page_title: 207th (Ottawa-Carleton) Battalion, CEF
section_title: Recruiting
hierarchical_section_title: 207th (Ottawa-Carleton) Battalion, CEF / Recruiting
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a recruitment poster for the 207th Battalion of Ottawa-Carleton, the recruiting office for which was in downtown Ottawa. A slogan of the 207 was made the title of a song dedicated to the 207th words by Miss Esther Knott. The unit went overseas in 1917, but was later broken up and its soldiers sent to reinforce other front-line infantry battalions, including the 2nd, 21st, and 38th Battalions, and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light
context_page_description: The 207th Battalion, CEF was a battalion of the First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force.
  It was organized at Ottawa by Lt Col Charles Wesley MacLean with members recruited by the 43rd Regiment "Duke of Cornwall's Own Rifles" and volunteers from Carleton County and environs beginning in February 1916. Initial training was conducted at Rockcliffe Camp at which time the battalion earned its unofficial nickname "MacLean's Athletes" due to its participation in sports, especially rugby and baseball. Additional training was done at Amherst, Nova Scotia from January 1917; the battalion sailed from Halifax with a strength of 27 officers and 652 men on June 2, 1917.
  The 207th was absorbed by the 7th Reserve Bn, most members of the 207th being used to reinforce the PPCLI, 2nd, 21st and 38th battalions all of which had Ottawa / Eastern Ontario origins, individual members would, however, serve several other units including the 4th, 5th, 20th 24th, 75th, 102nd, and 156th Infantry Battalions as well as the 2nd and 3rd Tunneling Co. C.E.
context_section_description: During the First World War, the 207th (Ottawa-Carleton) Battalion, CEF encouraged locals to enlist at the Marquee at Connaught Square,  Base Recruiting Office on Sparks Street, any Branch 207th Office, Hintonburg 987 Wellington Street, Ottawa South 1123 Bank Street, Eastview Cumming Bridge, or at the Britannia Pier. A slogan of the 207, 'This is your flag -Fight for it,' was made the title of a song dedicated to the 207th with words by Miss Esther Knott and music by Donald Helms. On June 26, 1916, the Soldier's Service Club of Ottawa's programs of music, dancing and in concert attracted crowds to the Britannia Boating Club to raise money to establish amusement places in six Canadian camps that lacked entertainment halls. The crowd of thousands enjoyed musical entertainment in the auditorium, dancing to the Tippins' orchestra in the clubhouse, band concerts in the parks and a spirit of carnival. The ladies made costumes for the minstrel show at the carnival as well as an earlier show held at the Russell Theatre earlier in the season. Invitations were sent to convalescent soldiers at the Fleming home, who attended as guests of the club. This was the first carnival of its kind held in any Canadian city.
  The 207th received an even larger proportion of its personnel from the 43rd Regiment (men who were either members of the regiment at that time or who were recruited by it for overseas service) than the 38th had when it was raised one year earlier. After the war, statistics would reveal that of the 1,400 men who tried to join the 207th Battalion, 724 came from the 43rd. This included seventeen of the twenty-seven officers that sailed with the battalion when it left Canada in June 1917. Among the 43rd's representatives in the officer corps were Major Fred Demille Burpee (officer commanding No. 1 Company), Major Charles Erich Stewart (officer commanding No. 3 Company), Captain John Gordon MacLachlan (adjutant), Honorary Captain Francis Chevers McElroy (quartermaster and acting paymaster), Captain John Lewis McInnes (chaplain and platoon commander), and Lieutenant Edward Thomas Mennie (officer commanding Machine Gun Section).
  Bringing the 207th up to strength was much more difficult that it had been for the earlier units attempting to recruit men in the Ottawa area. The formation of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the 2nd, 21st, 38th, and 77th Battalions, and legions of combat support units had absorbed much of the local male population of fighting age long before the spring of 1916. With a geographically large recruiting area to draw from, Lieutenant-Colonel MacLean was forced to purchase four cars out of his own pocket to allow his recruiting officers to properly carry out their duties. He also proposed the construction of a model redoubt (a small fortress) as a recruiting attraction on Connaught Place, a wide bridge and park area running along what is now Wellington Street between Parliament and the Chateau Laurier. The redoubt was to be placed approximately where the National War Memorial now stands and was to be built by the local Engineer Training Depot using 2,500 sandbags. While the engineers were eager for the practice the project would give their sappers it was, ultimately, turned down by higher militia authorities, as it was "not thought that the expense is justified."
  The soldiers of the 207th were placed in barracks in Ottawa. While recruiting proceeded, medical examinations were carried out and the sub-unit infrastructure was formed. Early training, including basic drill, care of weapons, and rapid-fire and fire discipline techniques, was carried out at the battalion's headquarters in a building on the corner of Albert and Metcalfe Streets. The soldiers were provided with uniforms and issued kit and weapons, including the Ross rifle. On June 26 the 207th gathered its personnel together and marched off to Rockcliffe Camp for battalion-level training.
  While in Rockcliffe the battalion carried out route marches during the day and at night, about twice a week. Some of these were as long as 30 kilometres (1
caption: Recruitment advertisement for the 207th Battalion includes a song dedicated to 207th and various locations to enlist
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