$60.00 CAD
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Unique item! Banquet given on July 2nd 1916 for the French officers by the Canadian officers of the 163rd Battalion, both stationed at Camp Prospect in Bermuda.
The 163rd was a French-Canadian battalion from Montreal, and was in Bermuda from May to November 1916, before being shipped to the Western Front. Their nickname was the Poil-Aux-Pattes (Hair on legs).
Pre-printed French blank menu, honoring French General Joffre from the city of Rivesaltes, then customized with information for this special dinner.
Diner offert aux officiers de la Marseillaise par les officiers des Poil-aux-Pattes (163e Bn de l’armée exp’re canadienne) en témoignage de profonde admiration et de filiale et tendre sympathie pour la France
At bottom Prospect Camp (Bermuda), 2 juillet 1916
Inside left:
Menu
Potage Julienne... Timbales de Rognons sautés... Sorbet…Poulet Madère... Gateau de pêche Chantilly…
Inside right are five French quotes…Victor Hugo, La Carriere, Ch. Peguy
Back
“il y a longtemps que je t’aime jamais je ne t’oublirai” (Vielle chanson canadienne)
(From "À la claire fontaine")
There are also 5 signatures from some attendees…a major in the 163rd,, a lieutenant Perodeau etc.
Horizonal fold.
23 x 15 cm
Major Asselin Quand on vénérait des soldats en 1916 à Montréal - Journal le Montérégien
The 163rd battalion was recruited from the province Quebec, and mobilized in Montreal in two waves. The first with a strength of 33 officers and 659 other ranks, and the second with a strength of 38 officers and 659 other ranks. The first wave of the battalion embarked from Halifax on 26 May, 1916, on the troop ship Metagama, and disembarked in Bermuda on 29 May. The second wave disembarked from Halifax on 27 November, 1916, on the troop ship Metagama, and disembarked in the UK 6 December.
https://wartimecanada.ca/document/first-world-war/contemporary-accounts/163rd-battalion-cef
