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1st Canadian
Division - January 1915 - April 1919
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The First Contingent of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised in August 1914, concentrated at Valcartier Camp in
Quebec, and set off for England in the largest trans-Atlantic convoy to date two months
later. Training and reorganization commenced upon arrival in the United Kingdom in
October 1914, and it was not until 26 January 1915 that the Division was officially
organized, under the command of Lieutenant General E.A.H. Alderson. Several units
under command of the First Contingent were excluded from the Divisional organization,
including the 17th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders), 18th Battalion, and several
companies of Newfoundland soldiers (later formed into the Newfoundland Regiment and
assigned to the 29th (British) Division.)
The Division consisted
originally of a cavalry squadron, cyclist company, four infantry
brigades, three artillery brigades (equivalent in terms of numbers to
the regiments used in the Second World War and after), and divisional engineers, with
supporting troops of the Canadian Army Service Corps and Canadian Army Medical Corps.
The strength of the Division was placed at 17,873 all ranks, with 4,943 horses.
The 4th Brigade was broken up in January 1915, with one battalion (the 10th) going
to the 2nd Brigade, and the other three battalions being broken send to the Canadian
Training Depot. The 6th Battalion (Fort Garry Horse) left the 2nd Brigade to become
a cavalry unit, later serving in the Canadian Cavalry Brigade.
Pioneer units were added later in the war,
including the 1st Canadian Pioneer Battalion from March 1916 to February 1917, when they became
the 9th Canadian Railway Battalion. The 107th Canadian Pioneer Battalion also came
under command between Mar 1917 and May 1918, before being absorbed by the 1st Canadian
Engineer Brigade.
Lieutenant General Edwin A.H. Alderson was
selected in early 1915 to command the new Canadian Division, as it was known at that time,
making him the highest ranking divisional commander in the British Army. He was
selected - to the relief of many - in lieu of Sir Sam Hughes, who was promoted at this
time by the Prime Minister to the rank of Major General. It had been Hughes wish to
command the Canadians in action. Alderson won out over three prospective Canadian
appointees, who, while serving with the British Army, were still considered too
inexperienced.
Training in the winter of 1914 was rigorous, and
conditions on Salisbury Plain were harsh due to cold and rain. A Royal Inspection of
the Division early in 1914 foretold a move to France, which occurred in February 1915.
After a period in reserve near Hazebrouck, the Division relieved the 7th (British)
Division in the Fleurbaix sector during the first three says of March, taking over 6,400
yards of front line trenches on the left flank of General Sir Douglas Haig's First British
Army.
The Division moved to the Ypres Salient in
April, and faced its first real test during the defence of St. Julien beginning on 22
April. The Canadians withstood German attacks - aided, for the first time on the
Western Front, by the use of poison gas - and finally retired to secondary positions on 26
April, where they held on until 4 May. The Second Battle of Ypres, as the overall
action came to be known, cost the infantry brigades some 5,506 men.
Two weeks later, the Division was in action
again at Festubert. Aiding in a diversionary offensive by the British armies, the
Canadians suffered 2,204 casualties for gains of only 600 yards. Another futile
attack was launched at Givenchy in June 1915, after which the Division moved to
Ploegsteert. |
1st Canadian Division - Infantry Units
(Battalions/Founding Regiments) |
Divisional Units (as of April 1915) |
1st, 2nd and 3rd
Field Companies, Canadian Engineers
1st Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery
2nd Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery
3rd Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery
Special Service Squadron, 19th Alberta Dragoons
1st Canadian Divisional Cyclist Company |
1st Canadian Infantry Brigade |
| 1st Battalion (Western Ontario) |
1st Hussars
7th Regiment (Fusiliers)
21st Regiment (Essex Fusiliers)
22nd Regiment (The Oxford Rifles)
23rd Regiment (The Northern Fusiliers)
24th Kent Regiment
25th Regiment
28th Perth Regiment
29th Regiment (Highland Light Infantry of Canada)
77th Wentworth Regiment |
| 2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario) |
9th Mississauga Horse
The Governor General's Foot Guards
14th Regiment (The Princess Of Wales' Own Rifles)
15th Regiment (Argyll Light Infantry)
16th Prince Edward Regiment
34th Ontario Regiment
42nd Lanark and Renfrew Regiment
43rd Regiment (The Duke of Cornwall's Own Rifles)
49th Regiment (Hastings Rifles)
59th Stormont and Glengarry Regiment |
| 3rd Battalion (Toronto Regiment) |
Governor General's Body Guard
2nd Regiment (Queen's Own Rifles of Canada)
10th Regiment (Royal Grenadiers)
13th Royal Regiment |
| 4th Battalion (Central Ontario) |
12th Regiment (York
Rangers)
19th Lincoln Regiment
20th Regiment (Halton Rifles)
35th Regiment (Simcoe Foresters)
36th Peel Regiment
44th Lincoln and Welland Regiment |
2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade |
| 5th Battalion (Western Cavalry) |
12th Manitoba
Dragoons
16th Light Horse
30th Regiment (British Columbia Horse) |
| 7th Battalion (First British
Columbia Regiment) |
6th Regiment (The
Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles)
11th Regiment (Irish Fusiliers of Canada)
88th Regiment (Victoria Fusiliers)
102nd Regiment (Rocky Mountain Rangers)
104th Regiment (Westminster Fusiliers of Canada) |
| 8th Battalion (90th Rifles) |
90th Regiment (Winnipeg Rifles)
96th The Lake Superior Regiment |
| 10th Battalion (Canadians) |
103rd Regiment
(Calgary Rifles)
106th Regiment (Winnipeg Light Infantry) |
3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade |
| 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders
of Canada) |
5th Regiment
(Royal Highlanders of Canada)
78th Pictou Regiment (Highlanders)
93rd Cumberland Regiment |
| 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal
Regiment) |
1st Regiment
(Canadian Grenadier Guards)
3rd Regiment (Victoria Rifles of Canada)
58th Westmount Rifles
63rd Regiment (Halifax Rifles)
65th Regiment (Carabiniers Mont Royal)
66th Regiment (Princess Louise Fusiliers)
68th Regiment
76th Colchester and Hants Regiment |
| 15th Battalion (48th Highlanders
of Canada) |
31st Grey Regiment
48th Regiment (Highlanders)
97th Regiment (Algonquin Rifles) |
| 16th Battalion (Canadian
Scottish) |
50th Regiment
(Gordon Highlanders)
69th Annapolis Regiment
72nd Regiment (Seaforth Highlanders of Canada)
75th Lunenburg Regiment
79th Cameron Highlanders of Canada
91st Regiment (Canadian Highlanders) |
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The Canadians began a long period of static
warfare which would last them throughout the winter, In September, the arrival of
the Second Canadian Division meant that a national corps headquarters could take to the
field to command the Division. Active operations resumed again in the spring of
1916, participating in the Battle of Mount Sorrel, and then restoring the situation at
Sanctuary Wood.
The legendary Battle of the Somme opened on 1
July 1916, the worst single day in the history of the British Army, with 20,000 men killed
and 40,000 wounded. However, the Canadians' part in the great battle, which was to
last through to November, didn't begin until September at Pozières, and lasted through to
October. It was on the Somme that the red patch was first worn as an identifying
device - two inches by three inches and worn on both sleeves, this rectangle identified
the wearer as belonging to the First Division. The insignia was also painted on
steel trench helmets, and adorned with geometric shapes of different colours to further
identify the soldier's specific battery, brigade, battalion or other subunit.
The Division began to prepare for the historic
assault on Vimy Ridge, and took the time-honoured position of Right of the Line on 9 April
1917 when the Corps took the Ridge. Other gains were made in the days following the
successful assault on the ridge, and the Division participated in the monumental battle of
Hill 70 in August 1917. Passchendaele followed in mid-October, and fighting
continued into November.
Massive German offensives came in the spring of
1918, but the Canadian Corps - now considered crack assault troops - were held in reserve
for the inevitable counter-offensives. "Canada's Hundred Days" - the last
100 days of the war - were marked by several Canadian successes, at Amiens, the D-Q Line,
and Canal du Nord. On 11 November 1918, the Armistice brought the war to an end.
The Division formed part of the occupation
forces onthe right bank of the Rhine, then in early 1919 moved back to England, and the
eventual repatriation and demobilization. The infantry battalions of the First
Division suffered 52,559 casualties during its years in the field, some 15,055 of
them fatal - statistically, representing almost the original strength of the entire
Division. Twenty-four soldiers of the Division were awarded the Victoria Cross.
Battles and Engagements
France and Flanders
Battle of Gravenstafel. 22-23 Apr 1915.
Battle of St. Julien. 24 Apr-4 May 1915.
Battle of Festubert. 15-25 May 1915.
Second Action of Givenchy. 15-16 Jun 1915.
Battle of Mount Sorrel. 2-13 Jun 1916.
Battle of Flers - Courcelette. 15-22 Sep 1916.
Battle of Thiepval. 26-28 Sep 1916.
Battle of Le Transloy. 1-18 Oct 1916.
Battle of the Ancre Heights. 1 Oct-11 Nov 1916.
Battle of Vimy. 9-14 Apr 1917.
Battle of Arleux. 28-29 Apr 1917.
Third Battle of the Scarpe. 3-4 May 1917, including the capture of Fresnoy.
Second Battle of Passchendaele. 26 Oct-10 Nov 1917.
Battle of Amiens. 8-11 Aug 1918.
Actions round Damery. 15-17 Aug 1918.
Battle of the Scarpe. 26-30 Aug 1918.
Battle of Drocourt-Quéant. 2-3 Sep 1918.
Battle of the Canal Du Nord. 27 Sep-1 Oct 1918.
Battle of Cambrai. 8-9 Oct 1918.
Commanders
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General Officer Commanding
First Canadian Division |
|
Dates in Command |
Destination on Leaving
Appointment |
| Lieutenant General E.A.H.
Alderson |
26 Jan 1916 - 13 Sep 1915 |
Appointed as General Officer
Commanding, Canadian Corps |
| Major General Arthur W. Currie |
13 Sep 1915 - 28 May 1916 |
Appointed as General Officer
Commanding, Canadian Corps |
| Major General Archibald MacDonell |
May 1916 - 1919 |
Division disbanded |
Lieutenant General Edwin Alfred Harvey Alderson
was a British officer, selected by Sir Sam Hughes to lead the Canadians into action.
However, he soon lost favour with Sir Hughes, in part due to Alderson's criticism of the
Ross Rifle - a weapon championed by Hughes as just one of many patronage projects.
When the British Lee Enfield was made the standard battle rifle of the First Division in
June 1915, the Militia Minister was not happy. Alderson was promoted to command the
Canadian Corps in September when a Second Canadian Division arrived in France, but his
days in that post were numbered. After the St. Eloi battles in April 1916, in which
1,300 casualties were suffered, he was removed. He went on to the post of Inspector
General of the Canadian Corps, a largely ceremonial role.
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Major General Arthur W. Currie
was a prewar Militia officer with the 50th Gordon Highlanders of Victoria. He was an
insurance broker and real estate agent; he also used regimental funds for private business
purposes - a situation that has been well chronicled in most histories and biographies.
He was bailed out of this stressful financial situation by fellow officers during
the war. He commanded the 2nd Brigade on arrival in France, and in September
1915 was given the First Division. He too was not popular with Sir Sam Hughes, but
his skill and determination provided continuing Canadian successes in the field. His
meticulous attention to detail paid him dividends, and he was moved on to command the
Canadian Corps in May 1916. He was the first Canadian to reach the rank of
full General. In the last months of the war, he guided the Canadian Corps to
an unbroken string of victories, and would have been made the supreme Allied commander of
all armies in France had the war lasted into 1919. He was knighted in 1917, inducted
into the Order of the Bath and the Order of St. Michael and St. George. He served as
Inspector General of the Canadian Militia after the war, and in civil life was Principal
and Vice Chancellor of McGill University from 1920 to his death in November 1933.
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| Major General Archibald Cameron
MacDonell was a Canadian prewar regular, a rarity in the CEF. He
served as a brigadier in the 7th Brigade of the Third Division. Pierre Berton
described MacDonnell in the book Vimy: MacDonell
was known as a front-line soldier; indeed, (28 year old intelligence officer Hal) Wallis
was to say he spent as much time at the front with his brigadier as he had in his days as
a private. Not for nothing did the men of the 7th call MacDonell "Fighting
Mac" and sometimes "Batty Mac" because of his eccentricities under fire.
Everybody knew the story of how he'd gone so far into No Man's Land that a sniper
put a bullet in his arm. Instead of ducking, Batty Mac had stood up swearing,
shaking his unwounded arm angrily at the sniper, who immediately put another bullet in his
good arm. And everybody also knew that MacDonell, at the Somme, had insisted on
walking among the wounded after the attack on the Regina Trench, unmindful of the enemy
shells, to salute the corpses of the Black Watch. A sentimental Scot who sometimes
swore in Gaelic in moments of great pressure, MacDonell stopped at every corpse and said
"I salute you, my brave Highlander," until Wallis managed to pull him to safety.
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| Victoria
Cross Holders - First Canadian Division |
| Fred Fisher |
Lance Corporal |
13th Battalion |
23 Apr 1915 St. Julien, Belgium
Second Battle of Ypres |
KIA
24 April 1915 |
| Francis
Alexander Caron Scrimger |
Captain |
14th Battalion |
25 Apr 1915 St. Julien, Belgium
Second Battle of Ypres |
Died
13 Feb 1937 |
Edward Donald Bellew |
Lieutenant |
7th Battalion |
24 Apr 1915 Keerdelaere, Belgium
Second Battle of Ypres |
Died
1 Feb 1961
age 78 |
| Frederick
William Hall |
Company Sergeant
Major |
8th Battalion |
24 Apr 1915 Ypres, Belgium
Second Battle of Ypres |
KIA
24 Apr 1915 |
| Frederick
William Campbell |
Captain |
1st Battalion |
15 Jun 1915 Givenchy, France
Battle of Givenchy |
DOW
19 Jun 1915 |
| Lionel
Beaumaurice Clarke |
Acting Corporal |
2nd Battalion |
9 Sep 1916 Pozieres, France
Battle of the Somme |
DOW
19 Oct 1916
age 23 |
| James
Cleland Richardson |
Piper |
16th Battalion |
9 Oct 1916 Regina Trench
Battle of the Somme |
KIA
9 Oct 1916
age 20 |
| William
Johnstone Milne |
Private |
16th Battalion |
9 Apr 1917 Thelus, France
Vimy Ridge |
KIA
9 Apr 1917 |
Harry
Brown |
Private |
10th Battalion |
16 Aug 1917 Loos, France
Hill 70 |
DOW
17 Aug 1917 |
| Michael
James O'Rourke |
Private |
7th Battalion |
15 - 17 Aug 1917 Lens, France
Hill 70 |
Died
6 Dec 1957 |
| Okill
Massey Learmonth |
Major |
2nd Battalion |
18 Aug 1917 Loos, France
Hill 70 |
DOW
18 Aug 1917 |
| Colin
Barron |
Corporal |
3rd Battalion |
6 Nov 1917 Passchendaele, Belgium
Battle of Passchendaele |
Died
15 Aug 1958
age 65 |
| George
Burdon McKean |
Lieutenant |
14th Battalion |
27/28 Apr 1918 Gravelle, France |
Killed
28 Nov 1926 |
| John
Bernard Croak |
Private |
13th Battalion |
8 Aug 1918 Amiens, France
Battle of Amiens |
DOW
8 Aug 1918 |
Herman
Good |
Corporal |
13th Battalion |
8 Aug 1918 Hangard Wood, France
Battle of Amiens |
Died
18 April 1969
age 80 |
| Ralph Louis
Zengel |
Sergeant |
5th Battalion |
9 Aug 1918 Warvillers, France
Battle of Amiens |
Died
22 Feb 1977
age 82 |
| Alexander
Picton Brereton |
Corporal |
8th Battalion |
9 Aug 1918 Hackett Woods, France
Battle of Amiens |
Died
1 Jul 1976
age 83 |
| Frederick
George Coppins |
Corporal |
8th Battalion |
9 Aug 1918 Hackett Woods, France
Battle of Amiens |
Died
30 Mar 1963 |
| Cyrus
Wesley Peck |
Lieutenant Colonel |
16th Battalion |
2 Sep 1918 Villers-lez-Cagnicourt
Drocourt-Queant Line |
Died
27 Sep 1956 |
Arthur
George Knight |
Acting Sergeant |
10th Battalion |
2 Sep 1918 Villers-lez-Cagnicourt
Drocourt-Queant Line |
DOW
3 Sep 1918
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| William
Henry Metcalf |
Lance Corporal |
16th Battalion |
2 Sep 1918 Drocourt-Queant Line, France
Drocourt-Queant Line |
Died
8 Aug 1968 |
| Walter
Rayfield |
Private |
7th Battalion |
2-4 Sep 1918 Arras, France
Drocourt-Queant Line |
Died
19 Feb 1949 |
| George
Fraser Kerr |
Lieutenant |
3rd Battalion |
27 Sep 1918 Bourlon Wood, France
Hindenburg Line |
Died in Accident
8 Dec 1929 |
| William
Merrifield |
Sergeant |
4th Battalion |
1 Oct 1918 Abancourt
Hindenburg Line |
Died
8 Aug 1943 |
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