Returning

Following the First World War, veterans were experiencing several new challenges as they assimilated back into civilian life such as mental illness, physical disability, and unemployment. This booklet attempted to provide returning soldiers with the information they needed to get home quickly, where to receive care, and where to find employment.

This booklet, published after the Second World War, aimed to help returning soldiers with a number of the challenges they faced. This included information about training/education programs, job placements, healthcare, pensions, and more.

Soldiers returning home from overseas were often faced with many issues when they arrived in Canada. Many were wounded, unemployed, or had simply forgotten how to live in the 'civies' after being away for so long. This booklet, published by the Soldiers' Aid Commission, attempts to help soldiers with these issues. Various organizations, and the services they offered, were included in this book - all of which were free of cost to returning soldiers.

Fraser Philip of the 15th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery (CFA), received this permit in order to wear his uniform in San Diego, California, on discharge in May 1919. The permit laid out rules that soldiers in uniform in public were required to follow, such as not drinking liquor in communal places.

The Commission of Conservation Canada was established to provide Canadian governments with relevant scientific information regarding the conservation of both natural and human resources, including the well-being of Canadians on a physical level. This issue of Conservation of Life published in April 1919 dealt with postwar reconstruction and had several foci, such as maternity, morality, and health.

Kinmel Park in Wales was the site of a serious riot in March 1919 among Canadian soldiers awaiting demobilization. Identification cards were issued (this one to F.D. Philip of the 15th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery) in the aftermath of the riot to allow the authorities to exercise better control over the camp.

The Canadian Pacific Railway was one of the transportation companies used to send soldiers home after demobilization. Cards like this, belonging to Fraser Philip of the 15th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery (CFA), were given to soldiers for identification purposes.

Upon demobilization, troops were given vouchers for meals aboard ships on their return home. This troops mess card was given to William Winter of the 79th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery (CFA). Winter was returned to Canada in March 1919 on HMT Royal George; his temporary home on the vessel was deck E, section 3, bunk #325. 

Disability employment cards were given to soldiers who had been discharged as medically unfit. The cards acted as a form of identification for ex-soldiers who went before a local committee to apply for aid upon their return.

This image features two disabled Canadian soldiers on leave in an unidentified American city.