On the Battlefront: Canadian Soldiers,an Imperial War,and America's National Pastime

“The moment our men get out of the trenches they begin to play baseball… .” ¹ 1. Coningsby Dawson, Living Bayonets: A Record of the Last Push (New York: John Lane Co., 1919), 129.

—Lieutenant Coningsby Dawson, an officer in the Canadian

Expeditionary Force during the First World War

The Great War is credited by some historians for giving direction to Canadian nationalism. Success on the battlefields provided many citizens with patriotic pride, as well as a sense of brotherhood as Canadian troops fought alongside the British in an imperial struggle. Despite an environment that favoured nationalism and imperialism, Canadian soldiers embraced America's national pastime. For many of the rank and file, baseball was an important part of their war experience. The commanding officers' support for sport, however, was essential to baseball's existence in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. Despite the enjoyment baseball brought soldiers, a handful of officers in the military's high command were apprehensive about sport's rising status. By 1917, after years of uncertainty about how to incorporate baseball into the soldiers' training regimen, the military could no longer ignore the need and role for sport in military life. Perhaps spurred by American entry into the conflict, the CEF issued a report that officially authorized baseball and like games.