Red Deer Archives, P10911

August 14, 1914, Britain declared war on Germany, which meant that Canada was at war and organized forces were required. In November 1914 the 31^st Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was mobilized and recruited throughout the province of Alberta.

A few years into the war, Canada was facing great losses; their battalions were losing strength, and they needed more men to fill their ranks. On January 24, 1916 the 187^th Battalion C.E.F was mobilized in Red Deer, Alberta taking over the Red Deer Armoury at 4905 49 Street for their headquarters. Recruitment for the 187^th began in April and only ten days later over 250 men had volunteered. By the middle of June over 550 had volunteered. The regimental colours were presented by Red Deer MLA Edward Michener at the Innisfail fairgrounds on June 16, 1916.

Red Deer Archives, P4379

Training was conducted at the Red Deer fairgrounds on the south part of Parkvale until an outbreak of typhoid fever swept through the battalion due to the unsanitary barracks. The disease resulted in the death of Sergeant J.H. Addinell. The training was moved to the Sarcee Camp in Calgary for the summer months.

On December 20, 1916, the battalion embarked on the RMS Olympic at Halifax and suffered yet another round of contagious diseases with an outbreak of mumps. Weakened by the diseases, they disembarked December 26 in England, marking the start of their overseas deployment.

Red Deer Archives, P6901

The 187^th never fought as one unit but were dispersed throughout other battalions, though most of the 187^th stayed with Calgary’s 50^th battalion as they had trained closely together. They fought alongside them at the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele.

On February 20, 1917, the 187^th Battalion was absorbed by the 21^st Reserve Battalion and were officially disbanded April 11, 1918. The regimental colours were brought back from Westminster Abbey and in 2010 they were restored and rededicated at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Innisfail.

Red Deer Archives, P13723