A Legacy of the Nova Scotia Spirit
Christmas 1917 fell like a faint beam of light across the shadowed days of the fourth winter of the Great War. There were half enough boats o carry the huge quantities of cards, letters and parcels for loved ones in active service, and the comforts that everyone wanted to send from their homes of afar.
Unexpected delays in shipping were obstacles which occurred in early December 1917 and it took three weeks of gargantuan effort on all sides to ship everything across to France before Christmas Day. The Red Cross warehouses in Boulogne, France where stacked high with 490,000 tins of sweets, four tons of Brazil nuts, four tons of filberts, ten tons of almonds, four tons of walnuts, four tons of chestnuts, 12 tons of dried fruit, 40,000 boxes of Christmas crackers and 80,000 Chrsitmas cards. Just days before Chrsitmas, boat loads of chicken and turkeys landed in France, plus a mammoth consignment of 25,000 Christmas puddings, which had been lovingly prepared by hundreds of volunteer groups throughout Nova Scotia and other Atlantic Canada's communities. These generous individuals who prepared the puddings willingly sacrificed their ration of sugar and a quantity of previous dried fruit to ensure that "their boys and others had a proper Christmas dinner". Most puddings were stuffed as full of lucky dimes as they were with hoarded raisins, and mixed with liberal amounts of brandy. Chocolate, tabocco, cigarettes, sweets of all descriptions, concentrated beef cubes, candles, socks, mittens, * Forrester H. Faulkenham,
razor blades, sardines and soap accompanied the puddings. standing - left: Photo taken
in Etaples, Western Front,
It took all the considerable organizational powers of the Red Cross France 1918
and a large slice of the resources of the Army Transport Corps to
distribute their bounty across the length and breath of the Western Front.
From South Africa came a boatload of grapes, peaches, and nectarines; from Eastern Canada, 10,000 cases of red apples; from America - shipments of beef, and from Australia, a towering mountain of "billie-cans" (a 1.36L can with wire handle) packed with comforts and goodies from their homeland. The billie-can themselves, were as Australian as the stains of "Waltzing Matilda". These billie-cans spoke of sentiments and service.
In Nova Scotia communities of groups worked around the clock to fill donated boxes (all in the same size), with oddments of all descriptions. The boxes held a suprising amount of chocolate, tobacco, cigarettes, sweets, concentrated beef cubes, notebooks, candles, socks, mittens and much more.
On the day in which the filled boxes were to be sent off, residents of the various communities gathered at their local train station to collectively send their blessing as the boxes were loaded on the train bound for a shipping pier in Halifax.
Army personnel from the 2nd Canadian Division; 5th Brigade, 25th Battalion Nova Scotia and the 4th Canadian Division, 12th Brigade, 85th Battalion Highlanders Nova Scotia, and others received their care package with great joy and spontaniety.
Nova Scotia soldiers located at Camp Etaples, France (the site where my Grandfather, Forrester Hector Faulkenham of the Annapolis Valley served) were somewhat undisciplined when it came time for a celebration. Their undisciplined behaviour gave soldiers from other homelands a reason to heartily enjoy their performances. I would be neglectful not to speak to the fact that my Grandfather and his brother Robie Starr of Bridgetown, Nova Scotia were active instigators in all that went on throughout most celebrations at Camp Etaples.
The Chrsitmas celebration gave Nova Scotia soldiers at Camp Etaples a fine opportunity to introduce their "downeast" music to their comrades and they did so in fine style. The clanking of two spoons, rubbing of washboards, tapping on various pots and others who sang altered lyrics to well-known Nova Scotia tunes. Skits of all descriptions also kept an audience in awe.
Meanwhile, others chose to celebrate by going about camp and playing practicial jokes. Their intent would be what rural Nova Scotia residents knew as a "saluting". Some of the Nova Scotian soldiers went about camp to see what mischief they could find. One of their first finds was some laundry hanging on a makeshift clothesline....they joyfully removed it and walked to a nearby abandoned farm house to hang the laundry up at the neighbourhood farm.
The behaviour of these soldiers - our ancestors - was of no surprise as their fun-filled actions were legendary. The more docile troops of other nationalities had a sneaking admination for their devil-may-care demeanor and their reputation as free-booters and tough fighters. The Yuletide goodwill and spirit of Nova Scotian soldiers certainly added to a festival ambiance at a time when life itself was bleak.
As an individual of Nova Scotian roots (an ancestor being a "Founding Father"), I feel compelled to create an awareness of our heritage, character, principles, generosity, varying dialects, talents, and goodness. This package is close to all our hearts and provides us with a pride that we graciously embrace and willing to share with others.
Our doors are always open and the welcome mat is out for those who are "from away" to seek a holiday that offers peace of mind, sense of family, the sharing of stories which guarantee good hardy laughter, recreation for all ages and abilities, delicious home-cooked healthy meals and simultaneously share our culture, enjoy our music and participate in traditional heritage practices which we honor and celebrate.
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*Forrester Hector Faulkenham (my Grandfather) of Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia spent the WWI years on the Western Front in France -- on the front line and "in the trenches". His brother Robie Star of Bridgetown was also at that posting. Forrester Faulkenham was of the 2nd Canadian Division, 5th Brigade, 25th Battalion Nova Scotia. Forrester was a medic as well as a soldier (rifle, mud and all). One of his many fascinating stories describes how he found his brother, Robie injured and had taken shelter at the base of a large tree. A peer drew Forrester's attention to this wounded soldier only to find it was indeed his very own brother.
Forrester met his future wife at Camp Etaples. She was, a British Army Reservist/Telegraphist and worked and slept from within the shelter of the limestone caves at the same camp. Evelyn Nightingale would become his wife within a matter of a month after the war ended and before they left the UK to build their new home in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia.
....... Nightingale
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