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Canadian Expeditionary
Force Study Group
The Matrix Project
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| Component: |
Canadian Expeditionary Force Organization |
Background:
| According to the authoritative
works of Nicholson, the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was
Canada's commitment to the First World War from 1914-1919,
primarily in the battles against Germany. Other theatres
of war included Macedonia (1915-1917); Dardanelles (1915-1916);
Egypt and Palestine (1915-1916, 1918); North West Persia and the
Caspian Sea (1918-1919); Murman (1918-1919); Archangel
(1918-1919) and Siberia (1918-1919). (Nicholson
pg, 556)
Using the writing style of Nicholson (page
7), we need to also take a step back and look at the Canadian
Military Organization prior to 1914. In 1883 Canada had a
statutory military strength of 750, increased from time to time
and as the British withdrew their naval bases at Halifax and
Esquimalt. By April 1914 the authorize force was 3,110 in
all ranks and 684 horses.
 | Cavalry
 | Royal Canadian Dragoons |
| Lord Strathcona's Horse |
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| Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (2
Batteries) |
| Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery (5
Companies) |
| Royal Canadian Regiment (sole
infantry battalion) |
| Service and Administrative Corps |
In accordance with the defined
organization of the Canadian Military Organization, we have
separated the "Canadian Corps" (Canadian
Army Corps) with the four Divisions from the "Corps
Troops" or "Army Troops"
which contains the elements described by Nicholson (,
which although not associated with a Division was commanded by
the Army Headquarters. Although initially unclear at the
level of detail provided by Nicholson, this organization has
since been clarified in the text by Love (2).
Please refer to the separate pages that detail the formation of
the four Divisions over the period of the Great War.
The confusion in the military organization
is that a Division in the Canadian Corps contains
representative units and commanders of the Corps Troops,
as they all have a component of artillery, engineers, machine
gun corps, and engineers. It would appear that the
"definition" or "distinction" rests in what is
required for day-to-day operations in a Division as compared to
what is a defined as "support". Love describes
the Division as "the smallest unit in the field that is
completely self-contained, having within its organization,
representation from all arms of service".
While training on the Salisbury Plain, the
Colonial eight-company battalions were reorganized to match the
Imperial four-company organization, resulting in the loss of
three officers from the headquarters and eight subalterns that
were "carried supernumerary to establishment"
(Nicholson, page 38).
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Sub-Components:
Martin Gilbert's book "The Battle of the Somme"
provides an Appendix indicating the general manpower associated with the
Army Corps. This may be generic to the BEF and CEF and thus this
list will be updated as specific CEF information is collected:
| Unit |
In
Command |
Strength
(men) |
Army
Corps
Division
Brigade
Regiment
Battalion
Company
Platoon
Section |
General
Lieutenant General
Major General
Brigadier General
Colonel
Lt. Col. or Major
Captain
2nd Lieutenant
Lance Corporal |
200,000
50,000
12,000
4,000
2,000
1,000
250
60
15 |
Primary References:
| Nicholson, G. W. L. 1962. Official History of
the Canadian Army in the First World War: Canadian Expeditionary
Force 1914-1919. Queens Printer and Controller of Stationary,
Ottawa, Canada. (Appendix B - Canadian Units in France and Belgium,
November 1918; Appendix D - CEF Infantry Battalions)
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| Love, D. W. 1999. "A Call to Arms"
The Organization and Administration of Canada's Military in World
War One. Bunker to Bunker Books, Winnipeg & Calgary,
Canada. (Chapter 1 - Elements of Military Organization)
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Secondary References:
| Gilbert, Martin. 2006. The Battle of the Somme
- The Heroism and Horror of War. McClelland Stewart, Toronto ON
Canada. |
Internet References:
Credits:
Many of the images of the CEF cap badges and collar dogs are kindly supplied by
CEFSG Member Larry Will (replacing those previously provided by Vernon's Collectibles) on the condition that they are not used for
profit. We would ask that you do not copy or use these images for
other than the purposes intended.
Other images and text has been extracted from regimental war diaries,
web sites and a number of on-line and off-line references. This
information has been linked to the source to acknowledge the source of
the information. All information on this web site is for private
research and is not intended for commercial use, particularly commercial
profit.
| This Page Last
Updated On: |
Sunday May 11, 2008 09:13:06 AM -0400
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