Leslie Payne enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.) on 11th November 1914 in Winnipeg.  He was assigned a service number 515 (later changed to Regtl. #1989), in the No. 7 (Winnipeg) Company, Canadian Army Service Corps (C.A.S.C.), and given the rank of "Driver".  This was a "Supply and Transport" company, which had been formed from the two existing Winnipeg militia C.A.S.C. companies, the 11th Company 6th Mounted Brigade and the 18th Company.  There is a carefully posed studio portrait (at left) signed "Campbell's, Winnipeg" showing Leslie (seated) with George Henderson "Bud" Willox (standing at left) and Robert Valentine "Bob" Moodie (right).  Bob Moodie (Regtl. #1976) and Bud Willox (Regtl. #2009) enlisted at Winnipeg on the same day as "Les", and it is assumed that they were initially assigned to the same C.A.S.C. company.  The portrait was almost certainly taken either just before or just after their enlistment.  All three are dressed very smartly in suits and ties.

Unfortunately, records of F.G.H. pre-war period are very limited.  Gord Grossley, the archivist for the Fort Garry Horse Museum & Archives in Winnipeg, states:
"I suspect that [CLLP] served in the 34th F.G.H. pre-war.  In August 1914 the Garrys were not mobilised as Cavalry, but were given the opportunity to populate the 6th Battalion, C.E.F. as infantry.  This did not appeal to many horsemen, so he may have bided his time until November, when positions in the Service Corps opened up.  This allowed him to get overseas, and still remain 'mounted' ... The trade of 'Driver' always referred to one who drove a team of horses, rather than a motor vehicle.  At the time, truck drivers were known as mechanics.  As such, he would wear spurs and riding breeches."

Keith Wood of Kamloops, B.C., Canada, provided the following:
"The 34th F.G.H were a militia unit which became the 6th Battalion Canadian Infantry in the First Canadian Division … There was an organized mobilization plan in Canada, [but] once war was declared it was thrown out … by Sam Hughes, the then Minister of Militia.  Militia units were diced and formed entirely new regiments.  Traditions and years of service were buried to serve the new army.  For the C.A.S.C. it was the same.  So the 7th (Winnipeg) Company was formed from the two militia C.A.S.C. Companies and independent volunteers in Winnipeg in 1914 ... The cavalry in 1914 were seen as the elite force and every young man who could ride desired service in such a unit … as 90% of the CASC were horse-drawn at that time, [CLLP] would have been mounted."
 

There are two photographs which were probably taken during the period which the Company trained at McFadden Barracks, Portage Avenue, Winnipeg.  (This is the address written for Leslie by his Uncle Hallam on a letter to him i.e. CHP by another party, dated 23rd February 1915.)  The first (above right, CLLP 2nd from left) shows a line of six soldiers on parade in uniform and with rifles, standing at attention on a sidewalk cleared of snow, in front of a substantial stone and brick building; Leslie Payne and at least one other appear to be wearing spurs.

The second photo (at right) is more informal and shows Leslie alone, standing in the snow with riding crop but no rifle, in front of what appears to be the same building.  The building looks to be at least three stories high.  The latter photo is in the form of a post card, and is addressed on the reverse, "Lce/Corp L Payne, Reg. No. 1989 C.A.S.Co., Dibgate Camp, Nr. Hythe, Kent", although it does not appear to have gone through the mail.  It seems unlikely that it was taken in Kent, as the chance of snow that far south in England by the time CLLP reached there in April is slim. The following is from Gord Grossley: "CLLP is wearing his puttees infantry-style.  The tying tapes show as a thin lighter band of cloth around the upper calf … Rank was worn on both arms during WW1, so he is still a Private.  The men are all wearing breeches, as worn by mounted personnel, and the rifles carried are the Canadian Ross Mk III.  The cap badges … are the Canadian 'General Service' type, a bronze maple leaf with crown and 'CANADA' on a scroll below."

Presumably they spent much of the next four and a half months "training and drilling" in and around Winnipeg.  CLLP's service records show him receiving further "kit" from the C.A.S.C in Winnipeg on 1st December, three anti-typhoid innoculations and one vaccination (smallpox) between then and mid- February.  It's interesting to note that no details are shown in the service records of his pay during the first five months, when he was in Canada.  However, from a "Table of Pay Received from CASC", amongst CLLP's personal effects, it is clear that he was paid on at least two occasions in Winnipeg, on 21st November 1914 and 24th March 1915.  The second of these payment dates was immediately before the Company's embarkation for the east coast, probably accompanied by a parade through the streets of Winnipeg (below left).  Shortly thereafter, they left by train for St. John's, New Brunswick (below right).  (Images are courtesy and Copyright of the Provincial Archives of Manitoba.)

By 29th March they must have arrived at St John's, New Brunswick, because CLLP's service records show him to have been "Taken on Strength" (T.O.S.) with the No. 2 Divisional Train on that date.  Later records, such as Pay Sheets, show him to have been within Number 7 Company of that unit.  They spent almost three weeks at St. John's, during which time he was appointed to the rank of Lance Corporal on 5th April, and paid on 13th April.  Finally, they embarked for England aboard the R.M.T.S.S. Grampian

(above) on the 17th April; Image by David Kelly © & courtesy of (World War I Document Archive - Ship Photo Gallery).  The journey to England took almost two weeks, during which time CLLP was paid on 26th, and they arrived at the port of Liverpool on the 29th April.

Chapter 4: Training in Kent (Summer 1915)