THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY – 08 August 1914 – The summons sent out on 6 August 1914 by the Minister of Militia had named the place of mobilization as Valcartier, sixteen miles north-west of Quebec City. The new campsite lay along the east bank of the Jacques Cartier River. From a belt of woodland beside the stream sandy flats reached back some two miles to a tree-covered ridge rising abruptly a thousand feet above the valley. Occasional patches of swamp and timber intruded on the open fields of small farms. [1]
Teams of lumberjacks at once began clearing the section by the river for the camp lines, and the central area for a parade ground. A contracting firm engaged in building the Connaught rifle range near Ottawa moved its full complement of men and equipment by special train to work on the new site. Progress was spectacular.[2]
Meanwhile in armouries across Canada the pace of recruiting quickened, as Militia units placed advertisements in their local newspapers seeking recruits for their units.
[1] Nicholson, Col. G.W.L., CD., Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919, Duhamel, Queens Printer, Ottawa,, pg. 20.
[2]Ibid, pg 21