Fifth Field Company

In Remembrance: The Fifth Field Company (drawn almost exclusively from Queen’s University) was given the task of turning previously unimproved ground at Valcartier, Quebec, into a camp capable of mobilizing 30,000 men for war. Only ten days after the initial inquiry, mobilization orders were telegraphed to all members of the Company and the majority of the men left Kingston for Valcartier on August 18, 1914. In all 170 Queen’s men worked at Valcartier on a variety of jobs that included road repair, surveys for tent sites, and installation of a water supply system. When other Companies of Engineers arrived at Valcartier, the Fifth was split into overseas and home sections – fifty members of the Queen’s Company signed up to be sent abroad with the First Canadian Contingent for service with No. 2 Company of Engineers. The home service of the Fifth Field Company remained at Valcartier until October 1914, when members returned to Kingston and began recruiting for the second overseas contingent. Also pictured are members of Kingston’s 14th Regiment (Princess of Wales’ Own Regiment) while they were at Valcartier.