The Abbotsford Gun Fund (Image 1)
(Image 1) Credit: W.I. Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001020
Did you know:
Between July 9th, 1915 and December 10th, 1915, the district of Abbotsford participated in the effort to fund money to supply Lewis machine guns for the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Only a small part of the conglomerate of districts that is today known as the city of Abbotsford, the community of 1915 raised $2000 to send two machine guns to the 7th battalion at the front. According to the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, $2000 in 1914 is equivalent to $44,166.67 today! The light, portable Lewis machine guns played an increasingly important role in World War One as the Allies gained the upper hand and went on offence. Whether they were on the ground or mounted on airplanes they could turn the tide of battle. Gun Funds represented direct public engagement in the war effort as citizens attempted to equalize the playing field for the Allied forces who were short on machine guns early in the war. Considering this, the Abbotsford Gun fund can be considered an example of militaristic giving. In contrast to humanitarian giving, whose principals were embodied by the Patriotic Fund and the Red Cross, militaristic giving awakened the public imagination concerning guns, airplanes, bombs, and all other modern tools of war. However, while humanitarian funds such as the Patriotic Fund remained prominent throughout the war, the Abbotsford Gun Fund went through more of a boom and bust cycle. Despite this, it captured the public imagination, if for only a moment, in an interesting and exciting episode of Abbotsford’s World War One experience.
Crowdfunding War (Image 2 & 3)
(Image 2) Credit: W.I. Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001020
Crowdfunding the War
The Abbotsford Post published a story on Monday July 12, 1915 describing a public meeting held in the Gazely Hall to take up subscriptions for the Abbotsford Gun Fund. The writers of the Post were extremely passionate about this issue and employed various methods to incite the citizens of Abbotsford to contribute to the fund. Among these methods was the development of a cultural concept that dominated communities across the country during the war. This was the concept of Canadian culture mobilization and what Geoff Keelan describes as war culture. There were many methods through which the government, the media, and communities themselves pressured citizens to “mobilize” in various ways to contribute to the total war that consumed Canadian society. According to Robert Talbot, patriotic giving provided a “ready avenue for those eager to make a public expression of loyalty.” The concept of patriotic giving was akin to the crowd funding that we see today through social media. This is explored in greater detail in the sections on the Gun Fund and Patriotic Fund, where we look at the subscription lists from Abbotsford. In essence, public pressure to give during World War One was intense. That being said, there were many different causes and funds to which one could give, and each fund drew support by embodying certain imagined and ethical ideals. In sharp contrast to the strong humanitarian ideals of the Patriotic Fund, the Abbotsford Gun Fund drew from a militaristic public imagination concerning guns, airplanes, bombs, and other modern tools of war. In short, who wouldn’t be fired up, pun intended, by the idea of raising funds for guns?
Canadian Machine Gun Training
“The Machine Gun Section of the 129th (Wentworth) Battalion under the direction of Lt. Shearer, in action at the targets with the Lewis gun. Camp Borden, Ont.”
(Image 3) credit: Miscellaneous / Library and Archives Canada / PA-066799
The Abbotsford Post
July 9, 1915
“NOW THE SUPREME EFFORT HAS COME and the stay at home Canadians in various centres are subscribing funds to purchase machine guns for the Canadians to fight the enemy and district which Abbotsford is the centre has fallen in line with the patriotic idea and have decided to raise $1000.00 to purchase a gun. May it be the gun that will decide the fate of many of the enemy, and that it will never, never be captured by the Germans.”
“What a grand day for the little community that will be when some loyal Canadian shall stand by the great firing line and discharge the first shot from the gun purchased by the Abbotsford district”
Why Machine Guns? (Image 4 – 8)
(Image 4) Credit: W.I. Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001020
War Culture in Abbotsford
Among many other things funded by the community of Abbotsford as a part of their cultural mobilization and war culture during the First World War were two Lewis machine guns. One of the general driving factors that incited Abbotsford’s participation in the Gun Fund was concern about the German technological edge in the early stages of the war.
The Abbotsford Post
July 30, 1915
“for truth it is known that the Germans, our enemy, have sixteen machine guns to the British four… The people of our country have taken upon themselves to raise money to provide guns for many more of our men who have gone to fight; for what chance have four guns against sixteen, no matter how brave we expect the British and Canadians to be.”
Canadian Soldiers Fire a Lewis Machine Gun
“R.F.C. Canada. Machine Gun Practice, Camp Mohawk, Deseronto, Ont. 1918”
(Image 5) Credit: Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/
Why Machine Guns?
According to Jon Guttman, the Gatling gun made its first appearance during the American Civil War, beginning the reign of machine guns on the battle field. During WWI, the Maxim and Vickers machine guns, mounted on light wheeled carriages or tripods, were quite prominent. These large and heavy guns were difficult to advance with over the muddy terrain, churned up by shell fire and trenches. As such, they were used mostly for defence. As the allies spent increasingly more time on attack, the Lewis machine gun was light enough that it could be carried during an advance across no-mans-land. Developed in 1913, the Lewis machine gun was an air-cooled gun which fired on bipods. After finding acceptance, approximately 145,000 Lewis machine guns were produced in Britain. Savage Arms, an American company started in 1894 by Arthur Savage and still functioning today, made thousands more Lewis machine guns for the Canadian forces.
Portable Firepower
Notice the second soldier in the line carrying a Lewis machine gun over his shoulder.
“29th Infantry Batallion advancing over “No Man’s Land” through the German barbed wire and heavy fire during the Battle of Vimy Ridge Apr. 1917″
(Image 6) Credit: W.I. Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001020
The Machine Gun Takes Flight
One of the most fascinating uses of the Lewis machine was its use on airplanes for aerial combat. Because it was a light, portable gun it could be mounted on the front of a plane. According to Gavin Mortimer, in 1915, pilots began seriously testing forward mounted Lewis Machine guns on airplanes. The planes were fitted with deflector plates on propeller blades in order to prevent the props from being blown off by the gun fire. By July, 1915, Dutch aviation engineer Anthony Fokker had developed a synchronized gear whereby the machine gun’s rate of fire was controlled by the propeller’s revolution so the bullets avoided hitting the blades. This was developed for the German airplanes and the allies had no answer. For the rest of 1915, the Germans “ruled the skies over the Western Front.” In 1916, the British developed an airplane with a Lewis gun in the nose and an unlimited rate of fire. Similarly to on the ground, the lewis machine gun’s light weight and portability became its most appealing quality in the skies and it transformed aerial combat during the war.
Here, Canada’s flying ace Billy Bishop has a Lewis machine gun mounted on his airplane.
“William « Billy » Bishop dans un avion Nieuport du Royal Flying Corps.”
(Image 7)Credit: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / PA-122515
Lewis machine guns also served as effective anti-aircraft weapons.
“Canadian machine gunners driving away a Fritz. July 1917”
(Image 8) Credit: Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/
Abbotsford’s Gun Fund (Image 9 – 12)
(Image 9) Credit: W.I. Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001020
Historic Abbotsford
On Monday July 12, 1915, Abbotsford decided that they would join in the nation-wide effort to fund machine guns for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). Initially, the town planned to raise $1000 for a single Lewis Machine Gun. However, according the Abbotsford Post, upon having $1100 promised in just three days, it was decided that $2000 dollars would be raised to purchase two guns. According to the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, $2000 in 1914 is equivalent to $44,166.67 today! It is also important to note that the Abbotsford of 1915 consisted of only a small portion of what we know as Abbotsford today. For a community just a fraction of the size of todays Abbotsford to have raised what would today be just over $44,000 is an absolutely amazing accomplishment.
In these subdivision maps we can see that Abbotsford originally consisted only of what today would be known as the “old downtown” with the train tracks running through the middle.
(Image 10) Credit: The Reach Archives, Abbotsford BC.
(Image 11) Credit: The Reach Archives, Abbotsford BC.
The Fund
The Chairman of Abbotsford’s Gun Fund was Mr. A. Trethewey, a name all Abbotsfordians know well. The Committee also included J. A. McGowan, A. Hulton-Harrop, and D. McLagan appointed as collectors for the fund and to arrange the purchases. Mr. Henry Johnson, from Abbotsford and a member of the Machine Gun section of the 11th Canadian Mounted Rifles at Vernon, wrote to Mr. J. E. Vanetta asking that a gun be sent to the 11th. He believed that, equipped with a gun from his old home town, he could fight the Germans to a standstill. There was some consideration over sending a draft to Col. G. Kirkpatrick to apply through the proper channels for a gun. The first cheque for $1000 for a machine gun was forwarded on July 25th to the Department of Militia and Defence, Ottawa with a request that it be forwarded as early as possible to the 7th Battalion at the front. On August 20, 1915, an article stated that a letter from Mr. Lougheed, Acting Minister of Militia acknowledged the receipt of a cheque for $1000 forwarded for the first gun and stating that this gun would be forwarded to the 7th Battalion at the front as soon as guns were received from manufacturing.
The 7th Battalion, or1st British Columbia, was created on September 2nd, 1914. The Battalion consisted of 49 officers and 1083 men from British Columbia. They arrived in England on October 14th, 1914.
Officers of the 7th Infantry Battalion. April, 1918.
(Image 12) Credit: Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/
Strangely, the Province printed an article on Machine Gun subscriptions quoting the Prime Minister as having stated that no voluntary subscriptions would be accepted for the purchase of machine guns, but that the government would purchase these out of the government funds. In response to this, The Abbotsford Post sent a letter and Sam Hughes, Major General, Minister of Militia and Defence stated in reply that: “any money received on this account will be applied to the purpose for which it was contributed.” Also, this article states that Mr. Wm Taylor, secretary of the Machine Gun Fund, received a wire from the Acting Minister of Militia, Hon. J. A. Lougheed, that stated: “Government will gratefully accept additional contribution from your district for purchase of machine gun. Patriotic generosity deeply appreciated.” This publication by the Abbotsford Post certainly would have helped to re-establish and further encourage citizen’s participation in the fundraising efforts.
Machine Gun Subscription Lists (Image 13 & 14)
(Image 13) Credit: W.I. Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001020
Militarism, Masculinity, and Public Shaming
“CANADIAN PATRIOTIC FUND, 1916. « Moo-che-we-in-es. Pale Face, My skin is dark but my heart is white for I also give to Canadian patriotic fund ».”
Abbotsford’s public imagination surrounding the militaristic ideals of world war one built up alongside early 20th century masculine ideals. In fact, one could make a strong case that modern masculine stereotypes have at least some foundation in the Canadian war culture of World War One. This was most certainly a powerful drive that inspired donations to Abbotsford’s gun fund. Adding to this, was the published Subscription lists with names and amounts donated in the Abbotsford Post. The strategy of naming contributors and providing the amounts contributed was a form of incentivizing giving not unique to the Machine Gun Fund. In essence, public shaming was a powerful incentive. The Patriotic Fund and others did this as well. The subscription lists made it so that contributors could take pride in their donations and those who weren’t contributing would feel the public pressure to donate. The contents of the various subscription lists certainly would have been common talk around town. The Machine Gun Subscription lists were front page news, occupying a position equal to that of the other funds in The Abbotsford Post such as the Patriotic Fund.
(Image 14) Crédit: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, no d’acc 1989-378-1
Gun Fund Subscription Lists
Subscription list July 23, 1915
Subscription list August 6, 1915
Subscription list September 3, 1915
The Abbotsford Post
July 16, 1915
“Everyone cannot give a big sum but nearly everyone can scrape up something, and it surely is the least those of us (who from one reason and another are not taking any other active part) can do is to sacrifice a little and help the brave boys who are doing their duty for us.”
Wartime Funds Across Canada (Image 15 – 18)
(Image 15) Credit: W.I. Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001020
Other Gun Funds
Abbotsford wasn’t the only place that took on providing Machine Guns as a patriotic duty. In fact, according to this article, gifts of automatic machine guns to the regiments and the department of Militia were popular gifts from the people of British Columbia. Guns were presented from the largest to the smallest of cities and towns across the province. We know that Abbotsford contributed two guns. Vancouver, an example of a much larger city, presented over 50 guns.
The Patriotic Fund and the Red Cross
Gun Funds were only one small section of a much broader wartime culture of giving. There were two other major funds discussed in The Abbotsford Post during WWI: The Patriotic Fund and The Red Cross. We could consider both of these funds as falling under the concept of humanitarian giving, in that their purpose was to help those in need because of the war, rather than contributing directly to attempts to win the war.
(Image 16) Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1983-28-583
“Canadian Patriotic Fund, Welcome Home.”
(Image 17) Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1983-28-2486
“Help the Red Cross, Nurse With a Wounded Man.”
Other Funding Initiatives
There were also various other causes including Patriotic concerts and dances; and other initiatives to raise money for horses, ambulances, and even tobacco. However, these initiatives lacked the prominence of the Gun Fund, Patriotic Fund and Red Cross.
The Prisoners of War Fund was a subsection of the Red Cross that gained prominence in September of 1915 when a prisoner was adopted.
The Abbotsford Post
September 10, 1915
“As expected when any good idea comes along Abbotsford is sure to fall in line. And a prisoner has been adopted. $4 will go towards his keep each month. The Red Cross has sent $10 to the Base Hospital Fund. $25.00 has been sent to the prisoners of war fund.”
(Image 18) Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1983-28-582
“Help the Red Cross, Funds Wanted for Hospital Supplies.”
The Red Cross and Patriotic Fund were more consistently prominent throughout the war in contrast to the Gun Fund which went through almost a boom and bust cycle between July and December of 1915.
The Canadian Patriotic Fund (Image 19 – 21)
(Image 19) Credit: W.I. Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001020
The Boom and Bust of Military Imagination
The Abbotsford Gun Fund was a very interesting example of militaristic giving during World War One. It captured the public eye in a very prominent way, building on the militaristic imagination of the Abbotsford community. 20th century masculine ideals built on this militaristic imagination, as they tended to coincide well with things that explode. However, the fund did not have the same, consistent public appeal of other funds. This was in part due to the nature of the gun fund in that its purpose was finite: fund two guns and send them off. However, of course guns were need consistently throughout the war, but Abbotsford’s public imagination only latched onto the idea momentarily. This boom and bust can, at least partially, be understood as a product of its militaristic appeal. In other words, the fund built up until it reached a climax, one might say it exploded with public appeal, and then dispersed.
Humanitarian Ideals and Giving
During this explosion of public interest for militaristic giving, the ideals of humanitarian giving remained prominent. Cautionary messages to those who might have been getting too caught up in the many other new and exciting initiatives were one tool that could be used.
The Abbotsford Post
October 15, 1915
“Neither the Red Cross, Machine Gun, nor any other fund, no matter how important or worthy, deserves the support that the Patriotic Fund does.”
The Patriotic Fund
Although the gun fund spent some time in the spotlight, by far the most prominent wartime fund in Abbotsford and across Canada was the Canadian Patriotic Fund. As Robert Talbot noted: “Wartime patriotic funds provided a ready avenue for those eager to make a public expression of loyalty. Chief among them was the Canadian Patriotic Fund, established by Montreal businessman Herbert B. Ames to help provide assistance to soldiers’ dependents.” Desmond Morton points out that “the architects of the Canadian Patriotic Fund and of Canada’s Board of Pension Commissioners correctly insisted that their allowances and pensions… were entitlements, established by an unwritten contract between Canadians and those, male and female, who provided them with an army.” This idea of an “unwritten contract” is important to understanding the sense of responsibility that Canadians felt when it came to wartime giving. This wasn’t just something that they felt they should do, it was in many ways something they felt they must do. This is an integral part of what Geoff Keelan’s ideas on Canadian cultural mobilization and war culture, which were embodied in a large “network of cultural products—from periodical publications, to books, to speeches, to government propaganda—that affected what Canadians understood about the war and how they perceived it.” Publications in the Abbotsford Post were very much products of this nature.
(Image 20) Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1983-28-581
“Give to the Canadian Patriotic Fund : canadian patriotic fund canvassing.
Abbotsford’s Patriotic Fund
According to Desmond Morton: “the rich and powerful do not grant entitlement easily, particularly to those much poorer and weaker than themselves. Although its chief architect insisted the Canadian Patriotic Fund was not a charity, it surprisingly resembled one in its submissiveness to powerful donors and its manipulative approach to its beneficiaries.” This is a striking argument, but to what degree does it apply to Abbotsford? Where did the “rich and powerful” allocate their money? We have already studied the manipulative approach of The Abbotsford Post in relation to the Gun Fund. However, did the Patriotic Fund have more or less influence over the charitable citizens of Abbotsford?
On April 20, 1916, The Abbotsford Post published the collections for the Patriotic Fund coming out of Abbotsford, Matsqui and Sumas. Collections amounted to:
$2508 in Yearly Subscriptions
$3696 for the Period of the War
$427.35 in cash donations
(Image 21) Credit: The Reach Archives, Abbotsford BC
On December 22, 1916, The Abbotsford Post published a full page Honor Roll of over 70 names in “respect and memory to the volunteers and soldiers who have gone to the front from Abbotsford and district.” The Honor Roll also served as a strong incentive to give to the Patriotic Fund. The quotation at the bottom of the page provides a good example of the types of rhetoric that surrounded the concept of patriotic giving during the war.
Patriotic Fund Subscription List
List of contributors to the Patriotic Fund from Abbotsford and the surrounding districts:
May 18, 1917 Subscription List
Patriotic Funds Accross Canada
It is clear that the Patriotic Fund was far more prominent that the Gun Fund simply in terms of its consistent significance throughout the war as well as the amounts donated to the Patriotic fund were being much larger. This was pervasive across Canada. As we can see with these examples, the Patriotic Fund was an ever-present powerhouse in terms of propaganda and influence on a wide variety of communities:
According to Ian Miller: The Toronto and York County Patriotic Fund ran a campaign from January 22-24, 1918 to raise $3 million in three days. Secular and religious papers printed editorials which extolled the virtues of the fund. There were striking, full page advertisements to encourage citizens to contribute showing images that “conveyed or implied horrible front-line experiences.”
According to Robert Talbot: Against this backdrop of fervent patriotism, a number of First Nations communities were anxious to prove their support for the war effort by contributing financially. By March 1915, Indian Affairs had received offers of donation from 32 different bands (Indian Affairs 1915). Patriotic fund donations came in all shapes and sizes, attached to the requisite declarations of loyalty to king and country.
Sources
The Reach Archives
The articles from The Abbotsford Post can be accessed at The Reach Archives in Abbotsford British Columbia or online through UBC: https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xabpost
Images from the Reach Archives can be accessed here: http://thereach.pastperfectonline.com/
Library and Archives Canada
Images from the Canadian Archives can be accessed here: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/search/arch
Secondary Sources
Guttman, Jon. “Full-Auto Firepower.” Military History 32, no. 6 (March 2016): 42-47. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 22, 2018).
Keelan, Geoff. “Canada’s Cultural Mobilization during the First World War and a Case for Canadian War Culture.” Canadian Historical Review 97, no. 3 (September 2016): 377-403. Humanities Source, EBSCOhost (accessed February 22, 2018).
Miller, Ian Hugh Maclean. Our glory and our grief. [electronic resource] : Torontonians and the Great War. n.p.: Toronto, Ont. : University of Toronto Press, c2002 (Ottawa, Ontario : Canadian Electronic Library, 2010)., 2002. UFV Library Catalogue, EBSCOhost (accessed February 22, 2018).
http://deslibris.ca.proxy.ufv.ca:2048/ID/418219#?
Mortimer, Gavin. “Giving the Machine Gun Wings.” Aviation History 23, no. 6 (July 2013): 50-55. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 22, 2018).
Morton, Desmond. Fight or pay. [electronic resource] : soldiers’ families in the Great War. n.p.: Vancouver, B.C. : UBC Press, c2004 (Ottawa, Ontario : Canadian Electronic Library, 2010)., 2004. UFV Library Catalogue, EBSCOhost (accessed February 22, 2018).
http://deslibris.ca.proxy.ufv.ca:2048/ID/404193
Talbot, Robert J. “It Would Be Best to Leave Us Alone”: First Nations Responses to the Canadian War Effort, 1914-18.” Journal Of Canadian Studies 45, no. 1 (Winter2011 2011): 90-120. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 22, 2018).