The Indian Mascot of "Ours"
By Lt-Col. B. C. Donnan, E.D.,
Officer Commanding, 1940,
and Major Angus Mowat, 2 1/c 1940,
The Hast. & P. E. R.
Whether it is due to the normal love of pets, or to the latent mother-instinct which we are all said to possess, or whether it may be a combination of the two impulses, the fact remains (and the professors may find the answer some day) that soldiers have been taking to themselves pets and mascots ever since there have been soldiers.
And sailors too, as witness the perennial parrot. And Airmen go up to do the most amazing things to Fritzie with bits of cloth monkeys and stuffed beavers nailed to the edge of the cockpit. Not wishing to labour the point about mascots in general, I would point briefly only to the amulets of the ancient Chaldeans, to the phylacterion of the Greeks, and, above all, to the Abraxas stones of the Gnostic Sects (or is it "Sex") with which all British soldiers are quite familiar.
Now the conventional mascot, the mangy bear, the powdered goat, the half starved French dog and the dugout rat, these things are all very well as far as they go. But it takes a Canadian County Regiment, mechanized and metal to the eyebrows, to gild the centuries. It takes the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment to combine in one symbolic figure the stubborn iron of today with the traditional past of our own country.
It happened thus:
There stood for many years on the roof of the Canadian Canners' building in Picton the striking figure of an Indian Chief in full war paint. He had, as long as the oldest inhabitant can remember, braved all the heats of summer and the frosts of winter, and the storms and lightnings of the heavens - and the bad marksmanship of small boys with .22 rifles. He was a symbol of courage and "Stick it boys, till hell freezes over!"
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment was quartered in that canning factory, right under the eye -- and foot -- of the Little Chief. This was in the autumn of 1939, when the Regiment was mobilized and preparing to take its place in the First Division, C.A.S.F And of course, as day follows night, and as the Counties People are born with imagination, this metal Indian eventually found his way into the ranks of the Hasty Pees.
The story goes that it was one Private Secord of No. 1 Platoon, Headquarters Coy., who led the scaling party that brought our Indian to the ground and set him up in front of the Sergeant's sleeping quarters.
There were murmurs in the most southerly of the two counties. He had stood there so, so, long. But youth and the H.P.E. will not be withstood and the upshot of it was that the original owners - frowning at first and then grinning - said "take him boys, he'll never serve a better purpose!" He was duly taken on strength as No. C 0000 Pte Battle Axe, his identity disc was stamped as such, but his name was later reverted (on the request of the original owners) to "Little Chief".
The Regiment sailed and Little Chief sailed too.
In England he stood at proud attention on the Barracks square, saluted and respected by all ranks, even the formerly proud Officers of the P.E. who were posted to "Ours". When the Regiment marched by he received "Eyes left," and nobody cared when he failed to return the compliment.
And now the sorrow. Since soldiers never "go" anywhere but always proceed, "Little Chief" proceeded to France with his men and there alas, became a casualty. Whether it was shell, dive-bomber, or rifle bullet - or just plain precautionary measures - we do not know; but Little Chief lies buried on French soil and in a spot that has been carefully pin-pricked on the map.
But it is a temporary interment, because one of these fine days he will be exhumed (rust, no doubt, but still proud) and returned to his loved Regiment and his old home in Prince Edward County.
But to go back a little, we must remind the reader that "Little Chief" had been single for too, too long; and everybody who knows his Kipling knows about chaps who have been too, too long "Single men in barracks!" Some of the recruits for the Regiment, then stationed at the Depot in Picton and about to go (sorry, "Proceed") to Borden decided to get him a wife. There was one available, and only one. Princess Minehaha was her name (not very original, either) and she was living a life of degradation, standing on one foot outside a service station a few miles west of Belleville and enticing U.S. tourists in to sleep in a silly little cabin by the bay.
It was suggested to the Princess by these recruits that she might do worse than elope with them (by proxy, of course) and join the great Prince "Little Chief" in England.
She did - the little rascal.
And then what a row there was! Unlike the original owners of Little Chief, the owner of Princess Minehaha proved to be somewhat hostile and had the law on the Princess and recruits and the Regiment and half of the army besides. He said that his Princess was worth $500.00 so as all the soldiers in the army haven't got $500.00 among them, and as "Authority" took a serious view of the case, the Princess was returned inviolate.
Now so far in the story, we have one Little Chief temporarily buried in France and one Indian Princess returned to her so-called rightful owner on the bay shore. But once the Indian virus enters the veins of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment there is no antidote.
Came the dawn of a new era, and the partial mobilization of the Second Battalion of the Regiment. We had no uniforms at that time, no boots, no hopes, nothing but the will to serve and the iron will to have an Indian.
Our Indian was our first bit of military equipment. Sgt Hilts, the Provost Sgt., was detailed to comb all the tobacco stores in Canada and get one. There wasn't one - man or woman or papoose. The adjutant was driven nearly wild what with trying to trace Sgt Hilts' movements throughout the country and with answering letters from chiefs of police from Conrwall to Saskatoon assuring them that Sgt. Hilts really was quite harmless and really was on a mission sent. But in the meantime "what you can't get from Ordnance you can damned well make." This idea incidentally, was sired by Jim Reddick (Father of Alex Reddick of the First Battalion) out of an old Cedar tree. After a few days of secret work (and nights too) Major Angus Mowat, O.C. Headquarters Coy., Trenton, was able proudly to wire the adjutant (collect, of course) "Stop all search for Indian woman. Have just made one".
So the Second Battalion was fixed up with an Indian, Princess Peta-wa-wa, who went to camp on Sept. 2nd in a somewhat unfinished condition but who stood proudly and lovingly to take the salute nevertheless.
"Surely, surely," said someone, "you have now had enough Indians in your Regiment to satisfy the wildest desire for mascots." No, not yet. Still another idea springs full accoutered to the light. Because we found in Pembroke a wood carver, one Abe Patterson who is an artist rather than an artisan. It was suggested to him that he probably wasn't good enough to carve an Indian, a real Indian, a real Chief, fit to follow the First Bn., Hastings and Prince Edward (or lead 'em) into Germany.
Abe's reply was brief. "Carve one," said he, spitting on his hand, "carve one to knock your eye out".
"How much, Abe?"
And Abe was a man of honour as well as an artist. On October 30th, 1940, there arrived at Trenton Armoury, crated and weighing 500 lbs in the buff Chief Peta-wa-wa-much, conceived in sin, born in Pembroke and destined to glory with the Regiment.
He is an imposing specimen. He is carved out of the solid trunk of a pine 22" in diameter. He stands (on his pedestal) 7' 8" high. His headdress is regal as befits the Regiment. His features are pure Sioux, finely carved and ferocious and fit to bring down a Messerschmidt at twenty thousand feet. His thighs and torso would make the Venus de Milo weep stone tears of pure regret to think of the nights she wasted with the puny gentlemen on Olympus He is a poet's dream (or Poetess') of manly strength and vigour.
And his motto is "PARATUS" which, in common and sometimes rough speech of the soldiers means, "Now, don't lose this one."
In Pt. II Orders, 2nd Bn. Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, he is taken on strength as of Oct. 30th, 1940, with the following entry -- "No. C 0001, Prince, Chief Peta-wa-wa-much." But, unlike most members of the Second Battalion, his dreams of transfer have come true.
It is the night of Tuesday, November 26th, 1940. The scene is laid on the shores of the Bay of Quinte, near the mouth of the River Trent, where the Chief's ancestors have often hunted scalp in years gone by. A cold and biting wind blows in across the bay.
The ranks of a company of the second Battalion, Hastings & Prince Edward Regt., stands as rigid as the Chief himself, their faces lighted by the glow of signal fires. In the background the drum beats out the slow, insistent call of the spirit tribes to war. The bugle sounds. The troops clash to the Present; the Officer Commanding, Lt-Col. B. C. Donnan, E.D., steps up, salutes and hands our Chieftan's keeping to Lt-Col. A.V. Yates, M.C., Honourary Lt-Col. of the First Battalion.
He is accepted - and that is all - there aren't any speeches needed because this is an affair between soldiers. Chief Peta-wa-wa-much is now a member of the First Battalion (which is the First of all Battalions). In two days he'll be lashed on the deck of a destroyer and headed east by north half east. That's all. We say, "Take him, First Battalion, you lousy thugs - there's more to follow!"
Here we are again and such is life. We left Old Much supposedly lashed to a destroyer but something went haywire. In the Fall of 1940 he was in truth lashed to a battle wagon at Kingston, known as the Corvette "Napanee". The corvette unfortunately ran aground in the St. Lawrence River and remained in home waters during the winter of 1940-41. It is suggested that the weight of Chief Peta-wa-wa-much was the cause of the grounding but the Court of Inquiry which followed did not bear out this complaint. However, in the Spring of 1941 the Corvette proceeded on her way and out into the Atlantic Ocean to pursue her very important duties but Chief Peta-wa-wa-Much faded into oblivion and despite searching inquiries he was apparently and irrevocably lost.
About the middle of August, 1941, Lt-Col. Donnan received a letter from Major Hepburn then stationed at Fort Frontenac, Kingston, who suggested that Shorty Craig, O.C., Fortress at Halifax, Nova Scotia, might be able to dig the old boy up, with the result that he was traced to the navy Yards in Halifax. The following letter was then written by Col. Donnan to Col. Craig:
"My dear Shorty: Re: Indian Chief
You may have read of the rather famous Indian Mascot taken to England by the First Battalion of the Hastings & Prince Edward Regt. This poor fellow went to France with the troops and became a casualty and is now buried there.
The 2nd Battalion, Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment, had a new and handsome Indian carved. The new mascot by arrangements with Lieut-Commander Smith was placed on board the Corvette Napanee with the intention that on arrival at Halifax he would be placed on a battle wagon for shipment to England, but unfortunately the Napanee came to grief last Fall in the St. Lawrence River and the boat did not arrive in Halifax until after Lieut-Commander Smith had been transferred to some other command. We have finally traced the Chief to H.M.C. Dockyard, Halifax.
I enclose herewith letter received from Colin Hepburn with a copy of letter from Captain Edwards. It would be very much appreciated if you would endeavour to arrange for the transfer of the mascot by warship or by some service ship to England and that arrangements be made to advise the O.C. of the First Battalion on its arrival. I may say that the cost of transportation by commercial vehicle would be prohititive and furthermore we have no money.
With best regards to yourself and your charming wife, Bunty.
Yours sincerely"
And in reply there came the answer:
"Dear Colonel:
Reference yours of August 19th regarding one Indian chief:
The Indian Chief was in storage in the Dockyard here and I had him removed and gave a receipt to the Navy for the same. As there was no way of shipping the Indian, I got Brig. Salmon who had, for a time, commanded the 1st Bn. Hastings & Prince Edward Regt. give room aboard his transport.
He promised to see it delivered to the battalion in England. I thought it would be rather nice to have an Officer who had commanded the Battalion bring them the Chief from the 2nd Battalion.
I am enclosing copies of my receipt to the Dockyard and copy of receipt from Brig. Salmon for receipt of Indian. Will you please attach them to your correspondence on the Indian, for future reference in case of loss."
And with Col. Craig's letter came the following receipt:
"Receipt is hereby acknowledged on one box said to contain one (1) carved "Indian Chief" property First Bn. Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment, in transit from Belleville, Ont. to "Somewhere in England".
"H.L.N. Salmon"
Halifax, N.S.
25 Aug 41.
This receipt by the way in accordance with all Military regulations was in duplicate.
On this 27th day of September, A.D. 1941 there came a cablegram as follows:
"Great Britain 26
Lt-Col. B. C. Donnan
Belleville, Ontario.
CHIEF PETAWAWA ARRIVED GOOD CONDITION MANY THANKS FROM ALL RANKS 1ST BATTALION
"GRAHAM"
