YMCA tent canteen in Valcartier Camp, September 1914. At the outset of the war, leaders of Canada’s YMCA immediately approached the government with a proposal to provide support to the troops. YMCA officials were sent to the mobilization camp in Valcartier, Quebec, to provide activities which included establishing a comprehensive program of athletics. The YMCA service consisted of a small force of YMCA officers recruited to accompany Canadian soldiers to Europe in order to minister to their spiritual, moral, and recreational needs. This recruitment effort met with success in Canada because the YMCA “had not only a large lay force of committee and board members from which to draw, but a considerable body of secretaries and young leaders-in-training ready for work in military camps.” At the height of its war effort the Canadian YMCA mustered 275 secretaries and officers, along with 350 soldier assistants and 3000 volunteers. YMCA officers wore the uniform of a Canadian officer and played a part in the national war effort, yet did not participate in the fighting – in other words, they were denied the most active, “manly” part in what many came to see as a religious crusade. This tension proved difficult for Irwin. This photo is from the album of Marshall Beck.