Regimental History: "‘Not Quite Ordinary Citizens’: The 49th Battalion Association and the Edmonton Regiment, 1918-1939"
"We did not fight to make the world ‘safe for democracy’ nor did we wage war to ‘end war’. Our lives, our liberties and our homes were in danger. We confronted our enemies on the field of battle and that is all there is to be said about it."
| After the guns stopped firing on 11 November, 1918, the 49th Battalion stayed in Mons for a month relaxing and enjoying the hospitality of the liberated Belgians. The 1st and 2nd Divisions marched off to take part in the occupation of parts of Germany across the Rhine. It was an honour but there was no envy on the part of the Forty-Niners. As Private Hasse noted in his diary, ‘the only worthwhile road is that which leads to Jasper Ave.’ It would be some months before the regiment saw that road, although they were one of the first Canadian units to return. |
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There was more than enough shipping space to get the troops back across the ocean but once there, Canada’s railway system, worn out by the demands of war and five years of no replacement of rolling stock, could only handle limited numbers. The Canadian cabinet initially wanted to send soldiers back according to a simple formula of ‘first over, first back.’ General Currie lost no time in pointing out that this policy was less fair and straightforward than it appeared. It favoured non-combatants who tended to have longer periods of service because of much lower casualty rates; it would mean breaking up battalions and not allowing them to go home as units; and it would create severe disciplinary and administrative problems in England. The government reluctantly gave in and the 3rd Division led the way since the 1st and 2nd were on occupation duty in the Rhineland.
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The 7th Brigade was among the first to go, perhaps because of an incident that took place on 13 December. Nobody bothered to keep the troops informed about plans for demobilization and once the reality of the armistice sank in, they quickly became restless and resentful of efforts to impose peacetime standards of discipline. On 11 December the brigade was ordered to Brussels from their comfortable billets in Mons. Rumour had it that they were destined for occupation duty in Germany and with many officers on leave and a number of new replacements from the heavy fighting of the last hundred days, there were too few leaders the men trusted to counter the misinformation. |
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The march was with full packs instead of the wartime procedure of having the heavier items of equipment transported and when they reached their first day’s destination at Nivelles, there was talk of mutiny among all four battalions. A protest meeting of several hundred soldiers from the brigade demanded a meeting with Brigadier J.A. Clark. They got their meeting but Clark refused to hear their complaints. The following day many men refused to fall in and resume the march. Colonel Palmer restored the situation for the 49th by agreeing to take the complaints about packs to Clark. Colonel Hamilton Gault of the Patricias rushed back from leave and quelled the unrest in his battalion with a twenty mile route march. The mutiny fizzled out, although it was only the first of a dozen or so incidents that affected the Canadian Corps, some much more serious. Just after Christmas the brigade began moving slowly south in the direction of the large transit camp at Le Havre. The journey occupied the month of January, then on 8 February the battalion sailed for England. A month in camp at Bramshott allowed time for leave to visit relatives in Britain. On 6 March the battalion boarded ship for Halifax and after an uneventful Atlantic crossing got on two trains for the five day trip to Edmonton.
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City of Edmonton Archives (Loyal Edmonton Regiment Collection, EA-255-14). |
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49th Battalion's Welcome Home Parade, 22 March 1919. After their arrival at Edmonton's main railway station, the 49th Battalion marched down Jasper Avenue to the cheers and jubilation of the thousands of Edmontonians who gathered to see them. |
March is rarely one of the pleasanter months in Edmonton. The streets were still lined with the greying remnants of the winter’s snow and the temperature was struggling to get above the freezing mark when the trains carrying the Forty-Niners arrived at the CPR station at 109th Street and Jasper Avenue at 2:00 PM on Saturday 22 March, 1919, but the sun shone and the warmth of the welcome more than made up for the weather. The Lieutenant Governor, the Premier and the Mayor headed the official greeters although, as the Bulletin reported, “their importance on this occasion was positively nil. No one paid the least attention to them and they remained with becoming modesty in the far background.” Tickets had been issued for family members to the station yard and they, most appropriately, were the focus of the celebration. The 49th then formed up and marched down Jasper Avenue at the head of an enormous parade that included four bands, two hundred former Forty-Niners who had returned home with wounds (including the battalion’s two Victoria Cross winners, J.C. Kerr and Cecil Kinross), about 1500 other war veterans and representative of every group and organization in the city. Not even the fear of the deadly influenza epidemic that was sweeping the world could prevent most of the population of Edmonton from turning out.
In an unprecedented move, the banks opened on Sunday so that the men could be paid and by the end of the day, the 49th Battalion C.E.F. had ceased to exist, except on paper. On arriving back in Edmonton, Colonel Palmer expressed the hope that the authorities in Ottawa would see fit to create a perpetuating militia unit with the same number but for the moment, returning to civilian life as quickly and completely as possible dominated almost all minds.
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