Organization

Warfare in the 20th Century became increasingly complex as the modernization and industrialization of the 19th Century increased the lethality of weapons on the battlefield. Tactics were modified to reflect the new capabilities of these weapons - though as in past wars, disease (specifically, influenza) was still destined to kill more people than the battlefield - and with it, new systems of organization. The infantry entered the First World War with the company of 200 men as the primary unit of maneuver. By 1917, the platoon of 40 men, and even the section of ten or a dozen soldiers, came to be the most effective size of sub-unit that could be immediately controlled and effectively employed for specific missions.

The Canadian Expeditionary Force

Canada's overseas army as a whole was known as the Canadian Expeditionary Force, or C.E.F. This field force was a legal entity unto itself, separate from the Militia at home from which it drew many of its soldiers, in addition to volunteers from civilian life.

The Canadian Corps

The Canadian Corps was formed in 1915 as a field headquarters to control the activities of the main field units in France; the most important of these units were the four infantry divisions (the 10th Battalion was assigned to the 1st Division). Each division was further divided into brigades. At each level of the corps were various supporting units - artillery, engineers, medical, service, ordnance, etc. There were also many units of the C.E.F. that were not part of the Canadian Corps structure, both in France and the U.K.