J.H. McArthur of London, Ont., contributes a reminder of the folly of volunteering:

One of those divisional sports events was coming up at Aldershot and a member of the RCR boxing team failed to return from a 48-hour pass. The night before the fights, the coach came through the huts looking for a 128-pound volunteer. I was sure I was well over that and would never make the weight, but could still collect the inducement to volunteer- a special chicken dinner and a day in town.

The weighing needle stopped right on 128. The fellow who sat across from me in the ring looked like he had been in an accident. He had curled-up ears and a flat nose. When he finished with me, my mouth was too sore to eat the chicken dinner and my face too beat up to show in town.