Tuesday, March 29, 2005

29 Mar 1915 - Arrival on the East Coast (St John NB)

From Winnipeg, they headed on the long journey east through Ontario, skirting Lake Superior, then to Ottawa, Montreal, along the eastern bank of the St Lawrence, and finally south-east across New Brunswick to the eastern seabord port of St John. It's not clear how long the trip took, but by the time they arrived in St John, probably on Sunday 28th March, they would have been on board the train for several days. They were no doubt bored, dirty and keen to get their feet onto firm soil once more. On the Monday morning they joined the other C.A.S.C. contingent from Regina (Saskatchewan) and were formally taken on strength (T.O.S.) with the No. 2 Divisional Train, and assigned to No. 7 Company.

St John was the gathering point for embarkation to Europe of the Second Contingent.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

24 Mar 1915 - Departure from Winnipeg

Presumably they spent much of the next four and a half months "training and drilling" in and around Winnipeg. Then, on 24 March 1915, they received their final pay packet, shortly before their embarkation for the east coast. The departure was probably accompanied by a parade, such as that shown in the photo below, taking place in the streets of Winnipeg ca. 1915 ...

Photo © and courtesy of Timelinks & the Provincial Archives of Manitoba
Photo © and courtesy of Timelinks & the Provincial Archives of Manitoba

... followed by the departure from the Union Station in Winnipeg.

Photo © and courtesy of Timelinks & the Provincial Archives of Manitoba
Photo © and courtesy of Timelinks & the Provincial Archives of Manitoba