When war broke out on August 4th, 1914, the papers were full of the "Calls for Men". I did not think very seriously of it, till a conference was held in the office at which it was pointed out that as I was Canadian born and had no ties, it was my duty to enlist. People kept asking me to enlist with them and others asked if I intended to go, until I couldn't stand it any longer and on August 27th, 1914, I made up my mind to enlist.

On August 28th I went to the Headquarters of the Fort Garry Horse and was sworn in. On the 29th I reported at 9 AM and ran up and down the Mulvey School ground till 11. At 2 we fell in again and took a long route march. My feet ached and in spite of the fact that I was in fairly good condition from football, I was tired.

We attended a further drill at 9 AM on Sunday and were ordered to report back at 6 PM to leave for Valcartier. I spent the day (Aug 30) visiting my friends saying goodbye. We had a rather heart breaking farewell at home but Mother and Father bore up well. We all felt that I wouldn't come back and I gave away a lot of my things. when I fell in at 6 PM I had on my oldest clothes and only took a gold wrist watch, a Gillette safety razor and a change of socks and shirts. I drew my pay ($150.00) and had it changed into English gold and American gold.

At 6 PM we fell in on the Mulvey School grounds. We certainly presented a bizarre appearance. Most of the men wore civvies of varying vintage. The officers had everything from kilts to white helmets. After a lot of delay we marched down the street with our chests out in what we believed the true military manner. Looked at from this distance (9 years after) all we can say is, "We knew not what we did". It was at once glorious and pathetic. On the train we rode in "colonist cars" and had blankets issued out to soften the boards. When we got to North Bay we were given quite the reception. The girls gave us candy and sandwiches. A lot of the boys got addresses of girls to whom they promised to write.