Library and Archives Canada (LAC) currently has an exhibition at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa, which runs until January 22, 2016. Hockey Marching as to War engages viewers in the many stories of hockey players’ involvement in Canada’s First World War effort—from the men who enlisted and served overseas to the women who took up sticks at home.

A particularly fascinating story is the emergence of highly successful military hockey teams. In 1916, Winnipeg’s 61^st Battalion won the prestigious Allan Cup—the senior amateur hockey championship—and Montreal’s 87^th Battalion was good enough to play an exhibition game against Montreal professionals, including players from the Canadiens.

No military team was more famous than the 228^th Battalion, whose history is there for all to see in LAC’s rich collection of government records. Known as the Northern Fusiliers, the 228^th mustered in North Bay, Ontario, under the command of Lt.-Col. Archie Earchman, and was so successful recruiting talented hockey players that in the fall of 1916 it was invited to join the National Hockey Association (NHA), the main professional league and forerunner of the National Hockey League.

Lieutenant Colonel Earchman, D.S.O., Toronto, Ontario, undated (MIKAN 3215233)

Continue reading →