Fonds F2144 - Queen's University. 6th Field Company Canadian Engineers.

In 1910 the Faculty of Applied Science of Queen's University formed the Militia Unit of the 5th Field Company Canadian Engineers, with something over ninety percent of the students in the Faculty as members of the company. The officers were Macphail, Malcolm, Ellis along with a number of students, including Edward Baker (later Colonel Baker of Canadian National Institute of the Blind).
The members of the company trained every Thursday at the Kingston Armouries undertaking engineer drill and spent two weeks in the spring at Barriefiel Military Camp.
On declaration of war in 1914 the Fifth Field Company was given the task of turning previously unimproved ground at Valcartier, Quebec, into a camp capable of mobilizing 30,000 men. In all 170 Queen’s men worked at Valcartier on a variety of jobs that included road repair, surveys for tent sites, and installation of a water supply system.
When other Companies of Engineers arrived at Valcartier, the Fifth was split into overseas and home sections. Fifty members of the Queen’s Company signed up to be sent abroad with the First Canadian Contingent for service with No. 2 Company of Engineers. The home service of the Fifth Field Company remained at Valcartier until October 1914, at which point members returned to Kingston and began recruiting for the second overseas contingent. Many of these returning members formed half of the 6th Company Engineers. Along with others from Ottawa and Montreal, the Kingston recruits made up the nucleus of the three field corps of engineers that formed the 2nd Canadian Expeditionary Force. All of the men trained in Ottawa before being sent overseas in the spring of 1915.
All of the Queen’s men serving in this Company maintained an awareness of their university affiliation throughout the period in their active enlistment. Although the special cohesion and camaraderie evident during the early days in training camp was gradually changed by the experiences of war into more of a general company spirit, there remained a strong bond between the original Kingston members of the Company.