Better Than the Best
-The well-deserved reputation and unofficial motto of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment
Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914 and Newfoundland’s Government committed to raise a 500-man land force and increase the Royal Naval Reserve to 1,000 men. Men between 19 and 35 years of age were asked to report to the Church Lads’ Brigade (CLB) Armoury, or to the nearest magistrate, to enlist for overseas service "for the duration of the war, but not exceeding one year." Within days of the call for volunteers, 335 had signed up and two thirds were from St. John’s church-affiliated brigades. The CLB Armoury became the Regimental HQ and each of the 22 drafts of wartime recruits marched out through the Armoury arch, down the steps and onto Harvey Road, to an unknown destiny. Today the concrete archway remains as a symbol of honour to all who walked under it to earn renown as “Fighting Newfoundlanders” during WW1.