The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Ojibwe-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. More
An Inventory of Its Records at the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections
Inventory prepared by Curt Campbell
University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections
331 Elizabeth Dafoe Library, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2
(1997)
Finding aid encoded by Brett Lougheed (June 2006)
Finding aid written in English.
Table of Contents
Administrative History of the University of Manitoba Canadian Officers Training Corps (C.O.T.C.)
Scope and Contents of the Records
Detailed Description of the Collection
Minutes of Meetings, 1914-1950
Office Correspondence, 1940-1966
Administrative Records, 1925-1957
Personnel Records, 1941-1947, ca. 1950
Orders and "War Diaries", 1915-1916, 1941-1949
Press Articles and Clippings, n.d.
The Army Quarterly (British Military Journal), 1948-1956
Administrative History of the University of Manitoba Canadian Officers Training Corps (C.O.T.C.)
The University of Manitoba's Canadian Officer's Training Corps (C.O.T.C.) began in 1914 as a patriotic response to the outbreak of war in Europe. A series of meetings were held in September 1914 to organize a training program to prepare male students for active service overseas. The University Council appointed a Committee on Military Instruction which authorized the teaching of military science and tactics. A university corps was organized in the fall semester of the 1914-1915 year with 64 students taking extra classes to qualify as officers. Later, in March 1915, the Department of Defence instructed the University of Manitoba to join other universities throughout Canada to establish an official training curriculum under the auspices of the Canadian Officer Training Corps. Eight companies of sixty men each were formed with Professor E.P. Featherstonhaugh serving as captain and adjutant. In 1915 the Western Universities Battalion was established with the University of Manitoba contributing a company and a platoon. With the introduction of conscription legislation in 1917, military training was made compulsory for all male students. After the war, in 1920, the C.O.T.C. was reorganized by Lt. Col. N.B. Maclean. It continued in relative obscurity for nearly twenty years until the Second World War.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the C.O.T.C. was quickly revitalized and its membership mushroomed from its peacetime level of 150 personnel to over 800. The Senate also passed regulations relating to academic credits or "bonuses" for students who joined the C.O.T.C. By 1941 all male students were once again required to enlist in a compulsory program of military training. After the war the C.O.T.C. continued to offer military training on a voluntary basis with new modernized and attractive programs, but with the return of peace its popularity rapidly declined with the organization dissolving in 1966.
Scope and Contents of the Records
The fonds consists of the following material spanning the C.O.T.C.'s existence from 1914 through to 1966: administrative files, personnel records, military manuals and other publications, examinations, records of regimental funds, correspondence, orders and "war diaries", press articles and clippings, training material, newsletters, reports, historical notes on the C.O.T.C. at the University of Manitoba, photographs, and miscellaneous material.
This collection is arranged into ten series: Minutes of Meetings, Office Correspondence, Administrative Records, Personnel Records, Orders and "War Diaries", Press Articles and Clippings, Training Material, The Army Quarterly, Miscellaneous Material, and Photographs (PC 126).
There are no restrictions on the use of this material.
UA SC 51
The fonds was donated to Archives & Special Collections in 1991 by John Steele, Dean of Pharmacy.
Detailed Description of the Collection
| Box | Folder | |
| 1 | 1 | Minutes of Meetings, 1914-1921 |
| 2 | Minutes of Meetings, 1922-1928 | |
| 3 | Minutes of Meetings, 1929-1934 | |
| 4 | Minutes of Meetings, 1935-1939 | |
| 5 | Minutes of Meetings, 1940-1941 | |
| 6 | Minutes of Meetings, 1942-1944 | |
| 7 | Minutes of Meetings, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1950
(Individual binder, titled "Minutes") |
| Box | Folder | |
| 1 | 8 | Office Correspondence, 1940-1949 |
| 9 | Office Correspondence, 1950-1959 | |
| 10 | Office Correspondence, 1960-1966 |
| Box | Folder | |
| 2 | 1 |
Account Book, 1942-1950
(Individual bound book) |
| 2 | Register of Regimental Numbers and Length of Service, 1925-1950
(Individual bound book) |
|
| 3 | Postage Book and Early Pay Book (pay records in back section), 1927-1929
(Individual bound book) |
|
| 4 | Rejected/Withdrawn Roster, 1954-1957
(Individual bound book) |
| Box | Folder | |
| 3 | 1 |
Training Roster, ca. 1950
(Individual bound book) |
| 2 | Roll of Entry (from the C.O.T.C. to Active Service), 1941-1947
(Individual bound book) |
| Box | Folder | |
| 3 | 3 | Orders, January 16, 1915 - May 15, 1916 |
| 4 | Orders, September 12, 1941 - February 20, 1943 | |
| 5 | Orders, November 6, 1942 - February 15, 1943
(Paratroop Training) |
|
| 6 | Orders, October 2, 1943 - May 9, 1944 | |
| 7 | "War Diary", September 7, 1943 - June 30, 1944
(Camp Shilo) |
|
| 8 | "War Diary", September 25, 1944 - November 25, 1944 | |
| 9 | "War Diary", May 8, 1945 - May 13, 1945 |
| Box | Folder | |
| 4 | 1 | "War Diary", May 15, 1945 - November 28, 1945 |
| 2 | "War Diary", September 15, 1944 - July 31, 1945 | |
| 3 | "War Diary", January 28, 1946 - April 30, 1946 | |
| 4 | "War Diary", May 3, 1946 - November 19, 1946 | |
| 5 | "War Diary", January 4, 1946 - September 20, 1946
(University of Saskatchewan Contingent) |
|
| 6 | "War Diary", January 10, 1948 - November 10, 1948 | |
| 7 | "War Diary", November 10, 1948 - June 6, 1949 | |
| 8 | "Men Sent on Active Service from C.O.T.C.", August 1942 - September 1943 |
| Box | Folder | |
| 4 | 9 | Newsletters and Periodicals, n.d. |
| 10 | Newspaper Clippings from "The Manitoban", "The Tribune", and "The Winnipeg Free Press," n.d. |
| Box | Folder | |
| 5 | 1 | Handbook: "Report on the Examination for Certificates 'A' and 'B' held in March, 1924, for Cadets of the Senior and Junior Divisions, Officers Training Corps," 1924 |
| 2 | Training Regulations, 1934 | |
| 3 | Engineer Handbook, 1940 | |
| 4 | Handbook: "Notes and Excerpts from Official Publications for the Qualification of Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers of the Canadian Army, Vol. II," October 1942 | |
| 5 | Handbook: "Excerpts and Notes, Part 1 Examination, Lieutenant to Captain," October 1940 |
| Box | Folder | |
| 6 | 1 | Handbook: "Military Science, Part I and Part II," 1948 |
| 2 | Handbook: "Canadian Army, Manual of Training, Organization and Administration in Canada, 1956," 1956 | |
| 3 | Handbook: "Remarks of the Headquarters Prairie Command Examination Marking Board militia Officers and Command Contingent Method 'A' COTC Examinations, 1958," 1958 | |
| 4 | Handbook: "Standard Operating Procedures, U of M Contingent," ca. 1958 |
| Box | Folder | |
| 6 | 5 | The Army Quarterly , January 1948; April, July, October 1949; April, July, October 1950; April 1951; January 1953 |
| Box | Folder | |
| 7 | 1 | The Army Quartely , April, July 1953; January, April, July 1954; July, October 1955; January, April 1956 |
| Box | Folder | |
| 7 | 2 | Bound Book: "University of Manitoba - Roll of Honour, 1914-1918," 1914-1918 |
| Box | Folder | |
| 1 | 1 | 001-048: Photos of the Tri-Service Ball, ca. 1950-1966 |
| 2 | 049-071: Royal Canadian Air Force Photos, 1949-1962 | |
| 3 | 072-082: Exhibitions and Recruiting Drives, post World War Two, n.d. | |
| 4 | 083-113: Training Photos, n.d. | |
| 5 | 114-144: Miscellaneous and Unknown Photos, n.d. | |
| 6 |
145-155: Photos of Officers of the C.O.T.C., n.d.
156: RCAF Jet Engine Instruction,n.d.
(Oversize Photo) 157: Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders assisting with U of M contingent, C.O.T.C.,n.d.
(Oversize Photo) 158: 'A' Company 196th Overseas Battalion C.E.F., "Western Universities," Camp Hughes,1916
(Oversize Photo) 159: "Dinner Time," 196th Overseas Battalion C.E.F., "Western Universities," Camp Hughes, 1916
(Oversize Photo) 160: Royal Roads Graduation,1958
(Oversize Photo) Individual Bound Book [#161-247], 1914, 1930-1950
(87 photographs)
|