With World War II continuing, the IRFU (Interprovincial Rugby Football Union) and the WIFU (Western Interprovincial Football Union) continued to suspend play. The Ottawa Rough Riders, the last of the Big Four teams to continue operations, were finally forced to suspend play, but a number of familiar Ottawa faces showed up in the line-up of the Ottawa Combines who played in the ORFU (Ontario Rugby Football Union). Also in the East, the QRFU (Quebec Rugby Football Union) made a return to senior play with a five team league that featured three military teams: an RCAF team in Lachine, an army team in Huntington and a navy team in Montreal. The Verdun Grads and McGill University rounded out the league. It marked the first time since 1935 that a university team was competing for the Grey Cup. In a bit of an oddity, McGill played only 4 games while the other QRFU teams played 10 games. To compensate for this disparity, McGill games were worth 6 points. McGill did manage one win, beating Huntington, who lost all ten of their games. Other than McGill, the other QRFU teams were liberally sprinkled with former ORFU and IRFU players who were in military service. Out West, a three team league was organized, with two teams in Winnipeg and one in Regina. It was composed largely of military personnel. The Blue Bombers played as the RCAF Bombers while the second Winnipeg based team was the Winnipeg United Services Combines. The Regina team was known as the Regina All-Service All-Stars. Many of the players had previously played for the Roughriders and that nickname was also used for this team. The Hamilton Wildcats, or Flying Wildcats as they were called during the war years, won the ORFU. The Wildcats then eked out a surprisingly close victory 7-6 over the Lachine RCAF team to capture the East title. In the West, the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers had little problem beating Regina in the two game total point West final 12-0. Led by the great Joe Krol, the Hamilton Wildcats won their first and only Grey Cup, defeating Winnipeg 23-14.