One of my family emigrated to Canada from England in 1884 at the age of 20 and settled in Toronto, where he married six years later. On 21 Jul 1915 at the age of 51 he enlisted into Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regt.) Royal Highlanders of Canada falsifying his age as 43 During a visit to the Canadian War Museum I asked a question about the maximum enlistment age. This is part of their reply. David "We have been looking into your question on the upper age limit for enlisting in WWI and have found the following text in The Military Service Act, 1917. "Although the upper limit had previously been 60 in the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1906 of the Militia Act, it appears as though it was revised and lowered to 45 for The Military Service Act, 1917".

Part of the reason for Sam Hughes ignoring the Militia, and creating a new Expeditionary Force, was that the Militia was a very social club. The upper age for enlisting may have been 60, but many senior members were well over that age. The Colonel of the County Militia could only, and just, ride a horse in a parade. The Canadian Army would have been most interesting if all the Militia had been included.