After having fun at the fall fairs, summer vacation and enjoying cottage life, we should think back to what was a priority during WWI and WWII.
Enjoying the good life as we just did this summer and fall would have seemed like fantasy land to our ancestors who lived through those two world wars. Hundreds of thousands of fine young men and horses gave their lives in those two wars so that the next generations could enjoy freedom and the good life.

Then, turn on the TV in the fall of 2017, a hundred years after WWI and catch a glimpse of drone warfare where unmanned aircraft successfully spy on our opposition and have the capability of delivering bombs that can obliterate entire cities, homes to millions of hard working civilized people like you and me.
There now exists satellite surveillance that can pinpoint anything that can be seen from space and send back images clearer than the picture on your driver’s licence.
We also watch in fear as a few erratic world leaders with these toys of destruction in their command, threaten each other on a daily basis. Not one of these erratic world leaders has lived through either world war or starved because destroyer ships blew up merchant marine supply ships delivering food to their country.
Who fought in WWI and WWII? Soldiers, many on horseback in WWI, Navy, Air force pilots, engineers, bombers, doctors, nurses and chaplains. Factory workers built war machinery, weapons and ammunition. Farmers produced food not only for their own country, but for those who fought for our freedom, and to nourish civilians who lived in countries devastated by war where farming and food production was impossible because of constant combat and bombing. During WWI it was not only necessary to supply food for people, but thousands of battle horses had to be fed too — and a horse eats a lot of oats.
In both WWI and WWII there was a lot of close combat and the number of casualties was immense on both sides. The regular soldiers were the first to fight. If a young fighting-aged man was unemployed, he was recruited in the first wave.
Because of the thousands of casualties of fine young men each week, recruiters soon started scouring the country for new replacements.
Conscription was debated often and vigorously by our politicians especially in rural areas. Farmers were asked to increase production to feed the armies fighting for us and to feed citizens of war torn countries and the horses that also played a forceful part at the front.
In the USA, conscription is called the draft. Because in some battles the casualties were so high young men were reluctant to enlist as replacements.
Even though one of the election promises was to never introduce conscription, it was eventually introduced.
There were tribunals to hear reasons presented by those conscripted and maybe excuse that person from duty.
Young men of fighting age and in fit condition were all asked to join in defense of democracy. Those not married, divorced or with no children were the first to be conscripted. Farms with more than one son on the farm were expected to send their best off to war.
Many of the Quebec farmers had several fit, young men and even though eastern farms were more labour intensive because of more animal production than the farms in the west; recruitment officers targeted eastern farmers too.
The year after scouring farms of many of their young farmers the targets set by the government for increased food production could not be met. The following year soldiers who came from farms were given leave during planting and harvest times to try to increase production.
Another program encouraged boys who were too young to enlist to help farmers who had sent young men off to war. They were given extra encouragement and a special medal was even produced to present to those young boys. Remember that in 1914, almost a third of Canada’s population were farmers.
In today’s world if there is ever another war, technology will definitely be a priority and those who excel at playing video games may be the first targeted for recruitment. Even though less than one per cent of our population are classified as farmers, any young farmer who can master one of those high tech tractors that are GPS guided with on-board computers to monitor seed and fertilizer application, or a combine that is GPS guided, precisely monitors yield, moisture and protein level in every point in the field could probably move into the seat of the most advanced aircraft with ease.
With today’s technology, not one inch of our planet is safe from attack and possible annihilation.
Let’s all take part in the forthcoming elections and get to know and choose the smartest, most level-headed people to lead our municipalities, provinces and country!

Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on landthat has been in his family for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com