Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Lepan and The

DefiningMomentsCanada.ca LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARTHUR LEPAN The 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic at the Polish Army Camp at Niagara-on-the-Lake Kandace Bogaert “Tell them that a time such as, I would accept assistance from God, man or the devil.” n the morning of September 22, 1918, Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur D’Orr LePan made his way through Othe dense rows of tents that comprised the Polish Army Camp at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario (see Figures 1-4). Once LePan arrived at the hospital tents, he moved slowly, spending a couple of hours talking with as many convalescing soldiers as he could – it concerned him to see that some of these men were truly quite sick. As the Officer Commanding (O.C) the Polish Army Camp, this act of care had become part of his routine during the Spanish influenza pandemic, to ensure that morale among recruits remained high. The men in hospital were Polish-Americans, far away from their homes and families. On his way out of the hospital, LePan spoke quietly with Dr. J.L. Robinson, the camp medical officer (MO), who explained that he was short of help, and needed additional nurses and doctors to care for the sick Polish recruits. LePan’s days were long – after leaving the hospital, he worked tirelessly to procure the help Dr. Robinson needed. First, he called Major Morrison, the assistant director of medical services (ADMS) at the adjacent Canadian Camp, and asked for more nurses and medical supplies to treat the Polish soldiers who were ill. Then he spoke with two doctors, Lieutenants Goodwin and Neil from the neighbouring Fort Niagara, N.Y., who promised to visit the Polish soldiers to take specimens for study. In the afternoon, LePan went back to the hospital. LePan’s diary entry for this day ends with a sombre tally of the days’ deaths – one which occurred at 5:30 a.m and another at 3:30 p.m. Nearly every day, Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur D’Orr LePan recorded these kinds of details in his small, type-written diary, which was kept in a three-ringed binder (see Appendix 1). He filled two volumes in total from September 22 1917, when he was appointed as the Camp Commandant of the Polish Army Camp to March 25, 1919, when the camp was dis-assembled at the end of the First World War. On some days, LePan wrote only a few sentences, while others he elaborated and provided greater detail. How did a foreign national force end up training in Canada during the First World War? What can LePan’s diary reveal about the experience of the Spanish influenza pandemic in the Polish Army Camp at Niagara-on- the-Lake? This is significant as Niagara-on-the-Lake is thought the be the place where the deadly fall, 1918, wave of the pandemic began among soldiers in Ontario (Humphries 2005). When the First World War began in 1914, Polish immigrants in North America had to contend with a sense of divided loyalties. Many hoped for the re-unification of their homeland, and felt that supporting the Allied war effort would be way to achieve that goal. Although Russia had been a long-time enemy, American Poles, many of them liberal nationalists, held anti-German sentiments as well (Hapak 1981). The French were drawn into the idea of forming a “Polish Army in France” because staggering losses to © Defining Moments Canada 2018. All rights reserved. DefiningMomentsCanada.ca their army had created a shortage of soldiers as the war dragged on. In June of 1917, French President Raymond Poincaré announced his plans for the creation of a “Polish Army in France” (Ruskoski 2006), to be formed of volunteers from around the world, including Canada and the United States. The scheme would help replenish his forces while at the same time respond to French sympathies toward the cause of Polish independence (Rzepniewski 1995). To circumvent the problem of a foreign force training in America, potentially detracting recruits from the American army, the soldiers would be trained in Canada. In a multinational effort involving the American, Canadian and French governments, Niagara-on-the-Lake was chosen as the location for the Polish Army’s training camp. The Polish Military Commission began recruitment for this army immediately across the United States, and recruits began arriving at Niagara-on-the-Lake in September of 1917 (see Figure 5). The Polish Army Camp at Niagara-on-the-Lake was headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur D’Orr LePan, who was appointed as Commandant of the camp when it opened. LePan and served in this capacity until the camp closed in 1919 (Library and Archives of Canada n.d). According to LePan, the first cases of influenza entered the Polish Army Camp with American recruits for the Polish Army on September 13, 1918. On September 12, 1918, LePan reported that the battalions of the camp were assembled together for panoramic photographs, bringing the men together in close contact – a perfect scenario for the spread of influenza, which has a two day incubation period. On September 17, the camp was put under quarantine – a full week after the epidemic is believed to have begun. Prior to this, military officials had decided not to stop recruiting because to do so would prove to be a heavy blow to the Polish Army in France. That decision illustrated how military concerns superseded concerns about the soldiers’ well-being and public health generally (Humphries 2013). That fall, soldiers were still being housed in a “city of tents” (Hawkings, Mayer, and Richard-Onn 1990, p.22). According to LePan’s diary, there were at least six hospital tents at the Polish Army Camp. In fact, before military officials had found billets for the men in town and built additional accommodations at the Polish Army Camp in the winter of 1918, over 18,000 men in the Polish Camp and the adjacent Canadian Camp were housed primarily in tents. These had space for eight or nine adults, their heads facing in the same direction (Hawkings, Mayer, and Richard-Onn 1990). Given those cramped quarters, it is unsurprising that influenza, an airborne infectious agent, rapidly spread and quickly overwhelmed the Polish Army Camp. To make matters worse, that fall’s weather was marked by cold temperature and frequent rain, LePan reported; it must have been a truly miserable time to be sick. In spite of the miserable conditions, LePan spent a significant amount of time visiting sick soldiers in the hospital, sometimes for hours at a time, and even twice in one day. He also worked tirelessly to coordinate with military officials and ensure that the sick soldiers had the supplies and nursing assistance they needed. In his diary, LePan records that he frequently authorized spending additional funds to procure these resources. The shortage of supplies and assistance greatly frustrated him. “I ring Morrison and ask him to come over and ask him for more assistance telling him that I will defend the expenditure of © Defining Moments Canada 2018. All rights reserved. 2 DefiningMomentsCanada.ca any amount of money,” he wrote on September 22, “but neither he nor I can defend a shortage of medical assistance or supplies at this time…Tell them that at a time such as this, I would accept assistance from God, man or the devil.”(LePan 1918, p.53). As happened in many other hospitals during the pandemic, those caring for the sick soon found themselves stricken with flu, including Dr. Robinson, who fell ill on October 7, 1918. Perhaps from his frequent visits to the camp hospital, LePan stayed at home on November 28, -- “feeling punk,” he noted. Despite feeling unwell, he continued working until he was completely run-down. On December 18, feeling “rather rotten,” he went home and took to his bed. Four days later, Dr. Robinson, examined LePan and insisted that he stay at home to recover. Wihtin days, family also came down with flu. As late as January 5, 1919, LePan still felt “grippy and lazy.” Throughout the epidemic, LePan kept a careful record of each soldier who died – noting their names, places of burial, and dates of death. In total, 25 Polish soldiers died from influenza or pneumonia during the fall and winter waves of the pandemic which swept through the camp. These deaths represented nearly three quarters of the total deaths which occurred in the camp. Dr. Robinson reported that 368 Polish soldiers and 11 officers came down with influenza between September 10 and November 21, 1918 (Robinson 1918). Most Polish soldiers who died in Canada were buried in a special plot in the burial grounds of the St. Vincent de Paul’s Catholic Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake (see Figure 6). In some cases, military officials made arrangements with their families to send their bodies home. In his diary, LePan kept a detailed plan of the cemetery in Niagara-on-the-Lake showing where soldiers were buried. This area later saw the placement of a large granite cross with the inscription, “Died for Poland.” The site has became an important memorial for Polish Army soldiers who died during the First World War (Ascher 1923). After the armistice, LePan went on to continue his distinguished career at the University of Toronto, where he was the superintendent of buildings and grounds until 1956. He superintended the design and construction of a number of landmark projects including the Varsity Stadium and grandstand, the Ontario College of Education, the Banting Institute, and the Dunlop Observatory (Toronto Star 1976). Although his diary ends with the conclusion of the war and dissolution of the Polish Army Camp in 1919, the document is an invaluable resource for historians interested in the 1918 pandemic in Canada.

Load more