Home Front

Berlin reached their goal of raising $75,000 for the Patriotic Fund, and the community kept contributing beyond that goal. With over $16,000 extra earned in the matter of a week after their initial donation of $75,000, Berlin and the Waterloo Region ranked among the top regions in Canada for monetary support per capita.

Waterloo Region was at the forefront of the Patriotic Fund campaign at the initial outset of the war. The cause was supported by several prominent local figures, including L. J. Breithaupt. (Photos courtesy of the Canadian War Museum, “Patriotic Fund Growing“ Berlin Daily Telegraph, October 17 1914 and Breithaupt Diary Collection, Rare Books Room at Dana Port Library, University of Waterloo))

On 15 October 1914, the Canadian government called for a Second Field Division to be formed in order to further its aim of 100,000 troops for the British forces. At the end of September the First Contingent had finished training at Valcatier, Quebec and was shipped to Liverpool, England for their final stint of training. Over 22,000 men were to be shipped immediately to Valcatier for training. Once this division had completed its training, Canada’s total commitment to the war effort will have reached 50,000 in a three-month span.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian War Museum; “Canada Will Send Second Field Force,” Hespeler Herald, 15 October 1914)

19 October 1914 marked the second major detachment of troops from the region being shipped out for training. A magnificent send-off was witnessed on this day with songs such as A Long Way to Tipperary being sung by the crowds. Over 8,000-10,000 individuals attended the parade. Public and separate schools marched their students to the town square for the sendoff. The enthusiasm that saw men off in August was still visible in Waterloo Region in October.

A total of twenty-five volunteers left on this day. Although this was a small number, these men proudly enlisted themselves as part of the government’s goal of 100,000 volunteers. In the words of Berlin’s Mayor Euler, “this was one of the greatest events in the history of the city.”

(“Berlin Send-Off to the Front,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, 19 October 1914)

One month after starting its knitting campaign for Hespeler volunteers, the women of Hespler turned their attention to other causes as well. With the rising concern about the plight of the Belgians, the Belgian Relief Fund in Berlin had been formed. Hespeler women also set out to raise money for their own Belgian Relief Fund.

The Hespeler Women also addressed the need for hospital vehicles for the European theater. Hespeler had collected a total of $154.21 for the Hospital Ship Fund since August. As a result of the nationwide campaign, the Canadian war office allocated $125,000 to procure ambulances of which half would be deployed in France and the other half in England. An additional $160,000 would be spent on equipping a naval hospital vessel. In recognition for the Canadian women who contributed to the fund the ship was to be titled “Canadian Women’s Hospital.” The women of Hespeler and Waterloo Region could take personal pride in this announcement.

Ambulances played a vital role in transporting wounded soldiers from the frontlines of France to the coast. From there hospital ships transferred the injured across the English Channel to the safety of England.

(Picture is of RMS Llandovery Castle, one of five Canadian hospital ships that served in the First World War, “Women’s Patriotic League,” Hespeler Herald, 22 October 1914)

On 5 November, the Hespeler Herald reported on the successful Patriotic Fund event hosted by the Pacific Railway Company (P.R.C). The organization donated one full day’s worth of pay from each employee, from all the provinces, which raised a total of $142,000 for the Patriotic Fund. The P.R.C. hoped to set an example for other companies in Canada. In Berlin it was already common practice to donate to in one’s place of work as part of collective donations.

(“Pacific Railway and the Patriotic Fund,” Hespeler Herald, 5 November 1914)

The Waterloo Region became heavily involved in the Belgian Relief Fund during the war. Originally started in the United States, the Fund sought to provide food to German-occupied Belgium and Northern France. Although it did not garner as much attention as the national Patriotic Fund, the county raised a substantial amount by late November and every township in Waterloo Region contributed to the fund.

George, Nash. “Herbert Hoover and the Belgian Relief Fund.” (Nash, George H., Herbert Hoover and Belgian Relief in World War I Accessed April 19^th, 2014. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1989/spring/hoover-belgium.html)