It's known that five Canadians were killed in a mutiny that began in March 1919- a sad and bloody episode in Canadian military history.

 Kinmel Camp, St Asaph - 1919.

The Mutiny took place at Kinmel Camp at Bodelwyddan near St Asaph in North Wales, where up to 19,000 Canadian troops were billeted after serving in France during the Great War of 1914-18.

The men were awaiting a ship to transport back them back to Canada, and been there for six months and became increasingly restless.  

Conditions were hard. The winter of 1918-1919 was the coldest in living memory, strikes meant infrequent coal for heat and a flu outbreak was sweeping the globe. Nearly 80 of the soldiers died in a pandemic that killed 20 million worldwide. They were buried in threes in the churchyard.

The discipline, the parades, the route marches, forced on the men by their officers, seemed pointless and rankled with the battle-hardened troops.
Five ships had been assigned for them but they were appropriated by Sir Arthur Curry, commander of the Canadian forces, to take home the 3rd Division. That had distinguished itself in battle, but the casualty-depleted ranks had been filled with conscripts who had seen little or no action. As they departed they were lauded in the press as "heroic fighters".

For the men in Wales, who had fought far longer, it was hard to bear.  On 4 March 1919, the insubordination began. As troops in ranks were ordered to start another route march a call came from the back: "Stand packed!" Nobody moved. That night rioting broke out amid temporary buildings known as Tin Town, civilian- owned shops outside the camp. Looting spread to the camp as men drunk on stolen alcohol rampaged through it, smashing canteens, officers' messes and YMCA buildings.

The camp's senior officer, Colonel Malcolm Colquhoun, ordered beer kegs smashed and moved among the men, trying to stop the rioting. He was treated with respect but the rampage continued. Next morning, military police arrested those they believed to be ringleaders and Colonel Colquhoun ordered all ammunition collected and locked in a bunker. The men stormed the prison and rescued some of their comrades.

Col Colquhoun ordered the rest set free but, without his knowledge, one of his officers, Lieutenant-Colonel J P French, assembled 50 men, armed them and, against orders, gave them ammunition. He marched them to a stockade where a crowd had gathered to await the release and ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge.

Two men were bayoneted to death and the atmosphere was heavy with menace. Officers made themselves scarce as three dozen men marched through the camp, waving a red flag and banging on an improvised drum. The revolt of the masses was then the greatest fear of governments across the Western world, so soon after the bloody revolution in Russia.

A keen new young officer, Lieutenant Gautier, set up armed snatch squads.  As they faced the rioters a shot rang out and he fell. The men with him opened fire on the crowd. Two more men died and five were wounded.
 

Forty-one men faced court martial, One survivor wrote: "It wouldn't have happened if the officers had only treated us like men."
 

On 5th March 1919, while the injured where being treated in hospital, 57 Canadian soldiers were taken from Kinmel Camp to Walton Prison in Liverpool to await Court Martial at the local Military Barracks.

The first of the hearings took place on 6 April 1919 at Grace Road Barracks in Walton Vale, Liverpool. But how Canadian soldiers ended up shooting their own comrades in anger still raises many unanswered questions.

"There was also a reluctance by the Allies to demobilise too quickly. In Britain there were post-war tensions and fears that law and order might break down in the big cities. If this had happened in Liverpool, Canadian troops would have been sent in. " 

( see document quote - military historian Julian Putkowski )

Over the years the stories that have been told and retold of the Kinmel Park riots have had only a tenuous link with the truth.