OOOOOOOh, thank you for that Bethlehem link! When I looked for Bethlehem in the past, I found nothing significant, but following a link from Wikipedia..... 'WW1 made Bethlehem one of the biggest & most profitable companies in the world. Within 6 months of the first shots fired in August 1914, the company received more than $50 million in ordnance orders from Britain & France plus the largest order in Bethlehem's history - $135 million from the British navy for howitzers, naval landing craft, guns, shrapnel shells & most important, 20 submarines ....' & it continues '*10 submarines were assembled at a shipyard in Montreal owned by Canadian Vickers'. (*after October 1914). There were 2 large English Vickers works were close to Woolwich & were no doubt providing weapons for Woolwich Arsenal. These two factories were so large that many workers were recruited in the area & resulted in Vickers having a housing estate built in each location!
Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, but I feel this has revealed why my great grandfather went from Bethlehem to Montreal. Because I knew he was working on guns at Woolwich Arsenal in the 1920s, I thought that was why he was sent to the US & Canada, examining guns or shells. But he was a naval man & the mention of subs & Montreal make me inclined to think that was his concern. Now I need to establish where that shipyard was in Montreal. Perhaps in Sherbrooke?
And what of the steel element, I ask myself? Henry Atkinson arrived in New York in June 1914. Did he also go to Bethlehem before arriving in Montreal? His family firm back in England also made landing craft & bridges for the armed forces in WW1. When he died, the court hearing stated he had arrived in Montreal in 1916.
I definitely feel I now know more about their activities during WW1. Thank you for that invaluable clue!
Margaret