The 1930s (Page 3)

Canada declared war on Germany in September 1939. Shortly thereafter, McGill medical student Donald L. Lloyd Smith received a letter from the Canadian Representative of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust which was reprinted in part in the News:

I suppose the events of the past few days will have prepared you for the action the Rhodes Trustees have taken. Lord Elton of the Rhodes Trustees has advised me by cable to have you postpone sailing and advised that the 1939 Rhodes Scholarships have been suspended but will be revived later if possible.

At present I think you will agree it would be useless as well as dangerous for you to proceed to Oxford. There is no suggestion yet of any time you may go to Oxford nor of any alternative scheme. Furthermore, it is doubtful if anyone will attempt now to predict the duration of the war or its effects on such institutions as Oxford University and the Rhodes Scholarships.