1914--07-28aa

“Hamilton will be prepared to send her share of men towards the support of the Motherland should the present crisis in Europe reach a head.”

As the end of July 1914 approached, it was appearing more and more that war was imminent and that the events had reached such a stage that diplomatic efforts to avoid war would be futile.

In Hamilton, there was substantial number of men already in uniform, in connection with the various militia units, but simply sending those citizen soldiers off to war was problematic:

“The local militia are prepared to do their share, but many of these men would be unable to go because of the fact that unmarried men would be called out first.

“Lieut.-Col. Ross, when speaking in reference to the trouble, said, if necessary, Hamilton could put 4,000 men on the firld.”¹

¹ “Could Raise 4,000 Men in Hamilton”

Hamilton Spectator. July 28, 1914.

It would take at least three months to get members of Hamilton’s militia units  completely battle-ready as the proper equipment was not available to so.

Lieut.-Col. Ross provided some details on the local militia strength:

“At present 1,900 men are enrolled in the combined units of this city. The strength of the 13^th and 91^st regiments is about 550 men each, but this could be increased to 1,200 each.”¹

Finally, Lieut.-Col Ross cautioned that the local militia units in Hamilton as well across Canada would be required to provide domestic protection, and that if all militia units were depleted for overseas duty, the enemy would certainly be aware that Canada was unprotected.

In the same issue of the Hamilton Spectator, it was noted that all trans-Atlantic passenger ocean traffic had been curtailed “as the result of the foreign trouble’ :

“The local steamship agencies have received many telegrams notifying them of sailings that have been cancelled. A large number of Hamilton people had made reservations for sailing during the next two weeks, but all have given up hopes of getting away when planned.

“Many Hamiltonians are at present on the continent enjoying midsummer tours, and it is altogether likely that they are numbered among the hundreds who are reported as flocking to ocean ports to take passage hiome.”²

² “Local People Cancel Their Ocean Trips : Those Abroad Will Likely Hurry Home”

Hamilton Spectator .      July 28, 1914.