Canada had many British citizens enlist in the Canadian Army. The attestation papers are digitized and on line at Library and Archives Canada ( http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html ). They are indexed under Soldiers of the First World War, 1914-1920.  The back of the attestation papers of the ranks contains an amount of physical description. I looked at the surname of my shortest family. There were 53 records. The men ranged in height between 5'1 1/2" and 5'10 1/2". At least 8 of them were 5'4" with another large bunch between 5'4" and 5'6". They were all declared fit for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. They ranged in ages from late teens to 45. My father's uncle was the 45 year old. He was at best 4'10" tall. My parents' wedding photo has him standing on the church steps above my mother and she was still taller than he. She was 5'1". Quite a few of the 53 were born in the UK and still had their next of kin listed as in the UK. There were also a number that were living in the US and came up to Canada to enlist. All who enlisted had to swear allegiance to the king. Conscription came into force in Canada in 1917.  At this point in Canada's history we were autonomous with regard to internal affairs but not with regard to external affairs. The attestation papers of the conscriptees clearly state that they were conscripted under the stated act. Only two of the 53 were conscripted, all the rest volunteered. A larger sample would better determine whether people born outside Canada entered the war under conscription or under voluntary enlistment. Prior to 1917, we had had a huge number of volunteer enlistments as well as a high casualty rate. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 10:22 am Subject: Re: [SOG-UK] Charlie Chaplin To: [email protected], [email protected] > > Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange > > -----Original Message----- > From: "Adrian Bruce" <[email protected]> > Sender: [email protected] > Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:45:02 > To: <[email protected]> > Reply-To: [email protected], [email protected] > Subject: Re: [SOG-UK] Charlie Chaplin > > .... > Does anyone know the procedures for an British Citizen living > overseas re > military service in WWI? > ... > was denied for being too small at 5'5" and underweight. > ... > > According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantam_%28military%29 > the standard > height qualification for the British Army in WW1 was 5ft 3in. > This was > relaxed to 5ft for what became known as the "Bantams" providing > they had > compensatory features - the aim was to pick up people like > miners. > > One issue may be the original question - who was going to pick > him up for > conscription or registration under the Derby scheme? UK based > recruitmentwould miss him, just as it would miss British > citizens in Australia > (because, surely that's what Australians were??) > > Interestingly http://chnm.gmu.edu/episodes/charlie-chaplin-goes- > to-war/ puts > a different spin on the issue... > > "When Chaplin signed his contract with Mutual, it included a clause > stipulating that he could not leave the United States without the > corporation's approval. The British press criticized the > provision since it > meant that Chaplin, who was only twenty-seven years old, could > not join the > British Army. Two years later, when he signed a million-dollar > contract with > First National pictures, he faced similar criticism in the > United States, > which had recently entered the war. Chaplin apparently tried to > enlist in > the U.S. army; only when he was rejected as underweight did the > criticismabate". Although most of the other references I found > in Google repeat the > original version, I find this one to be more convincing since it > brings in > contracts / bureaucracy, those inevitable aspects! > > Of course, in the absence of evidence about his weight, we might > not know > the full story. Certainly he was registered in the US "World War > I Draft > Registration" in 1917 (you can see his card on Ancestry) when he > is still an > alien. > > Adrian B > > > > > >   > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK- > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >   > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK- > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >