h Highlanders as a
unit. Those were strenuous days for the Minister. At Ottawa I found
him surrounded by his staff, with sleeves rolled up, dealing with
heaps of correspondence and a long row of people outside in the
ante-room waiting to see him. I asked him if he would take the
Regiment, kilts and all, and he promptly said he would, that in a few
hours orders would be issued for the Militia to enlist for foreign
service and that a great camp of instruction would be formed at
Valcartier, where they would all be prepared for overseas service. In
the meantime, the units enlisting or volunteering would be drilled at
local Headquarters, and the 48th and the Toronto units would go into
camp at Long Branch for a few weeks. The announcement was made in the
press that the 48th had volunteered, under my command, and on my
return I ordered a parade of the regiment on Friday, August 8th, to
start work for overseas and open recruit classes.

On Friday evening, the battalion paraded nine hundred and fifty-three
strong. The great Armories were thronged with people and hundreds had
to be refused permission to enter. The people were filled with the war
spirit and the excitement was intense. The two bands were on hand, the
brass with forty-five musicians and the pipes with twenty pipers. The
battalion marched through the streets, and all along the line of march
for over a mile the streets were so thronged with a cheering crowd
that it was almost impossible for the men in fours to march through.
Thousands of flags waved and the people were much excited. Some one
for a joked waved the German flag at the head of the regiment and in a
moment it was torn from his hand and trampled to pieces by the crowd.
The joker had a narrow escape with his life. That night, three hundred
and fifty-five recruits joined for overseas service. Many men in the
regiment had served for years and in some instances father and son
stood side by side in the ranks.

It was felt it would not be fair to take many men of middle age along.
This was going to be a long war and required young men, and the age
limit was put at thirty years, the height at five feet eight inches
and the chest measurement at thirty-eight inches. These were the
limits given to the recruiting sergeants, and with lots of men
offering, we knew that we would have no difficulty in getting all we
required.

Orders for the mobilization, on the 15th of August, of the Canadian
Militia, were issued. I