The McGill Tribune Vol. 14 Issue 10

Page 1

Published by the Students’ Society of McGill University

McGill at war: 1939 to 1945 News M cG ill join s Q uebec student association. Page 3

A n interview w ith D esm ond M orton, in the R em em brance D ay retro­ spective. Page 9

Editorial Feeling the true spirit o f R em em brance Day. Page 6

ENTERTAINMENT Students on stage at the C abaret and at the sym ­ phony...just Pure enter­ tainm ent. Page 12

SPORTS Football carpet-ride sea­ son skids to a halt on a sw am py M olson stadium field, and w om en’s soc­ cer com petes for CIA U T eam o f the Y ear . Page 15

Columnists G. G ib so n ................... Page 7 M. L u z ......................... Page 7 P. S h a h ........................Page 9

Departments C ro ssw o rd .................. Page 8 O b serv er..................... P age 8 W h at’s O n ............. Page 19 Sexual Assault C en tre of M cG ill S tu d en t’s Society

398 -2700 C en tre C o ntre l’Agression de l’A ssociation des Etudiants de L’U niversité M cG ill

W inter 1943: S tu d e n ts cro w d a r o u n d a noo sed effigy o f A d o lf Hitler. Sponsored b y the McGill Daily, th e “H a n g H itle r” c a m p a ig n e n c o u ra g e d stu d e n ts to d o n a te n ickels to th e w a r effort. U n ifo rm ed a n d en th u sa istic, th ey ep ito m ised a w a r fo u g h t m a in ly by m e n ju s t o u t o f th e ir teens.

By Steve Smith and Iack Sullivan_____________________ F or C anadians, the m em ories o f the killing fields o f France and B e lg iu m w e re s till fre s h w h en P rim e M in is te r W illia m L y o n M c K e n zie K ing a n n o u n c e d th a t C a n a d a w as a g a in a t w a r w ith G erm any on Septem ber 10, 1939. W ith a population o f ju st over 20 m illion, the 60,000 deaths w hich p ea ce in 1918 had c o st w eig h ed h e a v ily o n th e c o n s c ie n c e o f a young nation. Yet the 1914-18 war had introduced the world to Canada and through the efforts o f men and women like those attending McGill, it w as an in tr o d u c tio n th a t few would soon forget. In 1939, Canada w as o ffered a leading ro le in the

s tru g g le a g a in s t G e rm a n y . A nd again, M cGill students rose to the challenge. Over the course of First W orld W ar an estimated 60 percent of eli­ gible students at McGill enlisted for overseas duty. In total, 3,509 stu­ d e n ts se rv e d in th e C a n a d ia n E x p e d itio n a ry F o rce an d o f th is nu m b er, 363 w ere k illed or died while on active service. S tu d en ts fro m ev e ry fac u lty served in the various sections of the CEF. W hile the infantry attracted the vast majority of students, those w ith m o re s p e c ia lis e d tr a in in g served in medicine, dentistry, engi­ neering, research and intelligence, among other services. The contribu­ tio n o f M c G ill’s F a c u lty o f M ed icin e to th e C a n ad ian A rm y

SHATNER BUILDING 8 am - 8 pm

M edical Corps was consolidated in th e fo rm o f th e N o .3 C a n a d ia n General Hospital (M cGill), the first ever University hospital unit in the British Empire. M en and women of the unit treated over 140,000 allied casualties during the course o f the war. Despite the severity of wounds c a u s e d by a r tille r y , g a s an d m achine guns, the superior profes­ sionalism o f the unit kept the death rate at one in one hundred thirtyfive. A m ong the ranks o f the unit was L t.-C ol. John M cCrae, w hose poem “In Flanders Fields” lives to this day as a tribute to the hum an cost of the war as experienced daily by M cG ill’s N o.3 Canadian General Hospital. During the First W orld W ar the M cGill contingent o f the Canadian

LEACOCK BUILDING 9 am - 4 pm

O ffic e r T ra in in g C o rp s p ro g ram contributed heavily to the stock of o f fic e r s s e rv in g in th e C E F . Implemented at McGill in 1907, the program was designed to offer stu­ d e n ts th e o p p o rtu n ity to o b ta in com m issions in the m ilitary w hile pursuing their studies. Though no exact figures exist to testify to the program ’s overall recruitment, it is estimated that over a thousand men participated in M cG ill’s contingent o f the CO TC throughout the war. A m ong its earliest graduates was A .G .L. M cN aughton, w ho gained d is tin c tio n fo r h is ro le as an artillery officer at Vimy Ridge and would later serve as the commander o f the F irst C anadian D ivision in See W ar Page 10

LAW FACULTY 8 am - 6 pm


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