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Soldiers of the King: Vancouver’s interwar militia as a social institution

University of British Columbia

The interwar militia in Vancouver is a poorly understood institution, partly because scholars have come to associate the militia with militarism. However, the militia has important non-military functions and the interwar militia regiments were more than social clubs. This thesis compared the activities of two of Vancouver's militia regiments by examining their archival holdings to see if they had documentary evidence to support the notion that they functioned as a proto-fraternal society during the interwar period. The militia regiments functioned as fraternal associations providing mutual aid as well as congeniality. In the immediate post World War One period and during the Great Depression, with successively lower militia appropriations, militia regiments were forced out of necessity to come up with innovative ways to recruit and keep men on strength. Service in the militia was voluntary with members turning their pay back to the regiments to enable many of the militia regiments to function. The militia regiments held suppers and dances, and paid transportation costs to get members out for parade nights. The militia also played an integral role in the ceremonial life of the city. The ceremonial and symbolic values of militia units on parade were accepted features of public ceremonies in the city. It reaffirmed Vancouver's "Britishness." This thesis compares two of Vancouver's militia regiments during the interwar period, the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and the British Columbia Regiment. The ethnic affiliation of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada to the city's Scottish groups was a remarkable feature of Vancouver's elite unit. The militia allowed ambitious and patriotic young men to follow a British aristocratic career pattern: formal education at private schools, post-secondary training and military service. Militia regiments were part of an active social network within Vancouver between the wars. They conferred status, provided aid, and supported dominant values such as in Vancouver's society. This thesis provides some insight into the functioning of these two regiments as fraternal organizations and how they connected to the larger community.

British Columbia

Text

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0088665

Master of Arts - MA

Arts, Faculty of; History, Department of

1998-11

Graduate