The Storm Begins

The calm before the storm  - Muskoka - copyright Melanie Wills

The summer of 1914 was stiflingly hot, punctuated by the occasional violent storm. People sweltering in Toronto could cool down at the local beaches, Toronto Island being a favourite spot that also included hotels, an amusement park, and a stadium where Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in 1914.

People with time and money escaped to the tranquil northern lakes, the majestic Muskoka region being popular with Americans as well as Canadians. Canada’s Prime Minister, Sir Robert Borden, was enjoying a holiday at the grandest of the many resorts, the Royal Muskoka Hotel (mentioned in a previous blog). He was to award the prizes at the annual Muskoka Lakes Association Regatta on the Civic holiday weekend. But a couple of days before, he was hastily recalled to Ottawa. Canada and the world were suddenly bracing for the worst storm of all in that feverish summer.

It’s hard now to believe that there was cheering in the streets when the Toronto Star headline blared “WAR” on August 5^th. Within weeks, 33,000 eager and naïve young men had volunteered to fight. They were farm boys and factory workers, professionals and adventure-seekers, university students and those barely out of elementary school. Several of my characters in  The Summer Before the Storm are among them.

Interestingly, a married man had to have his wife’s permission to join up. This regulation was later rescinded when more manpower was desperately needed. Altogether over 600,000 Canadians enlisted and 68,000 never returned.

War and Games

Despite what many people believe, Allied troops spent relatively little time in the deadly front line trenches. One example showed that an officer and his men spent a total of 65 days in front line and 36 in nearby support trenches during 1916. They also moved to 80 different locations that year. So there were long periods when the men were safely (if not all that comfortably) behind the lines, working, training, resting, and playing games to keep fit and busy. Tennis and polo matches, soccer and baseball games, dances and entertainments were all part of the military experience in France.

British 15th Division, Sports Day 1917 - From collection of the Imperial War Museum, © IWM (Q 2360)

On July 1, 1918 (Dominion Day - now called Canada Day), 50,000 Canadian troops gathered at Tincques France for the Corps sports championships. The event was attended by Canadian Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden, former Canadian Governor-General His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught, and American General John Pershing, among others.

From Regattas to Combat

Canoe race

One of the highlights of summers on the lake is the annual regatta. These friendly but often fierce competitions encompass sports such as canoeing, swimming, and sailing, and also quirkier events such as canoe tilting, as shown in the photo below.

Canoe tilting or jousting

The Muskoka Lakes Association (MLA) Regatta was already so popular prior to The Great War that people travelled up to Lake Rosseau from Toronto just for the day, with special steamships and overnight trains to ferry them home again. Hundreds of private boats sat at anchor or were moored many deep at the docks and islands within view of the activities. At the end of the day, various resorts held dances because even the largest of them, The Royal Muskoka Hotel (mentioned in a previous post), couldn’t accommodate all the revellers.

MLA Regatta at the Royal Muskoka Hotel

Canada’s Prime Minister, Sir Robert Borden, was vacationing at the luxurious Royal Muskoka Hotel in July of 1914, and was supposed to award the prizes at the MLA Regatta. But he had to rush back to Ottawa just days before Britain declared war on Germany on August 4^th, when Canada was also plunged into war.

The young men who had fought to be the toughest or fastest on the lakes would now battle on a far different and distant playing field.