_DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY AND THE WAR._
The activities of Dalhousie University in connection with the Great War
may be considered under the following headings, (1) The Activities of
the C.O.T.C.; (2) The Dalhousie University Stationary Hospital No. 7,
C.E.F.; (3) Activities of the Staff; (4) Independent Undergraduate
Enlistment.
THE OFFICERS’ TRAINING CORPS.—Great Britain was forced to declare war on
Germany on August 4, 1914; so that when the University session of 1914
opened, it was under war conditions. The earliest corporate war effort
of Dalhousie University was a mass meeting in the Law Library, held on
October 16, 1914, for the purpose of taking steps to form an O.T.C. The
chair was taken by Earle C. Phinney, at that time President of the
Council of Students. The meeting, which was most enthusiastic, was
addressed by President Mackenzie, G. S. Campbell, Chairman of the Board
of Governors, and by Major W. E. Thompson, Secretary of the Board. It
was ultimately agreed to ask Major Thompson to organize an O.T.C.; and
all those willing to co-operate were invited to sign the roll.
Ninety-two names were given in at once on the conclusion of the meeting;
of these, five were whole-time Professors. Drill began at once in the
South End Rink, Sergeant-Major Graham of the Permanent Staff being
instructor.
Some of the original officers were:
Major W. E. Thompson, O.C.
Capt. D. Fraser Harris, Adjutant.
Capt. Murray MacNeill.
Capt. D. A. MacRae.
Capt. George Henderson.
Capt. A. W. Cogswell.
Each was in command of a Platoon.
Alumni and business men interested were permitted to join, and there was
so much activity in the autumn of 1914 that by the middle of December
the Corps was ready to be inspected by General Sir Sam Hughes, Minister
of Militia. The inspection took place on December 18th in the South End
Skating Rink. The maximum strength during the first winter session was
close on 200. On May 4, 1915, the Corps was inspected by General
Rutherford, commanding the Garrison. Lectures continued well on into the
summer of 1915.
By the session of 1916 Professor John Cameron, of London, had been
appointed to the Campbell Memorial Chair of Anatomy in Dalhousie
University, and having had a considerable amount of military experience
both with the Volunteer Artillery in Scotland and with Infantry
Volunteers in England, was well qualified to take command of the O.T.C.,
Major Thompson, as Lieutenant-Colonel, having been appointed to the
Headquarters Staff as A.A.G. of Military District No. 6. This Professor
Cameron did with the rank of Major, and retained the command and gave
most of the systematic instruction during the remainder of the existence
of the Corps. By arrangement with Colonel Papineau, commanding the
R.S.I., candidates for commissions were examined at Wellington Barracks.
In this way a considerable number of members of the O.T.C. obtained
commissions and were enabled to proceed Overseas with the various Units
which were being formed as the War progressed. No less than seven
officers who had passed through the D.U.C.O.T.C. went Overseas with the
219th Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highland Brigade. Practically every
able-bodied male student was a member of the O.T.C. during the first
winter session; and no less than twenty-five members of it were students
from the affiliated Presbyterian College at Pine Hill.
The session of 1916–17 was a very strenuous one. Drill took place in the
evenings at the newly-erected Market Building at the head of Duke
Street, Major Cameron superintending the drill and also giving lectures
either there or in the rooms of the Board of Trade. During each winter
firing practice was systematically carried out at the miniature ranges
erected in the Engineering Laboratory of the Technical College. In
March, 1917, the Corps was inspected in the Market Building by Major
Cooper of the R.S.I. The O.T.C. is still in existence ready to become
active again as soon as the University is in possession of a drill hall.
STATIONARY HOSPITAL UNIT.—The origin of No. 7 Stationary Hospital was
the desire of the Medical Faculty of the University to serve their
country in the Great War. Early in September, 1914, an offer was made to
provide the personnel of a Casualty Clearing Station; this offer was
renewed in the spring of 1915, but the Federal Government was not at
that time in a position to accept it.
It was very generally felt that the only School of Medicine in the
Maritime Provinces ought to have a representation on the Canadian
Expeditionary Force. Those who were the most active in renewing the
offer were Major George M. Campbell, Major C. V. Hogan, and Capts. J. R.
Corston, M. A. MacAulay, L. M. Murray and F. V. Woodbury. The Government
accepted the offer on September 27, 1915. On November 1st, the old
Medical College building was occupied as rooms for headquarters, and
enlistment and training began. On December 16th the Unit was inspected
by General Benson, G.O.C., and by Col. J. A. Grant, A.D.M.S., Military
District No. 6. On December 31st the Hospital sailed from St. John,
N.B., on _H.M.S. Metagama_, arriving at Plymouth on January 10, 1916. On
February 5th the Unit took over Shorncliffe Military Hospital, and on
June 18, 1916, embarked for France.
The personnel of the Dalhousie Hospital Unit was made up as follows:
O.C., Lieut.-Colonel John Stewart, Majors E. V. Hogan and L. M. Murray,
Capts. M. A. MacAulay, V. N. MacKay, K. A. MacKenzie, E. K. MacLellan,
S. J. MacLennan, D. A. MacLeod, J. A. Murray, John Rankine, Frank V.
Woodbury, Karl F. Woodbury, Lieut. S. R. Halcom, Lieut, and
Quartermaster Walter Taylor. The Matron was Miss L. M. Hubley, and there
were twenty-six nursing sisters. Of all other ranks there were one
hundred and twenty-three men. Sixteen additional men were taken on at
Shorncliffe, England.
The Unit arrived home from active service early in the morning of St.
George’s Day, 1919, on the _S.S. Belgic_; in the evening they were
entertained at dinner at the Green Lantern in Halifax. Col. John Stewart
who returned a little later was entertained at a dinner given in his
honor on June 20, 1919.
ACTIVITIES OF THE STAFF: I. _The Faculty of Arts and Science._—The only
full-time Professor in the Senate to go Overseas on active service was
Professor James Eadie Todd, M.A., who saw service with the B.E.F. in
India and in Mesopotamia. Professor Todd, who remained with the troops
until the end of the War, did not return to Dalhousie University.
Professor Howard Murray, LL.D., during the first year of the War, was a
member of the O.T.C. Professor MacNeill during the first year of the War
had command of a Platoon in the O.T.C. Professor J. N. Finlayson, M.Sc.,
entered the O.T.C. at its formation and qualified for a commission in
the infantry. Mr. J. W. Logan, M.A., went Overseas as Captain in the
25th Canadian Infantry Battalion, attained his majority in June, 1916,
and.saw service in France until the end of the War. The Rev. H. A. Kent,
M.A., D.D., having passed through the O.T.C. obtained his Captain’s
commission on March 1, 1916, and went Overseas as a combatant in the
219th Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highlanders. Captain Kent saw service
until September, 1917, when he was transferred to the Chaplain Service,
in which he acted as Adjutant. He was also engaged in educational work
in London until he returned to Canada in May, 1919. Mr. Harry Dean,
Examiner in Music, had command of a Platoon in the O.T.C., and qualified
for a commission in the infantry.
II. _The Faculty of Law._—The Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor D.
A. MacRae, Ph.D., joined the O.T.C. and had command of a Platoon during
the first session. Mr. John E. Read, B.C.L. (Oxon.), B.A. (Dal.), Rhodes
Scholar, Lecturer on Real Property, enlisted in the 25th Battalion in
November, 1914, but was immediately transferred to the Canadian Field
Artillery, and took an officer’s training course at the Royal School of
Artillery, Kingston. In February, 1915, Mr. Read joined the 23rd Battery
of the C.F.A. at Fredericton and immediately proceeded Overseas. In July
he was transferred to the Divisional Artillery (1st Canadian Division)
and served in the 4th, 8th and 26th Batteries as Lieutenant, being
promoted to the rank of Captain in July, 1916, on his transference to
the 27th Battery. While Captain Read was Acting-Major he was wounded in
January, 1917. From May, 1917, to March, 1918, he was Senior Gunnery
Instructor at the Canadian School of Gunnery, being invalided to Canada
in April, 1918. Captain Read was mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig’s
dispatches in June, 1917.
III. _Faculty of Medicine._—After Professor Cameron relinquished the
command of the O.T.C. he reverted to the rank of Captain, and entering
the C.A.M.C. became Resident Physician of the Military Hospital which
had been installed in the Presbyterian College at Pine Hill, Halifax.
Professor A. G. Nicholls, who attained the rank of Major, entered the
C.A.M.C. as Captain and discharged the duties of Chief Bacteriologist,
Serologist and Sanitary Officer for the Halifax Garrison. Dr. W. H.
Hattie, with rank of Captain, saw service with the C.A.M.C. in Halifax.
Professor Fraser Harris, with rank of Captain, acted as Adjutant to the
O.T.C. as long as that Corps remained in activity. The governors could
not see their way to granting his request for leave of absence for
Overseas service. Besides addressing recruiting meetings, Professor
Harris gave courses of instruction in First Aid, under the auspices of
the St. John Ambulance Association, to large classes of men, both in the
service and to civilians, to women students and to cadets.
The following members of the Staff gave their services in the C.A.M.C.
in connection with the Halifax Garrison: Colonels George M. Campbell and
M. A. Curry; Capts. W. Bruce Almon, M. J. Carney, J. S. Corston, J. F.
Lawlor, G. A. Macintosh, Philip Weatherbe and Hugh Schwartz.
IV. _The Faculty of Dentistry._—Although the health of the Dean of this
Faculty, Dr. Frank Woodbury, precluded him from entering military
service, both his sons were able to go Overseas. The elder, Frank
Valentine, who at the outbreak of the War was already acting D.A.D.M.S.
in Military District No. 6, with the rank of Captain, was immediately
mobilized. This appointment he resigned to become Adjutant in the No. 7
Stationary Hospital, C.E.F., in 1915.
In August, 1916, Captain Woodbury was appointed to No. 3 Canadian
Intrenching Battalion, and in August, 1916, proceeded to the Front at
Ypres with that Unit. Later he was posted to the 9th Canadian Field
Ambulance, and saw service at Ypres, on the Somme, at Vimy and at Loos.
Having been promoted, Major Woodbury was recalled to headquarters at
London for Staff duty. He was ultimately appointed A.D.M.S. with the
rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, returning to Ottawa for duty in November,
1919.
Dr. A. W. Cogswell, Professor of Dental Pathology and Therapeutics,
joined the O.T.C. in November, 1914, and as Captain had command of a
Platoon.
Dr. George Kerr Thomson, Professor of Crown and Bridgework and Ceramics
and Oral Hygiene, at the outbreak of the War, held the rank of Captain
in the 63rd Halifax Rifles. Later he was transferred to the C.A.D.C. and
appointed Assistant Director of Dental Services in Military District No.
6. When, early in 1915, Sir Sam Hughes ordered the organization of the
C.A.D.C. Major Thomson was made First Director of Dental Services. In
1916 the Dental Services at Valcartier Camp were organized by Major
Thomson with the assistance of Captain F. H. Bradley of Military
District No. 4. Dr. W. W. Woodbury, Professor of Orthodontia, who had
been appointed Captain in the C.A.D.C. in May, 1918, proceeded to
Aldershot Camp, where as A.D.D.S. for the Camp he had charge of all the
Dental Services there. In October, 1918, Dr. Woodbury was posted for
special duty at McNab’s Island, where he remained until January, 1919,
when he was appointed to Camp Hill Hospital, to superintend the dental
treatment of returned soldiers. He remained at this centre until general
demobilization on November 15, 1919.
_Undergraduate Enlistment._—From the very first hour of the War, the
attention of the undergraduates had been directed to joining the
Canadian Expeditionary Force. Up to the date of the Armistice five
hundred and eighty members of the University had enlisted for military
or naval service, either Overseas or in Canada. Of these, sixty-seven
are known to have lost their lives, and forty-four to have received
decorations for distinguished service. Of those who were decorated, five
lost their lives. The decorations are as follows:
D.S.O. 3
D.C.M. 3, 1 with Bar
O.B.E. 2
M.M. 4
M.C. 32, 2 with Bar
Croix de Guerre 1
These do not include decorations awarded to members of the Staff.
The names of those winning the D.S.O. are: John Keeller MacKay of Pictou
(Law ’13–’15), Colonel and O.C. 22nd Battalion 6th Howitzer Brigade,
B.E.F. J. Layton Ralston (Law ’02–’03) Amherst, Colonel and O.C. of the
85th Battalion, C.E.F. Barry Wentworth Roscoe, of Kentville (LL.B. ’04),
Major 5th C.M.R., C.E.F.
At the outbreak of the War the University had on its books 398 students,
of whom 90 were women. Of the 308 male students of the session 1914–15
by the end of the session practically every third man had enlisted for
military service.
So many students left the Presbyterian Theological College, Pine Hill,
Halifax, as to make it only the shadow of its former self. In the
session of 1914–15 as many as twenty-five students from Pine Hill were
drilling with the O.T.C.; thirteen men from this College ultimately saw
service Overseas.
Of students of Engineering in the session of 1914–15, twenty-one were
enrolled in the O.T.C.
Of Law students twenty-two were on the roll of the O.T.C. during the
first session.
One cannot write of what Dalhousie University did in the War without a
few words as to what she suffered. The only son of the Chairman of the
Board of Governors, Mr. G. S. Campbell, LL.D., Lieut. George Henderson
Campbell, was killed near Ypres in May, 1916. He had graduated B.A. in
the previous May, and was within only two days of his 21st birthday. Two
Rhodes Scholars lost their lives in the Great War, namely: Walter
Melville Billman (B.A. ’13), Lieut. 1st Middlesex Regiment, B.E.F.; and
Harry Austin MacCleave (B.A. ’16), Lieut. 13th Montreal Highlanders,
C.E.F. While the accidental death of the young, the healthy and the
brave is always a poignant sorrow, the passing of those who are also the
finest products of the academic culture of their day is a catastrophe of
the first magnitude.