Military Austerity By Matthew Gamble

Despite earning its reputation as a nascent military power on the battlefields of Europe, the Canadian armed forces fell into precipitous decline following the end of the First World War. After the November 11th Armistice and the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Versailles, much of the then large and battle-hardened Canadian Army was demobilized.
By 1920, Camp Sussex, which had trained units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force headed overseas, was a shadow of its former glory. Appalled by the state of affairs, Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred Markham made the decision to whip the most important fixtures of the Camp back into shape. The government eventually provided some funds, but most of the repairs came out of the Regiment’s coffers. The repairs were a success, and by 1921, the Regiment was back to holding summer militia training camps, albeit on a much smaller scale than before. 

​However, cutbacks had taken their toll. The first summer, 21 officers, 88 men, and 78 horses mustered for training. The number of men who showed up for training dwindled the following year, and by 1923, each horse was shared by two men. Meanwhile, federal money had dried up, and the Hussars frequently turned men away because they could not afford them. Consequently, training focused on building up a nucleus of key men to form the backbone of the Regiment in the event of war.
By the late 1920s, there was growing realization that the era of sword and saddle was coming to a close. Mechanization, as it was understood, was the wave of the future. Many cavalrymen, however, were skeptical of these trends and continued to do whatever they could to maintain the relevancy of cavalry.  

​The 1930s proved even more challenging for the 8th Hussars, and the Canadian Militia as a whole. The Great Depression, the most calamitous economic downturn known to industrial society, began in 1929. Amid growing unemployment and shrinking government revenue, the Hussars came under growing financial strain. In 1931, the Regiment was informed it would be allocated a mere $675 for training, the lowest amount ever. Later, the financial situation deteriorated further, and Ottawa informed the Regiment there would be no funds for summer training and only a small amount for evening drill. As a result, much of the training had to be conducted on a voluntary basis, out of the pockets of the Regiment’s officers.
Nevertheless, the men made the best of it. A.T. Ganong took personal responsibility for the success of the Regiment, and his leadership was instrumental in its survival through this period. His successor, Lieutenant-Colonel Keltie Kennedy became the inheritor of this legacy and became, in the words of the historian Douglas How, “one of the stoutest champions the Regiment has ever had.” Colonel Kennedy’s leadership inspired the men to go above and beyond, and his steady hand was instrumental in keeping up morale during this difficult period

​When Kennedy was still a Major, he suggested to a high-ranking officer at dinner that the 8th Hussars machine-gun troop would like to attend the central marching-gun camp at Valcartier, Quebec. The senior officer scoffed at the idea, highlighting the unfairness of sending mere militiamen into competition with specialist machine-gun units. Major Kennedy responded by saying that if the troop performed poorly, he would pay for its trip out of pocket. The Hampton troop went to Valcartier in the summer of 1935 and bested every other unit there.
In many respects, the performance of the 8th Hussars machine-gun troop reflected the essence of the era. Short on cash and manpower, the Hussars did what the could with what they had, in many cases with astounding results. With another world war around the corner, this training proved invaluable as Canada once again rebuilt its army

To find out more about the 8th Hussars and the interwar period, visit the 8th Hussars Museum, 66 Broad Street, Unit 3, Sussex, New Brunswick. 
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