take prisoners, we keep' em separate till we have had time to examine them, so they can't cook up a story between' em.

11.     Don't ever march home the same way. Take a different route so you won't be ambushed.

12.     No matter whether we travel in big parties or little ones, each party has to keep a scout 20 yards ahead, 20 yards on each flank, and 20 yards in the rear so the main body can't be surprised and wiped out.

13.     Every night you'll be told where to meet if surrounded by a superior force.

14.     Don't sit down to eat without posting sentries.

15.     Don't sleep beyond dawn. Dawn's when the French and Indians attack.

16.     Don't cross a river by a regular ford.

17.     If somebody's trailing you, make a circle, come back onto your own tracks, and ambush the folks that aim to ambush you.

18.     Don't stand up when the enemy's coming against you. Kneel down, lie down, hide behind a tree.

19.     Let the enemy come till he's almost close enough to touch, then let him have it and jump out and finish him up with your hatchet.

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Regimental Designation; PPCLI

Regimental Manual of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, 2012

1.     The designation of the Regiment is "Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry" and the authorized abbreviation is "PPCLI."

2.     Editor's Note. It should be noted that the word "The" is not used in the official designation, nor are periods used while using the abbreviation, "PPCLI."

3.     The term "Patricia's" is commonly used as a short title for the Regiment. Careful note of the correct use of the apostrophe should be made when referring to the Regiment or to a group of two or more soldiers from the Regiment. When referring to the Regiment as an entity, the correct term is "Patricia's" as in "the Patricia's have an honourable history." A soldier in the Regiment is commonly referred to as a "Patricia" and it follows that two or more soldiers would be referred to as "Patricias" as in "three Patricias won the Victoria Cross."

4.     Although the Regiment bears the name "Light Infantry," it has never been organized or equipped solely in the traditional light infantry manner. The designation was chosen by the Founder Hamilton Gault, to reflect the "irregular force" of his original idea, and captured the traditional philosophy of light troops, that of the "fighting, thinking soldier" epitomized by the original members and carried on by the Regiment ever since.

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A Question of Uniforms

Military Men and Matters
The Montreal Gazette; 14 April 1894

The London Daily News says that the unsuitability of the present regulation dress of our army for fighting and campaign purposes is held by Major-General Sir William Butler to be demonstrated by the fact that whenever a little war is announced the officer who has been fortunate enough to be selected for service instantly discard all idea of proceeding to the scene of strife in the habiliments he has heretofore been wont to wear. He goes straight to his tailor and orders a fighting kit more or less in accordance, so far as clothing is concerned, with what he has worn at polo, deer stalking, or salmon fishing. Canadian homespun, Bedford cord, Indian khaki, French merino, moleskin, are severally ans collectively called for use. Indian puttees, pith, leather, or cork helmets, puggarees of various colors, strange sword belts, boots of buff, gauntlets, revolver cases, and broadswords appear as if by magic; and the man who, during his period of tuition at Aldershot or the Curragh, has been rigidly restrained to the eighth of an inch in width of trouser stripe, and the exactest measure of cuff or collar, become all at once the more variably dressed and accoutred military unit that any army has ever seen. Sir William adds that no army in the world is clothed in a manner so opposite to common sense.

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In Favour of Conscription

Proposed for Canada—How It Might Benefit
the World, Physically, Morally and Industrially,
Even If War Were Abolished

By E.W. Thomson
Boston Evening Transcript, 24 August 1915

Ottawa, Aug. 23—Here and in Montreal your correspondent has watched for nigh a year the development of young men by military training. Many of them came shuffling into the ranks, somewhat stooped, pallid, enfeebles by loafing and pleasure rather than by work, which seldom harms anybody. Of late the standard of height and teeth and eyes has been wisely lowered a little, wherefore the new recruits look worse in physique than former batches. One change came over Bigs and Littles alike, swiftly rather than gradually, wonderful to behold, All were speedily improved in bearing, complexion, strength, aspect of self-respect and cheerfulness—this came of an excellent preliminary system of setting-up drill. The rapidity with which the men learned the manual of arms, and gained facility in tactical marching and evolutions, surprised one who had previously, for many years, lost few opportunities to watch Regulars and Volunteers in training. This rapidity was due, no doubt, to the fact that Canadian levies to Europe generally mustered a more intelligent sort of man, better educated on the whole, better reared, than commonly enter any regular army or militia force. True, the new levies here are animated by a spirit eager to gain fitness for active service, a spirit which gives them more alertness than men exercised as matter of mere routine. Allowing for this, the display yet vehemently reinforces a belief strong in your correspondent for forty-odd years, viz. that military training is so beneficial to Youth that it might well be required of all they suitably strong human males of any or all Nations, even if War had been put out of prospect or possibility by some all-inclusive League for Peace with general disarmament.

Thereafter the assembling of young men—and young women, too, for that matter—for physical drill, exercise, marching in unity, would be expedient, for the sake of the physical and moral benefits thus obtainable or secured; benefits not to be obtained otherwise, so far as experience has shown. To diffuse these benefits through a purely voluntary system, one leaving entrants free to come in when they may choose, and go out when they may choose, is not possible. The chaps who need the training most won't come in voluntarily; those unstable or likely to be misled by pleasure, or by vicious distractions, won't stay in, even as the less resolute or more erratic boys won't stick to Boy Scout obligations because these are not enforced save by opinion of their compeers. To diffuse the great good accruing from military training it must be enforced by law. That is the sound argument for conscription, here, in the States, and everywhere. That which improves Youth, enhances vigor, and enforces the excellent habit of obedience, spreads benefits throughout the whole Nation, if the service be general, no evasion allowed save for physical incapacity. The Nation is entitled to obtain these benefits by any reasonable means. Public policy requires conscription for military training, or its equivalent. No equivalent has yet been devised. That the Nation may be put to war is a consideration which but enhances the expedicny of such general training, besides being in some sort a consecration thereof.

Consider the groups and throngs of young fellow who may be seen any evening in any city, town, or village of this continent, loafing, deplorable, disgusting, shambling, grinning vacantly, caps or hats on the backs of their seemingly brainless skulls, ogling girls and women vilely, without alertness, mean in bearing, reprehensible pockets of unmitigated democracy! Observe their inanity at the boshful Shows they frequent, their devotion to the more salacious in print and spectacle! How inexpressibly better for them, and all who have to do with them, were they compelled to take military training at least thrice a week, for two or three hours a day, or evening, every man-jack of them, peculiar care being taken that the richer and idler be most strenuously required to attend regularly, under peril of strict punishment. Ten years of that would remodel the American and Canadian people, en masse.

As for the industrial effect—consider Germany and France. I well remember discussions subsequent to the Franco-German war of 1870, when Germans and French alike resorted to a much more general and thorough conscription than they had practiced before. It was contended by Pacifists, by self-elected humanitarians, that Industry must suffer hugely from compelling all men to train and bear arms for from two to three years of what Pacifists were then wont to describe as "the formative period of human life." Germany and France must decline industrially therefrom! England and The States would profit hugely thereby, their young men being free for Industry during that "formative period." What happened? Precisely what was predicted by those who then contended contra to the Pacifists. They allege that the habits of obedience, discipline, physical exertion, associated movement in unity, &c., would better Germans and French industrially, give their Nations long credits in crafts and in commerce. We all know that this prediction proved true. The conscripting Nations flourished industrially far more than ever before. Germans, in especial, fairly jumped forward in manufacture, agriculture, ship-building, trade. While Great Britain and the United States, fancying themselves unhandicapped, relatively lost, though possessing far greater colonial fields and populations than their conscripting rivals. It was really absurd to imagine that industrial efficiency could be promoted as well by generations bred in youth to loafing, as by generations bred in youth to discipline under arms. As for physique and handsome appearance—one of the most disquieting observations arising from this war is that innumerable published photographs of the soldiery engaged show, almost invariably, a wondrous superiority of the Germans in standing, strength, and countenance. Discipline and schooling shine in their faces, as well as devotion, seriousness, and addiction to high music and song. That they so often individually and collectively appear fit aspirants to supermanity, scares me. I refer to the private soldiers. Their officers, in the photographs, commonly look either almost as brutal and able as Von Hindenburg, or almost as insolent as William. Is it not an army of enthralled supermen held down and led by Demons? That is the pity of it.

Conscription seems sure to happen to Great Britain. A very good thing that will be for the British. More particularly for their Pleasure Classes, the Idlers had long made London the Wen of the World; the worthless loafer-wastrels, who won't enlist, will take their whack "as usual," and are truly careless concerning result of the war, feeling confident that any Master who may arrive will let them wallow in their luxurious sties. To muster them all in, and lash them into discipline and seriousness would be a work of philanthropy to themselves.

Conscription is talked of for Canada! It would benefit the general physique, certainly. All right, were they conscribed for service in Canada. But to conscribe Canadians for service in Europe would be quite another pair of sleeves. This Dominion volunteered volunteer troops for the war, one that really concerns us precisely as it concerns the United States' people—of whom we Canadians ever wonder that out\r neighbors can refrain from joining in hostilities against an Autocracy that most seriously threatens to domineer over the World. But we stand in no such relation to Great Britain, nor to the war, as would warrant conscription here for service in Europe. Were general enforced military training in Canada established, the conscribed being free as before to enlist or not to enlist for service abroad, individuals of your correspondent's way of thinking could not but profusely hooray. Its costs would have to come out of the pleasures and luxuries of the Houses of Have-more-than-is-good-for-them. Wherefore it would be a piece of pure philanthropy to them, as well as to the young men of Canada. A Spartan existence all round surely ought to be brought about in these times, as sound Public Policy.

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Non-Permanent Active Militia Is Reorganized

1936

The Evening Citizen, Ottawa; 15 December 1936

Reorganization of Canada's non-permanent active militia has been completed, and as it emerges from the crucible the new form of the Dominion's citizen soldiers is greatly dwarfed in respect of units but sturdily consistent as far as personnel are concerned.

Last night Hon. Ian Mackenzie, minister of national defence, released the whole plan involving the reorganization of the non-permanent active forces. These contemplate restriction of units but are compensated by compactness in efficiency. They also elevate the militia from the prospective to the actual.

In brief, the militia is cut down with respect to paper units. Regiments which previously existed in the militia list only on paper entirely disappear. Those which persevered strongly in the piping times of peace remain, some of them amalgamated with others, it is true, but still with enough preserved in their new name to identify them with their former lustre.

The last thing to complete the reorganization was the finding of a name for the amalgamated Royal Grenadiers of Toronto and the Toronto Regiment.

A compromise was established in re-naming the new unit "The Royal Regiment of Toronto Grenadiers." This was an 11th hour adjustment which the minister made.

System is Drastic

So far as units are concerned, the Mackenzie system is drastic, and has been in process of organization for a year. Reorganization of the non-permanent active forces was the one big problem which confronted the minister when he assumed office last year, and since then the entire department has been working to effect the adjustments now announced by Mr. Mackenzie.

The new militia is reduced from 36 cavalry regiments to 20, of which four are armored car regiments.

The 135 infantry regiments are whittled to 91. These are made up of 59 rifle battalions, 20 machine gun battalions and six tank battalions.

Artillery is increased by 52 new units. Field artillery batteries wil henceforth number 110, and increase of 41; medium batteries are increased from 25 to 31. The heavy batteries remain as at present, two, while the coast brigades are unaltered at two. However, anti-aircraft units are increased from one, plus two sections, to six, plus two sections, an increase of five.

Minister's Statement

In his statement announcing the reorganization, the minister said:

"In effecting reorganization of the non-permanent active militia the following principles were followed:

"1.     Reduction of the establishment to dimensions consistent with what could be mobilized and maintained, having regard to population and financial ability.

"2.     Adoption of forms of organization appropriate to modern mechanized equipment.

"3.     Distribution of units (as to strength and character of service) in proportion to density of population and the dominant occupational characteristics in the various areas.

"4.     Desirability of limiting to a minimum the disturbance of existing units; efficient units surplus to future requirements being permitted to convert to other and necessary types.

"5.     Preservation in new and amalgamated units of the battle honors, traditions, and, part at least, of the names of former units.

"6.     Full consultation with the military districts and local militia officers."

According to Districts

On the last point the minister explained headquarters had allotted to each military district the number and types of various arms and services appropriate to that district. Responsibility for detailed proposals as to the best utilizations of the approved organization within the district devolved upon the district officer commanding.

Results were attained by consultations for the district officer commanding with the officers of the units affected. Final decisions were approved by headquarters. In almost every case it was found possible to arrive at results by agreements, he added.

"In only one or two instances, where agreement could not be attained, was it considered necessary to make a decision at National Defence Headquarters," said the minister, "I am confident, however, that the decisions reached will now be loyally accepted and carried out in a spirit of good will.

Reorganization Steps

The statement contained an account of the following steps leading up to the reorganizations and an analysis of the changes effected:

Immediately after the war, establishment of the Canadian militia was set at 11 divisions and four cavalry divisions.

In 1931 an international disarmament conference was summoned to meet at Geneva on Feb. 8, 1932. Canada, faced with the necessity of filing data at this conference, notified the secretariat that in future her land forces would be limited to six divisions, one cavalry division and certain fortress and ancillary troops.

Although this decision was made by the government in 1931, no instructions to put it into effect were issued up to the time when the present minister too office on Oct, 23, 1935.

On Dec. 4, 1935, a report was laid before the minister, containing a suggested scheme for reorganization. The minister thereupon gave instructions to proceed.

A Few Units Disbanded

The reorganization is now completed. A few inactive units have been disbanded. Thirty-six cavalry regiments have been reduced to 16 cavalry regiments and four armoured car regiments.

A total of 135 infantry and machine gun battalions have been reduced to 59 rifle battalions, 26 machine gun battalions, and six tank battalion.

By conversion of cavalry and infantry units, the Royal Canadian Artillery has been increased by 41 field batteries, six medium batteries, and five anti-aircraft batteries.

Some new batteries have not yet been organized. These will be set up only as conditions in the districts require them.

Authority has been given for establishment of the Royal Canadian Engineers to 26 additional companies.

R.C.C. of Signals

On complete reorganization the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals consists of one cavalry signals, six divisional signals (two of which are distributed among several districts), two corps signals and several smaller types of units.

On reorganization each divisional army service corps is to consist of one ammunition company, one petrol company, one supply column (maintenance companies are no longer required).

In the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps 13 surplus units, most of them inactive, have been disbanded. Officers are being reposted to remaining units.

The following other branches of the services have been reorganized. The Royal Canadian Army Ordnance Corps, the Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps, and the Canadian Postal Corps.

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Common Requirements; Second Lieutenant

Canadian Army Training Pamphlet No. 8; How to Qualify, 1941

Part I – Common to All Arms
For Rank of 2nd Lieutenant (R.F.)

Organization

In general.—

• Characteristics of combatant arms and their weapons.
• Functions of administrative services.
• Organization and system of command in the Canadian Army in Canada.
• Organization of the following units of a division—Artillery—Engineers—Signals—Recce. battalion—M.G. battalion.

In particular.—

• Organization of an infantry battalion.
• Functions of divisional R.C.A.S.C., Light Aid Detachments R.C.O.C., Field Ambulance.

Map Reading

Definitions, conventional signs, map references and co-ordinates. Con­struction of simple scales. Methods of indicating relief. Slopes. Inter­visibility. Use of compass and protractor. Setting a map. Enlarge­ments. Preparation for night marching.

Field Engineering

Construction of weapon pits and developing these as part of a defended post; construction of wire obstacles and road blocks; use of natural cover; organization of working parties and division of responsibility for work.

Care of Men

Maintenance of morale and esprit de corps, maintenance of health; provision of clothing, arms and equipment and maintenaince of these at local headquarters and in camp. Subject matter of Infantry Section Leading, Ch. II.

Training

Sources of reference—Army Training Pamphlets, memos, manuals. Preparation of lectures on subjects common to all arms.

Administration

• Duties of orderly officers and N. C. O.'s.
• Water supply and sanitation.

Military Law

Nature and purpose of military law-legal position of officers and soldiers. The Militia Act. Arrest and military custody. Redress of grievances.

Drill

Squad drill, Arms drill, Platoon drill as given in M.T.P. No. 18, Secs. 2, 3, 6 and 7.

Use of Arms, Tactics, etc.

A thorough knowledge of the contents of "Infantry Section Leading" chapters IV to XI (inclusive) and chapter XIV.

The foregoing describes the common requirements for qualification to be appointed as a Second Lieutenant. In addition to these, more in depth knowledge or applicable technical knowledge was required depending on the branch of the service the officer was joining.

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Lord Wolseley on Cavalry

The Montreal Gazette, 20 Auguest 1892

Lord Wolseley, writing in the March number of the United Service Magazine says:

"This is not the place to discuss the advisability or the possibility of making our splendid cavalry learn to be as efficient as foot soldiers as they are now as cavalry. I, for one, don't believe in the military Jack-of-all-arms, and I feel the result would be a failure. The man would have the efficiency of neither arm. We persuade our foot soldiers that they are more than a match for the finest men on the finest horses, and we teach our cavalry that if they will only ride home no infantry can stand against them. But what is to be the faith we are to instil into this hybrid soldier? He will have no confidence in himself on foot or on horseback, and the soldier without implicit faith in his own arm is a poor creature. I strongly recommend that those who wish to pursue this subject to read Modern Cavalry by my old friend and comrade, Col. G.T. Denison."

Lord Wolseley, also in the same magazine, says:

"In all epochs the Horse have naturally thought themselves superior to the Foot. A name has often much to do with the fighting of soldiers; and if a man is proud of the official designation given to his arm of the service, no one but an idiot who had to get hard work out of the arm would have any other, no matter how technically wrong such a title might be. You cannot make the cavalry soldier or the mounted soldier, whatever may be his functions in war, think too highly if himself. His training teaches him that he belongs, as it were, to the aristocracy of the army, and places him in a position far above that of what the Indian Service terms the "Peidal Wallah." This feeling was given full vent to in a cavalry song of the period, when Forrest, Fitzhugh, Lee, Morgan, Sheridan, Stewart, and other leaders of mounted troops were justly the popular heroes of the day. I can only remember the refrain, which ran thus:—

"If you want to smell hell, just jine the Cavalry—jine the Cavalry!"

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Digging a Trench Under Fire is Regular Task for Tommy Atkins

The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington, 20 March 1916
(Augustus Muir in the London Daily Mail.)

It was the brigade major who began it. I remember the morning distinctly. He came round one the traverse with a periscope in his hand, a staff captain at his heels, and made an exhaustive survey of the ground in front.

"Bad field of fire," he muttered, "The Boches must be 400 yards away just here; but there's ground in front we can't see—dead ground. Bad field of fire altogether."

"Rotten," agreed the staff captain, "The hollow could hide a couple of companies of the Boches in case of an attack. Now if we put an advance trench out there——"

"Just what I was going to say," said the brigade major. "Just what I've brought you here to see. We'll mention it to the brigadier this afternoon."

In the afternoon the brigadier came down the trench.

"Ex–actly," said the brigadier, in his neat, precise accents, "Ex–actly." He turned to the C.O. of our battalion. "What do you think of it, colonel?"

"Quite agree," said the colonel.

Few Words Set Machinery Going

And that was all that was said; thus ran a few short sentences set a vast machinery at work: The little neat brigadier's "Ex–actly!" was like pressing the button which controlled an immense restrained activity.

Satisfied, the group of officers moved down the trench, leaving behind them the disturbing knowledge that something was about to happen.

That evening we got our orders, and by the morning Tommy knew what the making of an advance trench meant.

A "covering party" is picked. They are put under command of an outstanding N.C.O.—a man who has been tried in the fire of achievement and has been found reliant. Their duties are hazardous and vital. On them devolves the strain of providing a protective screen between the Boches and our working party, which is about to go out. They must lie in the open, watching, waiting, alert, untiring, should they chance to run into a little patrol their work must be short, sharp and to the point. There can be no dallying when it's one's own skin—or that of Fritz. And they must use the bayonet only; for to fire would be but to disclose their locality to a dozen enemy machine guns waiting to belch forth lead.

Ticklish Job of the Patrol

When the hour appointed draw near, these picked men get ready. They stand waiting, cigarette in mouth, for their orders to move. There are the crisp thudding of a maxim down the line, and occasional quick crackle of rifle fire, and the angry roar of bursting shrapnel in the distance. "Patrol ready, Corporal?" The corporal signifies assent; cigarettes are pout out; bayonets are fixed; equipments buckled, and with a last "Cheer-ho!" the covering party clamber over the parapet of the trench and are gone.

Ten or fifteen minutes later a dark figure crawls back, appears for a swift moment against the night sky, and drops with a spatter of mud in the trench. It is the officer. He reports to the company captain that he has "placed" the patrol; that all is ready for the working party. The external order to "Carry on" is given. The next moment a long string of men scramble from the cloggy depths of the trench and follow their officer into the land of unexplored mysteries; the Dead Country; that grey desolation, fraught with unimagined horrors, where the dead are lying; that Long Road which runs from the splashing sea near Dunkirk on the east—for all the world like a vast, grim, black ribbon flung carelessly across Europe.

Function of the Sandbags

Every man bears a sandbag' they are the essence of the whole business. Without them the earlier stages in the making of an advance trench could no more be accomplished than could the completion. The company captain confers with a subaltern; crouching in the open, he gives whispered counsel. "Start here with the trench and make for the outline of that tree; I'll get Kennedy to work toward you with his platoon. You can touch in with each other."

"Right," says the subaltern as his company captain glides out of earshot. "Now then, first man, hand me your sandbag." The subaltern selects his spot and places the sandbag on it. "Hand your bags along the line—pass back the order," Ad so the sandbags travel along the human chain, which stretches back to the firing line and beyond it to a clay pit, where a pack of perspiring Tommies are groveling in the earth and filling the little squat squares of stitched canvas as if their lives depended on their energy. But neither the sweating fellows who fill them nor the subaltern, who lays therm amid the zipping bullets have time to ponder the unique romance residing in these little greyt sandbags, fashioned perchance by some woman's hands in the tranquil firelight of a quiet hearth. Some day—iuf the war spares him—some poet will sing the deathless lyric of sandbags and other mundane things of trench life, but the time is not yet.

Moving toward his left, the subaltern plots out the future trench with its traverses and cover. He needs the eye of a cat for the job, because where the ground is unsuitable the trench must avoid it, and swerve backwards or forward. Half-an-hour's work and his colleague heaves in sight. "I'll touch in with you now," says the subaltern; they place the last few sandbags, and the long line, laid unerringly in the darkness, meets ion the center. The advance trench is happed out.

When the Real Danger Begins

It is with the first clink of pick and shovel that the real danger begins. As soon as the Boches realize that out in front something is doing they get busy, and 10 rounds rapid become too frequent for health. Digging—feverish digging—is the order of the night. Your arms are aching, you head is splitting, you want to lie down and rest forever; but, urged by the knowledge that they must occupy the trench in three days, the men settle down to it with braced sinews. A flare goes up in the night, making a lurid green scar in the sky and falling 20 yards away. Picks and shovels are dropped and Platoon Fifteen lies hugging the wet earth, barely daring to twitch an eyelid. As soon as the flare burns out they are at it again like clustering bees. With "Stand to!" an hour before dawn comes the order to retire. The men file back, thanking their stars that they even have a trench to come home to—after all there is no place like home. Picks and shovels are stored. The officer creeps out and recalls the patrol.

Death Takes Its Toll

Dawn comes, and with it repose and respite, till night relentlessly drags them forth again to face the machine guns that have been paid during the day on the fresh sandbags. Casualties? These are but little incidents in the great adventure. Two nights pass and often a quick cry has told someone's mates that he is passing from them! Casualties? The subaltern puts a black stroke against each man in his platoon roll, but would fain hold back his hand from adding up the number.

As dawn breaks on the third day the subaltern inspects his work. The advance trench is finished; there are a firing-step, loopholes, cover and a communications trench has been cut out. But will it do? Will the brigadier be satisfied? In the forenoon the brigadier himself comes 'round. "An excellent field of fire," he says. "How many men have you lost?"

Such is the epic of the advance trench.

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Many Canadian Athletes Enlisted in Non-Permanent Militia Units

Survey Shows Practically All National Hockey League Players in This Country Have Signs for Home Defence. Football Stars Also Taking Training.

Ottawa Citizen, 7 August 1940 By Dick Sheridan, Canadian Press Staff Writer

Toronto, Aug. 6.—In two's and three's and even teams, Canada's athletes are flocking to the recruiting depots throughout the country to enlist in the Non-Permanent Active Militia units before the Aug. 15 deadline. And leading the parade is the country's most valuable athletic asset—her hockey players.

A survey conducted by The Canadian Press today disclosed that practically all of the National Hockey League players in this country have signed up for home defence. Crowding them are nationally-known football players from such squads as Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Canadian champions, Toronto Balmy Beach, Toronto Argonauts and Sarnia Imperials.

Manager Conny Smythe of Toronto Maple Leafs announced today the majority of his players had enlisted in the Toronto Scottish and will go into active training almost immediately. Players from other N.H.L. teams residing in Toronto joined the Scottish also.

Frank Boucher Enlisted

Canadiens' players living in Montreal are slated to enlist with the 17th Duke of York Royal Canadian Hussars while the Scots Fusiliers have enrolled Boston and new York Rangers players living in Kitchener.

The famous Kraut line of Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Porky Dumart of the Boston team is with the Fusiliers. Jack Shewchuk, Boston defenceman, is with the Dufferin and Haldimand Rifles.

Frank Boucher, Ranger coach, join the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards at Ottawa, and was accompanied by a number of other players living in the Capital. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles unit has players from Ranger, Toronto Leafs, Boston and Chicago Black Hawks in its ranks.

Ted Reeve Among Group

Syd Reynolds, Cec Fotheringham, Bert Haigh and George Shield, current or former Balmy Beach players, are members of the Toronto Scottish, along with Floyd Muirhead, sponsor of the club. Ted Reeve, sports columnist and a member of the Balmy Beach championship team a decade ago, is with the Scottish.

Alex Hayes and Hugh (Bummer) Stirling help give Sarnia Imperials representation in the N.P.A.M. Hayes, a great quarterback, is with the Essex Scottish. Stirling, the brilliant backfielder, enlisted with the 55th Battery, London.

Joe Miller, Toronto Argonaut, and Eddie Thompson, Balmy Beach, are both in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Entire Team Training

Calgary Stampeders, Allan Cup finalists last year, is the only hockey team known to have enlisted as a unit. Stampeders joined the Calgary (Tank) Regiment and are expected to be known as the "Tankers" this coming season.

Athletes enlisting in the N.P.A.M. are able in most instances to arrange their period of training in camp so that it does not interfere with the playing of their respective games. This applies particularly to the N.H.L. players.

Many other athletes are with Canadian Active Service Force units and a number of these are already in England. These include Ross (Sandy) Somerville, former amateur golf champion, and Johnny Loaring, Windsor hurdler.

More Ottawans Enlist

Orville Burke, star Rider quarterback, has enlisted in the Governor General's Foot Guards, it was learned last night. Two other local athletes—Jack Wilkinson, former Ottawa Senator hockey star, and Rick Perley of the Rough Riders—joined the First Field Brigade Royal Canadian Artillery on Monday night. Several other athletes of the Capital were already in this brigade.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Although not quite matching the period of the following article, this image shows the Royal Canadian Dragoons Musical ride at the Canadian National Exhibition ca. 1920 (NLA)

The Cavalry School Sports

Military Men and Matters
The Montreal Gazette, 5 March 1892

The Cavalry school sports last week were a complete success in every respect, and it is really surprising that they were not patronized. On Montreal it would have been hard to find room for the spectators , while here [Quebec], although the reserved seats sold for only 50 cents, there was a very slim attendance, and it is doubtful whether the receipts covered the expenditure. It was a spectacle such as cannot be witnessed elsewhere in Canada. To those who have never witnessed cavalry sports a brief description of some of the principal events may prove of interest. Plaiting the maypole is familiar enough to those who have attended the skating carnivals in Montreal, and by substituting for skaters soldiers in gay hussar uniforms and mounted on spirited horses, one can form a fair idea of the brilliance of the spectacle. After plaiting and unplaiting at the walk the band struck up "The Keel Row" and the movement was again gone through at the trot and a third time at the gallop to the tune of "Bonnie Dundee." It was remarkable how the horses kept time to the music. The gallop was not altogether a success for some of the horses, excited by the lights, the music and the strange surroundings, became unmanageable towards the close and it had to be cut short.

The wrestling on horseback showed how much it takes to unseat a good rider. Half a dozen men from the cavalry were matched against an equal number from the mounted division of the Battery. They discarded headdress and tunics and rode into the ring bareheaded and wearing tight-fitted blouses. No saddles were used. The squads were drawn up at opposite ends of the hall and when word was given they rode slowly at each other. When the lines had almost met one of the troopers (an old Montreal boy) dashed at the man opposite him, passed his arm round his waist and threw him to the ground. This left him free to go to the assistance of one of his comrades who was hard beset by a stalwart artilleryman, and between the two they hoisted him out of his seat and threw him. Then a trooper bit the dust, and immediately afterwards he was followed by a batteryman. This left five of the cavalry to three of the artillery.

To the right hand of the Lieutenant Governor's box an artilleryman was making a gallant fight against two cavalrymen. He backed his horse, pushed it forward and twisted it from side to side, now breaking away from his assailants and now tackling one or the other, as he saw an opportunity, but before he could dismount either of them the other was upon him. He fought his way across the hall and part way back, when a cheer was heard from the upper part of the hall, and a batteryman was seen to go over his horse;'s shoulder, dragging a trooper with him. This left four to two, and although there was no chance now of his being relieved of one of his opponents the batteryman fought on, surrounded now by three troopers. Finally one of them seized him by the collar, and a second coming up on his other side caught him by the leg, and between the two he was thrown to the ground. His horse then jumped over him and tore away to the other end of the hall, where it was captured. The last remaining artilleryman, seeing himself opposed by four troopers, lost heart and was easily thrown without doing any further damage.

The sword combats on horseback were most exciting. The men wore wooden masks, something like a diver's helmet, and thick leather jackets and were armed with single sticks. The vanquished men retired and the victors were matched against each other until in a final tie there was a private and a sergeant. The private was mounted on a very nervous horse, which could not be brought up to face his opponent, and up to the present he had only won by his skill in the handling of his weapon. His last opponent took advantage of the nervousness of his horse, and by making sudden starts and feint's the trooper's horse backed him up against a fence. Here a lively scrimmage occurred and the sergeant scored the first point, but the private scored the next two and won amid the wildest cheering.

In the combats of sword versus bayonet the superiority of the latter weapon was invariably demonstrated. The weapons used were blunt swords and spring bayonets like the daggers used upon the stage, and have a button on the end of them. When they strike a man the bayonet, instead of penetrating, run back up the rifle. The first combat was between two artillerymen, both dismounted. The swordsman made one point by closing with hos opponent as soon as he parried the bayonet thrust and, seizing the bayonet with his left hand, brought down his sword on the other's head. In attempting to repeat this performance the swordsman came to grief, for his opponent dropped the bayonet and relied altogether on his wrestling abilities. The swordsman endeavored to stab his opponent in the shoulder and back, but was so tightly clinched that he could not use his weapon to advantage. The two men fell and rolled over and over in the scuffle, each trying to disarm the other. Finally the swordsman let his weapon go and, throwing of his opponent, snatched up the bayonet and had it at the other's breast before he could recover. The point was, however, awarded to the bayonet, which won. Then the two men exchanged weapons, but with the same result. Bayonet won again.

Then the bayonet was pitted against a trooper on horseback armed with a sword. It is well known that in such a combat the man on foot has a great advantage, but how great that advantage is can only be appreciated by a test like this. The trooper charged down on the dismounted man, but as soon as the horse cam within reach of the bayonet he recoiled, and it was all the trooper could do to pull him aside in time to avoid a thrust. Several time he tried to gallop past men near enough to strike the foot soldier, but the latter always jumped right in front of the horse or, if not in time to do that, he jumped back out of reach of the sword. Finally they came to close quarters and after several cuts and thrusts the bayonet scored. In the second bout the trooper parried a thrust and brought down his sword with a will upon the artilleryman's helmet, but in the next round the latter scored again ans was declared the winner.

The musical ride would be hard to describe. The troopers were armed with steel shod lances with fluttering pennants and went through all kinds of movements that seemed designed as much to test the horsemanship of the men as to please the eye of the spectator. Some of the movements were exceedingly intricate and with horses as spirited as those of the Cavalry school any but thorough horsemen would inevitably have lost their heads. It is much to the credit of the men, therefore, that not a single mistake was made. After an exhibition of lance drill the troops formed up at the opposite end of the hall and with a wild yell charged down to within a few feet from the Governor's box, when they halted as suddenly as if the horses and men had been turned to stone. It gave one a good idea of what he would feel if he had to face a cavalry charge. Many of those in the front seats started up in alarm and would have fled had there been time, but the whole thing was over like a flash.

His Honor, the Lieutenant Governor, accompanied by a large party, attended every night and on each occasion everyone in the hall rose and uncovered when he arrived and departed. The object of the entertainment was to raise funds for the purchase of the spring bayonets, lances, helmets, etc., without which our soldiers could not get the practical training that European soldiers got. These articles are not provided by the Government and Col. Turnbull ordered them from England at a cost of $500, guaranteeing the payment out of his own pocket. Several hundred dollars were also spent by the committee in fitting up the drill hall with platform and fences, decorating it with flags, etc., and providing prizes. If there should be any surplus it will be divided equally among the men. The training the men have gone through in preparation for these sports have done them more good than six months of ordinary drill. The attendance of Lieutenant Governor Angers and suite in a private box was much appreciated by all, and, after a most successful entertainment he graciously consented to present the prizes, which amounted to about $150, to the winners, who paraded in front of the grand stand. It is also pleasing to note that owing to the excellent arrangements and special training of both men and horses not a single accident happened during the three evenings, and a general desire has been expressed throughout the community that another representation may, at some future date, be forthcoming when our military friends may be certain to have full houses.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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