Exploring USask’s Connection to Saskatchewan’s Suicide Battalion

Walk past the Physics and Peter Mackinnon Buildings near the Bowl, and you’ll find a small metal plaque mounted to a large stone. If you’re at all like me, you’ll have wondered about the story behind this memorial. A quick glance at the inscription upon the plaque will reveal that it is dedicated to “all ranks of the 46th Battalion C.E.F.” After reading this plaque,I still had questions. Who was the 46th Battalion? Where did they serve? What became of them? I set out to uncover the full story of the sacrifice of these brave young men.

The 46th (South Saskatchewan) Battalion was headquartered in Moose Jaw under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Snell during World War I and recruited primarily young Saskatchewan men, with many of them coming from USask. Over the course of the war, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, over half of USask’s male student body and most of the male faculty enlisted. 

Patriotic young students, many barely out of high school, enlisted for what they saw as a great adventure and their duty to their country. Thousands of students from campuses across the prairies and Canada set aside their school work to serve king and country.

It wasn’t just a sense of duty and obligation that drove students to enlist. Walter Murray, USask’s first president and vice-chancellor, and namesake of Murray Library, spoke of the war as “a fight for… the principles for which a university must stand.” Under his leadership, the Board of Governors offered several incentives to encourage enlistment: students would receive credit for one academic year, and faculty would receive half-pay and would be able to resume their position once they returned.

The 46th Battalion formed part of the 10th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.)—Canada’s contribution to overseas fighting during the First World War.

The South Saskatchewans received basic training at Camp Sewell, Manitoba, in May 1915, before continuing on to Halifax. They arrived in England in November 1915. After several months of further training, they were sent to France in 1916, where they fought until the end of the war.

Throughout the battalion’s existence, it required constant reinforcements from other units, as each battle took its toll on the 46th’s strength. Over the course of the 46th’s service, 5,374 men served in the battalion. Of that number, 4,917 men were either killed or wounded; a casualty rate of over 90%. 

It was for this reason that the battalion earned the grim moniker “the suicide battalion.” The Battle of Passchendaele at the Ypres Salient in Belgium was one of the battalion’s bloodiest engagements, where they suffered 403 casualties from a strength of 600 men.

The South Saskatchewans’ sole recipient of the Victoria Cross (V.C.)—Canada’s highest military medal—was Sergeant Hugh Cairns, a plumbing apprentice from Saskatoon. Private William Johnstone Milne and Sergeant Arthur Knight both received the V.C. posthumously for valour demonstrated in units they were transferred to after the 46th.

By 1918, the Allied forces won the war, and the need for such a large standing army was unnecessary. As the battalion prepared to return to Canada for demobilisation, which occurred in 1920, they were presented with a regimental colour—a ceremonial flag representing the unit—bearing sixteen battle honours. A battle honour is an award that grants a military ship or unit the privilege of displaying the name and date of a battle on their colours and uniforms. 

The fact that the 46th earned 16 such honours in only 27 months of combat demonstrates their extensive service in every major campaign from their arrival in Europe to the signing of the armistice. Immortalised on their memorial plaque, the battalion’s battle honour-worthy engagements include Ancre Heights, Somme, Vimy, Hill 70, Arras, Ypres, Passchendaele, Amiens, Scarpe, Drocourt-Queant, France and Flanders. 

One young USask faculty member who enlisted with the South Saskatchwans was Reginald Bateman, a professor of English. Bateman championed the war as “the climax of human endeavour” and as a cause that advanced humankind and tested the manliness of those who enlisted. 

Criticised by the editors of The Sheaf for abandoning his students in pursuit of personal glory, Bateman proved an able soldier and found himself promoted to major. He would come to resent his post and requested a demotion to return to the fighting on the front lines alongside the 46th. On Sept. 3, 1918, Bateman died in the line of duty when an errant artillery shell fell on his regimental headquarters. In honour of his service to his country and to the University’s soccer team as its captain before he enlisted, the Huskie men’s soccer team established the Bateman Cup in 2016, on the 98th anniversary of his death. The Cup is competed for each time the University of Alberta Golden Bears play the Huskies at Griffiths Stadium.

As the 46th Battalion has now been disbanded and is no longer a unit of the Canadian Army, its battle honours are perpetuated by the Saskatchewan Dragoons, a Primary Reserve armoured regiment headquartered in Moose Jaw. 

Upon their return to Canada, the ranks of the 46th were forced to return to civilian life. Many of the young veterans returned to their studies at USask. Others chose to enroll for the first time, having become exposed to university education in classes provided by the Army while serving on the Western Front.

The return of students to campus was a welcome sight. It signalled that the war truly was over, and allowed the university to return to its normal operations. During the 1916-1917 school year, the College of Engineering was actually closed, since so many of its students and faculty enlisted.

In 1933, a memorial plaque was presented to USask in the presence of 70 veterans of the 46th. Once a suitable stone was found, the plaque was mounted and installed in the spot you can find it today. 

Quoting Rudyard Kipling’s 1916 poem, The Verdicts, the plaque honours the memory of the 46th, proclaiming that “they are too near to be great, but our children shall understand when and how our fate was changed, and by whose hand.”

The next time you walk past this humble stone, remember that it is more than just another campus memorial. It is a testament to the bravery of young people just like you and me, and their willingness to fight for their country. Their sacrifice must not be forgotten. 

This year on Nov. 11, take a moment of silence to remember the soldiers of the 46th Battalion and of all units in every conflict who fought in the defence of their homeland.