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CanadianPacific

RailwayandWar

To those who fall, I say: “You will not die, but step into immortality.” Arthur Currie,Lieutenant-General, Canadian Army Corps (March 27, 1918)

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When conflict reaches anultimate impasse…war isthe tragic result.

And when Canada, theBritish Empire, and even the

United States of America, wereembroiled in such conflict

Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR)was there from the get-go…

contributing to the war efforts inNorth America and overseas.

Not content to be just aneconomic and political tool

linking Canada’s east and west,CPR was also a major Canadian,

North American and worldstrategic weapon.

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY AND WAR�

Jonathan B. HannaCorporate Historian

Canadian Pacific Railway

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CPR AND THE RIEL REBELLION�

CPR was not just an economicand political tool to link

Canada’s east and west in the1880s. CPR was also a majorCanadian strategic weapon. Asstrange as it may sound, CPRactually served to keep Americansand their “manifest destiny” at baybelow the 49th parallel. There was adefinite move afoot in 19th CenturyUnited States of America to pushthe western international borderbetween Canada and the USnorthward. In the first half of thecentury, cries of “54-40 or fight”rang out in the US – in a bid topush the boundary as far north as54 degrees, 40 minutes of latitudein the northern hemisphere. Thearrival of the CPR established apresence in the Canadian West.CPR linked British Columbia withCentral and Eastern Canada,putting an end to all this talk.

Aside from strategic benefits, CPRactually helped quash an armedinsurrection at home on theCanadian Prairies.

Trouble started brewing soon afterCanada was formed, July 1, 1867.The Hudson’s Bay Company (Hbc)sold a huge tract of land it ownedin the Canadian northwest to theCanadian government. In 1869,Hbc sold the 1.5-million-square-mile Rupert’s Land to the federalgovernment for $1.5 million. Thiswas almost twice the size of theUS’s Louisiana Purchase at onlyone-tenth the cost. The feds werehappy with their purchase from“The Bay.” The natives and Métis

(half native and half French-Canadian or Scottish-Canadian)were not. After all this was reallytheir land that was trading handsso quickly, easily and cheaply. Sothe natives worked on setting upreserves. And Métis leader LouisRiel set up a whole province –Manitoba. Not as big as today’sManitoba, provincial status camenevertheless to the province onJuly 15, 1870…only after a bitterRiel-led insurrection. Riel’smistake was he decided to executeupstart Ontario Orangeman andRed River settler, Thomas Scott.After Scott was shot, Riel managedto sneak off un-prosecuted andtake refuge in the US. But, in the1880s, civilization, and now theCPR, again threatened the Métis’way of life. So Riel was back byinvitation in Canada’s northwest to“deliver his people.”

Canadian militia, en route to quash the“Riel Rebellion”, travel in relative comfort

on a CPR day coach.Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives.

A.4253

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CANADIAN PACIFIC AND THE BOER WAR: STRATHCONA’S HORSE

One of the 400 “rough riders” Lord Strathcona recruitedin 1900 to go overseas and fight in the “Boer War”.Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives. NS.11964

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But this time his rebellionbackfired. The CPR, epitomizingeastern encroachment, helpedquash the rebellion and save theday…and it saved the CPR too.CPR was on the brink ofbankruptcy in 1885. Half a yearbefore the last spike was driven,Louis Riel teamed up withGabriel Dumont, Poundmakerand Big Bear, and waged abloody battle at Duck Lake, onMarch 26, 1885. His actionsproved the national securitybenefit of the CPR. CPR came tothe rescue with logisticalfinesse, transporting troopsfrom the east over its nearlycompleted main line, to thewestern hot spots. The 1885rebellion was quelled in a matterof weeks. Whereas, back in 1870,it took Colonel Wolseley threemonths just to get his troops toManitoba.

In 1899, Canada got involved inits first overseas conflict.

For the first time since becominga nation, Canada was involved ina conflict outside North America.It sent volunteers and troops toSouth Africa to fight in the SouthAfrican War – more commonlyknown as the Boer War (1899 -1902). Great Britain was inconflict with the two Afrikanerrepublics of South Africa (orTransvaal) and the Orange FreeState. Canadians were alreadysplit on whom to back. Thegovernment and much ofEnglish Canada backed the Brits.

French Canadian nationalists,led by Henri Bourassa, sawgrowing British imperialism asa threat and backed theAfrikaners (or Boers). WilfridLaurier’s governmentreluctantly raised an initialcontingent of 1,000infantrymen to fight in the war.But British reversals of fortune,injuries and casualties called onCanada to ante up a further6,000 volunteers. And then athird contingent of 1,000 wassent to replace the Halifaxreserves that were overseas.Canada’s total wartime bill forall this? $2,830,965.

This clearly was not enough forthe Dominion of Canada – aloyal member of the BritishEmpire. So CPR’s seniordirector, driver of the last spikeand, at that time, Canadian HighCommissioner to London,Donald Smith a.k.a. LordStrathcona and Mont Royal, hadan idea. He would raise, equipand fund…with his ownmoney…a mounted cavalry tosend off to South Africa to fightin the war. On New Year’s Eve,the day before 1899 became1900, Lord Strathcona sent atelegram to Prime MinisterWilfrid Laurier:

“Very confidential. Should liketo provide and send to SouthAfrica my personal fundsquadron mounted men andofficers say four hundred menand horses from North West,single men if possible. Forcewill be Canadian but distinct

A statue commemorating “Strathcona’s Horse” erectedin Montreal’s Dominion Square.

Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives. NS.10220

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CANADIAN PACIFIC AND WORLD WAR I�

from Government contingent. Menmust be expert marksmen, at homein saddle, and efficient as roughriders and rangers. I propose paycost shipment similar that ofCanadian contingent and transportif you approve proposal.”

Laurier accepted immediately. Andthe contingent, though Strathconawanted to remain anonymous, wascalled “Strathcona’s Horse.” Menand horses were recruited inWinnipeg, went east on CPR trains– the men in CPR tourist cars andthe horses in CPR “palace horsecars” – and then overseas on afuture CPR ship: the Monterey. Thehighly trained double squadron of400 men and horses fought withdistinction, under fabled Canadianhero Sam Steele, and returnedhome highly decorated – thedecorated survivors traveling onCPR’s Imperial Limitedtranscontinental train. Onemember, Sergeant ArthurRichardson, was awarded thecoveted Victoria Cross.

And what was the CPR director’spersonal tab for Strathcona’s Horse?Over $1 million…a huge sum inthose days!

Originally called the Great War, World War I was “great” only

for the great number of nations,people and resources involved –and, alas, the great number ofcasualties that resulted. Canadaand Canadian Pacific Railway(CPR) were very much involved inthis world conflict. When all was

over, and the Armistice was signed,on November 11, 1918, a total of 32nations had fought on both sidesof the conflict, mobilizing over 65million soldiers. A mind-numbing8.5 million souls died as a result.Canada’s share was an awesome60,000. And CPR’s was anappalling 1,116.

CPR put the entire resources of the“world’s greatest travel system” atthe empire’s disposal…this,during CPR’s heyday, when therailway was much more than just arailway. Not only were the railway’strains and tracks at the BritishEmpire’s disposal, but also itsships, shops, hotels, telegraphs,and, above all, its people.

Top: CPR troop train near Golden, B.C.1916. Ref. Canadian Pacific RailwayArchives. NS.3269

Bottom: Requisitioned CPR ships in theirbizarre World War I camouflage paint.Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives.NS.25229

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Aiding the war effort meanttransporting and billeting troops;building and supplying arms andmunitions; arming, lending andselling ships. Fifty-two CPR shipswere pressed into service duringWorld War I, carrying more than amillion troops and passengers andfour million tons of cargo. Twenty-seven survived and returned toCPR. Twelve sank, mostlytorpedoed by U-boats; two sank bymarine accident; 10 were sold tothe British Admiralty; and theMaharajah of Gwalior turned theEmpress of India into a hospitalship. But CPR’s most importantcontribution was its men andwomen, at home and abroad.11,340 CPR employees enlisted. A

catastrophic 10 percent (1,116)were killed, and nearly 20 percent(2,105) were wounded. Two CPRemployees received the covetedVictoria Cross and 385 others weredecorated for valor anddistinguished service.

CPR also helped the war effort withmoney and jobs. CPR made loansand guarantees to the Allies to thetune of $100 million. CPR also tookon 6,000 extra people, giving themjobs during the war. And when thefighting was over and the troopscame home, CPR found jobs for theex-soldiers. 7,573 CPR enlisteescame back to jobs with thecompany. And CPR gave jobs to anadditional 13,112 who made itback from overseas fighting.

CANADIAN PACIFIC AND WORLD WAR I�

At the time, CPR was the strongestand most viable railway in Canada.So it set up and formed the majorpart of the Canadian OverseasRailway Reconstruction Corps – agroup of skilled railroaders andengineers who went overseasduring and after World War I torebuild Europe’s railwayinfrastructure.

As a lasting tribute, CPRcommissioned three statues and23 memorial tablets tocommemorate the efforts of thosewho fought and those who died inWorld War I.

Women helping out during World War I,manufacturing munitions at our home shops.

Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives.A.15505

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CANADIAN PACIFIC AND WORLD WAR II�

As soon as the British Empire got involved, Canadian Pacific

Railway (CPR) got involved too.There was no question but thatCPR, its people, its resources, itsingenuity and expertise wereneeded at home and overseas inWorld War II.

CPR had built up a large measureof war expertise. After all, it was not

only significantly involved inWorld War I, but also contributedto the Boer War (1899 to 1902) andeven the 1885 Second North-West(Riel) Rebellion.

And with the outbreak of WorldWar II, the entire CPR network wasagain at the disposal of the Alliedwar effort. On land, CPR moved307 million tons of freight and86 million passengers; including150,000 soldiers, nearly 130,000army and air force re-patriots, andthousands of sailors. At sea, 22CPR ships went to war with 12 ofthem being sunk, including CPR’slargest passenger ship ever, whichwas almost as big as the Titanic –the Empress of Britain II. In the air,CPR pioneered the “AtlanticBridge” – the transatlantic ferryingof bombers to Britain. CPR set uppilot training schools and openedCanada’s strategic far north,creating Canadian Pacific AirLines in 1942. CPR transformedmajor portions of its shops inMontreal and Calgary to buildmunitions, naval guns and tanks.By V-J Day, CPR shops had turnedout 1,420 Valentine tanks; 75 mainengines for corvettes, frigates andlanding craft; over 600 navalvessel power equipmentcomponents; 3,000 naval gunsand 1,650 naval gun mounts;2,000 anti-submarine devices;and 120 range-finding and fire-control equipment.

CPR reorganized its entire shopsystem for the war. Much of AngusShops, in Montreal, was turnedover to building Valentine tanksand munitions. Calgary’s Ogden

Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives.A.6758

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CANADIAN PACIFIC AND WORLD WAR II�

Shops were mostly dedicated tonaval guns; building guns notonly for Canada and Great Britain,but for the US as well. And WestonShops, in Winnipeg, became themain locomotive shops for thesystem. Wartime shop productionsignaled the end of the GreatDepression and offered jobs tomany laid-off CPR employees. Andwith the conscription debacleraging on in Canada, the companyalso provided jobs on the homefront to CPR employees’ offspringwho wanted to contribute to thewar effort. One such case was aCPR Angus Shops carpenter’s son.Hockey legend Maurice “Rocket”Richard worked as a machinist forCPR’s Munitions Dept., in 1942.

Although on leave since October1942, the “Rocket” didn’t resign his“secure” CPR job until he wascomfortable with his hockeycareer…a few weeks into the 1944-1945 hockey season, when hescored his record-setting 50 goalsin 50 games.

Canadian Pacific also provided thememorable setting for the twoQuebec Conferences it hosted at theChateau Frontenac in 1943 and1944. It was there, in 1943, thatChurchill and Roosevelt set thestage for the D-Day invasion thatturned the tides of World War II.

21,787 CPR employees enlisted inWorld War II. 658 sacrificed theirlives.

CPR built 1.420 Valentine tanks at itseast-end locomotive shops in Montrealduring World War II.Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives.NS.3004

World War II Canadian soldiers on a CPRtroop train.Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives.WAR.9-2

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CANADIAN PACIFIC AND WAR - TODAY�

CPR participates to this day in Canadian troop movements

and field exercises, shipping armyvehicles and equipment by rail toremote training grounds or inpreparation for shipment overseas.

In a logistics move reminiscent ofWorld War II or before (minus themovement of troops), CPR movesall sorts of Canadian Forces Base(CFB) vehicles to and from “on-line” bases, such as CFB Suffield inAlberta. With more lines in the eastin the late 1980s and early 1990s,CPR would undertake massivemilitary equipment movesbetween CFBs – CFB Gagetown,N.B.; CFB Petawawa, Ont.; andeven a 2,100-vehicle move between

CFB Valcartier, Que., and CFBSuffield, Alta.

CPR’s military involvements sinceWorld War II stretched pastCanada’s borders to its US affiliatesand beyond. CPR employees inMaine and Vermont, and Soo Lineemployees in the Midwest US wereinvolved in the Korean War and thewar in Vietnam. CPR also answeredthe call to military duty in morerecent times. A Canadian Pacificbulkship became a water tanker inthe Falkland Islands War. CPR andthe Soo Line helped redistributerail cars during the national boxcarpool crunch caused by the 1991Gulf War. And CPR moved militaryequipment for the mid-1990sBosnian conflict.

CPR preparing to move military equipmentfrom CFB Suffield, Alta.

Ref. photo by Rick Robinson

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Award for Most SupportiveEmployer in Canada

In May 2003, CPR won theCanadian Forces Liaison Council’snational award as Canada’s mostsupportive employer of primaryReserve Force personnel.Reservist-employee MasterSeaman Julie McDonaldacknowledged the supportreservists receive and alsoacknowledged the history ofsupport CPR has giventhroughout.

Winston Churchill once said, “Thereservist is twice the citizen.”Reservists contribute to thecountry through civilianendeavors and also as members ofthe military. Canada’s Minister ofDefense stated: “Not only does CPRcontribute to the economic well-

being of Canada, it has proven it is‘twice the corporate citizen’ bygiving reservists time off, withoutpenalty, for their militaryendeavors.”

CPR’s Winnipeg “winged angel”statue

September 19, 2003, a 1922 CPRstatue of a winged angel carryingoff a fallen soldier was unveiledand re-dedicated in Winnipeg – onthe beautifully reworked groundsof the Deer Lodge Centre.

The statue is not new. But it’s alasting, reverent and solemntribute to those who made theultimate sacrifice in war.

CPR employees invested heart andsoul in the “Great War” – World War I.Many paid with their lives. When itwas all over, November 11, 1918,32 nations had fought on both

sides of the conflict, mobilizingover 65 million soldiers. Astaggering eight-and-a-halfmillion died in the war. Canada’sshare was 60,000. CPR’s was amind-numbing 1,116.

So CPR proposed a lasting tributeand commissioned Montrealsculptor Coeur de Lion MacCarthyto render three statues and23 memorial tablets. These wouldcommemorate employees whofought and died in the Great War.Henry-Bonnard Bronze Companyof Mount Vernon, N.Y., producedthe statues and tablets. They wereunveiled with appropriatesolemnity and ceremony, in 1922,at CPR locations in North Americaand overseas. CPR offices fromLondon to Hong Kong got warmemorial tablets. The three wingedangel statues went to CPR stationsin Montreal, Winnipeg and

Master SeamanJulie McDonald (left) withtheCanadian Armed Forcesnational award.Ref. Canadian ForcesLiaison Council

CANADIAN PACIFIC AND WAR - TODAY�

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CANADIAN PACIFIC AND WAR - TODAY�

Vancouver. Montreal’s statue wasunveiled right where it standstoday – at the south end of theWindsor Station concourse – withgovernor general Baron Byngdoing the honors.

Winnipeg’s “winged angel” wasfirst unveiled in front of thestation/office/hotel complex onHiggins Avenue where it stoodsilent tribute for nearly sevendecades. In 1990 the statue reignedat a new home – in the DisraeliFreeway Park in front of the CPRoffices at 150 Henry Avenue. Thestatue fell into disrepute in thislocation, and offered littlereverence, reflection, andremembrance. So CPR, the IntrepidSociety and Winnipeg’s Deer LodgeCentre moved the statue to a newlocation and placed it on a brandnew granite plinth recognizing allcontributors to all wars…placed

front-and-center on the redesignedPortage Avenue grounds of theformer veterans’ hospital.

A challenge launched 81 yearsbefore was met. Montreal’s TheGazette entreated in their April 28,1922 article “Pledges to the Dead”:“Let those who come after see thatthese memorials now being erectedare never allowed to fall intodisrepute.” The statue’s new homeand caretakers answered thatchallenge!

CPR renames a vintage passengercar after World War II heroErnest “Smoky” Smith

And on November 29, 2003, CPRhonored Canada’s last survivingVictoria Cross recipient byrenaming a vintage passenger carafter World War II hero Ernest“Smoky” Smith. The idea camefrom CPR locomotive engineer

Darrel Sundholm. Actually, Darrelthought CPR should name alocomotive after Canada’s onlysurviving Victoria Cross winner. Sohe approached CPR president andCEO Rob Ritchie with his greatidea. The president decided to goone better. He named a CPRpassenger car after the war hero.You see…there are 1,649 CPRlocomotives out there…and only adozen CPR passenger cars.Locomotives often go about theirbusiness in relative obscurity…inout of the way places, or under thecover of darkness. But CPR’svintage CPR passenger cars aremore often than not in public view.The car chosen to honor “Smoky”Smith spends spring, summer andfall traveling all over Canada andon CPR’s US network in thecompany of CPR’s rovingambassador – a 1930 steamlocomotive: CPR Empress.

Funds for the Canadian WarMuseum

In 2004, Canadian Pacific Railwaymade a commitment tocommemorate its and itsemployees’ 13-decade-longcontribution to Canada’s warefforts. CPR president and CEORob Ritchie pledged $450,000 overthe next four years to help preserveCanada’s military heritage. Themoney will help, in CPR’s

CPR names a vintage passenger carafter Canada’s last surviving VictoriaCross winner, Ernest “Smoky” Smith(seated at left). November 29, 2003.Ref. photo by Darrel Sundholm

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CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY AND WAR�

headquarter city of Calgary,Alta., the Sharing ourMilitary Heritage campaignand its development of thelargest tri-service militarymuseum in the country.This contribution also helpsthe Passing the TorchCampaign that is raisingfunds for the Canadian WarMuseum in Ottawa. CPR’ssignificant contribution willhelp the Ottawa museumtell the story of CPR’s role inCanada’s conflicts. CPR willget its very own “war room”display centered on arecovered CPR Valentinetank from Russia.

Remembrance Day andVeterans’ Day tribute

And each year now, on November 11,CPR stops every one of its 250trains across the North Americannetwork, at 11 a.m., for twominutes of silence to pay tribute tothe thousands of North Americanswho have served their countries inwar. The silence is followed by onelong whistle blast from each trainas a Remembrance Day andVeterans’ Day tribute to thememory of fallen soldiers. ThisCPR practice harkens back to 1915.This visible way of paying tributeto the deceased first occurred whenCPR’s railway building general,William Cornelius Van Horne, died,on September 11, 1915. Everysingle wheel on the CPR systemstopped moving for five wholeminutes. CPR president and CEORob Ritchie rekindled the conceptin 1999…and, ever since, CPRhasn’t wavered from the tribute.

World War II soldiers, waiting to“ship out” overseas, cluster around

Coeur de Lion MacCarthy’scommemorative statue in

Montreal’s Windsor Stationconcourse.

Ref. Canadian Pacific RailwayArchives. A.17411