NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMf mn u Ottawa L'Universite canadienne Canada's university mn FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES 1^=1 FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTDOCTORALES U Ottawa POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES L'Universite canadierine Canada's university Nicholas James Clarke AUTEUR DE LA THESE / AUTHOR OF THESIS _?!}_•_?• .(History) GRADE/DEGREE Department of History FACULTE, ECOLE, DEPARTEMENT/ FACULTY, SCHOOL, DEPARTMENT Unwanted Warners: The Rejected Volunteers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS C. Gaffield DIRECTEUR (DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS SUPERVISOR CO-DIRECTEUR (CO-DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS CO-SUPERVISOR EXAMINATEURS (EXAMINATRICES) DE LA THESE / THESIS EXAMINERS R. Connors S. Durflinger J. Keshen D. Morton Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Unwanted Warriors: The Rejected Volunteers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force By Nicholas (Nic) J. Clarke Thesis submitted to Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. degree in History University of Ottawa © 2009 Nicholas (Nic) J. 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Clarke, Ottawa, Canada, 2009 iii Abstract Unwanted Warriors: The Rejected Volunteers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Author: Nicholas (Nic) J. Clarke Supervisor: Chad Gaffield 2009 This study examines men who volunteered for active service during the Great War but were rejected as "unfit." In doing so, it explores the following issues: (1) the mechanisms by which the Canadian military adjudged an individual unfit to serve; (2) the difficulties faced by medical authorities when attempting to adjudge an individual's suitability for service; (3) how the military's construction of what characterised (un)fitness for service evolved during the Great War and what caused this evolution; (4) the clashing concepts of military fitness held by the Canadian military authorities, Canadian medical professionals, and lay people; (5) the implications of being labelled unfit for rejected volunteers and how these men reacted to being so labelled; and (6) how some individuals used claims of medical unfitness as a means to resist enlistment pressures or counter family members' attempts to enlist. This exploration highlights a group of individuals who have been overlooked in Canada's Great War historiography: rejected volunteers. It offers a new vantage point from which Great War historians might survey and reconceptualise a number of ongoing areas of research which include, but are not limited to, recruiting; manpower mobilisation; the growth of the post-war veterans' rights movement; civil-military and periphery-centre relations; agency and resistance; and how the war impacted on, and was understood by, Canada's civilian population. Furthermore, it examines the factors iv that informed early-twentieth-century Canadians' perceptions of disability, and, more broadly, what constituted disability. This study is founded on a research infrastructure of three interrelated databases. These databases contain information drawn from the attestation papers, service files, and, in some cases, personal correspondence, of 3,400 rejected volunteers. 3,050 of these men were rejected at Valcartier Camp in August-September, 1914, and represent 60 per cent of the total number of men - 5,081 - rejected at Valcartier during the formation of the First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The remaining 350 individuals were discharged as medically unfit to serve in England in 1916. The information contained in these databases enabled the description of physical and social characteristics of these men, as well as a close analyse of their reasons for rejection. In addition, they also allowed the tracing of multiple enlistment attempts; the examination of individual medical examiners' views regarding certain impairments; and the creation of personal histories - some extending well beyond 1918 - for a number of these individuals. 11 In memory of those who went and those who would have gone if they had been permitted V Acknowledgements It is oft-quoted wisdom that writing a dissertation is one of the loneliest tasks a person can experience. I cannot agree. In the last five years I have been blest with an incredible amount of support from family, friends, colleagues, and, indeed, strangers. It is no exaggeration to say that without this support this dissertation would never have been completed. Before acknowledging the myriad individuals who have supported me during the course of my studies, I would first like to recognise the financial support I have received from various institutions. I have been fortunate to have had my research funded in the form of an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, a Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship, an Associated Medical Services (AMS) Hannah Senior General Scholarship, and a number of excellence scholarships from the University of Ottawa. Furthermore, both the Association of Part-Time Professors of the University of Ottawa and Canadian Battlefields Foundation gave me generous support that allowed me to share my research with colleagues outside of Canada. My first thanks goes to my supervisor, Professor Chad Gaffield. Chad's enthusiasm for my topic was palpable and his insights invaluable. As well as being my supervisor, Chad also invited me to become a member of the Canadian Century Research Infrastructure (CCRI), a pan-Canadian, multi-disciplinary, and multi- institutional effort to develop a set of interrelated databases centred on data drawn from Canada's 1911,1921, 1931,1941, and 1951 census. During my time at the CCRI I was fortunate to meet and work with a numbering of leading scholars. I also developed many new academic and project management skills. vi Professors Serge Durflinger, Robert McDonald, Veronica Strong-Boag, Tim Cook, Galen Perras, Robert Dienesch, Richard Connors, Marc Milner, Vasilis Vourkoutiotis, and Kris Inwood all deserve special thanks. As well as offering large amounts of their time to hear my half-baked ideas (and then gently guide me back to the reality), they unbegrudgingly shared the fruits of their own research with me. Perhaps most importantly, they all reassured me that my work was of value. I must especially thank Serge for his support during some of the darkest hours of my dissertation. A true gentleman and scholar, Serge's door was always open, his advice always sound, his critiques always fair, and his words always heartening. The debt of gratitude I owe him cannot be calculated. University of Ottawa's Department of History was a wonderful environment in which to work. Both the faculty and administrative staff are wonderful people. Francine Laramee, Department Secretary, and Suzanne Dalrymple, Academic Assistant, Graduate Programs, deserve particular acknowledgement. Friendly, understanding, and supportive, both Francine and Suzanne often go far beyond the call of duty when helping students, a reality that is too often ignored. The department's vibrant graduate student community was a constant source of support. Adam Green, Anthony Di Mascio, Katherine Rollwagen, Betsey Baldwin and Adam Gough deserve special acknowledgement in this regard. Their friendship and camaraderie got me through the inevitable difficulties that one faces when writing a dissertation. Likewise, the insightful critiques they offered on drafts of my work greatly improved the final product. I am sure they all know far more about this topic and me than they ever wanted to know. vii Brian Jennings and Richard Smith, who I worked with at the CCRJ, also merit thanks. Their sense of humour, willingness to be a test audience for my conference papers, and the patience they demonstrated when teaching me the wonders of computer programming and database construction are much appreciated. My mother-in-law Anne George and my aunt-in-law Marcia Rioux, both talented academics in their own right, provided me with encouragement, guidance, editing, challenging and thought-provoking criticism, and a place to escape the dissertation when I needed it. Diana Monnet, opened her home to Marcia and I when we first moved to Ottawa and has been a continued support.