Officers' Dress, First World War
Topic: CEF

The following kit list was written by Captain Harry T. Cock, The Royal Canadian Regiment, while serving as Officer Commanding "A" Company, 17th Reserve Battalion. From a typewritten version found in an album in the collection of The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum.

While soldiers enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force were issued uniforms, officers were expected to provide their own uniforms and equipment.

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Officers Dress

Usual Kit Required:—

• 1 Cap
• 2 Jackets
• 1 pr. breaches
• 1 pr. trousers
• 3 Suits Underwear
• 3 Shirts
• 6 Handkerchiefs
• 6 Socks
• 2 pr. boots
• 2 pr. puttees
• 2 Ties
• 1 British Warm
• 1 Trench Coat
• 1 pr. gloves
• 1 Regimental Cane
• 1 pr gum or Field boots
• 1 Wolseley or other valise
• 1 Kapok or other Sleeping bag or blanket
• Canvas bucket
• Canvas bath

Orders for Dress:—

Badges:—

• Silver and gilt Cap badge
• Bronze collar badges
• Bright shoulder badges

Badges of rank worn on sleeve

Equipment:—

• Sam Browne belt, two braces
• All carried hooked or looped on belt of Sam Browne:—
  • Revolver (Webley recommended) carried on left side.
  • Field glasses on right side.
  • Compass.
  • Flashlight (Steward's pattern).
  • Water bottle in detachable cover and carrier on right side.
• Haversack carried on left side
• Pack, if carried, on support straps.
• Great coat or Waterproof carried shoulders snapped on the "D" on the braces of the Sam Browne belt.

Web equipment is not worn.

Places recommended for purchase:—

• Caps: Hawkes & Co., 1 Savile Row.
• Jackets: Thompson & Sons, 14 Dover Street.
• Breeches: Hammond & Co. or Tautz of Oxford St.
• Swagger Stick: Brigg, St James St.
• Badges: Hawkes & Co., 1 Savile Row.
• Great coat: Hawkes & Co., 1 Savile Row.
• Leggings: Mazwell, Dover St.
• Camp Kit, etc.: Army and Navy Stores Ltd., Victoria St. Westminster.
• Visiting Cards, Regimental Stationery, etc.: Army and Navy Stores Ltd., Victoria St. Westminster.

(signed)
H.T. Cock, Capt
The R.C.R.
OC "C" Coy, 17th Res Bn.

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It should be noted that although officers in the front lines in France were dressing to appear indistinguishable from soldiers at a distance (through a German sniper's rifle for example), in the Reserve Battalions in Britain the clear distinction in dress was maintained.

Officers' Mess Fines, circa 1810s
Topic: Officers

From: The journal of The Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. XII, No. 45, Spring, 1933

Army Manners and Customs (vol. xi. 170.) In the Officers' Mess of the East Norfolk Militia, a "Bet and Presentation Book" was kept. Extracts from it, commencing on 1 April 1810, when the regiment was in quarters at Sheerness, and covering a period of ten years are given.

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The following are long established Fines at the Mess and are to be strictly enforced.

1. Having a Drawn Sword in the Mess.
2. Speaking three words of Latin.
3. Throwing [? anything] across the table.
4. Taking the Newspaper or Books belonging to the Regiment out of the Mess.
5. Tearing or other wise defacing the Mess Books or Newspapers.
6. Indecent conversations at dinner during the time servants are in the room.

[Fines were always paid in one or more bottles of wine. Various offences, for which fines were inflicted and paid, are here set forth, the fine always being ONE bottle of wine, except when otherwise specified.]

• Half a dozen of wine for having lent many numbers of Cobbett's Register without the permission of the Mess.
• For pulling his coat off in the Mess Room.
• For drinking wine and water at dinner, when strangers were in the Mess.
• For reading without leave of the President.
• Half a dozen of wine for putting the President and members of a Regimental Court Martial in close confinement by locking the door of the court wherein they were sitting.
• For buying a pennyworth of orange at the Mess Table.
• For selling the above pennyworth.
• For an irregularity for putting a piece of apple peel in Mr. ____'s wine glass.
• For twice drinking from the black bottle, moreover out of his turn.
• For throwing a wine glass across the table.
• For reading at the Mess Table (without leave) a certain publication entitled the "Military Magazine."
• For an irregularity during dinner in calling Captain _____ "a nincompoop."
• For indecent conversation during dinner.
• For an irregularity in filling the President's glass.
• For a Mess irregularity in having left their glasses full on quitting the table, the above a mistake.
• For coming into the Mess Room in slippers.
• For dining in dirty boots.
• For undressing himself in the Mess.
• For helping from a dish from which Captain _____ was helping at the same time.
• For locking the Mess Room door after the retreat Drums were off while Captains _____ and _____ were in the room.
• For calling the Vice-President "a Newks."
• For coming to the Mess with dirty hands.
• For coming into the Mess Room with shoes without strings.
• For whistling in the Mess Room during dinner.
• For forcing a sword through the middle of its scabbard in the Mess Room.
• For throwing the decanter across the table.
• For abruptly leaving the Mess table before the cloth was withdrawn without permission.
• For making a bargain at the Mess table in buying three letters from Mr. _____ for three farthings.
• For making a bargain in selling three letters as above.
• For talking on his fingers at Mess.
• For speaking three words of Latin. "Oh, Bolus, Bolus." [Several instances of this offence occur, the words as spoken, being "A Fac Simile," "Non Te Intelligo," "Non, Non, Non," "Tria juncta in," "Aries Taurus Gemini," "Quid pro quo," and "Et caetera, et caetera." One instance is given of "et, is, et, is," with the remark "No fine proved but two words," meaning apparently, that the word "is" is not Latin, and that therefore only two Latin words were used. … Why should the use of three Latin words be considered a fineable offence?

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For some more modern Officers' Mess guidance for junior officers:—

• The Officers' Mess
• Mess Dinners
• Mess Dinners; Advice for Subaltern Organizers of
• The Subaltern's Court

HMCS Niobe; Welcome Address (21 October 1910)
Topic: RCN

HMCS Niobe arrived at Halifax on October 21, 1910, becoming the first large warship of the Royal Canadian Navy. A cruiser, Niobe was armed with a main battery of 16 six inch guns. She and the light cruiser HMS Rainbow formed part of the new Royal Canadian Navy (RCN).

At the start of the First World War, Niobe sailed on her first wartime operational mission to escort the transport Canada, carrying The Royal Canadian Regiment to garrison duty in Bermuda.

After boiler repairs on returning to Halifax, Niobe joined the Royal Navy's 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station, logging 30,000 miles as she engaged in intercepting German ships along the American coast, spending 16 days at a time on station.

In September 1915, Niobe became a depot ship in Halifax for the training of cadets. On 6 December, 1917, the Niobe was only 700 yards from the explosion of the munitions ship Mont Blanc. The damaged sustained in the Halifax Explosion was extensive, she was repaired and contunued service as a depot ship until 1920. Niobe was scrapped in the 1920s.

• Royal Canadian Navy - HMCS Niobe
• Canadian War Museum - HMCS Niobe
• Friends of the Canadian War Museum - HMCS Niobe
• The Dreadnought Project - HMCS Niobe

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Address of Welcome to Officers and Ship's Company of

HMCS NIOBE

on arrival at Halifax, N.S., on the 21st October, 1910.

By the Hon. L.P. Brodeur, K.C., LL.D., Minister of the Naval Service

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Canada's Welcome

Captain, Officers and Men of the "Niobe":

I have much gratification in extending to you a most cordial welcome to our Canadian waters, and in greeting in you the first personnel of our Canadian Navy. We are very happy to see that this ship is under the command of a young and brilliant officer, born in our country, with other officers of Canadian birth and association. We are grateful to you for accepting service in the "Niobe" our first training ship, thereby exhibiting your willingness to help toward the formation and organization of our local naval service.

The arrival in Canada of this, the first Canadian cruiser, is an event of historical importance. To-day the first training ship of our navy ploughs Canadian waters. Occasions such as this are few in the story of any country, and especially of a young nation like Canada. They are like golden milestones set at intervals along the pathways of our progress and development. As we look back upon the way we have traveled since the days of Confederation we can count with pride these landmarks, and point to them as examples and models for the coming generations.

This event tels the story of a dawning epoch of self reliance. It proclaims to the whole British Empire that Canada is willing and proud to provide, as rapidly as circumstances will permit, for her local naval defence, and to safeguard her share in the commerce and trade of the Empire. We have a vast Dominion, and a vast future daily opens out wider and wider before us.

This is a land of unmeasured proportion and resources, boundless liberties; the fringes of the Atlantic wash our Eastern shores, the mirror waters of the Pacific reflect the shadows of our Western hills; from ocean to ocean our Ports and our Provinces are being bound together by three great lines of our railway. All parts of Canada, interior as well as on our seaboards, are interested in the safety of our commerce, in the free circulation of the life blood of our trade through the great arteries of our railways, canals, and mights rivers. Consequently this event appeals to all classes, conditions, political hues and racial origins. The appearance of this splendid vessel in our ports betokens a mighty stride made by our young Dominion along the avenue of our future destiny.

In welcoming our first cruiser and training ship in the name of the Government and people of Canada, I must not omit to point out how important this initial step in our great project of self defence is to the Empire of which we form such an important part, in the glory and security of which we seethe future stability and strength of our own Dominion. To you, captain, officers and men, we look with confidence that your assistance will be given, in the lines and following the traditions of the great service under which you were trained, to insure the success of our venture. For this noble purpose I am giving my son, who will join you tomorrow. Great Britain has given us an absolute freedom of action as far as our internal affairs are concerned and the management of them. Equally has the Mother Country consented to be guided by our desires in all international relations that affect our own country, and she has authorized us to negotiate our own commercial treaties. This is certainly the acme of political liberty, it is the finest example of national autonomy that the world can present today. But this freedom brings with it new powers for us to exercise, and these bring fresh responsibilities.

Without the powers necessary for the exercise of that autonomy it would become a mere fiction; and powers, without responsibilities in accord with them, would be dangerous and, in many cases, useless weapons for a country to hold. We are prepared to shoulder the responsibilities, and the "Niobe" is today the first and most striking evidence that we are so disposed.

Then we must consider that our interests are so interwoven with those of Great Britain that her supremacy on the sea and her perpetual command of the great commerce of the world appeal to us and awaken a responsive echo in our country, an echo that springs from gratitude as well as from self-interest. her rule has been a blessing to civilization and freedom the world over. Her flag has been the protection of the oppressed, has led in the vanguard of civilization, and has shield ed millions from the fate which barbarism and ignorance twine around the less fortunate people. If then we can assist, even in a small way, but in proportion to our strength and resources, in the solidifying of her power, the maintenance of her influence, and the safeguarding of her supremacy, it becomes our duty to do so. And in this establishment of a Canadian navy for the protection of our commence and the defence of our coasts, we are displaying to the world our readiness to do our fair share in the upbuilding of the Empire to which we are proud to belong.

Let us rise to the height that the event demands, and give our hearts and souls to the celebration of the arrival of the first vessel that is to begin the work that we have before us. Like the advent of the discoverer's ship in a new land, the "Niobe" comes to plant the standard of progress and true Canadian national greatness upon the verdant slopes of a glorious future that unrolls its splendid proportions before out vision today. Welcome, then, and a thousand welcomes, in the name of the Canadian Government, in that of every loyal and truly patriotic citizen of Canada, in that of the rising generation and finally in that of the Empire in whose world girdling belt Canada is the bright and precious buckle.

 

 

Medal Collecting; To Clean or Not to Clean
Topic: Medals

To clean or not to clean ... that is often the question that arises between medal collectors, and there's no single "right" answer. Some collectors take a hard line to one extreme or the other. They may be in the camp that says each medal or group should look like the soldier was about to wear it on parade. To them, taking pride in the medals to the same degree as the soldier would have is honouring their memory. Those with a diametrically opposing view feel justified in keeping the medals frozen in the moment and condition at which they were acquired. For them, the condition of medals is also part of their story, and they desire to protect that historical edge and honour the full history of the medals and the man.

Some medals are found in pristine condition, untouched and still in their mailing packets, never worn by a soldier who, if not deceased, could never bring himself to mount and wear them for his own very personal reasons. Others might be clean, well-mounted yet still in an "as worn" condition, showing the signs of respect from long years of prideful wear. They might have been remounted as ribbons wore out, and in many cases, an old soldier's polishing habit may have worn the finer details from the face and reverse of each disc and star.

Just as each soldier found his own reasons for the level of care he gave his medals, so each collector has to decide where they fall on the spectrum between "to clean" or "not to clean."

At one end of that spectrum you will find the "no clean" collectors proudly showing their collections with medals mounted "as [last] worn" by the original owners. You may find tattered ribbons, worn and faded from decades of wear at memorial occasions, even mismatched ribbons when remounted by inexpert hands, medals crowded on a too-small bar, or those which have been polished nearly smooth. From the 1960s we find examples where soldiers knew they were wearing down their medals from much polishing, and they might have decided to have their medals treated by the new electro-plating technologies that became available for individual items. This process might change the appearance of the medals from an as-issued state, but they remain as the soldier chose to wear them. For these collectors, cleaning solely to remove obviously out of place dirt, or damaging verdigris, become the extent of their treatment before adding them to their collection mounts.

At the opposite end of the spectrum you will find the "clean" camp. For some of these collectors, every medal deserves to be carefully restored as closely as possible to an as new condition. This might include new ribbons (preferably original silk … only original silks for some) and mounted exactly as the soldier would have worn them on parade in accordance with regulations.

In both camps, the two extremes actually being a poor representation of the broad spectrum of possibilities, you will find those who choose only silk ribbons over replacement polyester, and members considerd to be in either group might choose to mount medals in court mountings, carefully securing each medal in place, rather than the risks of additional edge-knock wearing when medals are mounted in traditional swing mounting (i.e., loose and dangling). Every combination of cleaning, ribbons, mounting, etc., is possible and each collector chooses their path … and sometimes change their usual routine to present specific examples in the best manner to tell part of the recipient's story.

Even when the decision is made to clean and shine medals, a collector needs to be careful, the approach that a soldier may have taken while serving (or after) may not be the best approach to clean and/or shine medals in a collection. Soldiers learn to use abrasive polishes like Brasso and Silvo which, while excellent at their tasks, are truly abrasive and this will show over the long run as medal surfaces are slowly worn down. Luckily for the modern collector, the least invasive method to shine medals is the use of a jeweler's dip to preserve the shine and minimize future requirements for handling or polishing. This, of course should be done while the medals are off their ribbons during a remounting operation.

For Those Who Choose to Clean:

The Canadian Conservation Institute provides guidance on the care and cleaning of medals and other artifacts:

Military Tradition: Moustaches
Topic: Tradition

(An Excerpt From) Some Military Customs and Survivals

By Major T.J. Edwards, M.B.E., F.H.Hist.S.
Published in The Army Quarterly, Volume XXXIX, October 1939 and January 1940

Moustaches

This may seem an odd subject to have any association with military matters, but, nevertheless, the growing or otherwise of moustaches by officers and soldiers had a definite relation to military fitness.

For purposes of personal hygiene all European armies usually removed as much hair as possible from their persons—heads were closely cropped and the face clean-shaven, thus rendering it impossible for disease-carrying vermin to get a footing. In the eighteenth century, however, we are told that the Austrians permitted their already blood-thirsty hussars to wear moustaches to give them a terrifying appearance. Apropos of this, Baron de Marbot, the well-known French military writer, records that the French General Macard used to say, "Look here!, I'm going to dress like a beast," and forthwith stripped off as much clothing as possible and went into action showing a shaggy head, face and body. Marbot also tells us that when he was a hussar in the 1790's the order was for all French hussars to wear moustaches for smartness and to give them a manly appearance. Those who could not grow moustaches had them painted on with blacking, which proved very unpleasant in hot weather, when the scorching sun in drying the blacking drew the skin up in a painful manner.

In The Times of the 21st of September, 1837, will be found the account of a young man who complained to a magistrate that he had been treated roughly by his workmates because he grew a moustache. Asked why he did so, he replied: "The reason vy I vears it is 'cos it's fashionable and makes me look like a man of some courage." (sic)

The practice of wearing moustaches in the British Army was fairly general after the Waterloo campaign, but in 1830 an order was issued prohibiting the wearing of moustaches in the cavalry, except the Household Cavalry and Hussar regiments. With the coming of the Crimean War another change took place, which was notified in a Memorandum from the Horse Guards dated the 21st of July, 1854, part of which ran:—"A large part of the Army being employed in Turkey, where it has been found beneficial to keep the upper lip unshaven and allow the moustache to grow, the General Commanding in Chief is pleased to authorize the practice in the army generally" subject to certain regulations; "the wearing of the moustache is to be optional with all ranks." After the Crimean War moustaches were no longer optional, but were ordered to be worn.

During the Great War the wearing of moustaches was optional, as it is at present. [British Army 1939/40]

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The 1918 Standing Orders (for Officers) published by "A" Company, The Royal Canadian Regiment, included this insruction regarding moustaches:—

"R.C.R. Officers will not shave the upper lip."

CEF: Scale of Clothing and Necessaries
Topic: CEF

Instructions Governing
Organization and Administration of CEF Units
1916

Appendix VI

Scale of Clothing and Necessaries

The following is a detail of issue of clothing and necessaries, authorized for each Warrant Officer, N.C.O., and man approved and enlisted for service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (Militia Orders 164 and 241, 1915).

Articles	Mounted Men	Dismounted Men
Clothing
Boots, ankle, prs	2	2
Caps, forage, drab	1	1
Cloaks	1
Greatcoats		1
Jackets, drab	1	1
Pantaloons, drab or B.C., prs	1
Pantaloons, service, prs	1
Puttees, drab, prs	1	1
Shirts, service	1	1
Shoes, canvas, prs	1	1
Trousers, drab		1
Trousers, service		1
Winter Clothing
Caps, balaclava	1	1
Gloves, woollen, prs	1	1
Sweater jackets	1	1
Necessaries:---
Badges:---
Cap	1	1
Collar, prs	1	1
Shoulder:---
Canada, prs	1	1
Initials, sets	1	1
Numerals, sets	1	1
Bootlaces, prs	2	2
Boot, dressing (grease) 2 oz. tins	1	1
Braces, prs	1	1
Brushes:---
Cloth	1	1
Hair	1	1
Shaving	1	1
Tooth	1	1
Combs, hair	1	1
Drawers, woollen, prs	2	2
Forks, table	1	1
Housewives	1	1
Holdalls	1	1
Identity discs, metal	1	1
Knives, clasp	1	1
Knives, table	1	1
Lanyards, clasp knife	1	1
Razors	1	1
Shirts, flannel, grey	2	2
Shirts, under, woollen	2	2
Socks, prs	2	2
Spoons, table	1	1
Towels, hand	2	2
Bags, Kit	1	1

Scale of Arms, Equipment, etc.

The scale of arms, equipment, etc., is laid down in a pamphlet issued with Militia Order No. 534, 1915. As, however, this is subject to amendment from time to time, it is not included here. Officers Commanding units should obtain information as to this scale from Divisional Headquarters.

Colours; The Soul of a Regiment
Topic: Militaria

A Presentation to the Annual Conference of the Organization of Military Museums of Canada (OMMC)

On 24 May 2013, I was invited to speak to the Annual Conference of the Organization of Military Museums of Canada. The topic I was asked to speak on was Regimental Colours, following a short presentation I made a few months ago to members of the congregation of St Paul's Cathedral in London, Ontario, about the many Colours that hang in the Cathedral.

Although the original plan was to speak to conference attendees at the Cathedral, it turned out that I would speak to them at their conference base of operations; the Delta Armouries (a fitting site as it was long the home of the 7th Fusiliers/Canadian Fusiliers and the Reserve Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment before its current reconstruction as a hotel. The change of venue also required that a presentation set of slides be developed to replace the anticipated visual accompaniment of the Colours actually hanging in the Cathedral.

In response to a number of requests for the slide package, it is advantageous to post the file link here. The challenge to those who wished for the presentation is that there are no accompanying speaking notes. For those who find it useful, please feel free to rebuild it to your specific purposes. In return I would appreciate a brief glimpe of the final slide be shown to your audiences. (The PPT file is 11 Mb in size and may be slow to download.)

20130524_COLOURS_OLeary.ppt

As the primary official reference for Colours was not immediately known by all conference attendees, I have included a link to a pdf copy (6.8 Mb):

A-AD-200-000/AG-000, The Honours, Flags and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces

The other reference mentioned in the presentation is Old Colours Never Die by Francis J. Dunbar and Joseph H. Harper. This out of print volume will soon be available as a reprint by Service Publications. The publisher is collecting e-mail addresses of those who wish to be notified of publication at this page.

 

Carry On; The Toronto Scottish Regiment
Topic: Officers

Carry On: A few anecdotes from Captain (retired) Arthur (Sparky) McLean of the Toronto Scottish Regiment.

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A custom that was still in place (just barely) in the Toronto Scottish Officers' Mess when I joined was the Subalterns' Scribe. This was a means for the junior officers to poke fun at (and gently chide) the more senior members of the Mess and Regimental goings-on. The Scribe was a ghostly apparition that appeared relatively early in the dinner program (after the haggis, before dessert), as I recall at the foot of the table (near the empty place setting for the Absent Friend) in an obsolete form of dress. He could only speak in questions, which he in turn answered. After a minute or two of this, he then disappeared, re-donned his mess kit and returned to dinner. The one time I played the role I ditched my jacket, waistcoat and tie and threw a WWII leather jerkin over my shirt. An example: our CO of the time was trying to increase trained soldier retention (always a challenge in the Reserves) by putting one particular Captain in charge of many of the trained junior NCOs and giving him free rein to organize adventure-style training. This was called Dirk Platoon; for whatever reasons, it never seemed to work very well and the fancy training didn't happen very often. The Scribe's sphinx-like query? "What do you call a pile of 31 knives? A Dirk Platoon." Sad to say, the Scribe has fallen out of custom since the early 1980s. I suspect I may have been the last Subalterns' Scribe in the TorScots; yet another obscure entry on my CV.

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Some customs, of course, are very time-and-place specific. The CO of the Scottish when I joined was a height-challenged, flame-haired Glaswegian, Jim Parker. Indeed, at Toronto Garrison functions when all the COs were introduced, his least-loved of all phrases was "Stand up, Colonel!" Within his own Mess, of course, such comments were never heard. However, whenever the head table was piped into a Mess dinner in the TorScots Officers' Mess he would find a fat Toronto telephone book on his chair as a booster. He took this with reasonable grace, but clearly he had tired of the jibe. So one dinner, he decided to pre-empt this joke.

The Saturday afternoon of the dinner he arrived two hours early. As CO of a Reserve unit he had access to the Battalion key press. He used his access and confiscated every phone book in the Battalion lines. He scooped the books from the Fort York Armoury phone booth. He went into the Mess and seized the Mess phone book. These were all locked in his office. He changed into his Mess Dress in his office and then waited for the bar to open. Life proceeded normally thereafter, though a localized shortage of phone books was noted by all. At five or so minutes to dinner, as you can expect, diners finished their drinks, left the anteroom and made their ways to their places. The head table was lined up in the hall before its entrance and the piper was tuned and ready to go. As we were all standing there, dinner minus sixty seconds, suddenly the CO ran into the dining room, went straight to his place at the centre of the head table and found – of course – a phone book on his chair. He grabbed it, ran the half-dozen steps to the balcony window and with a brief scream flung the phone book out towards the Fleet Street streetcar tracks, never to be seen again. He then turned to us, standing behind our seats, and emphatically ordered us all, "Get out! Get out!" Somewhat startled, we all moved back into the anteroom as the CO watched. When he was the only person left in the room, he shouted, "Piper, start up!" and told the rest of us we could come back in. He ran out the back door of the Mess to fall in with the rest of the head table. We ordinary diners returned to our places just as the head table marched in. Padre said grace, we all pulled our chairs out to be seated – and the CO found another phone book on his chair.

Confession is good for the soul; the last phone book was on *my* chair until dinner minus twenty seconds. When Colonel Parker ran out to rejoin the head table party I ran into the Mess ahead of the rest, scooped the book on my chair, took three steps, tossed it gently under the table onto his chair and made it to my seat just before he got back in. Prior planning prevents poor performance.

When Colonel Parker stepped down as CO, as a parting gift we had a star named for him in the International Star Registry. Of course it was a red dwarf. He put up with a lot from us.And when one of my fellow subs became CO of the Scottish twenty or so years later, at his dining-in he had to explain to the 32 Brigade Commander why there was a phone book on his chair when the head table marched in.

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I remember a particular Subaltern's Court session from the early 1980s, when I was a young sub in the Toronto Scottish Regment.

It was well-known in the Officers' Mess that I was teetotal (I just don't like alcohol – it all smells and tastes like jet fuel to me). After a Mess dinner a court was convened and, after a couple of other pieces of business, I was arraigned and charged with excessive sobriety. With due dispatch I was found guilty (as if I could argue?) and was sentenced to consume two ounces of single-malt scotch, neat. The instrument of my punishment swiftly was obtained by a court member from the bar and all awaited my first public drink (and, I assume, my first intoxication or first sick-up). I stood at attention in my Mess kit at the foot of the table and clarified that I was to consume the scotch, down the throat and to the stomach. This indeed was the case, I was told.

I lifted my chin, pulled the collar of my shirt out from my Adam's apple and poured two ounces of expensive scotch down the front of my neck, across my hairy chest and onto my tum. Having successfully soaked the waist of my kilt and my shirt-tails with somebody else's single-malt, I put the empty glass on the table, smiled sweetly, turned about and marched out. My kilt smelled like a distillery for some time after. I thought the court members all were going to cry.

Slainte!

AHE (Sparky) McLean CD pmsc
Captain (retired)
Late, the Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Own)

Trench Warfare - How to Fire a Machine Gun in case of Emergency
Topic: CEF

Excerpted from "Trench Warfare; A Manual for Officers and Men," by J.S. Smith, Second Lieutenant with the British Expeditionary Force, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1917.

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How to Fire a Machine Gun in case of Emergency

As a machine gun textbook is very dry, and it is difficult for a man who is not of a mechanical turn of mind to obtain the most elementary knowledge of the action from a book, officers should lose no time in getting in touch with a machine gun officer and learn from actual experience, how to load, fire and rectify simple stoppage.

LEWIS GUN. To load, put a full magazine on the magazine post with the cocking handle forward.

Pull back cocking handle to its fullest extent, and raise tangent sight unless the target is within 200 yards.

To fire, press the trigger and the gun will continue to fire as long as pressure on the trigger is maintained. It will only stop when (a) the magazine is emptied; (b) stoppage is set up. To remedy this (1) take off empty magazine and put on full one, reload relay and fire; (2) cocking handle stops in one of three positions. To remedy this one must have a thorough knowledge of remedying of stoppages.

VICKER'S AUTOMATIC. To load, pass the brass tack of belt through feed plug (right to left), pull back crank handle and pull belt to the left; release handle and belt ; repeat this process and the gun is loaded. Vertical adjustment for sighting is obtained by moving elevating wheel on quadrant of tripod, horizontal adjustment by tapping the rear cross-piece. The clamping handle is in front of the cross-band of the tripod. To fire, raise safety catch with first or second finger (the safety catch is a strip of steel which is under the thumb-piece or double button) and press the thumb-piece. The gun will now fire until pressure is released or until a stoppage occurs.

STOPPAGES. There are four common stoppages, distinguished by the position of the crank handle. Remedy: (1) Pull crank handle back and belt to the left, let go crank handle; (2) open rear cover, take out lock, remove bent cartridge from face of lock; (3) hit crank handle down. If it will not go, lift it a little, pull belt and hit again; (4) raise crank handle, pull belt, let go of crank. If not effective, then put in the spare lock, but unload first. To disable gun, remove lock and fuse from fire belt through the breech casing.

 

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Joseph Shuter Smith

Joseph Shuter Smith was an American author born in Philadelphia in 1893. He spent his childhood in Alaska during the Gold Rush and spent his years before the Great War as a lumberjack, miner, surveyor and cowboy. In 1914, continuing his adventurous streak, he went to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, declaring his birthplace to be Port Hope, Ontario (with next of kin in Oakland, California). Smith enlisted with the 29th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Vancouver. He served in France and Belgium as a soldier in the CEF and, after being commissioned in August, 1916, as an officer of the British Army with The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). He resigned his Imperial commission after a year to return to the US and enlist in the American Army. Joseph Smith also wrote the memoir: Over There and Back in Three Uniforms; Being the Experiences of an American Boy in the Canadian, British and American Armies at the Front and through No Man's Land.

Soldier's Load – Germany – 1900-1914
Topic: Soldiers' Load

The book that the following extract is taken from was originally published in France (1902) as Comparative Studies of Field Equipment of the Foor Soldier of France and Foreign Armies details the soldier's kit carried by the armies of Europe up to the start of the First World War. Having first been published in 1902, the publishers of the translated edition added the British Web Equipment 1908, since Britain was the only country to change it's soldier's equipment before 1914.

Field Equipment of the European Soldier 1900-1914

By Commandant Emile Charles Lavisse, of the French Army; Translated by Edward P Lawton
Published by The Battery pres, in association with The Imperial War Museum & Articles of War, Ltd., Skokie. Originally published 1902, English translation published 1994.

Germany

Nomenclature and weights of the effects and objects composing the field equipment of the foot soldier.

1.     The Knapsack and its Load.

	Kgs
Clothing:
Overcoat	1.900
Headdress:
Tam-o'-shanter	.094
Equipment:
Knapsack	1.570
Overcoat straps	.110
Small articles of clothing:
Toothbrush	.020
Socks or foot linen	.080
Easy shoes	1.050
Shirt	.275
Knife and spoon	.095
Soldiers' handbook and book of canticles	.076
Handkerchief	.050
Sewing and brush case	.230
Camp equipment:
Individual camp kettle and straps	.459
Shelter tent and accessories	1.620
Arm:
Cleaning cord for rifle	.052
Ammunition:
Cartridges (30)	.944
Rations:
Reserve (3 days)	2.388
Tobacco and cigars	.150
Tools	(a)
Total	11.163

2.     On the Man.

	Kgs
Clothing:
Tunic	1.450
Cloth trousers	.970
Headdress:
Helmet and ornaments	.360
Helmet cover	.030
Equipment:
Two cartridge boxes	.540
Belt and plate	.330
Small articles of equipment:
Boots	1.900
Suspenders (trousers)	.115
Drawers	.450
Socks or foot linen	.080
Shirt	.275
Cravat	.034
Strap	.027
Haversack	.350
Aluminum drinking cup	.055
Handkerchief	.050
Pocketbook	.030
Camp equipment:
Canteen	.243
Contents of canteen	.350
Arm:
Rifle	.100
Bayonet	.580
Ammunition:
Cartridges (90)	2.831
Rations:
The day's	.350
First Aid Package	.034
Identification card	.009
Total	15.543
Grand Total	26.706

(a)     The weight of the load mounts up, when tools are carried as follows:

	Kgs
With the spade (100 per company, weight 0.890)	27.596
With the pickax (10 per company, weight 1.480)	28.186
With the ax (5 per company, weight 1.080)	27.786

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Other nations included in Field Equipment of the European Soldier 1900-1914 are:

• France
• England
• Austria
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Spain
• Italy
• Norway
• Holland
• Russia
• Sweden
• Switzerland

Billets and Batmen
Topic: Humour

Billets and Batmen; Being a Few Reminiscences of the Lighter Side of War (Excerpts)

By "Nobby"

Published in the Canadian Defence Quarterly, Vol. XI, No. 1, October, 1933

…it was not until I went to France that I was taken charge of by Bill. He was an time-expired R.E. who was homesteading in Canada when the war started, and although well over fifty, he had lied his way back into the Army. But though the spirit was willing, his feet let him down and so he became a bright particular star in the Corps of Batmen. He was a fine, upstanding old chap of over six feet, with a complexion that was the co-operative achievement of Indian suns and British beer, and the typical huge drooping moustache of the old army.

---

So long as I was on this cushy job Bill was quite content to remain in billets, but if I had a re reconnaissance to make or some front line wire to put up, he would contrive to get my runner, who was quite a youngster, out of the way when I wanted him, and would turn up himself with a rifle slung over his shoulder.

"Where's Tompkins," I would enquire.

"I sent 'im down for rations" (or something else) "sir, so I'll come along myself."

---

During the following summer, we had just come out of the line for the usual alleged rest, when a full parade was ordered, as the G.O.C. in C. was coming to look us over. It happened that by reason of leave and casualties, I was acting as second-in-command of the company and therefore in charge of the mounted section. So I went into conference with Bill …

"I'll have to look pretty posh tomorrow, Bill, because the G.O.C. is going to inspect us."

"All right, Sir, you just leave it to me," said he, "I'll 'ave yer lookin' like a bleedin' rainbow."

And so he did. I positively glittered. I learned later that he had taken my charge from the lines the night before and kept it in his billet with him until the parade the next day. the mare' coat was something to admire, Bill having spent most of the night polishing her up with by best, and only, silk handkerchief, while in place of the steel bit and stirrups, these were nickel plated, borrowed (?) from some Artillery lines a mile or so away.

---

It was Bill's habit, when we moved out to rest, to make a reconnaissance of the village. In the evening he would come to me, ostensibly to see if my billet was to my liking.

"Got a spare water bottle, Sir?" he would ask.

"What for, Bill?"

"Well, Sir, I've 'eard as 'ow there's a good drop of beer to be 'ad in this 'ere village, and I thogh p'raps you'd like to try it."

"All right, Bill, how much?"

"Well, Sir, wot about ten francs?"

Now ten francs would buy nearly all the beer in the village, but I guess that was what Bill had in mind.

Anyway, presently he would depart with several water bottles slung around him, to return later in a cheerful frame of mind, but he would never forget to deliver my beer to me.

Customs: Trooping the Colour (1925)
Topic: Tradition

Trooping of the Queen's and Regimental Colours of the 4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment; Harris Park, London, Ontario, 4 October 2008. Photo by Bryan Nelson.

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Old Military Customs Still Extant

By: Major C..T. Tomes, D.S.O., M.C.
Published in the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Vol. LXX, February to November, 1925

Trooping the Colour

The Practice of Trooping the Colour was originally an old guard-mounting ceremony, in which the King's Colour is the symbol of the Sovereign and the Regimental Colour the emblem of the soul of the regiment. For this reason it is right that they are marched round the battalion from time to time, so that every man may pay them all due honour. Colours are never usually touched or carried except by an officer, but this ceremony starts with the emblem in charge of a sergeant with two sentries. Similarity, each "guard" is formed into line without its officers. The sergeants commanding the guards then assemble together with the officers on the saluting base, a relic of the days when they were so collected in order to draw lots for their guard, receive the "parole" and such orders as might be given them. the drums beat the "Assembly," meaning that it is time for officers and N.C.Os. to take up their posts. They recover arms and move by the stately slow march to take over their command.

The first honour is next paid to the Colour by the slow and quick marches played by the band and drums. This is only a preliminary to the reception of the Colour into the ranks of the Battalion. In the old days the grenadier company always found the escort and invariably took the right of the parade; nowadays the right guard still performs this duty, the right having been the post of honour from the time of the Roman Legionaries, since they carried the shield on the left arm.

The "Drummer's Call" is the signal for the captain of the escort to hand over hos command to the lieutenant; a curious bit of symbolism. the band and drums then play "The British grenadiers" and the escort moves across the front of the parade to the Colour. The Sergeant-Major, representing the men, takes it from the sergeant in whose charge it is, and hands it to an officer. the Colour is next received by the escort with full honours. Arms are presented and the band plays the salute, if it is the King's Colour, this is "God Save the King"; if it be the Regimental Colour, the Regimental Slow March is played. The Sergeant-Major salutes with his sword, the only occasion on which he does so. The escort stands with its arms at the "present," while the sergeants on the flanks of each rank face outward and port their arms as if to repel any intruder who may attempt to disturb this solemn moment. The escort with the Colour moves back in slow time to the music of the "Grenadiers' Slow March" to the right of the line; they file through the ranks of the battalion, arms are presented and every man can see the Colour and show it honour. The ceremony finishes with a march past in quick and slow time.

Coldstream Guards Trooping Their Colour; The Queen's Diamond Jubilee. (Youtube)

Organization and Administration of CEF Units; Discipline
Topic: Discipline

The following section on Discipline is excerpted fron the Militia and Defence publication "Instructions Governing Organization and Administration" for new Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. This publication was provided to the new staffs of units being raised for service overseas in the First World War and introduced them to the complex world of administration in a rapidly expanding army.

Instructions Governing
Organization and Administration of CEF Units
1916

DISCIPLINE

For purposes of discipline all ranks will be subject to the Army Act, to King's Regulations, and to such other ordinances as may apply or may be made to apply to the British Regular Army.

The following remarks regarding discipline will, no doubt, be found helpful:—

Discipline means respectful obedience to orders which is the first principle and duty of all soldiers and is the only true basis on which discipline can rest.

Without discipline there can be no real bond of confidence between officers and man or even between the men themselves.

Obedience means obedience to the spirit of all orders, not only by the letter. Promptness and punctuality are indicative of discipline as is steadiness on parade and saluting.

Life in a highly disciplined Corps is always more pleasant than in one where order and regularity are not strictly maintained.

Discipline must not have its origin in fear of punishment, but upon the knowledge and conviction that the orders emanate from a superior not only in rank but in knowledge.

Without discipline all Military bodies become mobs and worse than useless, but discipline enforced by punishment alone is a poor sort which will not stand any severe strain. What must be aimed at is that high state of discipline which springs from a Military system administered with impartiality and judgment, so as to induce all ranks a feeling of duty and the assurance that while no offence will be passed over, no offender will be unjustly dealt with.

In all cases the whole Corps should see that the punishment awarded is not more than is necessary for the maintenance of discipline.

A C.O. cannot pay too much attention to the prevention of Crime—but the true criterion of well established discipline is the absence of crime, not its screened existence.

These should be such as to insure discipline and at the same time foster self-respect.

Indecision or the use of intemperate language or an offensive manner should be carefully avoided.

C.Os. should prevent officers, N.C.Os, or men publishing information relative to the numbers, movements or operations or troops or Military details.

They should not permit any letters of complaint to be published or memorials or requisitions made without their consent.

Any officer or soldier is personally responsible for reports of this kind, which he may make without special permission, or for placing information beyond his control so that it finds its way into unauthorized hands.

Officers and soldiers are forbidden to give publicity to their individual opinions in any manner tending to prejudge any questions undergoing official investigation.

No assemblage of officer, N.C.Os or men should take place to deliberate on any military matter without the consent of the C.O.

Neither officers nor men as such should take part in any political, religious or party demonstration.

Officers should avoid reprimanding N.C.Os for irregularity of duty or awkwardness in the presence of the privates lest they weaken their authority and lessen their self-respect, unless it be necessary as in the case of severe reprimand that the reproof be public for the benefit of example.

"Trench Warfare" - Gas Masks or Respirators
Topic: CEF

Excerpted from "Trench Warfare; A Manual for Officers and Men," by J.S. Smith, Second Lieutenant with the British Expeditionary Force, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1917.

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Gas Masks or Respirators

The Box Respirator at present in use on the Western Front is the latest improvement, and proof against any gas that so far has been used, but should such a thing happen that a man be caught without his box respirator, any of the following improvised methods are good:

1.     Wet and ring out any woolen article, such as a stocking, muffler or cap comforter, so as to form a thick pad large enough to cover the nose and mouth, and press firmly over both.

2.     Place in a scarf, stocking or handkerchief, a pad of about three handfuls of damp earth, and tie firmly over the nose and mouth.

3.     A wet cap comforter will be found useful as additional protection, especially against certain gases other than chlorine.

4.     A cap comforter wetted with water and soda solution or tea, folded into eight folds and firmly held over the nose.

5.     A sock folded fourfold similarly wetted and held or tied. If the sock or comforter has been soaked in soda solution it will act efficiently when dry, though, if possible, it should be moist. The spare tapes from puttees may be used for tying on the sock or cap comforter.

6.     Any loose fabric, such as a sock, sandbag, woolen scarf or comforter, soaked in urine, then wrung out sufficiently to allow of free breathing and tied tightly over the nose and mouth. In the absence of any other cloths, the flannel waistbands issued for winter use could be used for this purpose.

Every officer defending a trench against an enemy gas attack should endeavor to collect information whenever possible to be sent to headquarters regarding the capture of apparatus used by the enemy either for disseminating or protection from gas. If a gas shell attack is made, unexploded shells or portions of them should be sent ; the time of day, duration of attack, color, taste or smell of gas used, effect on the eyes, breathing, and all other symptoms should be noted. New gases may be used at any time, and speedy information greatly helps the adopting of protective measures.

The area of the gas attack is very large and will sometimes cover as far back as 12 to 15 miles behind the lines, although at that point it is not generally dangerous, but for three to four miles the gas has a killing power, and precaution should be taken anywhere within that length of the firing line the same as though in the firing line.

Another nuisance resulting from a gas attack is the wholesale slaughter of rats and other animals that infest the trenches, and while a very unpleasant job, steps should at once be taken to gather these beasts up and bury them in some place, obviously for sanitary reasons.

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Joseph Shuter Smith

Joseph Shuter Smith was an American author born in Philadelphia in 1893. He spent his childhood in Alaska during the Gold Rush and spent his years before the Great War as a lumberjack, miner, surveyor and cowboy. In 1914, continuing his adventurous streak, he went to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, declaring his birthplace to be Port Hope, Ontario (with next of kin in Oakland, California). Smith enlisted with the 29th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Vancouver. He served in France and Belgium as a soldier in the CEF and, after being commissioned in August, 1916, as an officer of the British Army with The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). He resigned his Imperial commission after a year to return to the US and enlist in the American Army. Joseph Smith also wrote the memoir: Over There and Back in Three Uniforms; Being the Experiences of an American Boy in the Canadian, British and American Armies at the Front and through No Man's Land.

CEF: Training Manuals and Forms
Topic: CEF

Instructions Governing
Organization and Administration of CEF Units
1916

Appendix XI

Training Manuals

1.     A supply of the undermentioned Training Manuals are sent from Militia Headquarters, Ottawa, shortly after authority has been granted to raise a Unit of the C.E.F.

• Infantry Training
• Musketry Regulations, Parts I and II
• Field Service Regulations, Parts I and II
• Field Service Pocket Book
• Training and Manual Regulations (sic)
• Manual of Military Law
• King's Regulations and Orders "Imperial"
• Rifle and Musketry Exercises, Ross Rifle
• Handbook of Canadian Service Rifle, Part I
• Manual of Ceremonial
• Trumpet or Bugle Sounds
• Instructions in Bayonet Fighting
• Manual of Field Engineering
• Engineer Training
• Manual of Elementary Military Hygiene
• Manual of Map Reading
• Training Manual Signalling
• Field Service Manual (Infantry)
• Army Book 153 (Field Message Book, Dismounted Officers)
• Army Book 155 (Field Message Book, Mounted Officers)

Militia Books and Forms

2.     A supply of the undermentioned Militia Books and Forms can be obtained on application to the Divisional Office.

.

New Series.	Former No.	Subject.
B.207	C.29	Memorandum Form, 6 ½ x 9.
B.211	C.72	Envelopes, blue, 11 ¼ x 9.
B.215	C.17	State, marching In and Out.
B.218	B.99	Discharge, Proceedings of.
B.220	A.48	Court-Martial, Orders, for Assembly.
B.222	B.116	Detention Barracks; Commitment to, by Officer Commanding (Order to Officer of N.C.O. in charge of).
B.224	B.32	Minor-Offence Report.
B.227	B.129	Medical History of an Invalid.
B.229	B.146	Test-Messages for Signallers (Pads of 100).
B.234	C.69	Envelopes, Blue, 9 x 4.
B.237	B.25 and C.113	Guard Report.
B.239	C.80	Correspondence sheets, 8 x 13, with heading.
B.259	B.12	Court of Enquiry, Declaration of.
B.263	B.17	Conduct Sheet; Regimental.
B.263a	B.17	Conduct Sheet; Sqd., Troop, Battery or Company.
B.263b	B.22	Conduct Sheet; Instructions and Specimen Sheet.
B.263c	New Form.	Follow sheets to B263.
B.263d	New Form.	Follow sheets to B263a.
B.264	B.14	Charge Sheet.
B.273	B.1	Absentee Report.
B.289	C.23	Parade State, daily, all arms except Units of the Permanent Force; (see also Militia Book No. 67).
B.292	B.34 and C.93	Sick Report; Morning.
B.297	B.42	Drunkenness, Scales of Fines for.
B.303	B.54	Board of Officers, or Committee, or Court of Enquiry; Proceedings of.
B.305	C.212	Telegraphs and Signals; Message Form "A" (pads of 100).
B.307	New Form.	Church State Parade; Weekly.
B.312	A.4	Court-Martial; Memo for guidance at.
B.313	B.63	Medical History Sheet.
B.321	B.9	Court-Martial; Application for.
B.322	B.24	Furlough, Authority granting.
B.341	C.18	Tattoo; Absentee Report.
B.355	B.44	Court-Martial; Statement of Character, Particulars of Service and Schedule of Convictions of Prisoner.
B.356	B.153	Deserter; Description to Chief of Police.
B.418	New Form.	Army Telegraphs and Signals; Message Form "C" (Pads of 25 originals and 25 duplicates).
B.440	New Form.	Correspondence Sheets, 4to., with Heading.
B.462	New Form.	Recruiting; Semi-monthly Return of.
B.463	New Form.	Recruiting; Statement of Results for half month to 16th day.
B.463a	New Form.	Recruiting; Statement of Results for 17th day to end of month.
B.464	New Form.	Envelopes, white 9 x 4, addressed: Headquarters ……… Division or (District).
C.501	A.29, A.30, etc.	Forms and Books, Militia, Classified List and Requisition for.
C.502	New Form.	Forms and Books, Militia; Short Form of Demand for.
C.548	C.114	Size Roll; Special.
C.550	New Form.	Stationery; Demand Form and List of.
C.552	C.23	Provisions, etc.; Demand for Rations of, (Pads of 100).
C.566	C.32	Size-Roll of Clothing of stock sizes. (Pads of 100).
C.573	O.3	Stores; General Equipment Indent. (Pads of 100).
C.574	O.4	Stores; Issue and Receipt Vouchers. (Pads of 100).
C.615	New Form.	Stores; medical; Requisition for. (Pads of 100).
D.811	C.52 and C.53	Travelling and Hotel Expenses; Claim for.
D.817	B.5a	Canteen; Stock Account and Proof of Cash (Monthly Return).
D.817a	B.5b	Canteen; Abstract of Receipt and Expenditures (Monthly Return).
D.840	C.83	General Allowance Claim.
D.863	Acct. Br. 27	Postage Account, monthly.
D.873	New Form.	Promotions, casualties, etc. (Pt II), Regimental Orders.
No. 4	B.69	Cash Book and ledger, Troop, Battery or Company ( 4to, 150 folios).
No. 11	C.76	Guard Book, 11 ½ x 17.
No. 14	B.97	Recruits, Register of (200 folios).
No. 15	B.132	Duty-Roster, Officers; Permanent Force (120 pages).
No. 16	C.100	Rations; Requisition for (100 per book).
No. 17	B.113	Memo-Book (daily); Orderly-Sergeants' (5 ½ x 8).
No. 18	B.112	Duty-Roster; Orderly-Sergeants' (f'cap, 100 pages).
No. 28	C.176	Nominal Roll and Attendance at Drill; Company (50 folios).
No. 30	C.22	Guard-Room, 10 x 15 ½.
No. 33	B.73	Cells, Visiting Officers' Book (f'cap, 100 pages).
No. 35	C.27	Correspondence, documentary, Register of (f'cap, 150 folios).
No. 36	C.92	Order-Book, 8 x 5 (300 pages).
No. 38	B.152	Orderly's Book; Battery or Company.
No. 40	C.105	Defaulter's Book (other than Permanent Force) 150 sheets.
No. 42	B.121	Officers' Service, Record of.
No. 43	B.154	Conduct Sheets, Cover of.
No. 44	B.71	Portfolio for Papers (f'cap).
No. 46	C.123	Postage, Register of (f'cap, 300 pages).
No. 49	B.70	Cash Account, Pay Sergeants, 6 x 8 ½ (100 folios).
No. 50	New Book	Equipment ledger; all non-permanent Units (artillery, clothing and personal equipment only) (8-page book).
No. 50f	do	Appendix to Equipment (Mil. Book 50), all non-permenant Units (42-page book).
No. 54	do	Squadron, Battery or Company Book (f'cap 100 folios).
No. 60	do	Plain foolscap book (3 qr).
No. 62	do	Section Pocket-Book.
No. 63	do	Pass; temporary absence from Quarters (100 per book).
No. 68	do	Courts of Enquiry, Record of Declaration (f'cap book, 2 qrs).
No. 69	B.68	Casualty Book.
W.5	New Form	Receipts for Payments (CEF Paymasters).
W.6	do	Statement of amount received and expended by Paymaster (CEF Paymasters).
W.7	do	Pay-List of Officers, N.C.Os and Men (CEF Paymasters).
W.7a	do	Pay-List of Officers (Inside Sheets) (CEF Paymasters).
W.10	do	Assigned—Pay Cards; for Name, Corps, Address, etc., of soldier.
W.13	do	Field State.
W.14	do	Field Return.
W.20	do	Sheets for Preparation of Nominal Roll.
W.23	do	Attestation paper, C.E.F.
W.29	do	Medical Report on Recruits.
W.30	do	Separation---Allowance Cards; for Name, Corps, Address, etc., of soldier.
W.38	do	Transportation at reduced rates; special certificate for C.E.F., Soldiers.
W.39	do	Discharge Certificate, C.E.F.
W.43	do	Special parade-State; Battalion or Battery.
W.44	do	Last-Pay Certificate.
W.51	do	Officers Declaration Paper.
W.54	do	Casualty Return, by Unit, Regiment, or Corps.
W.61	do	Recruits; Particulars to be given by Recruiting Officer, for information of Regimental Paymaster.
W.66	do	Return, monthly, changes of addresses of next of kin, N.C.Os and men, C.E.F.
W.67	do	Particulars of families of officers and men enlisted in C.E.F.

Trench Warfare – Duties of an Officer
Topic: Officers

Excerpted from "Trench Warfare; A Manual for Officers and Men," by J.S. Smith, Second Lieutenant with the British Expeditionary Force, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1917.

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Trench Warfare – Duties of an Officer

Some of the questions an officer should ask himself on taking over a trench and keep in mind during his stay there, are:

1.     I am here for two purposes to do as much damage as possible to the enemy and to hold my part of the line at all costs. Am I doing everything possible to insure my being able to do this?

2.     Do I worry the enemy as much as I might, and are the periscope rifles, rifle grenades, catapults and patrols at my disposal organized in the best way to effect this purpose?

3.     Am I doing all I can to make my part of the line, as strong as possible?

4.     Should the enemy succeed in getting into any part of my line, will I be able to at once bring up a section of bombers for immediate counter-attack?

5.     Do I connect properly with units on my right and left? Do I know the position of the nearest support, and the position of all machine guns in my vicinity, as well as their lines of fire?

6.     Does every man know his firing position, and can he fire from it over the parapet at the foot of our wire?

7.     Do I do my best to prevent men exposing themselves needlessly? Have I ascertained and warned all my men of the places in my part of the line, including communication trenches, which are exposed to the fire of hostile snipers?

8.     Are my sentries in the right places? Are they properly posted by N. C. O.'s and have they received proper instructions? Are the sentries visited at frequent intervals?

9.     Have I always got a man ready to take messages to company headquarters? Do I realize that I should at once report any information I may obtain about the enemy, and that such information may be of the greatest use to the highest commanders?

10.     Do all my men know their duties in case of attack, especially the bombers? If the enemy succeeds in working into my line at any point, how can I best arrange for counter-attacking him?

11.     Are there any suitable places in my part of the line which snipers can use? Have I pointed out to section commanders the portions of the enemy's trench which each one is responsible for keeping under fire, and where the enemy's loopholes are?

12.     Do I thoroughly understand the best method of relief and bringing up of ration and water supplies, and do my men come up into the trenches in absolute silence?

13.     Do my men know their way about the trenches in various routes to company and battalion headquarters?

14.     Am I acquainted with the arrangements for access to the artillery and for asking, if necessary, for their immediate support? Do I know the location of the nearest telephone?

15.     Am I doing my best to collect information about the enemy, his defenses, his activities and movements, and especially about his patrols at night ? What points in my front particularly require patrolling?

16.     Are my listening patrols properly detailed?

17.     Which is my best way to get through the parapet in order to go towards the enemy?

18.     Do I know the last order regarding the use of B.0.S., gas and Zeppelin messages, and do I know exactly what messages to send?

19.     Are the arrangements in case of gas attack complete and known to all ranks? Do I know the gong position, and does the sentry know the orders as to sounding it?

20.     Have my men always got their gas helmets on their person and are they in good order?

21.     Are my parapets and traverses bulletproof everywhere?

22.     Is my wire strong enough and am I doing all I can to prevent my trenches from falling in?

23.     Am I doing all I can to drain my trenches?

24.     Have my men got weather-proof places to sleep in?

25.     Are the trenches as clean and sanitary as they might be? Are live ammunition and empty shells properly collected? Have I made all possible arrangements for the collection of refuse and do the men realize that it must not be thrown over the parapets or in the sump-pits for sanitary reasons?

26.     Where are my small ammunition and bomb stores, and are they under cover from weather?

27.     Are all my rifles and ammunition clean and in good order, and have all my men rifle covers? Are their magazines always charged?

28.     Am I doing all I can to prevent my men from getting trench feet? Have my men greased their feet before entering the trenches, and have they a pair of spare dry socks to change? Do my men wear gum boots when it is not necessary? Have I made all possible arrangements for drying socks?

29.     Are the orders as to wearing equipment carried out?

30.     Are my men using as firewood notice boards or wood from the defense or from the engineer or trench stores?

31.     Are my men drinking water from any but authorized sources?

32.     Do I know the name of every N.C.O. and man in my platoon, and do they know mine?

33.     Do I insure that my men get sufficient sleep?

34.     Have I sufficient periscopes and are they in good order?

35.     Almost always remember that I am here for two purposes. Do as much damage to the enemy with the minimum amount of casualties resulting from retaliation, and to hold my part of the line at all costs.

---

Joseph Shuter Smith

Joseph Shuter Smith was an American author born in Philadelphia in 1893. He spent his childhood in Alaska during the Gold Rush and spent his years before the Great War as a lumberjack, miner, surveyor and cowboy. In 1914, continuing his adventurous streak, he went to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, declaring his birthplace to be Port Hope, Ontario (with next of kin in Oakland, California). Smith enlisted with the 29th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Vancouver. He served in France and Belgium as a soldier in the CEF and, after being commissioned in August, 1916, as an officer of the British Army with The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). He resigned his Imperial commission after a year to return to the US and enlist in the American Army. Joseph Smith also wrote the memoir: Over There and Back in Three Uniforms; Being the Experiences of an American Boy in the Canadian, British and American Armies at the Front and through No Man's Land.

The Queen's South Africa Medal
Topic: Medals

The Queen's South Africa Medal, awarded for service in the Second Boer War (1899-1902), was received by 3860 Canadians who served in Canada's Contingents to the British Army in South Africa.

The first production of these medals included the year dates on the reverse "1899-1900" since a short war was anticipated. While most of the medals produced with these dates were re-struck, leaving visible "ghost dates" on the back of the disc, at least 50 (and possibly as many as 300) were issued to the soldiers of the Lord Strathcona's Horse before the remaining medals were corrected.

Twenty-six clasps (a.k.a., bars) were authorized for the Queen's South Africa Medal, which vary between being commonly found on medals issued to Canadians to ones that are classed as "extremely rare" or "unknown." Clasps named for States were awarded to mark service within their boundaries and for the many smaller actions that individual clasps would have created too complex a system of clasps for the medal. Also issued were a number of clasps for specific battle or participation in operations within specific areas and time. Finally, there were also the theatre clasps "South Africa 1901" and "South Africa 1902" for service between dates for those not eligible for the subsequently issued King's South Africa medal. The Veterans Affairs Canada webpage for the for the medal lists as common clasp issued to Canadians, the following:

• Four of the the five state clasps:
  • Cape Colony
  • Orange Free State
  • Natal
  • Transvaal
• Area or Battle clasps:
  • Johannesburg
  • Belfast
  • Driefontein
• Theatre clasps:
  • South Africa 1901
  • South Africa 1902

According to the medal collector's reference, the Medal Yearbook, at least four other clasps are known to be issued to Canadians, although other may be extant where individuals were attached to units other than their parent regiments at times during the war. The four identified clasps are:

• Rhodesia (the fifth State clasp)
• Relief of Mafeking
• Paardeberg
• Diamond Hill

To the VAC list of commonly issued clasps to Canadians, perhaps, should be added the clasp "Paardeberg", which was awarded to the soldiers of the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment for its service at the defeat of the Boer General Piet Cronje in February, 1900, at Paardeberg Drift.

For those seeking more detailed information, the excellent British service medals reference "British Battles and Medals" provides descriptions of the eligibility requirements for each of the clasps for the Queen's South Africa medal.

 

 

The Canadian Guards; Kit Inspections (1966)
Topic: Drill and Training

The Canadian Guards
Regimental Standing Orders — 1966

Kit inspections; the bane of every soldier's existence. Today, detailed kit inpections are something seen during basic training and then rarely thereafter for members of the Canadian Armed Forces. In the Regiment of Canadian Guards during the 1960s, a complete kit inspection a was a monthly occurrence for soldiers, or possibly more often if considered ncessary by someone further up the chain of command than the suffering soldier submittting to it. 

The following images from the 1966 edition of the Regimental Standing Orders for The Canadian Guards offer a glimpse of the level of detail necessary to be met for such inspections.

The Garrison Chapel, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1847 to 1905)
Topic: Halifax

The image above, from a postcard with a 1905 postmark shows the Garrison Chapel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which was used by the British garrison troops between 1847 and 1905.

The Evolution of the Halifax Fortress; 1749-1928
by Harry Piers (Revised by G.M. Self, Public Archives of Nova Scotia, 1947)

Before 1830 the troops attended religious service in the various churches of the town. From about November, 1830, to about November, 1837, an old building was leased, and fitted up as a garrison Chapel. In July, 1835, Lt. Colonel Jones sent to England plans and estimates £1,980 4s 1/2d, for a Military or Garrison Chapel to be erected near the foot of the Citadel glacis. It was intended to afford ample accommodation for 794 persons, the galleries being for the officers and their families and the ground floor for the NCO's and men. The corner-stone was laid on 23 October, 1844, and the building was opened for service 18 June, 1847. Its site was in from the northwest corner of Brunswick and Cogswell Streets. It was from the built of wood, about 100' by 60', designed in a classic style, the recessed portico beneath the pediment on the east front having large fluted Doric columns.

The Church of Saint Paul in Halifax, Nova Scotia: 1749-1949
by Reginald V. Harris, K.C., D.C.L. (Ryerson Press, 1949)

St Paul's was for ninety-six years (1750-1846) the church of the Army and Navy stationed in Halifax. ...

Garrison Chapel. On October 23, 1844, the corner-stone of the “new Military Chapel” at the corner of Brunswick and Cogswell Streets was laid, in the presence of troops in the garrison.

From the time it was opened until 1905 this Chapel was the authorized place of worship for all British soldiers in the garrison, except Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, and nothing could exceed the heartiness of the services held there.

In 1905 the Imperial troops were withdrawn from Halifax, and the Chapel was closed. In the following year the building was purchased by the congregation of Trinity Church, then on Jacob Street, occupying it in 1907.

Badges Modified by Soldiers
Topic: Militaria

It is easy to fall into the expectation that every soldier's badge looks alike. We readily perceive this as a singular point of uniformity, one issued by the Army or Regiment, so how could differentiation occur? Surely the Sergeants Major would halt any attempts to reshape or change the appearance of regimental badges. But this did happen, in small ways to achieve specific results. These soldier modified badges seem most common from the Second World War era. The reasons for this are probably a combination of the use of metal, often brass, badges which were more easily reformed than later anodized badges, and for many Canadian soldiers, the long period spent in Britain with opportunities to "walk out" in the public eye. Combine soldiers, uniforms, the public presence of ladies and little bit of personal vanity, and all the ingredients exist for some soldiers to very carefully and diligently rework their badges to ensure they shone brighter than thier section mates'. I suspect the one thing we can be certain of, this wasn't done to impress the Sergeant Major.

In some regiments it was preferred to have a central part of their badge noticeably "domed" and long and nerve-wracking moments using the open end of a pipe (like a barracks shower drain) and a carefully dropped round-ended broom handle against the back of the badge to achieve that effect. A similar result could also be achieved by applying pressure with the hand while working the badge over the broom handle end. Poster DavidS describes this technique on the British and Commonwealth Military Badge Forum:

"... a 'broomstick vault'. A guy would put his badge on the end of a rod like a broom handle and give it a good smack with his palm to give it the convex shape."

A domed example of a Perth Regiment badge can be found on this page.

Soldiers also learned quickly that the smoother a badge was, the higher a shine could be achieved. In some cases extreme examples can be found where all details were removed to leave a single smooth surface in the shape of the original badge. Some extreme examples of this being dome to Artillery badges can be seen at this page. We can probably presume that the most severe examples were reserved for walking out dress, and that few soldiers would dare to appear on parade with a badge altered to such a degree.

Another common alteration to the Artillery's badge was to replace the wheel with a coin, thus providing a solid surface that could be more easily polished to a high sheen. Again, polishing to remove any details of the coin's original face accentuated this effect.

From poster Michael Reintjes at the British and Commonwealth Military Badge Forum we find the following comments:

"Heavily polished and altered badges have become an interest of mine for some time. I have several CAC, RCA and RCR cap badges that have been obviously intentionally altered by the owners and one with provenance. An RCR cap badge that was given to me by my next door neighbour ... intentionally polished on a wheel by the soldier and he told me this was common practice among his peers as well."

"As Bill says alot of these were done on wheels as they were not in use long enough to be worn down during polishing."

"Artillery and CAC cap badges seem to be some of the favourites of the polishing wheel treatment. The CAC Badges are very selectively done with the details of the tank being polished with the rest of the badge left alone. I even have one with the tank polished smooth and the words RECCE T.C. engraved on the tank. The arty badges also seem to be a favourite one with heavy polishing and even several I've seen with a Dutch or Italian coin sweated onto the wheel of the gun. The most common RCR alteration seems to be to grind the rays of the star completely flat and then polish to a mirror finish like the one I got from my neighbour in the 70's."

"I've stopped looking at them as damaged badges and see them as actual theatre worn artifacts which of course they are and to me anyway mean more than the bags of mint ersatz unissued examples that sat well into the 60's at the RCOC depot in London or Borden."

As noted, not even The Royal Canadian Regiment was exempt from soldiers trying to improve the appearance of their badges to obtain a better surface to shine. There are two basic modifications that can be found on older regimental badges to achieve this. The first method was using the point of a bullet to burnish smooth the pebbling around the central "VRI" of the badge frontpiece.

The second required a little more work and the right tools as described above. This technique resulted in the smoothing the diamond cut pattern of the badge star to leave an smooth a surface as possible that would shine easily and reflect the light better than the broken surface of the original pattern of concentric circle and ray divisions. This technique could also be extended to smoothing the tops of the edges of the "VRI" lettering.

Detail of an unaltered badge of The Royal Canadian Regiment. Note the texture of the pebbling around the lettering and the lines of the star.	Detail of an RCR badge showing the attempt to smooth the pebbling around the letters. Note also the removal of the raised edges on the letters.
Detail of an RCR badge showing the rays of a star which have been ground smooth to facilitate polishing.	Detail of an RCR badge showing an incomplete or poorly worked attenpt to smooth the star, visible file marks remain evident. Note also the removal of the raised edges on the letters.