Canadian Expeditionary Force

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name = Canadian Expeditionary Force
country = Canada
country = flag|Canada|1868
allegiance =
dates = August 1914 - 1920

The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the group of Canadian military units formed for service overseas in the First World War. As the units arrived in France they were formed into the divisions of the Canadian Corps within the British Army. Four divisions ultimately served on the front line.

The force consisted of 260 numbered infantry battalions, 2 named infantry battalions (The Royal Canadian Regiment and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry), 13 mounted rifle regiments, 13 railway troop battalions, 5 pioneer battalions, as well as field and heavy artillery batteries, ambulance, medical, dental, forestry, labour, tunnelling, cyclist, and service units.

A distinct entity within the Canadian Expeditionary Force was the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. It consisted of several motor machine gun battalions, the Eatons, Yukon, and Borden Motor Machine Gun Batteries, and nineteen machine gun companies. During the summer of 1918, these units were consolidated into four machine gun battalions, one being attached to each of the four divisions in the Canadian Corps.

Composition

The Canadian Expeditionary Force was comprised mostly of men who had volunteered, as conscription was not enforced until the end of the war when call-ups began in January 1918. (See Conscription Crisis of 1917.) Ultimately, only 24,132 conscripts arrived in France before the end of the war.

Canada was the senior Dominion in the British Empire and automatically at war with Germany upon the British declaration. According to Canadian historian Dr. Serge Durflinger at the Canadian War Museum, popular support for the war was found mainly in English Canada.Fact|date=April 2008 Of the First Division formed at Valcartier, Quebec, 'fully two-thirds were men born in the United Kingdom'. By the end of the war in 1918, at least 'fifty per cent of the CEF consisted of British-born men'. Recruiting was difficult among the French-Canadian population, although one battalion, the 22nd, who came to be known as the 'Van Doos', was French-speaking.

To a lesser extent, other cultural groups were represented with Ukrainians, Russians, Scandinavians, Belgians, Dutch, French, Americans, Swiss, Chinese, and Japanese men who enlisted. Despite systemic racism directed towards non-whites, a significant contribution was made by individuals of certain ethnic groups, notably the First Nations [Morton, Desmond. "When Your Number's Up"] , Afro-Canadians and Japanese-Canadians.

After distinguishing themselves in battle from the Second Battle of Ypres, through the Somme and particularly in the Battle of Arras at Vimy Ridge in April 1917, the Canadian Corps came to be regarded as an exceptional force by both Allied and German military commanders. Since they were mostly unmolested by the German army's offensive manoeuvres in the spring of 1918, the Canadians were ordered to spearhead the last campaigns of the War from the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918, which ended in a tacit victory for the Allies when the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.

The Canadian Expeditionary Force lost 60,661 dead during the war, representing 9.28% of the 619,636 who enlisted.

The CEF disbanded after the war and was replaced by the Canadian Militia.

Equipment

Vehicles

;Armoured carriers and armoured tractors

;Tanks
Mark I tank training tank, UK

ervice rifles and carbines

Approved private purchase and secondary side-arms

Grenades, mines and other explosives

Ammunition

Head dress

Notes

References

Further reading

*Berton, Pierre. "Vimy"
*Christie, Norm. "For King & Empire, The Canadians at Amiens, August 1918". CEF Books, 1999
*Christie, Norm. "For King & Empire, The Canadians at Arras, August–September 1918". CEF Books, 1997
*Christie, Norm. "For King & Empire, The Canadians at Cambrai, September–October 1918". CEF Books, 1997
*Dancocks, Daniel G. "Spearhead to Victory – Canada and the Great War", Hurtig Publishers, 1987
*Morton, Desmond and Granatstein, J.L. "Marching to Armageddon". Lester & Orpen Dennys Publishers, 1989
*Morton, Desmond. "When Your Numbers Up". Random House of Canada, 1993
*Newman, Stephen K. "With the Patricia's in Flanders: 1914–1918". Bellewaerde House Publishing, 2000
*Nicholson, Col. G.W.L. "Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914–1919, Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War", Queen's Printer, 1964
*Schreiber, Shane B. "Shock Army of the British Empire – The Canadian Corps in the Last 100 Days of the Great War". Vanwell Publishing Limited, 2004

See also

* British Army
* Canadian Militia
* List of Canadian battles during World War I

External links

* [http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/ Canadian Great War Project]
* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brett/cef/cefpapertrail.html The C.E.F. Paper Trail]
* [http://www.cefresearch.com/ The C.E.F. Study Group]
* [http://www3.sympatico.ca/bkeevil/COBWFA/ Central Ontario Branch – Western Front Association]
* [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/firstworldwar/index-e.html Library & Archives Canada—Canada and the First World War]
* [http://www.mdn.ca/dhh/publications/engraph/Online_e.asp?cat=6 National Defence – Books/Publications Online – Contains a link to download a copy of Nicholson's Official History of the C.E.F.]
* [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/firstwar&CFNoCache=TRUE Veteran Affairs Canada – History of the First World War]
*Regimental Rogue site
** [http://regimentalrogue.com/cef_perpetuation/cef_perpetutation.htm Perpetuation of the Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.), 1914-1919]
** [http://regimentalrogue.com/battlehonours/firstworldwar-btlhnrs.htm Conditions of Award of Battle Honours for the Great War 1914-1919]
** [http://regimentalrogue.com/wallpaper/rogue_wallpapers.htm#C.E.F.%20Distinguishing%20Patches C.E.F. Distinguishing Patches (wallpaper graphic offered in three sizes)]
*Links to Nicholson text and maps (see book reference below: [http://www.censol.ca/research/greatwar/nicholson/text/nicholson.htm] )
* [http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/mediawiki-1.5.5/index.php?title=Canadian_Expeditionary_Force canadiansoldiers.com article on the CEF]
* [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem&CFID=5913716&CFTOKEN=50459211 Canadian Virtual War Memorial]
* [http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/disp/dis001_e.html French Canada and Recruitment during the First World War]
* [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/first-world-war/interviews/025015-1700-e.html Oral Histories of the First World War: Veterans 1914-1918] at Library and Archives Canada