On May 11th, a medical inspection took place in the plunge room [swimming pool], each man appearing nude before a knot of officers who were thus satisfied that the manhood of the Unit contained no defectives. On that day also kit bags were ordered to be “distinctly and neatly marked either with black paint or India ink, parallel with the seams by 9.00 A.M. Friday 12th.” The most dense could not fail to divine the significance of that, and the only question was, “Sewell or Overseas?” [“Camp Sewell,” officially known as “Camp Hughes,” was a military training Camp 10 kilometers west of Carberry, MB.]  Sgt. Major Jevons made the decision contingent on the Unit’s soldierliness.

At length various indications served to show that even the S[ergeant] M[ajor] had now been robbed of the power of sending the Unit to Sewell, and the glorious fact stood out that the Eleventh was booked for overseas.