Canada tried many different tactics to encourage men to enlist in the Great War. Among them was the creation of units based on specific geographic or ethnic orientation. One such unit was the Winnipeg based 223rd or Viking Battalion [which had a Bohemian detachment]. The majority of its members were of Icelandic origin. Few who signed up realized that upon their arrival in England or France, such units were often broken up and then men re-assigned to other battalions. Indeed, Viking Battalion members were eventually re-assigned to other Winnipeg units – the 27th or Winnipeg Battalion and the 78th, the Winnipeg Grenadiers.

In this photo, taken in late summer 1916 in Winnipeg, at least half of the eight men shown are from the same Icelandic Canadian settlement, Logberg, Saskatchewan. Logberg, or “Law Rock” is where the speaker annually reads the laws to the Icelandic Parliament. Sitting in the front row, middle, is Lieutenant Jon Einarsson. It was unusual for the Icelandic soldiers to be commissioned—only 3 percent of those who enlisted were named officers. At least two of these men died in the war, Einarrson, at Passchendaele in October 1917, and Jon Thorarinson, far left, back row, who was killed at the Battle of "Vimy Ridge" Ridge in April 1917. Paul Egilsson, sitting front row, left, eventually married Einarsson’s sister. Einarsson’s younger brother, Villi, is second from right, back row.

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