Canadian Expeditionary Force

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World War I recruitment poster

The Canadian Expeditionary Force ( CEF , roughly German: "Canadian Expeditionary Corps") was the Canadian troop contingent that was set up in 1914 to defend the British Empire during the First World War .

history

In peacetime the Dominion Canada had a militia army , consisting of the tiny Permanent Active Militia and the Non-Permanent Active Militia, and organized according to the British regiment system . The militia was not mobilized during the war , but remained in Canada. Instead, volunteers were mainly recruited from the Non-Permanent Active Militia , which in 1914 had an authorized strength of around 75,000 men, and an expeditionary force of initially 25,000 men was put together.

The first contingent of the CEF was assembled in Valcartier shortly after the outbreak of war in August 1914 and shipped to England to complete the training. At the beginning of 1915, the troops were deployed in trench warfare on the western front . The so-called Canadian Division fought in April 1915 in the Second Battle of Flanders . After the arrival of another division, it was renamed 1st Division .

In the further course of the war a total of four divisions of the CEF were used in France and combined under the Canadian Corps . The 5th Division was stationed in Great Britain and was used for training purposes. It was later disbanded and used to reinforce the fighting troops.

The CEF counted finally 260 different numbered Infantry - battalions and two battalions named, 13 regiments of cavalry and numerous other units of the combat support troops , including 13 battalions railway troops and five pioneer battalions. Furthermore, numerous Canadians served in the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service (later summarized as the Royal Air Force ).

Most of the approximately 620,000 men who served in the CEF were volunteers; it was not until 1918 that the first of the approximately 24,000 conscripts deployed reached the front (cf. the crisis of 1917 ). The losses of the CEF in killed amounted to about 60,700 men, or about 9.3 percent.

The CEF was dissolved in 1919. During the reorganization of the Canadian militia in 1920, a system was created according to which their regiments could continue the tradition of the former CEF battalions and ultimately also use their battle honors .

guide

Political control of the CEF was exercised by Secretary of War Sam Hughes at the beginning of the war . In October 1916, the post of Minister of Overseas Military Forces was created for the interests of the CEF , held successively by George Halsey Perley (1916-1917) and Albert Edward Kemp (1917-1920).

The leadership of the contingent on site on the Western Front (from 1915 of the Canadian Corps ) led the following generals:

See also

literature

  • Col. GWL Nicholson: Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919: Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War , Queen's Printer, 1964.

Web links

Commons : Canadian Expeditionary Force  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files