From the Klondike to Berlin. Michael Gates

of their departure from Dawson City. They settled in for the long journey up the Yukon to Whitehorse and beyond. Some played cards during the evening, and others crowded around the piano singing songs, while some wrote letters. A few just sat and stared out the windows, contemplating what was to come. Everybody slept soundly that night.

      During the journey, Martha presented all of the men with the usual sewing and repair kits prepared by the ladies of the IODE. The men in turn presented her with a poke of gold nuggets, one from each member of the Martha Munger Black chapter of the IODE. Martha gave a little speech and everyone cheered; then “Sergeant Major” Thomas Greenaway presented several pairs of warm wool socks, also made by the ladies of the IODE, to George Black amid another bout of cheering.

      As the Casca churned its way against the powerful Yukon current, Mrs. Black penned the following words, which she sent to her companions at the IODE:

      The men of the Yukon Infantry Company, irrespective of race, religion or party, will be very close to Captain Black and me. He can always be with them to share in their work, their disappointments, their sorrows. But though the day will come when I see them all leaving to go where the stern reality of duty will face them from morning until night, yet I have dedicated my mind and my strength, God willing, to do all that I can to help our men, your men and my men until the day comes when the duty that calls will have become a thing of the past. In that work, I will need your help, the help of every man, woman and child in the great Yukon, and not only the help that your hands can give, but the help that your prayers and good wishes will always be to one who is your grateful and very sincere friend, Martha Munger Black.¹²⁵

      During the upstream journey, the men were kept active, performing drill twice a day on the flat deck of the barge being pushed by the Casca. All supplies delivered to Dawson came in by riverboat. Since much of the main deck of the boats was used to hold the wood that powered the boilers, barges were attached to the fronts of the riverboats to carry additional freight. Aside from people, the boats did not carry much freight on the return voyage to Whitehorse, so the empty barge served as an excellent space for the men to exercise. The drills were strenuous enough to keep the men quiet for a couple of hours after. They enjoyed excellent food and there were plenty of magazines to read. Martha Black served as the purser of the nicotine, dispensing cigars and cigarettes judiciously so that they would not be used up too soon.¹²⁶

      The journey passed quickly enough, and the ninety-two Dawson men, plus Captain and Mrs. Black, were joined by twenty-one more volunteers from Whitehorse and seven from Atlin.¹²⁷ The train ride to Skagway took just three hours, and then they departed Skagway on the Prince Rupert bound for Victoria, on October 14, arriving at their destination two days later. The same day that they arrived in Victoria, another group of eleven volunteers left Dawson City, including William Radford, who was in charge, and Hugh, Lawrence and Walter Chisholm. Less than two weeks later, a baker’s dozen recruits aboard the steamer Nasutlin were joined in Whitehorse by Frank Berton, from the Dawson mining recorder’s office, and Whitehorse men Louis Belney (a miner), Jack French (a carpenter), Billy Williams and Orris Church (a cook).¹²⁸

      Officers and men of the George Black contingent (Yukon Company) pose proudly in Victoria before their departure for England, January 1917. Yukon Archives Roy Minter fonds 92/15 #146

      By the middle of November, more than enough Yukon men had arrived in Victoria to form a company of 255 officers and other ranks. Some were billeted in the old drill hall on Menzies Street, and others in Sidney, but they would all soon unite in Victoria. They were a significant presence among the more than 1,000 soldiers temporarily billeted there before shipping out. At first, the men were accommodated in tents neatly arranged in a double row, with each named after a familiar Klondike feature, such as “Treadgold,” or “Dominion Creek.”¹²⁹ When the entire company had arrived in Victoria, the men took temporary possession of several buildings at the Willows Camp on the BC Agricultural Association’s fairgrounds. One building was set aside for officers, and another for the men. The mess hall was nearby, though the officers were messing with the officers of the 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders), and the sergeants, the same.¹³⁰

      “We are all in one big building and this one big building is composed of one big room partitioned off by wire netting into twelve sections, each holding fourteen men,” reported George Vail Raymond. “We are given a tick and are allowed 10 pounds of straw. The tick goes on the floor, on top of which we have three blankets, increased yesterday to four. This constitutes our bed and it is sufficient. I have not been cold yet.”¹³¹

      The week quickly passed with distributing the men’s kits, getting settled into their new quarters and organizing into platoons. Only the men of the most unusual measurements were still waiting for their uniforms to arrive. They settled into a routine: reveille at 5:30 a.m., parade at 6:00 and breakfast at 6:15. Drill was scheduled morning and afternoon with a break for lunch.