TRANSCRIPT

The 52nd Battalion is Raised

The first full unit raised in the Thunder Bay District for service overseas was the 52nd (New Ontario) Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, localized at Port Arthur. The 52nd sent recruiting detachments into the region as far away as Fort Francis and Dryden and drummed up 1,945 recruits, of which 19 officers and 342 men had served previously with the LSR. Obviously not all of these men remained with the Battalion. Many were found unfit medically and there were a few desertions. The designation "New Ontario" was chosen because it was a common term used by contemporaries to differentiate northern Ontario from southern or "Old" Ontario.
David Ratz