Menus

The menu was impressive, but the note at the bottom indicated that they might have to resort to tinned rations at the last minute.

With the war over, soldiers of the 5th Battalion enjoyed Christmas 1918 in Germany, where they were serving with the occupation forces.

To celebrate the holiday season in 1943, Number 26 Canadian Army (Basic) Training Centre in Orillia, Ontario, held a special dinner. This menu was saved by Trooper A.E. Stone.

It was not unusual for units to have banquets before they left for service overseas - although the illustration chosen by the sergeants of the 51st Battalion might seem a little odd.

The Toronto-raised 134th Battalion sailed to England in the early spring of 1916, and was eventually broken up to provide reinforcements for other units in the field.

To mark Christmas 1916, the officers of a unit of the Canadian Army Service Corps held a formal dinner near the front. The menu card, which all in attendance signed, imagines the commanding officer rising through the ranks to become a field marshal in 1940, and then returning to civilian life in 1960.

The staff of the Canadian Discharge Depot at Buxton made the 1918 Christmas festivities as pleasant as possible, in the full knowledge that the soldiers were desperately keen to get home.

Few soldiers enjoyed being away from home at Christmas - but a proper Christmas dinner might have helped to soften the blow.

This hand-coloured menu may seem modest, but it would have represented a significant departure from a soldier's regular fare.