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Chapter 6 – The First World War: 1914-1918. Newfoundland at War Grade 8 Social Studies. Chapter Overview. This chapter will focus on the following aspects of Newfoundland’s participation in the First World War: The outbreak of war and Newfoundland’s involvement.
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Chapter 6 – The First World War: 1914-1918 Newfoundland at War Grade 8 Social Studies
Chapter Overview This chapter will focus on the following aspects of Newfoundland’s participation in the First World War: • The outbreak of war and Newfoundland’s involvement. • The role of volunteers and the conscription issue. • The cost of the war. • Women’s suffrage movement (right to vote). • The influenza outbreak of 1918-1919.
1) The Outbreak of War War Breaks Out • When Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, Newfoundland considered itself at war as well since it was part of the British Empire along with Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others. Enlistment and Recruitment • Many young men rushed to join up for the adventure and the chance to display their patriotism or love for the mother country, England. • Many people were encouraged to join up through the use of propaganda.
Propaganda is information used to promote a political cause or point of view. • During World War I , propaganda posters were used to get men to sign up, encourage the saving of food and supplies, and often portrayed the enemy as truly evil. • Used by both the Allies and Central Powers.
Those Who Served • Memorial University is named in honour of those who died fighting for Newfoundland & Labrador. • The names of those who died are recorded in The Book Of Remembrance and placed in three locations: Memorial University, Mile One Stadium and the original in the Memorial Chamber in the Peace Tower of Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Beaumont Hamel • On July 1st, 1916 the Newfoundland Regiment fought in the battle of the Somme at the French town of Beaumont Hamel. • During the morning of the battle, the Regiment was ordered to move out of its trenches and across the open territory of No Man’s Land toward the enemy positions
As the Newfoundlanders advanced they were met with heavy machine gun fire from the German trenches. • Of the 801 soldiers of the Regiment who went over the top that morning, 233 were killed, 386 were wounded and 91 were missing. Only 68 were fit for duty the next day. • Since that day, July 1 has been seen as Memorial Day in Newfoundland, but is also Canada Day
After the war, Newfoundland bought the land where the battle took place and turned it into a memorial Park. It opened on June 27, 1925.
2) The Home Front Women’s Patriotic Association (WPA) • Role was to assist troops and give help to their families at home. • Made bandages, knitted scarves, socks, hats, etc. for the Red Cross • Also raised funds for families who were grieving and cared for injured veterans. Raised $500,000 by war’s end. • There were 150 branches of the WPA with 15,000 members throughout Newfoundland.
Newfoundland Patriotic Association (NPA) • Government made this group of 300 St. John’s volunteers responsible for managing Newfoundland’s war effort. • Different from other parts of the empire because governments usually controlled raising money for war. • Main duties included recruiting and supplying the Newfoundland Regiment, Royal Naval Reserve and Forestry Corps. • Government resumed responsibility for recruitment when enlistment dropped in 1917.
Examples of various funds set up by Newfoundland Patriotic Association The Cot Fund: provided cots for British hospitals as well as money for hospitals in London where Newfoundlanders stayed. The Fish and Brewis Fund: fund to provide “comforts” to the soldiers. The Mayo Lind Fund: set up after Corporal Frank Lind’s letter in the Daily News stated that it was “impossible to get a good pipe overseas.” Several shipments of tobacco were sent and Lind began being called “Mayo” (after a popular brand of tobacco) a name he carried until he was killed at Beaumont-Hamel. The Aeroplane Fund: raised enough money to supply four aircraft to the British Expeditionary Force. The Patriotic Fund: created for individuals or companies who wanted to do their patriotic duty by making monetary donations to the war effort.
Conscription • As the war dragged on, people were shocked by the high rate of casualties and the number of men enlisting declined. • In order to remain a significant force, the Newfoundland Regiment had to maintain a strength of at least 1,000 trained and outfitted men. • The government considered conscription (forced military service) and in early 1918 introduced the Military Service Act. • Required all unmarried men aged 19 – 25 to register for service.
Views For and Against Conscription For Conscription Against Conscription • Newfoundland pride is at stake. If undermanned, the Newfoundland Regiment could be made part of Canadian Army. • The British Empire is facing a threat and Newfoundland should support Britain. • Britain passed conscription in 1916, Canada did it in 1917, now Newfoundland should. • The government has no right to force men to fight. Men should choose to sacrifice their lives willingly. • This is a European war far away from Newfoundland. We should not be forced into it. • St. John’s merchants are getting rich from this war. Why should the working class risk their lives so the rich can get richer?
3) Emerging From War The Cost of War (Human) • With so many young men either killed or wounded from a small population, Newfoundlanders found the human cost of the war to be unbearable. • It was rare for a family not to have lost a relative to the war and some families never recovered from the loss of loved ones (see the Ayre Family to the right). • It is said that Newfoundland lost an entire generation to the war, setting back the country’s progress.
The Cost of War (Government & Financial) • Fighting alongside other dominions earned Newfoundland a presence at the Imperial War Cabinet and equal to other members of the British Empire. • Newfoundland, however, voluntarily allowed Britain to control its foreign affairs. • The country did have short-term gains from the war, especially from the ring values of fish, lumber & newsprint. However, the were problems. • The government had to borrow $13 million to pay for the war. • When the price of disability allowances and pensions were added, the war debt equalled over $35 million (a huge debt for a population of a quarter of a million).
4) Women’s Suffrage Movement Suffrage is the right to vote and women’s groups like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Newfoundland had been fighting for women’s suffrage since the 1800s. • With so many women demonstrating capability and resourcefulness in the war effort through work with the WPA and the VAD, women’s groups began a renewed campaign for the right to vote shortly after the war .
Suffragists had to overcome a number of negative attitudes from the male controlled government and church • Men generally felt that a woman’s place was in the home and should not become involved with politics or social issues. • Newfoundland still denied women the right to vote even though women in other parts of the British Empire could vote by 1920. • In 1921, women won the right to vote in St. John’s municipal elections, but had to own property, leaving many disenfranchised. • In 1925, a law was finally passed which allowed all women 25 years of age and older to vote in Newfoundland elections.
5) The Influenza Epidemic 1918 may have marked the end of the war, yet another tragedy struck Newfoundland that same year. • A severe strain of influenza, known as the Spanish Flu, began to be contracted by the solders in the trenches of France in 1918. • Spanish Flu came to Newfoundland in September of 1918 with a ship carrying soldiers returning to St. John’s. • Despite closing public places and setting up a special hospital for flu patients, the epidemic killed 232 people in the city. When the pandemic broke out, many of Newfoundland and Labrador’s medical personnel were serving overseas in the First World War. This caused the country to experience a severe shortage of health-care workers and prompted the Public Health Division to publish appeals for nurses and volunteers in local newspapers.
The Spanish Flu hit Labrador when the Moravian mission ship Harmony arrived with an infected sailor in November, 1918. • As the ship moved from port to port, the disease began to spread quickly, especially with very little medical help available. • People died so quickly, that they had to be buried in mass graves and houses where they died were burned to prevent the disease from spreading. • Worldwide, the Spanish Flu claimed 25 to 30 million lives.
Okak, Labrador, circa 1884 to 1902. The Spanish influenza appeared at the Inuit community of Okak in November 1918 after a supply ship arrived there carrying at least one infected crewmember. By the end of that year, the virus had killed 204 of Okak's 263 residents.
Hebron, Labrador, circa 1900 The Spanish influenza appeared at the Inuit village of Hebron in October 1918 after a supply ship arrived there from St. John’s with an infected crewmember on board. By 19 November, 86 of Hebron’s 100 residents had died from the influenza. A further 74 people died in surrounding communities, cutting the area’s population to 70 from 220.
