Spring brought the depletion of numbers to the forefront once more. After the onset of the spring campaign, Borden threw out the exemption of farmers’ sons, surely the only males of military age to be exonerated, along with exemptions in all respects, including fatally-ill wives of soldiers. Union Government elucidated that the current campaign was unforseen in the previous year. That being so, it was not a scurvy trick of an election campaign agreement. Citizens would never be so swindled by their government again.
Their sons’ exemption certificates obsolete, enraged farmers protested on The Hill. “The forfeiture of agriculture would bring the Empire to her knees!” shouted Farmers. Borden answered that insufficient numbers would surely bring about ruin and downfall of the Channel ports to which agriculture would cease to count. The demonstrators resumed their war work. Mother Augusta wrote that none of the Agnews had yet been conscripted. All were resigned to stay back in order to feed the Empire.
The fall of farm help from the duration created a federal initiative designed by the Canada Food Board, called “Soldiers of the Soil.” Young volunteer males, to the extent of thirty thousand, were set about farms from coast to coast to help wartime yield.
The wee Agnews had joined the program to avenge their brothers’ deaths. Perpetually in their “SOS” uniforms, they were working towards their three-month bronze service badges. Augusta signed her letter, The work of righteousness shall be peace200.
Well-nigh every prairie son took up his Christian and sacred agreement to the Empire to go once conscripted. Farmers’ wives lambasted Government in letters. For faith and liberty201, their sons were diplomatically over there and concurrently feeding the Empire, while French Canada was slacker incarnate. Quebec accounted for better than double the national average of defaulters.
The onset of war saw the North-West Force close on its character once more. For much of the war, Mounties aided the west where conscripts and riots were concerned. Until the previous year, settlers, all of whom were German, were also monitored over the prairies. The fear of spies and saboteurs had diminished to naught. Government finally permitted squadrons to journey across the Atlantic. Consequently, the Mounted Force was nearing depletion from so many joining the Expeditionary Force. George McKercher, Christine’s brother, was to go with one of the two drafts allotted, both of which were Cavalry.
Aubrey had come from Vauréal. While she walked back to Pembina, she thought, My son, I loved you so dearly, my deepest sorrow can never be healed202. God keep thee, my son, and rightly bless the life that thou hast laid down203. He wore the white flower of a blameless life204, though, she tried to comfort herself. Longing to see him, to hear him say mother205, Aubrey reasoned she would find solace in companionship, though the visit proved she could not yet bear to be near little boys or Thierry with his perpetual crepe armband. “His own words, to fight for freedom206,” Joseph quoted Nico before he mock-died in front of their aunt Aubrey. The young Laurentiens had been playing at war, the foe against the White Gurkas. German soldiers nicknamed the Canadians so. The Napelenese Gurkas had the superb title of fiercest soldiers on earth.
An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. By end of spring, so bored from lack of chums and merriment was Aubrey, she felt constantly irritated, though nothing was the matter. She knew at the front during times of respite, if there was not enough for soldiers to occupy their time, fights ran rampant and depression flourished in armies.
Aubrey’s wooden needles were taken up and a pattern set about. The end of the next week saw Ottawa’s president of the Daughters of the Empire received at Pembina. Henrietta informed Aubrey her yearly one-dollar membership had been paid in advance in exchange for the donated knit blanket. The two could find nothing to discuss over a spot of tea, so the effort was spoken of.
“Every possible thing was done for our soldiers but the bedroom,” Henrietta said, unabashed, in reference to her time at the front. Peter and Lady Bird never made Aubrey laugh.
The Spring Offensive ended a fortnight prior. The foe was encamped at the Marne and uncomfortably near Paris. Germany’s ambition to fell the front ended in dismay. The enemy was left vulnerable, well-nigh defenseless, and on the brink of vanquish. Their troops refused orders but wanted a return to their country to aid their families.
The Allies were exhausted and battered almost beyond repair. The Corps suffered no great casualties, aside from pride, given that almost all land the Corps had arrested, Germany took back that spring.
No news is jolly news, Aubrey comforted herself relentlessly. She could hear Mme. Laurentien, who was fond of saying, “They also serve who stand and wait.” She told herself that he was safer away from the very front lines, at least for the time being. But without so much as a telegram from him, her birthday came and went. She burst into tears at the day being unacknowledged by her husband. August saw Borden and all Prime Ministers declare the duration was to drudge on at least a few more horrid years. She could faint. If that were true, Auré, Étienne, and the others would never return.
Newspapers abounded across the large mahogany table. May saw air bombings at Étaples. Defenseless patients, British and Dominion, were the targets. Seven Canadian Bluebirds perished. London papers decried, This is one of the most diabolical crimes that Germany has committed. Let us hear no more of Germany airmen’s chivalry.
To add to summer’s dismay, German U-boat 86 besieged Allied passenger ships. The Canadian HMHS Llandovery Castle marked a return passage crossing the Atlantic to England. She had come from emitting several hundred patients to Halifax. The regulation Red Cross markings and lights shining brightly undeniably marked her hospital ship. A terrific eruption occurred near nine thirty the evening of June 27th. The Llandovery Castle was torpedoed a few hundred kilometers afar the Irish coast. The Bluebirds were in uniform, except for a pair who wore nightgowns. Soon, lifebelts were donned by all. Lifeboats were lowered. The Bluebirds were in Lifeboat No. 5, along with Sgt. Arthur Knight and other crew members. The ropes that held their boat to the ship became caught. Knight broke two axes in an attempt to free the lifeboat, though to no avail.
“We tried to keep ourselves away by using the oars, and soon every one of the latter were broken,” stated Knight at a later date.
The boat was set free of the ropes that eventually snapped, though the members of No. 5 were at a loss to row afar their descending ship. Further crewmembers were taken captive aboard the foe’s submarine. The enemy was of false opinion that the ship held Air Force Officers and supplies pertaining to the United States. The truth made plain to the enemy, the submarine arose to destroy attestation to its act: machine-gunning persons in the water and dashing against lifeboats were both illegal, according to the Hague Convention.
Knight would thereafter attest that all Bluebirds were “as calm as though on parade… In that whole time, I did not hear a complaint or murmur… there was not a cry for help or any outward evidence of fear.”
“Sergeant, do you think there is any hope for us?” Matron Margaret Fraser asked of Knight.
“No,” was the answer. Fraser was tossed off the side while the felled Llandovery Castle’s whirlpool drew No. 5 under water.
A sole lifeboat, with twenty-four men, including Knight, the lone survivor of his craft, was rescued two days afterwards. The cast about performed by the British Navy recovered strictly bodies. Of the ninety-four Canadians on the ship, 88 perished. All 14 Canadian Bluebirds fell to drowning. A “Call to arms” rocked Canada in reply, a monumental feat itself, considering the country was in the midst of the most political muck and mire she would ever know.
Canada held her nurses in ever-resplendent veneration. When ships were torpedoed or hospitals bombed, sisters would routinely remain at post through evacuation. Solely after all wounded were removed did etiquette of “ladies first” recommence. Canadian doctors attested that sisters exhibited bravery equal to any lad who saw action.
By the fourth year of the duration, Canadian Bluebirds were routinely sent letters penned by British troops imparting they would always be indebted to the goodwill of the Canadian Army Medical Corps. The compassion Canadian medical personnel displayed was at variance with what the English Tommy had ever been acquainted with. By this point in the effort, England regularly couselled Allied armies to treat their casualties at Canadian hospitals.
A bright mid-morning found Aubrey staring at the printed fabric calendar in Pembina’s morning room. She pondered how hard Knight must have tried to save the others, specifically because there were nurses with him. She had never heard of someone breaking an axe before, never mind two, and wearing corsets, the Bluebirds did not stand a chance against the whirlpool. Stitched against the coloured fabric were the words, We’ll never let the old flag fall. Two soldiers held crossed Union Jacks. Dominion Day had just passed, and shortly after that, what would have been René’s third birthday. Could I have but clasped his hand and whispered, my son, farewell207? thought Aubrey in fruitless despair. The Corps was given a prolonged respite with a grand celebration on July 1st. Fifty thousand of the Corps lads partook in a competitions and sports day. Borden and Currie were present. Royal Air Force squadrons flew overhead to safeguard the dignitaries from enemy aircraft bombs. Billy Bishop performed aerial stunts for the crowd. Beer was given to all the fellows in the jollities-filled day of relaxation. The Corps was reposed and merry. As well, given the Corps had not been a part of most of the spring and summer campaigns, its troops were fit to confront open warfare. Aubrey wondered if she would ever see Auré again and supposed divorce would be requested if he did return. She wondered where she would live, at least for the next year, or who would befriend her, given it was the wife who was ostracized after a divorce, no matter what transpired in the marriage.
Aubrey was mulling over the servant issue with Llewellyn. Yet another type-written notice had been given.
“Ouch!” Aubrey’s eyes watered involuntarily.
“M’Lady?” inquired Llewellyn, who turned from the window to look towards her.
Aubrey returned the hot tea upon the saucer. Her stomach knotted in guilt. Aubrey could hear Mother Augusta lecturing, “One teaches others how to treat one.” Aubrey’s tea and, for that matter, all her meals were perpetually room temperature. She always assumed that was because it took time for the servants to bring her meals through the long corridors and flights of stairs.
For the first year since Emmett’s death, Pembina’s servants were given the common paid fares to see family for a yearly two-week period. The manor had seen such chaos in recent years. Aubrey declared there was no choice but to reinstate Emmett’s method of governing below stairs. A number of servants were on vacation at that moment. Nonetheless, Pembina was understaffed.
It was heard that the Westbrooks sold their Muskoka property for taxes. Calthrop had been in their family for years. Newfangled inventions, such as the electric washing machine and the vacuum, were replacing scores of servants. Even so, many mistresses did not purchase such products, given muddle below stairs mattered not.
“How can this be? Raise her daily ration or give her an easier work load — have her stay!” said Aubrey to Llewellyn, then she coughed harshly. She had had the flu for some time now.
Mistresses offered lovelier uniforms and higher salaries to keep their downstairs as it had always been. Though, workplace unions began to abound. Free time was included in the public sphere. Employment outside the realm of life below stairs held more integrity and the income was superior. The honour of serving was yielding to antiquity.
“Madam, those days are over,” answered Llewellyn.
“Those days” had reigned supreme these thousand years! At the commencement of the duration, most of Pembina’s servants who signed up did so for the free trip home after the war, like so many others. She could laugh at the notion. Ages ago that seemed! Several of her servants enlisted the first year of the cause. The rest who had left Pembina joined the outside workforce, mainly the clerical sphere, which saw great innovation in recent times from typewriters and the telephone. Following Vimy, she lost a few servants to defend Canada. Servants of all people, who once knew their place, are demanding rights! Colonials are being heralded as heroes of the Allies! What could possibly happen on the morrow? A man on the moon?! Absurd! That being so, everything of the cause thus far had been absurd, thought Aubrey.
The manor seemed too quiet now. The silence was hard to bear. She missed the nanny singing those typical war ditties, “Just A Prayer for Her Daddy Over There” or “I Want to Kiss My Daddy Goodnight,” before laying René down for his nap. Songs, “The Roses of Picardy” and “Keep the Home Fires Burning,” were most attractive across the Empire. “The Roses of Picardy” was also sung after the Corps battles. If the battle was exceptionally ghastly, the singer’s entire brigade would be in absolute tears by the end of the song. A few of the Corps’ favorites were “Farmer’s Daughter” or “Mademoiselle from Armentières.” Both songs were so crude they could only be sung at the front. A yarn sung in Allied nations was “The Hearts of the World Love Canada.”
“Where, oh where are the men of Canada?
Where are those who have gone away?
They are trenching on the fields of Flanders
Bringing honor to us today!
Thanks to the Khaki-clad men of Canada
We’re indebted to them always
For the wide, wide world has her eyes on Canada
They are watching her day by day
What has womanhood done for Canada?
They are doing their part today
Sons they have borne they have given gladly
Now they toil for them whilst away
Think, yes! Think of the girls of Canada
Not one minute they waste each day
For they work on farm or in factory
All for those who have gone away
Yes, the hearts of the world love Canada
She’s admired the whole world o’er
And those hearts love the men of Canada
For their bravery in this war
And the hearts of the world praise Canada
With her prairies and stately trees
Yes! The hearts of the world love Canada
From the pole to the southern seas
Yes, the seas.”