CHAPTER XXVIII. _CANADIAN ARMY PAY CORPS._ Before the outbreak of the War in 1914 the Canadian Army Pay Corps had only sufficient Staff to deal with the small permanent force, of which it was an integral part. When the Canadian Expeditionary Force was organized, and troops mobilized for home defence, the C.A.P.C. was called upon to undergo the same strain and expansion demanded of every branch of the service. Outside of the army little is known of the responsibilities suddenly thrust upon this department. It had to deal with all finances, pay, separation allowance, assigned pay, civilian employees, tradesmen’s accounts, etc., and, as will be seen by the statement at the end of this article, No. 6 Detachment stationed at Halifax alone disbursed $53,357,388.08 between August, 1914, and July, 1920. In August, 1914, No. 6 Detachment, whose territory at that time included New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, as well as Nova Scotia, consisted of the following officers and non-commissioned officers: Lieut.-Col. S. J. R. Sircom (now retired with rank of Brigadier-General), Capt. J. L. Regan, Sergt.-Major J. Turner, Quartermaster Sergt. G. H. Saunders, Staff Sergt. G. T. Allum, Staff Sergt. C. A. Chew, Staff Sergt. B. A. Spink, Sergt. E. R. Kelly, Sergt. A. V. Chase, Sergt. W. A. Coyne, Sergt. F. A. Chew. This Staff was increased until at one time 14 officers and 120 non-commissioned officers and men were employed. Some of these served in No. 6 Detachment throughout the whole period of the War. Others were transferred to various Units, went Overseas, or took their discharge. Every soldier, from a Tommy to a full-fledged General, will admit that as far as organization and administration were concerned the Canadian Army Pay Corps was beyond criticism. As soon as a man enlisted he received his pay regularly, no matter where he was—in Canada or in England, in the Field, in hospital or on furlough; and when he returned to Canada for demobilization the cheque for balance of pay due was handed to him on the day he was discharged. In addition to this monies were forwarded to his dependants on account of Separation Allowance, and assigned pay, settlement made for clothing and equipment, which he purchased from stores on repayment, for Victory Bonds which he purchased during his services, remittances to his friends and other payments. All this entailed an enormous amount of work. Ledger sheets had to be kept up to date, pay books checked up, remittances looked after, cheques written, documents made up and sent along with the soldier from one place to another until he finally returned to Canada, bearing with him like documents from England. Every officer, non-commissioned officer and man knows the amount of detail work which this involved. [Illustration: BRIG.-GEN. S. J. R. SIRCOM.]