1915-05-24ja

“News of the safe arrival at Plymouth, Eng., of the crack 19^th battalion, Second overseas contingent, was received here on Saturday afternoon in a cablegram from Lieut.-Col. John I. McLaren to his wife.”

Hamilton Spectator.   May 24, 1915.

Under the leadership of noted Hamilton military officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John McLaren, a battalion of soldiers, containing many Hamiltonians, had been training in Toronto for six months. Then, the soldiers had simply disappeared:

“Following a custom, established since the outbreak of the war, the newspapers, co-operating with the censor’s department, made no mention of the troops leaving. But now that the boys are safely across, the story of the departure may be told.”¹

¹ “Hamilton Men Are Now Safely in England : Crack 19^th Battalion Has Arrived in Plymouth”

Hamilton Spectator.    May 24, 1915.

The 19^th battalion had secretly pulled out of Toronto by train on May 13, 1915 :

“The previous day a large party of Hamiltonians, friends of the officers and men from here, went down to say farewell. It was their privilege to see as fine a body of men as Canada has sent to the colors – fine, big, clean-cut, strapping fellows trained to the minute and looking as fit as British regulars.

“For several weeks before their departure, they had been chafing at the bit and wondering if the ‘order’ would ever come. When word was received, Lieut.-Col. McLaren called his officers quietly around him and informed them that within a couple of days they would sail for England. The news went through the camp like an electric shock.

“ ‘You ought to have heard those boys cheer when they broke parade,’ said one of the officers to the Spectator. ‘They let a whoop out of them that could be heard a mile away and frolicked around like a lot of school kids.’ ”¹

The soldiers had planned a big celebration during the night they were in camp but Lieut.-Col. McLaren was disciplinarian and would not allow anything like that, wanting only a “set of determined faces” and “soldiers who could be relied upon” :

“ ‘They are fit and ready and will give a good account of themselves,’ said the colonel, with a gleam of pride in his eyes, as he said farewell to a party of Hamilton friends.”

“With his usual thoroughness for details, Lieutenant-Colonel McLaren whipped into shape a battalion that earned from Major-General Lessard the highest praise. There is not a misfit in the bunch. The colonel, an exceptionally keen disciplinarian, but who holds the confidence of his men, saw to that. He has been carefully weeding out the deadwood for months.”¹

The Spectator, in covering the 91^st battalion arrival in England, also reviewed the accomplishments of Hamilton soldiers during the opening nine months of the war:

“People here have followed with pride the glorious record of the boys who have alrewady gone from here – the Princess Pats, of whom few are left; the good old 4^th battery, a complete Hamilton unit, which has earned itself the name of the Fighting Eleventh, the 13^th and 91^st men, who suffered so heavily in the terrific clash at Langemark and other branches of the services with which men from here are identified. “¹

As regards the 19 battalion itself, two prominent Hamiltonians Lieutenant-Colonel McLaren and Major W. R. Turnbull had leadership positions, with other local officers identified with the battalion. 35 per cent of the rank and file of the 19 battalion were from Hamilton, 40 per cent from Toronto and the remaining from Brantford, St. Catharines and Sault Ste. Marie.