Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

‘The Greater and Grimmer Game’: Sport as an Arbiter of Military Fitness in the British Empire – The Case of ‘One-Eyed’ Frank Mcgee

2011; Routledge; Volume: 28; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09523367.2011.547320

1743-9035

Nic Clarke,

Canadian Identity and History

Abstract On 16 September 1916, Lieutenant Francis 'Frank' Clarence McGee of Ottawa was killed by heavy shellfire on the Somme. A member of one of Canada's most prominent political families and a hockey superstar, McGee's death was greatly mourned. His death was all the more tragic because he had an impairment that should have caused him to have been rejected for service. McGee had been partially blinded while playing hockey in 1900. This paper challenges the traditionally held view that McGee entered the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) by using a ruse to mask his visual limitations, arguing that he was accepted into the CEF because of his status as a hockey star. More broadly, this paper offers a conduit through which to explore the role sport played as an arbiter of military fitness in the British Empire during the early twentieth century and contributes to our understanding of the role of sport in the British Empire's preparation for war. Keywords: Canada; Empire; First World War; ice hockey; military; medical Notes 1. Mangan, The Games Ethic and Imperialism, 44–6,143; Mangan, '"Muscular, Militaristic and Manly"', 28–36. 2. Mangan, The Games Ethic and Imperialism, 47–8; Mangan, '"Muscular, Militaristic and Manly"', 33–6. Also see note 5. 3. Bailey, Leisure and Class in Victorian England, 129; Campbell, '"Training for Sport is Training for War"'. 4. Mangan, The Games Ethic and Imperialism, 55–6; Mangan and McKenzie, '"Pig-sticking is the Greatest Fun"', 93–4; Mangan, '"Muscular, Militaristic and Manly"', 37–43; Wilson, 'Skating to Armageddon', 320. 5. The unifying nature of these sporting exchanges should not be pushed too far. G.T. Vincent has, for example, demonstrated that the 1908 Anglo-Welsh rugby tour of New Zealand led to the development of open animosity between the tourists and their hosts, and the wider rugby public. Cricket exchanges between Britain and her dominions led to similar conflicts: Mangan, The Games Ethic and Imperialism, 52–4; Cashman, 'Symbols of Imperial Unity'; Crotty, 'Manly and Moral'; Mangan and Hickey, 'A Pioneer of the Proletariat'; Moss, Manliness and Militarism, 9; Nauright, 'Sport, Manhood and Empire', 239–55; Redmond, 'Viceregal Patronage'; Silver, 'Canada Fit for War', 8–9; Vincent 'Practical Imperialism'; Wilson, 'Skating to Armageddon', 316. 6. For a discussion of Gordon's works see Lennox, Charles W. Gordon. 7. The action in which McGee was killed was the bloodiest fighting the 21st Battalion had experienced since entering the trenches a year before. Between 15 and 16 September 1916, the battalion suffered 73 killed, 165 wounded and 15 missing and presumed dead: 'Four Kingston Officers With 21st Battalion Have Been Killed', Kingston Daily Standard, 23 Sept. 1916; 'Lieut. Frank McGee Laughed at Death: Lieut. Col. Jones Tells How He took Command of First Line', Kingston Daily British Whig, 11 Nov. 1916; 'Many Ottawa And District Men Figure In Casualty Lists: Over 11 Hundred Names Contained In Week-End Lists Canadian Loss', The Ottawa Evening Journal, 25 Sept. 1916; Department of Militia and Defence [hereafter DMD], 'Lt. McGee, Frank Clarence', Record Group [hereafter RG] 150, Accession 1992–93/166 'CEF Personnel Files' [hereafter PF], Box 6829 – 29, Library and Archives Canada [hereafter LAC]. For a description of the action in which Lt. McGee was killed see DMD, 'War diary of the 21st Canadian Infantry Battalion: 1915/05/15-1917/01/31', RG 9, Series III-D-3, vol. 4930, reel T-10731, LAC; and Nichol, Ordinary Heroes, 90–1. 8. Charles was a veteran of the Anglo-Boer War: DMD, 'Pte. McGee, Charles Edward', RG 38, A-1-a, vol. 74, LAC; DMD, 'Cpt. McGee, Charles Edward', PF, Box 6829 – 4. LAC. 9. 'Ottawans In Casualties: Lt. Frank McGee's Death Was Officially Announced Saturday', Ottawa Citizen, 25 Sept. 1916; 'Thrown from His Horse', Toronto Globe, 10 May 1904; 'Sportsmen Pay Tribute To Late Comrade', Ottawa Citizen, 25 Sept. 1916, 9; 'Jas. McGee Dead', Ottawa Citizen, 17 May 1904; 'James McGee Buried', Toronto Globe, 17 May 1904; DMD, 'Cpt. McGee, Charles Edward' DMD, 'Cpt. McGee, Walter Robert, PF, Box 6832 – 30, LAC; Second Supplement to the London Gazette, 9 Jan. 1917, 10 January 1917, 465. 10. 'Ottawans In Casualties', Ottawa Citizen, 25 Sept. 1916; 'Sportsmen Pay Tribute To Late Comrade', Ottawa Citizen, 25 Sept. 1916. 11. 'Ottawans In Casualties', Ottawa Citizen, 25 Sept. 1916. 12. The prominence of the McGee family is not only indicated by the political positions held by John Joseph McGee and Thomas D'Arcy McGee, but also by the fact that Sir Wilfred Laurier and other senior Canadian politicians attended James McGee's funeral in 1904. James McGee's cortege – made up of over '400 prominent citizens walking', as well as numerous carriages – was said to be over half a mile in length. Admittedly, this show of respect would have also been motivated by the fact James McGee, like his brother Frank, was a sports star. At the time of his death he was the captain of the Ottawa Rough Riders and was a member of the Ottawa Hockey Club's senior team: 'James McGee Buried', Toronto Globe, 17 May 1904. 13. 'Ottawans In Casualties'; 'Lieut. McGee Wounded'. 14. Reddick, Killing Frank McGee; 'Off the Ice to War; "One-eyed' Frank McGee was a Hockey Star Who Went to Great Lengths for his Country', Toronto Star, 11 Nov. 2004, E6; 'Episode 1: A Simple Game' in Hockey: A People's History. 15. Despite the fact many hockey writers commonly refer to the Ottawa Hockey Club's 1903–1905, 1906 Stanley Cup champion team as the 'Silver Seven', the team never officially used this name, nor was it in common usage as a nickname among the team's many fans during the period. Rather, the team was generally referred to as the 'Ottawas' by both its supporters and sports journalists. Paul Kitchen, discussion with author, 15 April 2007. 16. 'Off the Ice to War', Toronto Star, 11 Nov. 2004. 17. Tim Flanigan, 'McGee Measured Up to the Standard of His Sporting Life In Battle', Daily British Whig, 3 Oct. 1916. 18. McGee's average of three goals a game has only been equalled by one other player in major senior play – the Montreal Victorias' centre Russell 'Dubbie' Bowie. See Dubbie Bowie biography at 'Legends of Hockey' website, www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?type=Player&mem=P194503&list=ByName#photo, accessed 23 June 2007. 19. Despite the Nuggets' trouncing, it should be noted that the Nuggets' goaltender, 17-year-old Albert Forrest, was widely considered to be one of the stars of the series. Indeed, the Ottawa Citizen would state that the youth was '[t]he only man on the team that played a really fine game of hockey … [b]ut for him Ottawa's figures may well have doubled'. Adding yet another fact to the hockey trivia fan's arsenal, Forrest remains the youngest goaltender ever to have played in a Stanley Cup match: 'Klondike Hockeyites Meet an Overwhelming Defeat at the Capital', Dawson Yukon World, 17 Jan. 1905; 'Boyle Tells How the Klondikers Lost', Dawson Daily News, 17 Jan. 1905; 'Klondikers Quest for Stanley Cup Revisited', Ottawa Citizen, 20 Aug. 2005, C6; Frank McGee biography, 'Legends of Hockey' website, www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?type=Player&mem=P194506&list=ByName#photo, accessed 23 June 2007. 20. 'C.P.R. Team Beaten. Hawksbury Team Won The Hockey Match Last Night', Ottawa Citizen, 22 March 1900; 'Ottawans In Casualties'. 21. 'Ottawans In Casualties'. 22. Visual acuity is measured relative to what a person with normal eyesight could see at 20 feet (six metres). Under this system, which is still the most common clinical measurement of visual function, 20/20 (D=20) means normal vision, while higher numbers expressed increasing limited visual acuity. For example, a person with a visual acuity of 20/40 (D=40) has half the visual acuteness of a person with normal eyesight, as they see at 20 feet the same detail a person with 20/20 vision sees at 40 feet. Likewise, a number below 20 indicates increased visual acuity. Therefore a person with a visual acuity of 20/10 (D=10) sees at 20 feet what a person with 20/20 vision sees at 10 feet; DMD, Regulations for the Canadian Medical Service, 1910, 49–50. 23. In November 1915, Canadian visual acuity standards were lowered. Recruits were now to be considered fit if they had a visual acuity of 20/60 in each eye, or 20/20 in their right eye and no less that 20/80 in their left eye. Glasses were still not allowed. In June 1916, the military authorities authorised the provision of glasses to trained recruits who were found to have substandard vision, provided their visual impairment was not due to a squint, a morbid condition of the eyes or lids of either eye liable to aggravation or recurrence, or any defect which could not be corrected, by the aid of glasses, up to the standard required for recruits on enlistment. In August 1916 the CEF's visual acuity standards were dropped further. From this point forward recruits were to be accepted as fit if they had 20/80 vision in each eye without glasses, or had 20/80 vision in their right eye and no less that 20/200 vision in their left eye: 'Standard of Vision: Revised Requirements', 19 Nov. 1915, cited in General Orders, Militia Orders and Precis of Headquarters Letters Bearing Upon The Administration of the Canadian Army Medical Service Published Between August 6 1914 and December 31 1916 (Ottawa: Militia Council, 1917) [hereafter ACAMS], 82; 'Defective Vision, Inspection of Recruits, Supply of Glasses,' 16 June 1916, ACAMS, 140; 'Vision of Recruits: Revised Standards,' 24 Aug. 1916, ACAMS, 164–65. 24. DMD, 'Physical Requirements of Men Included In Overseas Drafts', date unknown, file HQ 54-21-51-9 RG 24, vol. 1144, LAC. Also see Director of Medical Services, Canadians to the Secretary, War Office, Whitehall, 9 March 1916; War Office to the Director of Medical Services, Canadian Contingent, 16 March 1916; and Director of Medical Services, Canadian Contingents to Headquarters, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 26 Sept. 1916, RG 9 III-A-1, 8-2-10, LAC. 25. Paul Kitchen, discussion with author, 15 April 2007; 'McGee, Francis Clarence', Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7583&&PHPSESSID=nispeo2232sjdiublejqof84f2, accessed 14 Oct. 2008. 26. 'Only the English Get Fun Out of War', New York Times, 4 Sept. 1914. 27. Apocryphal or not, the sentiments portrayed in the cartoon more than adequately reflected civilian anger and disbelief regarding military dental requirements. Indeed, one historian would later state that the cartoon demonstrated that 'even the layman could see the injustice and futility' of the Imperial Army's dental requirements. Anson, The New Zealand Dental Services, 20–1. 28. British journalist and author Robert Roberts, for example, described in his memoir of growing up in Salford in the early-twentieth century the following exchange between his mother and one Mr. Bickham, a Boer War veteran: 'On 5 August [1914] in our village we saw Mr Bickham … returning from an attempt to join up. … "Turn down!" he said disgustedly – "Bad teeth! They must want blokes to bite the damned Germans!" … Mr Bickham went on his way "They'll be pulling me in, though," he called over his shoulder, "before this lot's done!"' While this passage suggests that such comments were made by rejected men, some caution does need to be exercised. Roberts described this event almost 60 years after it had occurred and thus it is possible that his recollections of the event had been moulded by his exposure to the Punch cartoon, or references to it. The exchange between the character Snowy and his examining medical officer in the Gallipoli echoes both the Punch cartoon and Roberts's recollection: Medical Officer: Teeth aren't all that good. Snowy: Supposed to shoot the enemy, not bite them. (Roberts, The Classic Slum, 150; Gallipoli). 29. Frank Charles McGee (1926–1999), was the Member of Parliament for York-Scarborough in John Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservative governments of 1957–63. He became Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration on 17 August 1962. McGee held this position until 6 February 1963. Diefenbaker appointed McGee to Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio on 18 March 1963 just weeks before the April 1963 election in which the Progressive Conservatives lost power and McGee lost his seat. After losing his seat McGee became the host of CBC Television's current events discussion forum The Sixties (1963–5). In 1984 McGee became one of the founding appointees of the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), a position he held for five years. See 'Frank Charles McGee', Parliament of Canada, www2.parl. gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=8d562f1e-1f7b-49f6-a59f-7a25cafb462c& Language=E&MenuID=Lists.Members.aspx&MenuQuery=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.parl.gc.ca%2FParlinfo%2FLists%2FMembers.aspx%3FParliament%3D%26Riding%3D%26Name%3Dm%26Party%3D%26Province%3D%26Gender%3D%26New%3D False%26Current%3DFalse%26Picture%3DFalse, accessed 14 Oct. 2008; 'Eighteen Ministry', Privy Council Office, www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?doc=min/18_e.htm& lang=eng&page=information&sub=publications, accessed 14 Oct. 2008; 'CBC Directory of Television Series 1952–1982', www.film.queensu.ca/cbc/Index.html#Top, accessed 14 Oct. 2008; Reflections: Twenty Years of Independent External Review, 25. 30. McKinley, Putting A Roof On Winter, 45. 31. 'With the Volunteers', Kingston Daily British Whig, 16 Nov. 1914, 5. 32. Diary of Sgt. A.W. Symes, 16 Jan. 1915, printed in the 21st Battalion Communique 5, no. 2 (June 1936), 4; 'Battalion Plays Hockey', Kingston Daily British Whig, 18 Jan. 1915. 33. Lt. McGee, Frank Clarence, PF, Box 6829 – 29, LAC. 34. Ibid. 35. Medical examinations of Canadian battalions arriving in England during the first two years of the war revealed that on average 5 to 15% of their men were unfit to serve. Within individual battalions, numbers of unfit men could, on occasion, reach seemingly epic proportions. For example, when the 96th Canadian Infantry Battalion disembarked in England in October 1916, 43% (330 out of 770) of its enlisted men were found to be unfit. Within the next month another three infantry battalions – the 131st, the 139th, and the 172nd – would reach Albion's shores with over 30% of their manpower unfit for service: Kierstead, 'The Canadian Military Medical Experience', 33; 'Copies of Correspondence Etc., Bearing on the Physical Standard of Recruits For CEF, European War,' file GAQ 9-25, RG 24, vol. 1836, LAC; Adjutant General to Perley, 9 Nov. 1916, file 10–12–15, RG 9, Series III–A–I, vol. 90, LAC. Also see the case of Elvin Wolf below. 36. Bruce, Report on the Canadian Army Medical Services, 94–5; #297454, Mick, Russell, PF, Box 6153–40, LAC. 37. LAC, Backcheck: a Hockey Retrospective, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/hockey/index_e.html, accessed 23 June 2007. 38. Craig Brown and Loveridge, 'Unrequited Faith', 302; Granatstein, Canada's Army, 55–7. 39. Bird, And We Go On, 11–12. 40. Bird was rejected for service by 25th Canadian Infantry Battalion in the fall of 1914 at the behest of his brother, Stephen, who was a sergeant in the unit. In 1915 he was rejected by a unit in western Canada while working as a farmhand in Saskatchewan. Although Bird provided no reason for this rejection his bad teeth were likely the reason. Bird, And We Go On, 11–13. 41. Bird, And We Go On, 14. 42. DMD, A.W. Anderson, RG 150/Accession 1992–93/175 'Files of CEF Volunteers who were rejected' [hereafter FMR], Vol.1, LAC; G. Evens, FMR, vol. 4, LAC. 43. Glazier twice tried to enlist in the 21st Battalion in 1914. Unsuccessful, Glazier later joined the 92nd Battalion in 1915 but was discharged when his true age came to light. Undeterred, Glazier travelled to England where he joined the Royal Engineers in 1916. He served two months in the trenches before being discharged on account of his age. Ever eager to do his part, Glazier returned to Canada and went on to enlist again before the war was over. 'With The Volunteers', Kingston Daily British Whig, 16 Nov. 1914; 'Private Terrence [sic] Glazier', London Free Press, 30 May 1916; # 194971, Torrence Glazier, PF, Box 3580-11. 44. Pirie, The Stump Ranch, 13. 45. Bentley's impairment, which was masked by a 'well fitted glass eye', was discovered soon after he arrived in England. Initially recommended by a medical board for base duty, he was sent to Canada and discharged in late 1915 after dislocating his shoulder. This was not, however, to be the end of Bentley's military career. He re-enlisted 21 March 1917 as a member of Canadian Forestry Corps (CFC). This time Bentley's examining medical officer noted Bentley's impairment, but passed him, stating 'left eye none but as he is a good drill instructor and has seen service I deem it wise to take him in'. That Bentley was destined for the CFC rather than an infantry unit would have further smoothed his path as the CFC had lower physical and visual requirements than combat units. These lower standards included allowing the acceptance of recruits with only one eye. #8047, Bentley, John, PF, Box 666-33, LAC; Adjutant-General, Canadian Militia to Inspector-General of Western Canada, 22 Jan. 1917, File 7 'Circular Letters to 8,' RG 24, vol. 4616, LAC. 46. #550051 Hamilton, J.H., and #448196 Picotte, H., 'Section M', Appendix to the proceedings of the Board of Inquiry into the report on the Canadian Army Medical Service by Colonel Herbert A. Bruce and the interim report of Surgeon-General G.C. Jones, LAC, William Babtie Fonds, MG30-E3. 47. Assistant Director Medical Services (ADMS), MD 13 to Regimental Medical Officer, 16 Feb. 1916, File HQ593-3-7, 'Medical Inspection of Recruits, Second Contingent, European War,' RG 24, Vol. 1312, LAC. 48. 'Physical Standards For Recruits: Rejection of Physically Unfit', 3 Oct. 1916, ACAMS, 181–82. 49. 'Four Kingston Officers With 21st Battalion Have Been Killed'; 'Ottawans In Casualties'. 50. Paul Kitchen, conversation with author, 15 April 2007. 51. 'Sportsmen Pay Tribute'. 52. A recent study has presented evidence that indicates the average height of Canadian males in the early twentieth century was just over 5ft 7in (170.2 cm). See Cranfield and Inwood, 'The Great Transformation'. 53. The author's examination of the 2,200 men rejected at Valcartier Mobilisation Camp between August and September 1914 whose attestation papers recorded a measurement for the recruits' expanded chest provides an average of 35.85in. The minimum chest expansion required of a recruit by the CEF in this period was 33.5in. Mobilization Order – Qualifications for Service,' 17 Aug. 1914, ACAMS, 14. 54. Lt. McGee, Frank Clarence, PF, Box 6829 – 29, LAC; 'Aberdeens Are Champions', Ottawa Journal, 7 March 1902; 'Hockey Championship Belongs to Ottawa', Ottawa Journal, 11 March 1903; Flanigan, 'McGee Measured Up to the Standard of His Sporting Life In Battle'. 55. The first recorded usage of this nickname I have discovered comes in a March 1903 Ottawa Journal article, 'Hockey Championship Belongs to Ottawa'; 'Ice Record by Cresceus', New York Times, 15 Feb. 1903; 'Cresceus the Great', Toronto Globe, 28 Feb. 1903; Paul Kitchen, conversation with author, 15 April 2007. For information on Cresceus see McCartney, The Story Of A Great Horse; Aker, Drivers Up, 244–5. 56. 'Sporting Notes', Ottawa Citizen, 5 May 1900. 57. Flanigan, 'McGee Measured Up to the Standard of His Sporting Life In Battle'. 58. In some cases violence on the ice could also spill into the crowd. During a match between two Ottawa-based teams in 1899 a stick-swinging fight on the ice early in the game led to supporters of the two teams coming to blows: 'Hockey Of The Warmest Kind', Ottawa Journal, 12 Jan. 1899; 'Ottawa Led At the Finish', Toronto Globe, 24 Feb. 1904; 'Second Cup Game To-Night', Toronto Globe, 25 Feb. 1904; 'Marlboros' Homecoming', Toronto Globe, 29 Feb. 1904; Lorenz and Osborne, '"Talk About Strenuous Hockey"'; Roxborough, The Stanley Cup Story, 29–30; Wilson, 'Skating to Armageddon', 319. 59. Wilson, 'Skating to Armageddon', 315; 'McGee Measured Up to the Standard of His Sporting Life In Battle'. 60. Arthur Farrell (1877–1909) played for the Montreal Shamrocks between 1897 and 1901, winning two Stanley Cups (1899 and 1900). Dying from tuberculosis in 1909, he was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 1965. See 'Farrell, Arthur', Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, www.biographi.ca/009004-119-e.php?&id_nbr=6705, accessed 10 Sept. 2008. 61. Farrell, Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game, 35, 38–39, 42–43. 62. Flanigan, 'McGee Measured Up to the Standard of His Sporting Life In Battle'. 63. 'Ottawans in Casualties'. 64. Inspector of Penitentiaries in the pre-war period, Hughes had considerable militia experience. He had served during the Northwest campaign of 1885, and at the outbreak of the war was commander of the Kingston-based 14th Regiment (Princess of Wales Own Rifles). He was appointed to mobilise and command the 21st battalion in November 1914, and held that position until he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and given command of the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 4th Division in July 1916. Hughes gained his promotion, thanks to his brother's interference, in spite of being implicated by Major-General R.E.W. Turner as one of the officers at fault for the 2nd Canadian Division's less than impressive showing at St. Eloi Craters in April 1916. Brigadier-General Hughes was relieved of his command of the 10th Brigade in January 1917, and appointed to the command of a reserve brigade in England. 'With The Gallant Soldiers in the City of Kingston', Kingston Daily Standard, 19 Dec. 1914; Fraser, Historical Calendar, 9; Cook, At the Sharp End; Haycock, Sam Hughes, 115, 301; Morton, A Peculiar Kind of Politics, 119. 65. 'The Canadian Medical Services'; Macphail, Official History of the Canadian Forces, 161. 66. For an examination of the patronage and corruption that infected the CEF for much of the Great War see Morton, A Peculiar Kind of Politics; and, Haycock, Sam Hughes, 47–8, 143, 226–7, and 234–53. 67. Campbell's description of Wolf as a 'mighty nice trim fellow … 5ft 9in [175.3 cm] tall and … 160lbs [72.7 kg]' stands in direct contrast to his attestation paper which records his height as 5ft 5.75in (167 cm) and his weight as 138lb (62.7 kg). A medical board in England raised further doubts about Campbell's claims. The board found that Wolf had suffered his hand injury only four years prior to enlistment. Furthermore, despite Campbell's claims to the otherwise, the board noted that the injuries to the 19-year-old's hand made 'it impossible [for him] to handle a rifle'. The board also found that Wolf had ongoing pain and stiffness in his left leg as a result of having suffered a compound fracture of his left leg in 1910. #625347 Wolfe [sic], Lee Roy, PF, Box 10519-9, LAC. 68. Kemp's directive was academic. Wolf had re-enlisted in the 151st Battalion under an assumed name (Lee Roy Wolfe) on 8 April – a mere 15 days after his rejection (and six days after Campbell had put pen to paper on his behalf) and was a member of the 151st Battalion when it sailed for England on the SS California on 3 October 1916. In spite of both Kemp's instructions, and the aid Wolf received from members of the 151st Battalion when he enlisted a second time, the Albertan would never see France. As Kemp's military advisors had predicted, Wolf was found to be medically unfit for service by a medical board at Shorncliffe Camp on 22 November 1916. Designated a local casualty, he was moved to the Canadian Casualty Assembly Centre (CCAC) at Hastings in early December the same year. Wolf languished in Hastings for a month before being shipped back to Canada as physically unfit for war service on 8 January 1917. He received his final discharge papers at Quebec City on 4 February the same year. George B. Campbell to R.H. Pope, 2 April 1916, and R.H. Pope to A. E. Kemp, 12 April 1916, File HQ 593-3-7, 'Medical Inspection of Recruits 2nd Contingent European War', RG 24, vol. 1311, LAC; #624378 Wolf, Elvin Lee, LAC, PF, Box 10517-10, LAC; #625347 Wolfe [sic], Lee Roy, LAC, PF, Box 10519-9, LAC. 69. Pirie, The Stump Ranch, 32. 70. Pirie, as one might expect, gives no indication as to the identity of this officer. It is, however, unlikely that it was Frank McGee. Pirie states that this conversation was subsequent to him rejoining the 21st Battalion after being hospitalised in England on account of having contracted measles. If this was the case, the conversation cannot have occurred before 6 October 1916, when the reinforcement party that Pirie was a part of finally caught up with the battalion on the Brick Fields of Albert. McGee had been killed 20 days earlier. Pirie, The Stump Ranch, 29, 32. 71. It is possible Duggan was rejected by the Princess Patricia's because the unit was looking to recruit men with previous military experience. However, examination of Duggan's personal correspondence indicates that he had been officially turned away on account of his heart condition: 'Biography', n.d., p.2, and Herrick Duggan to Mildred Duggan, 13 Oct. 1914, Herrick S. Duggan Fonds, MG30-E303, LAC. 72. Clarke, '"He Was My Best Subaltern"'; Hotchkiss, 'One of Kitchener's Kids'; Herrick S. Duggan. Fonds, LAC, MG30-E303; 'George Herrick Duggan', in Prominent People of the Province of Quebec; George Herrick Duggan Fonds, MG30-B124, LAC; 'Mrs. G.H. Duggan', in Prominent People of the Province of Quebec, unpaginated.