207th ( Ottawa - Carleton ) Battalion , CEF The 207th ( Carleton ) 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 N . S . 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 . While in training at Rockcliffe Camp , the battalion published a periodical " The WhizBang " , 19 issues of which are in the collection of the National Library at Ottawa . The battalion is perpetuated by The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa ( Duke of Edinburgh ' s Own ) . Theatre of operations . France and Flanders ( once absorbed and dispersed ) Major battles / Battle honours . Mount Sorrel ; Somme 1916 ; Ancre Heights ; Ancre 1916 ; Arras 1917 , 1918 ; Vimy 1917 ; Ypres 1917 ; Passchendaele ; Amiens ; Scarpe 1918 ; Drocourt - Quéant Line ; Hindenburg Line ; Canal due Nord ; Valenciennes ; Sambre . The 207th Ottawa and Carleton Infantry Battalion , Canadian Expeditionary Force . While the 38th Battalion , CEF prepared to sail to England and to the war , the 207th Battalion , the other Canadian Expeditionary Force unit integral to the wartime experience of The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa , was still in the recruiting and initial training stages back home in Ottawa . The 207th ( Ottawa - Carleton ) Overseas Battalion , CEF , was organized on February 1 , 1916 , under the command of Lieutenant - Colonel Charles Wesley MacLean . MacLean was a Montrealer , a pre - war officer with the 13th Scottish Light Dragoons , and had already served overseas during the war with the Canadian Army Service Corps in the 2nd Canadian Division . Headquartered in Ottawa , the 207th ' s recruiting area was defined primarily as Carleton County , although recruits did come to the unit from the city as well . Like many of the later infantry battalions , the 207th was largely created through the efforts of a single man or a handful of individuals trying to raise a formed unit for service overseas . Starting in February 1916 , Lieutenant - Colonel MacLean and his officers successfully recruited enough soldiers to man the 207th . A total of 1 , 400 recruits signed on with the battalion , 600 of whom were eventually rejected for service on various medical or disciplinary grounds . Recruiting . 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 club house , 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 canvalescent 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 thirty kilometres , “ with no ill effects to the men ” . Perhaps somewhat naively , a later report on the marches noted : “ They were found of great benefit in getting the men accustomed to long marches , also giving them a good idea as to the actual war conditions , as far as could be arranged during training in Canada . ” Much of the training focused on rifle practice . The soldiers used the rifle range on a daily basis and every one of them ( except for the “ lately joined recruits ” ) was able to fire at least twenty rounds there . In total , 600 members of the battalion were able to complete the British fourteen - week long Syllabus for Infantry course during their time at Rockcliffe . The 207th also formed a machine gun section in June 1916 , its twenty - three personnel becoming fully qualified on Colt and Lewis machine guns while in camp . The 207th was also kept busy with other duties , such as inspections by the Governor General , the Duke of Connaught , on August 10 and October 6 , 1916 . On September 1 , 100 soldiers and the battalion ’ s bands formed a guard of honour at the laying of the cornerstone for the new Parliament Buildings being constructed to replace the buildings which had burned down the previous February . Other guards of honour were also supplied in late 1916 and early 1917 before the battalion left the city . Also notable during the 207th ’ s time in Rockcliffe was the publication of a regimental newsletter , “ The Whizz Bang ” , nineteen issues of which were produced by the battalion between July 1 and November 4 , 1916 . The battalion incorporated both brass and bugle bands . The brass band was led by a member of the 43rd Regiment , Lieutenant J . M . Brown , and included twenty - two members , while the bugle band was forty - two strong . Used primarily for recruiting purposes , both bands also provided “ the necessary music for marching , whenever required . ” MacLean ' s Athletes . However , the 207th was best known for what it truly specialized at , aside from soldiering . This was sports , an activity which gave the battalion the nickname " MacLean ' s Athletes " . Rugby was the unit ' s particular speciality . On October 14 , 1916 , the 207th ' s rugby team crushed the Queen ’ s University team by a score of 43 - 8 . It traveled to Hamilton at the end of the month , beating the Hamilton Tigers ( the 205th Battalion ’ s team ) by a score of 32 - 3 and later defeated the Tigers in Lansdowne Park by a score of 24 - 8 . By the end of the year the 207th was the champion of the Khaki Interprovincial Rugby Football League . The battalion ’ s baseball team won the city of Ottawa baseball league championship the same year . Presentation of Colours . After nearly four months of initial training , the battalion left Rockcliffe , returning to its Ottawa barracks on October 20 . Like the 38th Battalion , the 207th was presented with battalion Colours on Parliament Hill . Lieutenant - General Sam Hughes , in his final public act as Minister of Militia , presented the Colours , a gift from the American Bank Note Company , a local firm , on November 18 , 1916 . News Reel Movie of Presentation of Colours from Collections Canada Preparation for deployment . Despite all of his efforts to form a fighting battalion , Lieutenant - Colonel MacLean still did not know what the fate of his unit would be within the Canadian Expeditionary Force . In hindsight , it ' s easy to see that the 207th was destined to be a reinforcement unit for front - line Canadian units . By mid - December MacLean had discovered out that no more infantry battalions would be sent overseas as anything other than large reinforcement drafts . He immediately submitted a proposal to Militia Headquarters regarding the fate of the 207th . MacLean suggested that it be converted into a railway construction battalion , arguing that of the 750 soldiers currently on the battalion ’ s strength , 600 could be used to form the core of a railway unit , the other 150 being sent as an infantry reinforcement draft overseas . He noted : “ You will notice that we have , in our Battalion , a good many civil engineers , public land surveyors , railway superintendents , section foremen , drivers , saddlers , and tailors . ” Although no response to his proposal was found in the documentary record , the 207th was never converted . Nevertheless , a later infantry battalion raised in Ottawa , the 257th Overseas Battalion , was reformed as a railway construction unit , serving in France and Flanders from 1917 to 1919 as the 7th Battalion , Canadian Railway Troops . As 1917 began the 207th ' s time in Ottawa came to a close and the battalion prepared to move closer to an overseas deployment . Before leaving Ottawa , the battalion was inspected by Brigadier - General T . D . R . Hemming , the 3rd Divisional Area commander . He was quite impressed with the officers , non - commissioned officers , and men , remarking : “ A very good class of men . Good physique and intelligent . ” The general discipline of the men was also reported as “ very good ” . It was also noted that no soldiers from the battalion had been court - martialled during its eleven months in existence in the nation ’ s capital . To Nova Scotia . On January 18 , 1917 , the 207th left Ottawa for the Maritimes departing by train for Amherst , Nova Scotia , for further training . The battalion arrived two days later . Training at Amherst followed the “ Regular War Office Syllabus ” , the troops receiving instruction in such subjects as bombing ( grenades ) and scouting . The battalion ’ s training regime was suddenly interrupted in late February and March 1917 because of an outbreak of infectious diseases in Amherst . On March 1 two cases of scarlet fever , two cases of German measles , and seven cases of mumps were reported in the 207th . Medical authorities believed the unit to be on the verge of an epidemic and immediate measures were taken with respect to the sanitary conditions of the soldiers ’ accommodations . By the end of March the situation had worsened . Ten members of the battalion had German measles , another fifteen the mumps , six scarlet fever , and another two diphtheria . All of these men were in a local hospital “ convalescing ” . Of 710 officers and men with the 207th in Amherst by this point , a total of 104 were sent to the local hospital during March suffering from an infectious disease . By April 18 the battalion , the only CEF unit in Amherst , was still quarantined . It was little consolation that it wasn ’ t the only battalion suffering , as five other units were quarantined in camps in other parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick at the time . The 207th ’ s medical crisis was not only a trial for the battalion ; it also affected the reinforcement pool for Canada ’ s battalions overseas . On April 20 the Militia authorities in Ottawa suggested that the General Officer Commanding the troops in Military District No . 6 be told that every available n . c . o . and man of the 207th , who is not a contact , or suspect , must be sent overseas this month , regardless of whether the unit is broken up or not . It is necessary to fill up the [ troop ] transports , and nothing is to be gained by keeping whole battalions or units back in Canada , in order to enable them to proceed overseas , complete . The sooner we get all the medically sound , fit , un - infected officers and men out of M . D . 6 , the better . However , the partial deployment of the 207th overseas did not happen and , on April 30 , the battalion was reported to be “ free from infection ” . Nevertheless , for three members of the 207th the epidemic was fatal , as Company Quartermaster - Sergeant Ernest William Painter and Privates Louis Lavallee and William Metheral died of disease while stationed in Amherst . Four other members of the battalion ( Sergeant Oswald Olson and Privates John Joseph Hallinan , John Milton Howard , and Ernest Samuel Povah ) died in Canada between then and the end of the war , all members of the 207th Battalion at the time . As a result , seven men died during the First World War wearing the cap badge of the 207th ( Ottawa - Carleton ) Overseas Battalion . Overseas . Finally , on May 28 the battalion left Amherst for Halifax , the journey overseas about to begin . The 207th Battalion ’ s journey overseas began on June 2 , 1917 , when the unit left Halifax on board the troopship S . S . Olympic . Eight days later the battalion arrived in Liverpool , England , the voyage being described as “ entirely uneventful ” . After a brief train ride to Seaford Camp in Sussex , the 207th was placed under the command of Canadian Troops , Seaford . On the very same day , the battalion ’ s independent existence came to an end when the 7th Reserve Battalion , CEF , “ absorbed ” the battalion and all of its twenty - seven officers and 652 other ranks . The officer signing the order was the officer commanding Seaford Camp , Colonel Stanley Douglas Gardner , M . C . Ironically , Colonel Gardner would become the commanding officer of the 38th Battalion in France on August 29 , 1918 . Technically , the 207th didn ’ t cease to exist at this point . It simply became a reinforcement - holding unit , ready to supply officers and men to other units that needed them . For example , 200 non - commissioned officers and men were sent to the 156th Battalion in Witley Camp on June 13 . Another twenty other ranks joined them four days later , never to return to the 207th , but eventually finding their way to the front with a fighting battalion . As the numbers of reinforcements sent to the front grew , the 207th , in effect , faded away . Eventually , the battalion sent 157 soldiers to the 2nd Battalion , 118 to Princess Patricia ' s Canadian Light Infantry , ninety - two to the 38th Battalion , sixty - six to the 21st Battalion , and the rest spread over a variety of other units . Sixty - two of these soldiers were killed in action or died from their wounds or disease . The units with which these men passed into history ranged from various infantry battalions to the 5th Battalion , Canadian Railway Troops , to the 3rd Tunnelling Company , Canadian Engineers . Not surprisingly , many of the greatest losses of former 207th soldiers were suffered in the infantry ’ s 2nd Battalion ( thirteen ) , the PPCLI ( eight ) , and the 21st Battalion ( eight ) . However , the largest number of 207th men ( twenty - two in total ) who died did so , perhaps appropriately , as members of the 38th Battalion , CEF their sister unit from Ottawa . While serving with their new units , two former 207th men were decorated for bravery . Captain Edward Thomas Minnie was awarded the Military Cross with the 38th Battalion , CEF before dying of his wounds on November 7 , 1918 , and Private James Arthur Robertson was awarded the Military Medal with the 38th before being killed in action on September 2 , 1918 . Notable , too , was Private Nelson Taylor who was killed in action with the 38th on November 15 , 1917 , at the young age of seventeen . Post war . Its ranks depleted , the 207th Battalion was disbanded on April 11 , 1918 . The last symbol of the 207th Battalion , the King ’ s and Regimental Colours , remained in Westminster Abbey with no one to retrieve them . Finally , on September 5 , 1919 , Captain Duguid , a member of the 15th Battalion , CEF , gathered them up and brought them back to where they were laid up in Knox Presbyterian Church ( Ottawa ) on November 16 , 1919 . References . Meek , John F . " Over the Top ! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War . " Orangeville , Ont . : The Author , 1971 . Reynolds , Ken , PhD . Historian , researcher , writer , archivist , public speaker , museum curator . Full - time employee with the Department of National Defence since 2003 . Professional historian in Ottawa since 1997 and in Montreal from 1990 to 1997 . Doctorate in history , McGill University , Montreal , 1997 . Widespread research experience in Canada and Germany . Regimental Historian for The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa .