Returned Soldiers Arrival - December 1918

“The Soldiers’ Aid commission is without word as to the time of the arrival of the veterans who disembarked from the Olympic last Saturday.”

Hamilton Spectator.     December 17, 1918.

Three days after the RMS Olympic docked at Halifax with a full load of soldiers returning from Western Europe, Hamiltonians whose loved ones were supposed to be on that ship, and Hamiltonians hoping to give them a warm welcome, had little idea when that arrival would happen:

“Word comes from Toronto, however, that the local party may not arrive until Thursday. Mr. Kaye yesterday afternoon sent a telegraph to Lieut-Col. John Gunn, D.O.C., asking for assistance in making arrangements for his homecoming of the Hamilton boys. So Far, however, he has received no reply.”¹

¹ “On Their Way : But Returned Men May Not Arrive Before Thursday ”

Hamilton Spectator.    December 17, 1918.

Mr. Kaye of the Hamilton office of the Soldiers’ Aid Commission repeatedly tried to get an exact idea as to when, or even which railway line, the returning soldiers would finally arrive in Hamilton. Not receiving a definitive answer, he nevertheless put into motion the steps he could take in the meantime. A major task was to assemble enough automobiles and their drivers to meet the men after they disembarked from the train so that they could be driven to their homes.

Finally, on December 18, 1918, Mr. Kaye received a telegraph that the Hamilton soldiers had reached Toronto by rail. They would soon be transferred to a train heading for Hamilton but no expected time of arrival was given. Nor was anyone told  whether the boys would get off a Grand Trunk railway at that railway’s station on Stuart Street or, whether they would come on a C.P.R. train to be let off at that line’s station uptown on Hunter street west.

A Spectator reporter had been assigned to cover the arrival, but he was in the dark as to where and when the men would arrive. Nevertheless, that reporter like everyone else rushed from one station to the other. His report on the whole matter was a vivid, superbly-written article, an article  which follows :

“ ‘Good old Hamilton!’ they roared as the big C.P.R. train crashed into the depot  the grinding of the brakes as they bit into the wheels, and mingled with the thunderous cheers of the multitude and - the excited shrieks of girls and little children.

“Then they emerged – these boys of ours – and little drops of khaki were lost in a sea of excited humanity. Now and then would be heard – ‘Here’s Bill!’ – ‘My Joe!’ as the dense crowd surged to and fro from coach to coach and anxious eyes peered through the gloom of the dimly-lit station to catch a glimpse of some loved one.

“Finally the first warriors managed to break through the massed formation and began to straggle down the platform, with eager kiddies clustered round and willing hands bearing the bulky kit-bags to the rear of the depot, where a veritable battalion of automobiles awaited the veterans.

“Bronzed and hale were these men of Flanders and the terrible cloud that had hung over humanity and which they labored and fought and bled to remove appeared to have touched them but lightly. Some of them added a finishing touch to the realism of the scene by carrying their rusty trench-helmets with the packs on their backs.

“Old Bill was there, and Alf and Bert – all of them enjoying the excitement and the glamor. Old Bill’s missus had been jubilating and fretting alternately since the telegraph boy brought her the message last Friday that hubby had reached Halifax. She had learned first that Bill was coming on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday, and finally on Thursday. She was in a state of excitement as she dressed up the kiddies yesterday afternoon yesterday and hustled them down to the G.T.R. depot to meet the train on which the boys were ‘sure’ to arrive; and when the news spread through the Stuart street station, that the boys weren’t coming she joined the weary pilgrimage of the hundreds of soldiers’ folk, tired and supperless up to the Hunter street depot, while five-year-old Jimmie ‘wished the kayser would get the flu and die,’ as he tottled alongside. But all was forgotten as she clasped Old Bill’s strong arm, and followed him as he threaded his way through the crowds. To the reporters Bill stated that he ‘didn’t want nuffin’ in the papers,’ but he accepted the hospitality of the automobile which was waiting to transport him and his to ‘the better ‘ole’ down in East Hamilton.

“Fifty-three veterans arrived – soldiers of all ranks and grade, from the grey-haired South African vet to the smooth-faced lad who was met with an army of small brothers and sisters. There was no lack of accommodation, thanks to the Kiwanis club, while the civic reception committee, the Salvation Army, and the soldiers’ aid commission did the honors for the returned boys on behalf of the city.”²

² “Crowds Greeted Returned Heroes on Their Arrival : Fifty-Three Hamilton Men Back From the Front : Many of Them Saw Four Years’ Fighting : Kiwanis Club and Others Tendered Reception ”

Hamilton Spectator.   December 18 1918.