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After the Armistice in 1918, the journey home for Canadian war veterans was far from over. They now faced returning to their country, their society, and their families after up to 5 years spent in unimaginably violent and harsh conditions. The challenge of successfully reintegrating, caring for, and supporting these veterans would change Canadian society forever.
It was a daunting task; more than 170,000 soldiers were injured during the course of the war, many with injuries that prevented their return to regular work; an estimated 60,000 suffering or having suffered from venereal disease; and 12% of the force reporting some kind of war related mental illness or strain[1]. Their successful reintegration required significant investment, not only from private beneficent societies, but from the federal government, which did so on an unprecedented scale.
The exhibition After the War: Coming Home and Fitting in at the End of the Great War looks at the efforts made by Canadian society to provide support to the over 600,000 members of their population, and their families, who had fought, and in some cases died for their country in the largest military engagement Canada had experienced. By considering reintegration through several lenses, the exhibition and accompanying catalogue will provide insight into the task facing Canadians.
The first task facing the Canadian Corps on November 12, 1918 was successfully demobilising their force of soldiers and non-permanent army personnel. There were approximately 275,000 active soldiers abroad in January 1919, and after 5 years of war they wanted to get home as quickly as possible. However, their desires clashed with the reality of the situation; firstly, Canada and the Allies remained officially at war with Germany, the Armistice was temporary and not a signed peace agreement. Secondly, Canada had enough shipping to transport only 5,000 people a week[2].
Fifth and Seventh Batteries, CFA, arriving in Montreal PQ for demobilization, 1919. Dept. Of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-022997
The YMCA had been actively serving the Canadian army population since 1914, providing lodging, entertainment, and comforts like hot coffee and tea to soldiers on the front lines in France. In 1919, to combat the problems posed by low morale amongst the waiting soldiers, the YMCA worked to provide even more opportunities for them to be active, with sports tournaments, library services, movie screenings, and educational programming. In fact, 1919 was the YMCA’s busiest year during the war[4].
Another organisation tailored to the needs of soldiers was the Khaki University, begun as the University of Vimy Ridge in 1917 by an army chaplain, Edmund Henry Oliver. With support from Colonel Gerald Birks, Henry Marshall Tory, and Arthur Currie, the program became the Department of Education Services in the Overseas Forces of Canada, the Khaki University of Canada, and provided soldiers with an opportunity to start or even finish an education that had been halted by the war.
With funding raised by the YMCA for books and materials, the university provided “instruction of Canadian soldiers in all subjects other than those which form part of their actual military training.[5]” In January 1919, close to 15,000 students were enrolled in programs, ranging from elementary to university level, and placed in classrooms throughout England[6]. The success of the Khaki University inspired several other Allied forces to form their own educational initiatives. Many graduates of the program went on to have distinguished post-war careers, and for those whose access to education as children was limited, the Khaki University’s mandate to include all levels of education meant that they returned to Canada with the skills to improve their conditions, namely reading and writing.
Despite these programs and initiatives, the responsibility of the Canadian Corps towards their soldiers ended at demobilisation; when a soldier had officially handed in their uniform and equipment, they ceased to be the direct concern of the army. At this point, with the now veteran soldier at home in Canada, their success in civilian life depended on a much wider range of disparate groups and services, all of whom hoped to help smooth the transition.
When it formed in 1917, one of the tasks of the Great War Veterans’ Association was “To perpetuate the close and kindly ties of mutual service in the Great War, the recollections and associations of that experience and to maintain proper standards of honor and dignity between all returned soldiers.[7]” Veterans’ organisations not only brought together groups of like minded individuals, they also provided a critical voice in raising veterans’ issues with their respective local governments.
When Eric Hollis, a disabled veteran and former private with the 7th Battalion, committed suicide after being sentenced to prison for vagrancy, it was the Great War Veterans’ Association that delivered a public statement asking “why this man was not properly cared for” and calling for improved long term care for disabled servicemen[8]. Hollis had been seriously wounded in the shoulder in 1916, which left him unable to perform manual labour. A fisherman before the war, Hollis was arrested for vagrancy and, as noted above, committed suicide after the verdict was given.
In 1925, fifteen veterans’ groups joined together to form the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League, with the hope that having a single veterans’ organisation would make their voice stronger. The Royal Canadian Legion, as it is known today, continues to be a voice for veterans, and still follows a mandate that would be recognisable to the veterans who founded it.
Other groups like the Salvation Army, provincial Soldiers’ Aid Commissions worked to provide vocational training, medical aid, and shelter to veterans who needed it. Job training and employment services were particularly important, since veterans who were not disabled did not receive a pension. There was little time given to make the transition, and the goal of most was to find work as soon as possible, which was not easy in the post-war Canadian economy.
Of the returning soldiers, the 170,000 wounded posed a particular problem for the army and the Canadian government. The question of what exactly these soldiers were owed, and how it should be delivered was debated many times in the years after the war. “Invalided” soldiers, those who could not be rehabilitated for return to active service, had been shipped to Canada since 1915, and had already been receiving pensions upon their release from the army[9].
Created alongside the Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment in 1917, the Board of Pensions Commissioners for Canada was responsible for the assignment and paying out of pensions to the disabled. Pensions were based on a degree of disability, and not based on pre-war earnings or “variation of rank”.[10] The goal of the Board was to provide support until a veteran could return to work and earn for themselves, hence pensions were reviewed regularly.
For veterans in need of long-term institutional care, there was still a large burden placed on families to take care of their own. According to a National Committee for Mental Hygiene report written during the period after the war, the Canadian government was not adequately prepared for the number of veterans needing care, and “As a result, these facilities were inadequate to meet the needs of disabled men returning home from overseas. And it took the National Committee, along with other agencies, a ten-year period to re-establish desirable standards.”[11] Many families took care of the most severely disabled; it was not uncommon for households to include an uncle or brother who was unable to live on their own.
“Making artificial limbs for crippled soldiers of our allies”, Hangar Artificial Limb Company, 1917, Canadian Centre for the Great War, 2017.06.01
Statistics vary, but an estimated 10-12% of Canadian soldiers suffered from “shell shock” or neurasthenia as a result of their service[12]. Treatment during wartime usually involved rest cures, or in extreme cases electric shock therapy or hypnotism. These treatments were designed to return as soldier to fighting fitness as soon as possible; if this was not feasible, longer rest periods or even discharge were also options[13]. For those suffering in the years after the war from issues like nightmares, depression, alcoholism or other PTSD related symptoms, there was little that could be done.
The Board of Pensions Commissioners would not issue a pension based on mental health reasons unless the applicant had first undergone treatment, if “as the result of treatment the functional or hysterical disability has not disappeared a pension shall be awarded in accordance with the extent of the disability, provided the applicant or pensioner has not unreasonably refused to accept or continue treatment.[14]” Social mores also made seeking treatment difficult, for those who were not completely incapacitated, the thought of admitting publicly that they were “hysterical” or “unmanly” was unthinkable. Most veterans suffered in silence and spent the rest of their lives trying to forget what they had experienced.
Soldiers’ Land Settlement Scheme, 1919. [pamphlet],
Canadian War Museum, Hartland Molson Library Collection
REF PAM UB 359 C2 S61 1919.
In addition to the Board of Pensions Commissioners described above, the federal government established several other bodies to help deal with the task of re-integrating returned soldiers. The Department of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment (DSCR), established in 1917, was responsible “for giving sympathetic, skilled assistance to the needs of each returned man, and as far as possible, adjusting his problems.[15]” The DSCR provided vocational training, job pairing and placement opportunities, and many other forms of service to the returned army personnel.
Like the Board of Pensions Commissioners, the goal of the DSCR was to “help those who help themselves” in a sense; it was not expected to provide long-term monetary support to those veterans who could not find employment. Returned soldiers were given a handbook release by the department for informational purposes, and the front inside cover stated very clearly, “Canada will help in every way possible to re-establish yourself in civil life BUT the measure of what Canada can do for you is governed by the measure of your own efforts in this direction.[16]”
By 1924, over 30,000 former soldiers had been settled on former Crown lands in the prairie provinces, with 79% receiving financial assistance from the Settlement Board.[18] However, the initiative was not entirely successful; most of the land had never been farmed and required years of work to make it profitable, additionally, many of the settlers had never actually farmed before and found the work and the isolation extremely difficult.
Crown lands also came at a cost to others; much of the property offered to settlers was actually land held in reserve by the indigenous bands of the prairies as per their treaties with the Crown. The act made specific provision for the purchase of “any Indian lands which, under the Indian Act, have been validly released or surrendered[19]”. A 1918 amendment to the Indian Act allowed for the seizure of indigenous land without the consent of the majority of the band to which it belonged, and previous amendments allowed for its sale to the government for cash. In all, 85,000 acres of indigenous land was distributed to veterans; of 4,000 indigenous veteran applicants, only 224 received loans from the Settlement Board[20].
The Great War cost Canadians millions of dollars in the 5 years that it was fought; wartime debt reached $ 2 billion dollars, much of it financed by domestic bonds purchased by citizens to help finance the war effort. What is calculated less frequently is the cost of the war in the post-war years. The re-integration measures described above were expensive, and the recognition that the government needed to care for its most vulnerable veterans added another financial burden.
Much of the expansion of the role of government was covered by the Income War Tax, which had been introduced in 1917 to help pay for the war and was retained at its end to help offset the costs of veterans’ services, among other purposes[21]. Charitable beneficent societies like the War Amps and the National Institute for the Blind provided additional services, as did veterans’ groups like the Legion and the Great War Veterans’ Association. All these pieces formed a network of care and support for war veterans and tried to ensure that they received the support they needed.
However, it was inevitable that some would fall through the cracks. The post-war period has many stories of veterans “falling on hard times”. Victoria Cross recipient Filip Konowal was institutionalised as criminally insane after killing a man in a bar in Hull; an act that was tied by doctors to his war service and the wounds he received[22]. It was not uncommon to see unemployed veterans selling cards or pencils on street corners. Eric Hillis, whose suicide resulted in the statement by the GWVA referred to earlier, was one such veteran.
The services offered to returning veterans were also not offered equally to all; over 4,000 indigenous soldiers fought in the Canadian Corps, some of whom, like Frances Pegahmagahbow were decorated multiple times. Angus Goodleaf, a Mohawk from Kahnawake Reserve in Quebec and a soldier with the 107th Battalion, was seriously wounded in August 1917 at the Battle of Hill 70. When he applied to the Allowance Committee, Board of Pension Commissioners for an additional aid pension in 1933 his pension was rejected on the basis of his residence on the reserve.
Pte William Colborne Bradford, c1915. Gift of B. Bradford, Canadian Centre for the Great War, 2017.03.01
The Canadian Government and Canadian society struggled to deal with the changes wrought by the war, and the needs of those who returned from it. For the most part, veterans were able to readapt to civilian life relatively well, re-enter the work force, and live largely uneventful lives Some, like Austin Bradford and Eric Hillis were not able to be helped. Others, like Angus Goodleaf, did not fall into the groups that were eligible for help.
Ultimately, the Great War caused Canadian society to re-examine not only what was owed to those who had served their country, but the role of the government in providing support. The investment by the government was unprecedented in Canadian history to that point, creating the framework for the social net we have today, and the acknowledgement that society owes the possibility of a civilian life to those who have served their country.
The Canadian Centre for the Great War would like to thank the following organisations and individuals who made this exhibition possible: Caitlin Bailey, Ada Chan, Javiera Segovina, Loïc Angot, and Angie Lumia, all from the Centre. The Bradbury, Bernard, and Goodleaf families, who made their stories available to us, and finally the Zeller Family Foundation, the Jackman Foundation, and Heritage Canada.
Primary Sources
Bishop, Charles W. The Canadian YMCA in the Great War: The Official Record of the Activities of the Canadian Y.M.C.A. in Connection with the Great War of 1914-1918. Canada: The National Council of Young Men’s Christian Associations of Canada, 1924.
Burns, R. Easton. The Income War Tax Act 1917: A Digest (Toronto: Canadian Chartered Accountant, 1917). Archives and Special Collections – Morisset Library. University of Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Accessed on June 20, 2018 from http://wartimecanada.ca/document/world-war-i/taxation/income-tax-1917.
Canada and Her Soldiers (London: St Clements Press, 1919). War, Memory and Popular Culture Archives. University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. Accessed on June 20, 2018 from http://wartimecanada.ca/document/world-war-i/veterans-programs/our-pride-past-our-hope-future.
Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-Establishment: Information and Services Branch, Ontario Offices: Important Information for Returned Men, n.d. [1918?]. War, Memory and Popular Culture Archives. University of Western Ontario. London, Ontario, Canada. Accessed on June 20, 2018 from http://wartimecanada.ca/document/world-war-i/veterans-programs/help-ontario-veterans.
Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-Establishment: Information and Service Handbook for Members and Ex-Members of the Canadian Naval and Military Forces (1919). War, Memory and Popular Culture Archives. University of Western Ontario. London, Ontario, Canada. Accessed on June 20, 2018 from http://wartimecanada.ca/document/world-war-i/veterans-programs/information-ontario-veterans.
“Great War Veterans’ Association of Canada, Vancouver Branch: Rules and Regulations.” George Ormsby Fonds. Box 58A 1 153, Folder 20000013-002 to 010. Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Great War Veterans’ Association: Statement re Eric Hollis’ Death. Army and Navy Veterans – Establishment of Home for Disabled Veterans. RG 13 Vol. 256. Establishment of Home for Disabled Veterans 480-500 1921, Folder 498/21. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
“Information on Pensions.” Percy Green Fond. Box 58A 1 236 15, Folder 20060103- 018. Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
“Khaki University of Canada for Soldiers of the Canadian Overseas Forces (September 1918).” Frank Dawson Adams Collection. MG1014 c.1. Service Overseas with the Khaki University, Folder 5. McGill University Archives, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Soldiers Settlement Act, 1919.
“The Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene: Report of a Survey made of the Organization in 1932.” Department of Finance. Box RG19 E2C. Canadian Mental Health Association, Folder 101-29-40. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
“The Pension Act.” Royal Canadian Legion (Great War Veterans’ Association of Canada). Box MG 28 I298 Vol. 74. Information Manual (Part 1): Print Matter, Government Regulations, Orders-in-Council, etc., on Issues Affecting Veterans (2) 1918-1922, Folder 74-7. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Secondary Sources
Ashton, E.J. “Soldier Land Settlement in Canada.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 39, no. 3 (1925): 488-498. Accessed June 20, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2307/1882442.
Bernard, Dolores. Interviewed by Caitlin Bailey. Personal Interview regarding Colborne and Austin Bradbury. Calgary, Alberta, July 27, 2018.
Bowker, Alan. A Time Such as There Never was Before: Canada After the Great War. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2014.
Carter, Sarah. “An Infamous Proposal: Prairie Indian Reserve Land and Soldier Settlement after World War I”, Manitoba History, np, Number 37, Spring/Summer 1999. Accessed August 15, 2018. http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/37/infamousproposal.shtml
Goodleaf, Mouchie. Interviewed by Caitlin Bailey. Personal interview regarding Angus Goodleaf. Kahnawake, Quebec, August 2018
[1] Though little talked about, the CEF had one of the highest rates of venereal disease of the Allied armies. Pre-penicillin treatments like mercury and a refusal by the army to proactively provide prophylactics meant that venereal disease posed a great danger to the families of returning soldiers.
[2] Canada and Her Soldiers, 3.
[3] Charles W. Bishop, The Canadian YMCA and the Great War: Official Record of the Activities of the Canadian Y.M.C.A. in Connection with the Great War of 1914-1918, 349.
[4] Ibid., 315.
[5] “Khaki University of Canada for Soldiers of the Canadian Overseas Forces”, (September, 1918), 3.
[6] Bishop, 339.
[7] “Great War Veterans’ Association of Canada, Vancouver Branch: Rules and Regulations”, 2.
[8] Great War Veteran’s Association of Canada, “Statement re Eric Hollis’ Death”, 1.
[9] The assurance of a pension if injured was made clear from the beginning of the war, as noted in this enlistment handbook, “[…] pension will be granted [to] Militiamen wounded or disabled on active service, during drill or training, or on other military duty, provided the disability was not due to his own fault or negligence.”
[10] Royal Canadian Legion (Great War Veterans’ Association), “The Pension Act”, 279.
[11] Canadian Mental Health Association, “The National Committee for Mental Hygiene (Canada)”, 4.
[12] Alan Bowker, A Time Such as There Never Was Before: Canada After the Great War, 67.
[13] See «Absolutely Incapable of Carrying On: Shell Shock, Suicide, and the Death of Colonel Sam Sharpe» by Matthew Barrett in Canadian Military History, vol. 25, Number 1, for an excellent illustration of the long term effects of trauma on First World War soldiers.
[14] “The Pension Act”, 285.
[15] Department of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment: Information and Services Branch, Ontario Offices: Important Information for Returned Men, 2.
[16] Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment, Information and Service Handbook for Members and Ex-members of the Canadian Naval and Military Forces, 1.
[17] Soldiers Settlement Act, assented to 1 January 1919.
[18] E.J. Ashton, “Soldier Land Settlement in Canada” in The Quarterly Journal of Economics,496.
[19] Soldiers Settlement Act, section 4-10.
[20] Sarah Carter, “An Infamous Proposal: Prairie Indian Reserve Land and Soldier Settlement after World War I” in Manitoba History, np, http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/37/infamousproposal.shtml
[21] R. Easton Burns, The Income War Tax Act 1917: A Digest,2.
[22] See Ron Sorobey’s “Filip Konowal, VC: The Rebirth of a Canadian Hero” for more on Konowal’s post-war history.
[23] Letter to Colonel Andrew T. Thompson, February 6 1933 from the Office of the Deputy Superintendent General, Department of Indian Affairs, RE: Pte. A. P. Goodleaf, No. 739503 – 114th Batt.
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© Canadian Centre for the Great War, 2024