From the News

The 97th Battalion

New Liskeard Speaker

Note: any spelling errors, etc. are as they appear in the original article.

Dated: December 3, 1915

The 97th Battalion
Following his recent promotion, it has been announced that Col. Armstrong, of Cobalt, has been placed in command of the 97th Battalion, for overseas duty. The 97th Battalion is expected to be comprised almost exclusively of men from Temiskaming. This District has been the recruiting grounds for many battalions which have been organized in Old Ontario, and our men are to be found in the majority of the contingents which have gone to the front. However, the authorities believe there are still enough young men here to make up the new 97th Battalion. Already many have joined at both Haileybury and Cobalt, and other parts of the district have sent down their quota. One of the most recent to enlist is Mr. Mac Lang, M.P.P. for North Temiskaming. Mr. Lang has applied for a commission as soon as he can qualify for it. In the meantime the recruiting officers are on the look out for suitable recruits to make up the new battalion.

Lt.-Col. Armstrong was actually the Commanding Officer of the 159th Battalion (and Mac Lang was an officer in the 159th as well) which was formed at approximately the same time. The 97th Bn. is commonly referred to as the "Toronto Americans" as the majority of the volunteers were American. It is not known at this time if the 97th Bn. was originally going to be raised in Northern Ontario. It is possible that the newspaper itself is responsible for the modern-day confusion. The militia unit in the area was the 97th Regiment (Algonquin Rifles). Perhaps the newspaper should have been referring to a new battalion to be raised by the 97th Regiment, and somehow this was inadvertently confused to become the 97th Battalion. It is hoped that further research will clarify this.

Transcribed by: Dion Loach