Friday 9 March 1917 – frost

Biddy sails for Canada with Eileen.

Sir Rob. L. Borden inspects 7^th Bde. @ Bruay.

New maps come in which upset all our others as regards co-ordinates. Work for nothing.

*Sir Robert Borden was Canada’s prime minister from 1911 to 1920. Borden’s decision in early 1917 to invoke conscription, or compulsory service, in order to maintain Canada’s armies in the field nearly tore the country apart. He believed strongly in imperial solidarity and the necessity of a large-scale military and industrial contribution, and returned in May 1917 from a visit to London and to the battlefront in France convinced that Canada must make every effort, including conscription, to maintain its forces overseas. He won the ensuing fall election amidst controversy and fierce recriminations, maneuvering many Liberals into supporting his Unionist ticket by making the conscription issue a test of loyalty to King and country. The conscription debate continued through the end of the war, embroiled in larger controversies over Western alienation from central Canada, French-English relations, and the power of the federal government in the lives of Canadians .(www.warmuseum.ca)

British capture Beaumont-Hamel and St Pierre-Divion & many prisoners. Total for two days 5,157.
Have to make a map for Lt Col GA Borden, brother of Premier Borden of Canada. Lieut Gen. Sir Sam Hughes tenders his resignation and- it is accepted- No loss to us!!!

Sir Robert Borden – The 8th Prime Minister of Canada. He passed the War Measures Act turning his government into a Wartime administration in 1914. Borden promised half a million soldiers for the war but was not able to meet this demand with volunteers as people quickly realized that the war would not end quickly. Committed to sending the promised numbers of troops, he initiated the Military Service Act to conscript men into the army. This divided the country along ethnic lines, as French-Canadians did not support conscription, while English-Canadians did. Riots broke out in Quebec. Though only 125,000 men were ever conscripted and only 25,000 even made it to the front, Borden and the Conservatives lost a lot of support due to the crisis, particularly in Quebec.