Rediscovering General McNaughton’s WW1 Cease-Fire Order
Sometimes notable and historically significant artifacts are squirrelled away in protective folders and boxes, never to see the light of day for decades. In 1984, the family of General A. G. L. McNaughton (1887–1966), the Commander of the Overseas Canadian Army from 1939 to early 1944, donated an original Signals message titled Urgent Operations received by the 1st Canadian Division at 7:16 am, 11 November 1918, ordering soldiers to end all hostilities at 11:00 am. The original telegraph message from Corps HQ, with the official Army stamp, was sent to Canadian troops, ordering them to lay down their arms, effectively ending WW1. The war officially ended with the Treaty of Versailles of 1919.
The Official War Diary for the 1st Canadian Division lists receiving the notice at 7:16 am. The body of the message reads: “Hostilities will cease at 1100 hours on Nov 11th. Troops will stand fast on the line reached at that hour which will be reported to Corps HQ. Defensive precautions will be maintained. There will be no intercourse of any description with the enemy. Further instructions will follow.” Signals sent similar messages across the Canadian Army. It was critical news that required total compliance.
At 5:45 am at Le Francport near Compiègne, France, on 11 November 1918, Germany and the Allies signed the Armistice agreement (Armistice of Compiègne). Both sides then told their soldiers to stop firing and end hostilities at 11 am that morning. For the Allies, including the Canadian Corps, the Signals Service used the telegraph and Morse code to relay the message from Corps HQ to the divisions, then to battalions and companies. Local Signals units received the cease-fire order by telegraph, which they transcribed on British-designed Form C, that came in pink notepads with one duplicate for each original. Signals kept the original and gave the duplicate to relay the message.
After careful review, the C Form is original, with live ink on the document. Some of the paper is missing from the edges, yet it is still readable. The paper has faded from pink to a dull brown. The paper is thin, of poor quality, and not meant to last one hundred years. Many years ago, someone glued the C Form to cardboard, likely due to the deterioration of the paper. The listed service instructions, “Urgent Operations Priority,” are written quickly and in large bold print. The details of the message appear in slow and methodical penmanship.
Our museum has over one hundred donations from General McNaughton and his family from 1962 to 1993. General McNaughton likely framed the WW1 cease-fire order and placed it in his office. We have no information on how General McNaughton acquired the rare cease-fire order. In September 1914, Major McNaughton commanded the 4th Battery, CEF. By the end of the war, at 31 years of age, Brigadier McNaughton commanded all the Canadian Corps Heavy Artillery. McNaughton was a remarkable leader with a reputation for outstanding judgment and intellectual prowess.
At the museum, we are honoured to rediscover the cease-fire order that directed the 1st Canadian Division to end hostilities at 11 am on 11 November 1918. It symbolizes a critical moment when the Allies and Germans signed the Armistice agreement and agreed to lay down their arms. Exactly one year later, Allied nations celebrated November 11th as Armistice Day, later called Remembrance Day. This annual remembrance pays tribute to the human cost of war, honouring the millions of soldiers who lost their lives.
By Andrew Oakden