A FURTHER NOTE 
     
    

    
     One aspect of the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force that seems to be little known was a 
     
     rebellion by two companies of the 259‘ Battalion, which were French Canadian, on December 2]", as they were 
     
     leaving for Vladivoaok. Dr. Benjamin lsitt, a historian with the University of Victoria, has written a book 
     
     dealing with the rebellion (or mutiny) as it referred to. Dr. lsitt alleges that the French Canadian conscripts 
     
     were reluctant to go to Siberia and were encouraged in their mindset by members of the B.C. labour unions 
     
     who were sympathetic to the Commun'st Government in Russia. 0n the march to the ship, S.S. Teesta, some 
     
     members of the 259‘, rebelled about their consignment to Siberia and were escorted by other troops with 
     
     drawn bayonets to their ship which was quickly moved out to sea. Andrew did not mention this occurrence; 
     
     whether he has unaware of it or simply too embarrassed by its happening to comment on it. Neither did Major 
     
     W. F. Howland, mention the incident although he noted the departure of the Teesta with it troops aboard. Nor 
     
     did Lieut. Stuart Tbompkins, on board the 8.8. Prolescelaus, a veteran of the war in France mention this 
     
     occurrencein his almostdailyletterstohiswife. 
     
    
   
   
    
     lsitt, Benjam in.:Mutiny from Victoria to VIadivostokDecember l 918 
     
     The Cdn Historical Review -Volume 87,N umber 2,.lune 2006, pp.223-264Univ. of Toronto Press 
     
    
   
   
    
     Six weeks after the Armistice was signed in 1918, a contingent of Canadian soldiers mobilized for battle in a 
     
     new theatre of war - Siberia. The day of their departure, 21 December 1918, Quebecois conscripts 
     
     in the 259th Battalion of the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force mutinied in Victoria, BC. Latent 
     
     discontent was translated into collective resistance in an encounter with the radical section of British 
     
     Columbia's working class. National and class cleavages converged, revealing deep tensions in Canadian 
     
     society. The historical antagonism between French and English combined with the socialist tradition of British 
     
     Columbia's labour movement. The Siberian Expedition provides a compelling window into military and 
     
     working-class h'story, and also the social history of Canada and Quebec. Decades before the Cold War, 
     
     geopolitical patterns were being forged in the unlikely setting of the Russian Far East, and Victoria emerged as 
     
     a battleground in the conflict. Motivated by diverse aims - military, diplomatic, economic, ideological- 
     
     Canada and its allies fought on behalfof White forces in the Russian Civil War. Angered by conscription and 
     
     profiteering, Brit'nh Columbia’s labour movement aligned itselfwith the Russian revolution and lunched a 
     
    
   
   
    
     vigorous campaign against Allied intervention. In December 1918, this clash of social forces erupted into 
     
     mutiny.