The Hamilton
Spectator, and the other two Hamilton daily newspapers which were active in
1914, readily printed letters received from Hamilton men who had volunteered
and were in training in England for duty on the Western Front.
The Spectator was
particularly willing to print two letters on December 1, 1914, as each letter was
from a Spectator employee who had chosen to volunteer for active duty.
Gunner Buttery had
been a member of the “Spectator reportorial staff, who had become a member of
the ammunition column of the 3rd brigade, Canadian Field Artillery.
His letter from
Bustard Camp read as follows:
“So far as I know all
the Hamilton boys are well, with the exception of Trumpeter Rogers, who came
away with the 33rd, and who is now at his parents’ home in Brighton,
on sick leave, suffering from a complication of diseases, which make it
necessary for him to have a period of rest.
“Since we have been
in Salisbury Plain, the weather has been terrible, rain having fallen daily, in
torrents, so that our camp is a veritable mud-heap. By the way, we are still
under canvas, although for some time now we have been expecting to shifts into
huts a few miles away.
“We have now been
exactly a month, and we still have no knowledge of when we are likely to leave
for the front. Some say we shall be kept here until the first week of January,
which, if true, is very discouraging to all of us.
“We have all had a
few days’ leave, and I, of course, spent mine at home in London, where I had a
most excellent time. Directly my old journalistic colleagues heard I was in the
Canadian contingent, they got busy with the pencil, with the result that one
morning I woke up to find myself famous, glowing quarter column references to
myself appearing in four of the papers and my photograph in two.
“With regard to the
training of the Canadian artillery here, the work has been very systematic and
hard, and I am sure it will be a source of pleasure to Hamilton people to know
that the 8th battery, which is composed of Hamilton men, with the
exception of one section, which comes from London, are considered to be the
best of the three which constitute the 3rd artillery brigade.
“The 8th
battery, of course, is the old 4th, which encamped at the Jockey
club before leaving for Valcartier, and it is no mere idle compliment to say
that the progress they have made is remarkable. The old 33rd,
although pretty widely distributed at present, manage to meet quite often, and
we are determined that those of us who are left when the war is over, will
return home all together
“Everywhere the
Canadian s go in England, they are receiving a great welcome, and in the lord
mayor’s show, I believe they were cheered all along the route.
“Things are so dull
from the point of general interest, that there is not much news to give you.”1
1 “Hamilton
Men Form Part of Fine Battery : Those Left Will Return Here in Body After War.”
Hamilton
Spectator. December 1, 1914.
Joseph Beech was
another Spectator employee who was in uniform. Although his job title at the
Spectator was not listed, it would be save to say that he was not of the “reportorial
staff” as his letter was shorter.
Beech had been a
British citizen before the war was declared. Upon England’s entry into war with
Germany, he returned home to rejoin a regiment he had been a member of before
he came to Canada.
As a member of the 1st
P.W.O.’s West Yorks regiment, Beech wrote to his Hamilton friends from France:
“The surroundings here
are not inviting, but, of course, we did not expect we were going to a banquet.
“It has rained now
every day since we arrived. We are up to our necks in slush.
“This is the place to
take the starch out of a man. Every man has to ‘muck in,’ as they say in the
service. We are wading about in muck and water, but still we keep smiling and
saying that Kaiser Bill will have to pay for all this when we get to Berlin.
“Our troops are doing
good work and greater developments are expected in the near future.”1
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