31st Battalion, CEF

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name = 31st Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force


caption =
dates = 17 November 1914 - 15 September 1920
country = Canada
country = flag|Canada|1868
allegiance = King George V
branch = Canadian Army
type =
role = Infantry Battalion
size = 1,030 soldiers
command_structure = 6th Brigade, 2nd Division C.E.F.
garrison =
garrison_label =
nickname = 'Bell's Bulldogs'
patron =
motto =
colors =
colors_label =
march =
mascot = 'Heinie' (Russian pony)
equipment =
equipment_label =
battles = St. Eloi Craters, Ypres, Vierstraat, The Somme, Vimy Ridge, Lens, Passchendaele, Amiens, Arras, Cambrai, Valencienne, Mons
anniversaries =
decorations =
battle_honours =
disbanded = 15 September 1920
commander1 =
commander1_label =
commander2 =
commander2_label =
commander3 =
commander3_label =
notable_commanders = Lieutenant-Colonel A.H. Bell, CMG, DSOThe 31st Battalion, CEF was raised as one of the four fighting battalions destined for the 6th Brigade, 2nd Division Canadian Expeditionary Force, on 15 March, 1915. The Battalion Commander was Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur H. Bell of Calgary.

On 17 May 1915, the battalion sailed for England on the S.S. CARPATHIA, with a complement of thirty-six officers and one thousand and thirty-three Other Ranks.

After initial training in England, the battalion fought in Belgium and France, and was often at the forefront of the fighting at St. Eloi Craters, the Ypres Salient, Vimy Ridge (Thelus Village), Fresnoy, the Somme, Passchendaele Village, the Battle of Amiens, the Battle of Arras, Drocourt-Queant Switch, Valenciennes, Mons, and the occupation of the Rhine.

The bulk of the battalion returned to Canada on the SS CEDRIC on 27 May, 1919, and to Calgary on 1 June, 1919. Through the course of World War One, the 31st Battalion suffered losses of 941 dead, and an additional 2,312 non-fatal casualties.

A total of 4,487 men served in the battalion. The 31st Canadian Infantry Battalion C.E.F. was disbanded on 15 September, 1920.

References

* Singer, Major Horace C. (Ed. Darrell Knight) " History of the 31st Canadian Infantry Battalion C.E.F. ". (Calgary: Detselig Publishing, 2006). ISBN 1550593161.

External links

*http://www.31stBattalion.net/