March of the Blue Puttees to be re-enacted in St. John's
People in St. John's will be marking the 100th anniversary of the day the first contingent of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment left the city to join the war effort in Europe.
On Sunday, a re-enactment of the Blue Puttees regiment's historic departure during the First World War will take place, including a full parade.
In 1914, the march was the largest crowd St. John's had ever seen. England needed help, and everybody expected the war to be over in just a few months, and when local authorities called for volunteers for the war effort, there was a massive response.
Melanie Martin, with the provincial tourism department, said people turned out in droves to see the men off.
"It was rumoured that 25,000 people lined the St. John's city streets and down to the waterfront to see these men and boys off," she said.
"We're doing the same historic march route, which is leaving The Boulevard, left onto Kingsbridge Road, right onto Circular, left onto Bannerman, right onto Military, and down Prescott Street to the water front."
Martin, who organized Sunday's march, which starts at 1 p.m., said the department has been tweeting out the names of every man who departed that day for the war, leading up to the re-enactment.
She said the crowd erupted in applause as the 540 men march to the waterfront and boarded the Florizel, a Newfoundland sealing vessel built to accommodate half their number.
The men arrived in England 13 days later, and got their first taste of battle at Gallipoli one year later. The same men were later sent to fight at Beaumont-Hamel.