A Rousing Send Off

The First World War energized and enabled Canada to express its loyalty to the Crown and the Empire. News articles, like the one below, show the enthusiasm and support the citizenry of this new country barely 50 years old. The community of Seaforth, Ontario took considerable time and effort to acknowledge the service of the new-found soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

In this case Privates Klein, Rolph, Spearpoint[i], and Westcott[ii] were honoured and acknowledged by Seaforth and they were representative of the demographics that characterized those that enlisted in the 2^nd Contingent of the C.E.F. Klein and Wescott were native born Canadian while Rolph and Spearpoint came from Britain.

“Nelson Westcott, Percy Rolph, Jas. Klein[iii], and Jas. Spearpoint, volunteers from Seaforth for the 2nd Canadian Contingent, were giving a rousing send-off Monday evening when they returned to London. A procession headed by the Citizens’ Band and made of No. 3 Company Thirty-Third Regiment, the Collegiate Cadets, the Home Guard and autos paraded down Main street which was lined with hundreds of cheering citizens. Short addresses were made by Mayor Ament, Col. Wilson, and others, after which the Mayor presented each of the volunteers wrist watches, the gift of the town and also with useful articles from the Red Cross. They were also given their share of the money collected here for the soldiers and the remainder will be sent to the men now at the front.”

Source: The Brussels Post. December 3, 1914. Page 1.

The article captures the spirit of the day and one can imagine the crowd lining the streets as the procession advanced to a point at which the speeches took place and then crowding around the dignitaries to hear the speeches. How did the four privates feel about the reception, standing with the crowd in their new uniforms? Or were they still in civilian clothes having had to wait almost a month after enlisting before they were called to duty with the 18^th Battalion in early December 1914? These men enlisted within a week of each other and Private Spearpoint’s attestation papers were witnessed by Private Westcott, upon his enlistment on November 2, 1914. They were now bound together as brothers-in-arms and had that bond further entrenched and solidified by the public acknowledgement of their leaving.

Private Rolf appreciated the efforts of the ladies of the Red Cross and sent a letter in early February, 1915 expressing his and the “other brave boys from Seaforth” appreciation for the superior woolen socks they provided:

“The ladies of the local Red Cross Association recently received a very nice letter from Mr. Percy Rolph, thanking them on behalf of himself and the other brave boys from Seaforth in the London military camp for the woolen socks are such comfort to all of them. The socks provided by the military authorities are mixed with cotton and with usage become so hard as to be very uncomfortable with the amount of marching and walking they have to do.”

Source: The Huron Expositor February 12 1915 Page 8.

Obviously the Canadian “kit”, as far as socks were concerned, was not adequate for the conditions of service Private Rolph and his mates experienced during training during the winter of 1915.

Of the four “boys from Seaforth” three were to survive the war. Private Spearpoint did not survive the war and is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial and is recorded to have died in the service of the 8^th Battalion, C.E.F. His name also is inscribed on the Seaforth, Ontario War Memorial, along with Percy Rolph’s brother Sapper Charles Frederick Rolph, and Nelson Westcott’s brother Private Charlie Clarence Victor Westcott.

[i] Note that the C.W.G.C. and the C.V.W.M. list Private Spearpoint as having died with the 8^th Battalion on August 29, 1918. He originally attested with the 18^th Battalion and he is listed on the April 1915 Nominal Roll with this 18^th.

[ii] Private Westcott’s service record indicates that he may have enlisted with the regimental number of 750 but no records are available to confirm this. He did enlist under two additional regimental numbers after 1914 and until his records are digitized his service can not be confirmed. His attestation papers under reg. no. 766515 indicate that he served 3 months with the 18^th Battalion.

[iii] Joseph Harold Klein, not James.