72nd Regiment, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada engaged in Aid to Civil Powers for the Coal Miners' Strike on Vancouver Island, Nanaimo,1913 - 1914. Caption on page: "Col. Hall" Lt.-Col. John A. Hall, commander of the "Civil Aid Force in Nanaimo" on an inspection tour during the Miner's Strike, 1913-14. He was appointed at the request of the District Officer Commanding, Colonel A. Roy, the senior Permanent Force officer in British Columbia. There are three NCOs and a Seaforth officer with Hall. The Seaforth may be Major Tait. Hall was the first Commanding officer of the 88th Victoria Fusiliers on their formation in 1911. He was born in Manchester, England in 1868 and had a long military career between 1899-1920. He served overseas in the First World War with the 30th Battalion where he was their original CO. He later transferred to work in the munitions processing field. The Vancouver Island Coal Strike began on 16 Sept. 1912 when miners at Cumberland declared a "holiday" to protest the firing of Oscar Mottishaw. Canadian Collieries locked them out and hired Chinese and strike breakers. The issues were safety (gas explosions had killed hundreds) and union recognition. Other employers followed the pattern in resisting any union. By spring 1913, 3,500 miners from Vancouver Island were off work with the United Mine Workers of America providing leadership and strike pay. In the summer of 1912, the Vancouver and Nanaimo Coal Co., settled with its employees, but not before rioting, arsons and "shoot-outs" had broken out in all the coal towns. Peace was restored when the BC government sent in 1,000 militiamen. The withdrawal of strike pay in the summer of 1914 and the beginning of WW I ended the confrontation. By then the mines were running at almost pre-strike capacity using newly hired labour.