Canada’s Champion Regimental Band of the 85th Battalion

October 14, 2026 by Wendy Robicheau

S.S. OLYMPIC, Oct. 14, 1916.

HERE I am fourteen hours at sea and not sick yet! Very few of us have been sick and everything is all serene. I left home on Tuesday. Wednesday morning we were up at one o’clock, had our breakfast by moonlight and spent our time in being checked for the voyage. Each man wore his check on his top button ; this was our identification as we went on board. At five-thirty we left Kentville by two trains. When we reached Pier 2 three hours later, we took off our packs, put on our belts and went for a march around town. When we got back we went on board and soon had dinner. Our food is first rate, but there are so many of us that it is hard to “avoid the rush” at meal times.

        As we came on board each man was handed a card which told him the number of his compartment and deck and also the number of his mess room. When we are below we would not know we were afloat for everything is done in the regular barrack-room style.

        There are one hundred and eighty men in my compartment, but there is plenty of ventilation. Nearly all the troops sleep in hammocks. I crawled up into one but found it too short for comfort, and am very glad to have a bunk instead. The sergeants have the second class staterooms and the officers the first class. At night the decks are in total darkness. All the windows and portholes are painted black, then a coat of grey on the outside so that not a ray of light escapes. We all have to wear life jackets all the time and before we left the pier we had several alarms to get us used to them. On Friday morning we sailed up Bedford Basin and that night at six o’clock we were just leaving the harbour.

[letter by Cpl. Karl Woodman copied from the Acadia Athenaeum issue for December 1916 page 27]

Acadia’s Karl D. Woodman of ‘C’ Company in the 85th Battalion wrote a long letter that was published in the student newspaper. The above excerpt is only the first, few paragraphs of his letter that shares today’s date and highlights the sailing of the S.S. Olympic. The Acadia Bulletin listed many Acadia students who signed up with the 85th and 219th Battalions and were on the same ship that day. Research reveals that the band of the 85th sailed with them.

Excerpts from the Acadia Bulletin issue for December 1916. The first is titled "Acadia and the Highland Brigade."
Excerpts from the Acadia Bulletin issue for December 1916. Ref: LE3 .A2 SPACAD, available online here https://digital-archives.acadiau.ca/node/6477. The issue listed the Acadia students who were members of the ‘Acadia Highlanders’, or 85th and 219th Battalions and sailed on the SS Olympic, which left Halifax on 13 October 1916. The reprinted message was likely sent to Acadia President Rev. Dr. Cutten by Murray R. “Chippy” Chipman.
The No. 12 Platoon pages from A Short History and Photographic Record of the Nova Scotia Overseas Highland Brigade, published in 1916.
The No. 12 Platoon pages from A Short History and Photographic Record of the Nova Scotia Overseas Highland Brigade, published in 1916. Ref: UA602 .N6 S5 1916 SPLOG Acadia’s Special Collections has one of the few, complete copies of this book. Many Acadia students are included throughout. Woodman’s picture is shown here on the right page, top row, fourth from the left. Karl Woodman, who should have graduated with the Class of 1917, was killed in the first hours of the Vimy Ridge attack.

If you have read my World War One writing, you know how deeply I feel about Acadia’s students-turned-solders, so I won’t belabour that aspect of my work here. Instead, I choose to bring your attention to the band of the 85th Battalion, whose music brought joy to our men in khaki (phrase used during the war).

In the many archived records of Dr. John Daniel Logan (Acadia D.Lit. 1922), we see multiple sides to this terrible war. Dr. Logan was a guest lecturer in Canadian Literature at Acadia when he enlisted in 1916. Despite his advanced education (he held a Ph.D) and age (he was 47, which was past the cut off age for enlistment), Logan entered the Expeditionary Force as a Private. He was frequently disciplined during his time in action. Dr. Logan wrote extensively about the war during and after his time in battle, obviously scarred by the experience. Many of his war-related documents are available online here https://digital-archives.acadiau.ca/collections/john-daniel-logan while others are available in paper copies only due to their fragility. All of his documents make fascinating reading about the war.

Perhaps the 85th Battalion band was an escape for Private Logan, as he helped entertain the troops at home and overseas. Pictures in his archived papers show him posing with his instrument, a baritone sax.

Photo of the band of the 85th Battalion outside the Armouries in Halifax, ca. 1916.
Band of the 85th Battalion outside the Armouries in Halifax, ca. 1916. Ref: 1918.001-JDL/113, available online here https://digital-archives.acadiau.ca/node/2729. Image is unaltered. Private Logan (and his saxophone) is seated at the end of the first row on the left of this image. The Battalion mascot "Rowdy", a bull terrier, is also in the photo.
Text excerpt titled "Personnel and Sections" which lists the members of the Band of the 85th Overseas Battalion.
Wondering who are these men shown in the picture? J.D. Logan gives us their names in the “Personnel and Sections” paragraphs on page 14 of Canada’s Champion Regimental Band (Ref: SPLOG ML 1313 .L64 C36 1916). Image is unaltered.

Logan must have felt strongly about the band, who played at the 1916 Acadia convocation and accompanying ceremonies in the months before sailing to England. After the war ended, he kept pictures of the members, as well as kept souvenir programs and published a booklet about their history. His commemorative efforts are a tribute to those who will not be forgotten and the band’s attempts to bring some lightheartedness to the hearts darkened by war.

The concert program for the Band of the 85th Battalion, as presented in Logan’s manuscript about Canada's Champion Regimental Band.
The concert program, as presented in Logan’s manuscript about Canada's Champion Regimental Band. Ref: 1918.001-JDL/24, available online here https://digital-archives.acadiau.ca/node/2684. Pamphlet written by Logan while he was a civilian and no longer part of the Band. A published copy is in Special Collections. Image has been altered for clarity.
The Band of the 85th Overseas Battalion, on route-march in front of an armory (probably Halifax, but that is not verified).
The Band of the 85th Overseas Battalion, on route-march in front of an armory (probably Halifax, but that is not verified). The image can be found on page 23 of Canada’s Champion Regimental Band (Ref: SPLOG ML 1313 .L64 C36 1916). Image is unaltered.
The 85th Battalion singing their song ‘85th Feather’ in the Halifax Armouries with the band in the background.
The 85th Battalion singing their song ‘85th Feather’ in the Halifax Armouries with the band in the background. Ref: 1918.001-JDL/109, available online here https://digital-archives.acadiau.ca/node/2739. See Songs of the 85th Overseas Battalion in Special Collections for the words to this song. Image unaltered.

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