"Duke of Connaught addressing the Officers of the 143rd and 231st Battalions, Sidney, July 1916". The caption was from the photo album it was attached. This is the same photo as 1998.008.004 and 1998.008.002. From the 143rd Battalion paper "“Do Your Little Bit”: The 143rd Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force, “BC Bantams” A Photo Essay: In late July 1916, the Bantams and the 231st Battalion received two inspections at Sidney Camp: on 24 July by the Governor General, HRH the Duke of Connaught and three days later by the inspector general for western Canada, Brigadier-General John Hughes. The people of Victoria were invited to Sidney to attend the governor general’s inspection, and the Colonist [nespaper] reported that the crowd of spectators was “a great deal larger than was ever imagined possible.” The Governor General of Canada, HRH the Duke of Connaught was the third and last surviving son of Queen Victoria. The Duke of Connaught became the first member of the Royal House to hold the post f Canadian governor general when he took the post in 1911. The 143rd (B.C. Bantams) Battalion, CEF was based in Victoria, BC. The unit began recruiting in 1916 throughout Western Canada. Bantam units were organized to recruit men who were shorter than the standard 5-foot-4-inch (163 cm) height required for joining the army. By the time they were fully formed, however, only about half of the men were under that standard height as they could not find enough short men to enlist. The Battalion had barracks at Beacon Hill Park (Victoria) and trained for the months of July through October 1916 at Sidney Camp. After sailing to England in February 1917, the battalion was absorbed into the 1st and 24th Reserve Battalions, and the Canadian Railway Troops in March 1917.