Guards were also established over the Marconi Wireless Towers at Newcastle, N.B., and Barrington Passage, the latter under command of Lieut.-Col. T. M. Seeley. These guards required the usual attention on the part of the Army Service Corps. To maintain the guard at Barrington Passage was a cause of anxiety, as it was stationed at a point some miles off the main road, in the midst of a wilderness, and could be reached only in good weather, as the road leading to the Wireless Station from the main highway was-well, simply impossible.
Permanent guards were also maintained at Louisburg, Glace Bay, Whitney Pier, Sydney, North Sydney, Sydney Mines, Cranberry Head, Chapel Hill, Canso and various other places.
Incidentally troops were gathering at Valcartier to form the First Contingent and the quota from the Maritime Provinces had to be transported to the place of rendezvous. The manner of the arrangement of this transportation was unique. Recruiting was being carried on in practically every city, town, village and hamlet in the Maritime Provinces. Movements were made when it was known that sufficient numbers of men had been recruited to justify sending them forward. On the A.D. of S. and T. rested the task of making train arrangements to get these recruits to Valcartier. It was done in this manner: Instructions were sent to various recruiting centres to have certain numbers of recruits entrain on a certain train on a certain day. Thus, for instance, the first lot might entrain at Louisburg, and others along the line as far as Sydney; probably some would be brought over from Sydney Mines and North Sydney to Sydney. At the latter place two, three or four special coaches would be attached to a regular train, and as this train proceeded towards Truro, the number of recruits would be augmented, until on its arrival at Truro it might have from two to three hundred on board. Meanwhile, a sufficient number would be run up from Halifax, and a special train would then be made up at Truro and run to Levis, P.Q., where a transfer would be made for Quebec and Valcartier. At other times Moncton would be made the point at which a special train would be made up, in which case St. John supplied the completing quota to make up the train load of 500 or thereabouts. It must be borne in mind, however, that the whole movement was planned ahead of time, and the transport scheme carried out on a definite plan.
Obviously it was impossible to send out transport warrants to cover the movement of these various groups, so an arrangement was made whereby the railway authorities agreed to accept temporary interim receipts from officers or non-commissioned officers in charge of these groups, on the presentation of a telegram or letter of instruction from either the A.D. of S. & T. or any other Staff officer. These receipts were issued in duplicate, one copy of which was kept by the ticket agent and the other mailed to the A.D. of S. & T. Upon receipt of the latter, covering transport warrants were mailed to the ticket agents concerned. By this means some thousands of troops were moved expeditiously from the Maritime Provinces to Valcartier.
New Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were forming in various parts of the Maritime Provinces, and it behooved the Army Service Corps to quarter them, arrange for supplies, water, light, land transportation, barrack equipment, and a thousand and one details incidental to the requirements of newly-formed military organizations, and of which only a trained soldier has the faintest conception. These new Units, or in some cases reinforcements, were scattered throughout the length and breadth of the three Provinces, at such places in Nova Scotia as: Halifax, Windsor, Truro, Pictou, New Glasgow, Antigonish, Sydney, North Sydney, Sydney Mines, Broughton, Glace Bay and Amherst.
When the Malleable Iron Works at Amherst, were converted into a domicile for the involuntary reception and entertainment of adherents of the doctrines of the Kaiser and his admirers, a small detachment of the Army Service Corps was sent there to attend to their well-being. The late Capt. P. F. Keating was in command of this detachment which had also to look after the needs of the recruits quartered in Amherst. Captain Keating was trained at Halifax and later proceeded Overseas in command of No. 4 Company of the Third Divisional Train. This Company was recruited at Halifax, having its headquarters in the old Medical College Building at the corner of College and Carlton Streets.
Shortly after the outbreak of war, Canadian horses began to find their way Overseas. In the first winter of the War the number shipped from the Port of Halifax was something like 17,000. On the Army Service Corps rested the duty of embarking these animals. The absence of forewarning of train loads of horses being en route for Halifax was sometimes the cause of great anxiety. At five o’clock one Easter Sunday morning a telephone message from a railway official conveyed the tidings that there were three train loads of horses in the freight yards consigned to the Assistant Director of Supplies and Transport. As this was the first intimation received of the movement of these horses, naturally no arrangements had been made for their reception, and as the ships by which they were to be conveyed Overseas were not in the harbor, it became necessary to arrange for their disentrainment without loss of time. Mr. M. McF. Hall, Secretary of the Halifax Exhibition, was called out of bed by telephone, the situation explained to him, and arrangements completed to detrain and stable the horses at the Exhibition Grounds. Every available man of the Army Service Corps was aroused from bed and marched to the Exhibition Grounds, there to care for these horses instead of proceeding to church to take part in Easter Sunday Service. Later, a detachment of artillerymen was told off to take on the responsibility of these horses. At least on two other occasions consignments of horses reached Halifax under similar circumstances.
Another “job” of the Army Service Corps at Halifax was to receive, account for and send forward Overseas thousands upon thousands of parcels of “comforts” for the troops at the Front, these parcels coming from all parts of Canada, comprising everything in size from an envelope containing a handkerchief to packing cases and barrels of comforts of every description. Every parcel received was given a number, registered, and then despatched Overseas.
Arrangements for the embarkation of complete Units and reinforcements of troops during the early part of the War also fell to the lot of the Army Service Corps, the A.D. of S. & T. being the responsible officer. He had a most capable and efficient assistant in the person of Capt. S. A. Doane, of Army Service Corps, whose knowledge of steamship matters is unsurpassed, and who carried out practically all the details incidental to the embarkation of troops at Halifax.
The Barrack Services under Capt. George Simms was a hard-worked branch, the pressure on which did not cease until long after peace had been declared.