On Oct. 3, 1914, the first contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force left Gaspé Bay, Que., for England in a convoy of more than 30 troopships, carrying what the Canadian War Museum describes as over 30,000 volunteers.
The sailing came two months after Britain’s declaration of war on Aug. 4, 1914, committed Canada to the First World War as part of the British Empire.
According to the Canadian War Museum, the convoy was made up of more than 30 ocean liners, escorted by ships of the Royal Navy. The vessels gathered in the sheltered waters of Gaspé Basin in the days before departure. Accounts of one battalion’s journey, published by the Royal Montreal Regiment’s museum, say its ship finally left the basin on Oct. 3 as part of a convoy of at least 30 other vessels.
Sources differ on the exact numbers. The War Museum refers to more than 30,000 men. Other published accounts, including a summary from New Zealand’s Ministry for Culture and Heritage, give the figure as 32,000 soldiers and 7,500 horses aboard 31 transports. No single number should be treated as definitive.
The horses, essential to the artillery, cavalry and supply wagons of the day, travelled in the same convoy, according to those accounts.
The voyage took about two weeks, according to the War Museum. Published accounts differ slightly on the arrival date. One source places the convoy’s arrival at Plymouth on Oct. 14, while another gives Oct. 15. The troops then boarded trains for Salisbury Plain, according to the War Museum, where the Canadians were allocated a section of the large chalk plateau in Hampshire and Wiltshire to set up training camps and other facilities.
The scene of the great armada forming up in Gaspé Bay was recorded by artist Frederick Sproston Challener, whose large oil painting of the convoy is held by the Canadian War Museum.
For Gaspé, the departure was a brief but dramatic moment. For the country, it marked the point at which a declaration made in London became a concrete commitment of Canadian soldiers, horses and equipment crossing an ocean in wartime.
Sources: Canadian War Museum; Royal Montreal Regiment museum; New Zealand History (Ministry for Culture and Heritage).
If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.
