21st Battalion Commemoration update

Things are moving along for the 21st Battalion commemoration in Kingston set for May 5 2015. I recently got good coverage in the local paper on my uniform endeavours. To see the article look up Tim Soper Whig Standard and click on "Wears history well". As I've said before on my blog it is acquiring uniforms for both nurses and infantry that is my main task, and this means funding. An idea we are developing is a means by which interested donors can contribute by giving toward the purchase of even one needed item, such as puttees, which cost only $16 a pair. More on this later.

I've also started producing 21st Battalion cap badges. These cap be purchased for $30.00 each. Alternatively buy two for $ 35 and make one a donation to the uniform fund to be worn at the May commemoration. I also need to make appropriate Medical Corps badges that will become a part of the fundraising drive.

Interested donors can contact me directly at my email address timothyjsoper@gmail.com 

And while I'm thinking of it I'll  offer a free cap badge for every donation of $250.00 or more!

I hope we can get this under a charitable donation umbrella. I will post updates on this.

November 11

November 11 comes and goes and it is always different. This year it was marked in Canada by the recent memory of the murders of two Canadian soldiers by crazy militants. More people came to the ceremonies in defiance of fear and snipers were on the roof tops. 

As always the standard ceremonial activeties ran their course, but that repetion is what makes this a commemoration. We all share in the knowledge of the symbols. And once again that two minutes of silence lets each person put their own interpretation to our collective moment together. Thus we can be united even with differing views. I was glad to see white poppies side by side with red on another monument. This must be a day when we are all together in our memories and experience of loss.

My particular act is the wearing of a reproduction uniform. I mingle with the public, a presence from the past and an image of the Great War. This year I dressed in the uniform of the Canadian in 1914, the Oliver Pattern equipment and the seven button tunic. These pieces have finally come together and have not been seen in Canada for 100 years. I had also finished my "antique" bike just in time.

The beard came off that morning and the moustache, which I had let grow in, was gone by the night. It had been driving me crazy. I was too old to enlist but I lied about my age.

The rifle was replaced by a shovel. Rifles are touchy business in Canada. Mine is a reproduction without a barrel, but I felt it would be safer to have a shovel.

On a humourous note I got a leather strap caught up in my chain on the way home. I tried using my Ross bayonet to cut it free but it proved to be too blunt, as was the complaint 100 years ago. When I looked up wondering what to do I saw a police car. I called to the policeman and he came to assist with a sharp blade of his. Had it been any other day of the year I'd probably have been arrested on account of my long blade, but there was no hint of that this day.

A Kingston Commemoration

I'm working with a group to organize a commemoration in Kingston for next year. It is to take place on May 5. The event is to mark the departure of Kingston's 21st Battalion and the Queen's Sationary Hospital Corps in 1915. The nature of the event is yet to be fully formed but it will involve displays the weekend before the date and a march of the PWOR to what remains of the outer station. Below is a transcription from Kingston's local paper about the original departure. The pictures are inserted by me from online collections of the 21st Battalion and the Hospital Corps.

My personal interest is to get people in uniforms to reflect the original Great War gear. Should anyone reading this want to become involved in some way in that "reenactor" capacity please call me. We will mostly be gathering '08 Pattern equipment so it can be used over the next four years, but I do have my Oliver Pattern equipment to add to the mix.

Transcribed from the British Whig, 6 May 1915

KINGSTON SAID FAREWELL TO THE OVERSEAS UNITS Which Left the City on Wednesday Evening

15,000 PEOPLE LINED

THE ROUTE OF MARCH TO THE RAILWAY STATION

Mayor Sutherland and W.F. Nickle, M.P. addressed the Units at the Armouries. Touching Scenes Were Witnessed At the Junction.

Fifteen thousand people said farewell to the 21st Overseas Battalion and the Queen’s Stationary Hospital Corps on Wednesday evening when those units left the city. Montreal Street was lined from end to end as the battalion and the hospital corps passed through to entrain. There were touching farewells, the bands played “Should Auld Acquaintances be Forgot”, “The Girl I Left Behind Me”, “Tipperary” and “Johnny Canuck’s the Boy”, and then the trains rolled slowly out the the station yards amid hearty cheers from the assembled crowds.

The kit inspection of the 21st Battalion was made by Major C.C. Bennett on Wednesday afternoon. The battalion with bands paraded to Artillery Park at 3 p.m. and formed into companies. The roll call was taken and beginning with No. 1 Company the kit of every man was thoroughly inspected. Any defects or changes that were necessary were ordered, but very little of this was necessary as a very complete and thorough inspection was made a few days ago.

The men wore their overcoats and Oliver equipment. This equipment held waterproof sheet, blankets, canteen and knap-sack. The knap-sack held a sweater coat, housewife, socks, underwear, shaving utensils, and everything a man needs on active service.

After the inspection the companies went to their quarters, where supper was served.

The Mayor Speaks

In addressing the 21st Battalion Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Sutherland said in part: “The time has now arrived which we know you have all been looking toward to with the greatest eagerness – the time when you leave the old Limestone City to go to the front to meet the enemy of our empire.

“I not only express my own feelings but those of the citizens of every class when I state that Kingston has indeed been greatly honoured in having the 21st Regiment receive its training in our midst. By your gentlemanly and soldierly conduct you have endeared yourselves to us all, and it must indeed be most gratifying to your commanding officer and other officers to know that they have the honour of commanding such a fine body of men.”

To the Queens’s Stationary Hospital Mayor Sutherland said:

“ Yours is a different mission from that of the 21st Regiment. It is an errand of mercy, and I must congratulate you on the personnel of yourstaff, both military and civil; also on the personnel of the Nursing Sisters who accompany you.

“That our sons when wounded or ill will receive that loving care and attention which is their due, is assured and we know that in your own field a large measure of credit and honor will fall on the Dominion and city whom you represent and the college which sends you forth.

“The personnel from your commanding officer down is one which any country or city may well be proud of, and I can assure you the old Limestone City is more than proud of its representatives in this contingent and those who have gone before.”

W.F. Nickle, M.P. spoke a few words, referring to the appreciation by the citizens of having the battalion here all winter. It was with regret that the notice to leave for overseas had come and yet it was a pleasure to see so many young, earnest Canadians willing to go to the front. He said he thoroughly believed the remark that there were two Canadians at all times ready to fill the vacancy that a German bullet might make in the Allies’ lines. The 21st Battalion had very efficient officers and men, and the combination had worked such wonders that at present the 21st is one of the best if not the best battalion to leave Canadian shores.

In reply, Lieut.-Col. W.S. Hughes thanked the Mayor and Mr. Nickle for their kind words, and said that if Kingston appreciated having the battalion here all winter, he for one appreciated the people’s treatment of the men. Everyone in Kingston has done everything possible for their comfort, and he was sure that the men would always remember their stay in Kingston as one of the most pleasant events of their lives.

An Impressive Departure

The departure of the units was one of the most impressive events Kingstonians have ever had an opportunity of witnessing.

The nursing sisters, in their natty military uniforms with cap badges, insignia of their lieutenant’s rank on their shoulders, and everything complete, boarded their Pullmans at the city Grand Trunk station at 7 o’clock amid cheers of hundreds.

The officers and men of the hospital corps marched from the armouries to the outer station with the 21st Battalion to music furnished by the R.C.H.A., 14th and 21st pipes, bugle and brass and the Salvation Army bands. As the units entered the station gates a great cheer broke from the crowds.

Every car of the two trains was marked with the number and name of the company for which it was meant, and there was no confusion, although the farewells from so many friends made the soldiers’ progress through the mass rather difficult. Everyone was crowding to get near the line and say good-bye to friends. Needless to say, the nurses were given a great send-off. All were in a cheerful mood.

An hour later a short whistle of the locomotive was the signal for the start and the first train pulled slowly out of the yard.

Notes About the Departure

As the 21st Battalion approached the gate of the Junction station, Lieut.-Col. Hughes espied Trooper L.W. Mulloy, the blind South African veteran, in a carriage, and he hurriedly left the ranks to shake hands and say farewell. It was a touching scene.

The Kingston Veterans’ Association, headed by a large Union Jack, led the overseas units on the march to the station. There are still in the various hospitals of the city several soldiers connected with the 21st Battalion. They may be unfit for further active service. Three members, however, who showed signs of marked improvement were taken from the military hospital on Queen Street, Wednesday evening, and placed in a cab, which drove them to the railway station. Here they were placed aboard the hospital coach. The soldiers were Col.-Sergt. Holmes, Sergt. Mantell and Pte. Leach. The latter, thinking that he was going to be left behind, cried until the officer in charge was finally persuaded to allow him to go.

Queen’s Stationary Hospital

Queen’s University, lower campus was well filled with interested spectators at 4:30 o’clock on Wednesday afternoon when a review was held of the members of Queen’s Stationary Hospital Corps who are going overseas.

The members of the corps were put through their drill and they made a fine showing. The Nurses who appeared in military uniform were much admired and many were the complementary remarks heard about them. After the review a group photograph was taken of the corps by G.E. Marrison.

Afterwards the corps was entertained at tea in the Red Room at the University by some of the wives of the city doctors.

Kingston Great War Commemorations

Commemorations can take the form of big government sponsored affairs to which everyone turns up, or they can be intensely personal. By a stroke of good fortune I spent two days with my son once in Ypres. We had the chance to visit there going from France to Holland, and we took it. He was 11 then, big enough to ride a bike in an icy July rain through the area of the first gas attack, but young enough to sit on my shoulders during the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. And as the bugle finished he leaned over my head from above, and with a twinkle in his eye said, "are you crying yet daddy?" What better way to mark the memory of tens of thousands of sons whose bodies were never found!

Later we took a taxi to Parrott's grave and stood by it for photos, as my grandfather had done eighty-four years before.

With the creation of my uniforms I have found another venue. I have been at several Remembrance Day ceremonies as a presence amongst the public, almost like a ghost. Old men from WWII thank me for coming and clasp my hand like an old friend. I embody a memory of a time before them, their fathers perhaps. They seem deeply appreciative that something is not forgotten.

Beyond these moments my uniforms have brought me into two films, one short and one long .

( see  "21 Brothers" ).

I've also been involved in some other official commemorations such as the annual Military Ball in Gatineau, Quebec. There I found myself as the sole uniformed WWI representative of Pricess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry as they kicked off their centenary recognition. My grandfather would have been delighted. I anticipate more such events in the next few years. 

I am lucky now to be connected to a group in Eastern Ontario, and anyone who reads this and wants to find their way into commemorative events should feel free to contact me.

My next blog posting will be about a plan in the works for Kingston in May 2015. A group of us is trying to put together an event to mark the departure of the 21st Battalion and the Queen's Stationary Hospital Corps from Kingston in May 1915. People in uniform will be required for this. Volunteers Wanted!

Email me at timothyjsoper@gmail.com

Collecting Great War uniforms

My collection of Great War Canadian uniforms began when I first came into possession of my grandfather's ammunition pouches. This was in 2008. I set about trying to piece together the rest of the uniform from various sources and soon had a passable but theatrical outfit. Along the way, searching through google images, I discovered the world of the internet. With access to the world any original piece can be bought online for a price, and generally a price I cannot afford. A cheaper world is the world of the reproductions.

Within three years I pulled together two Canadian P'08 uniforms. I also became intrigued by Canadian leather gear. I called the California based company, What Price Glory, about a certain belt they were reproducing and found myself talking with the owner, Jerry Lee. Before I knew it I had agreed to do research for him to get the measurements and details he was lacking on other Canadian equipment. Now, two years later, WPG is selling Canadian leather gear from 1914, 1915, and 1916. I have become a vital participant in the quest to produce the equipment I had been seeking to find.

.

Oliver Pattern 1914

1915 pattern

1916 pattern

To some degree this involvement has been my act of commemoration. I have been privileged to be a part of preserving the knowledge of these uniforms. The frozen image and the brittle artifact have become robust objects that are affordable to anyone and have all the texture and heft of the originals.

This is as good a place as any to list my sources for those who are seeking this gear:

What Price Glory is my first and foremost supplier. I find little fault with anything they produce. Most impressive are the Mills webbing ammunition pouches woven with puckers and pockets as the originals. 

Of course I have a soft spot for the Canadian leather gear too.

What WPG doesn't produce can be augmented from other sites. Schipperfabrik makes a brilliant gas mask, for instance, and gets into French and German gear as well.

I have gone to IMA USA for a scabbard and a non-firing Lee Enfield. I did change the wood to walnut, however, to be more authentic for WWI . Their bayonets look very good and make one realize that a brand new product is more authentic in appearance than one which is 100 years old and shows all the patina of its age. Original metal artifacts are generally readily available, though, because they have survived time, and their prices are affordable for the casual collector where the more perishable cloth items are not.

I cannot speak from experience with other sites but I have seen good looking gear in England by Military History Workshop, and Laurence Ordnance from Australia does their own country well. What should be avoided are some of the cheap off shore products that appear in eBay. Some one in China is making a hideous "Canadian" tunic. Do your research so you can spot the poor reproductions yourself.

For those interested in original equipment I recommend Great War Militaria and The Collector's Guild (German Militaria is its other name). Marway Militaria has an extensive collection of buttons and badges. 

Beyond this there is always the delight of the discovery when least expected. Thus I came across a rimless Brodie helmet at a junk shop and a gas rattle at a flea market.

For those who have come to this blog first I invite you to see my other two blogs:

leathersatchels.blogspot.ca

timssatchelsandleathergoods.blogspot.ca

There is also an article in a local magazine. Look up   

http://eedition.kingstonlife.ca/doc/kingston-life/kingston-life-july-2014/2014062701/#0

Kingston Life  and click on page 11 of the July 2014 issue.

Great War Commemorations

The centenary of the Great War has begun. It will carry on for four years and then we will enter other eras to commemorate, from the Roaring Twenties to World War 2 and beyond. There is no date from now on that doesn't resonate in our collective modern mind. Perhaps this is because we all share the memories of our grand parents' tales, and so can go back ten decades in a sense of a shared experience. But I think there is something more than that. I believe the changes that came with the Great War have shaped and created our modern world, and and it is this sense of familiarity and recognition which makes us reflect on this particular centenary and the years to follow.

A commemoration is a collective act of remembering. Like a language there is a common understanding of meaning in the simplest expression, and in our world that is so full of pictures it is the visual expression of images that speaks the loudest. I have been captivated by the Canadian uniforms of the Great War and by the young soldiers who so often look eagerly at the photographer, their faces caught between cap and collar. 

This is the photo that first captivated me. It shows my grandfather, Grant MacLachlan, aged nineteen, proudly seated ( front right ) with his machine gun crew. Behind him is Reginald Elsworth Parrott, known as "Polly", who was killed on March 5 1916 when a German shell caused the trench to collapse on him. My grandfather went on to live a full life and has grandchildren who remember him. Perhaps I am the only person in the world who ever gives "Polly" Parrott a thought.

My son and I visited Parrot's grave near Ypres in 2006. Beside it is the grave of "Laddie" Millen who was sniped in the forehead on February 19, 1916. I believe he was the man my grandfather told me of when I was 12, whom he held in his arms dying, the top of his head taken off like a boiled egg, his brains open for the world to see. This is why we must remember.

Below is my son in a reproduction Great War uniform he wore for a high school film project. He could be my grandfather above, his smile a fraction of a second later.

My own quest for commemoration has taken the form of recreating Canadian Great War infantry uniforms and wearing them at commemorative events to put life into what we only know as sepia images. Old veterans have clasped my hand and said " thank you ", with tears in their eyes. I cross town to events, fully dressed in my gear and riding my old black bike, and my surprise appearance has elicited masses of positive reaction. Apparently something resonates in our collective consciousness. Everyone on a street corner has a tale to tell me from their family history. This has become my own act of commemoration.

With this blog I wish to provide sources for those who want to collect uniforms and accoutrements. I also hope to make something of a calendar of upcoming commemorations in my local area, and to give an account of how they turn out. By this perhaps I can inspire others to create their own commemoration.