In order to add the distinguishing patches to each of the Matrix Pages (upper left corner for each unit) it was necessary to create the patches from available information to ensure that there were no copyright issues.  

Here are some examples:

1st Division 1st Infantry Battalion	2nd Division Canadian Engineers	3rd Division Princess Patricia's	3rd Division 8th Trench Mortar Battery	5th Division Officers	Army Troops Cyclist Battalion	Siberia & North Russia B Squadron R.N.W.M.P.	Cavalry Brigade Fort Gary Horse

There has been some question as to the exact colours and sizes of the patches, so I was pleased to find a reference.  The Following is extracted from:

Duguid, Col. A. F. 1965. History of the Grenadier Guards 1760-1964. Gazette Printing Company Limited, Montréal.   (Chapter VII – The Somme, page 109)

In August 1916 there was introduced throughout the Canadian Corps a system of identification by coloured cloth distinguishing patches worn on both arms immediately below the shoulder seam of the tunic. All ranks of each Division wore the Divisional Patch, rectangular, 2 x 3 inches, placed horizontally; red for the 1st, navy blue for the 2nd, bleu d’horizon for the 3rd (having been formed in France), and green for the 4th. For further dif­ferentiation, each of the 48 infantry battalions wore a smaller patch above the rectangle — a 2 inch circle, a semicircle, a 2 inch equilateral triangle, or a 2 inch square: in colour green for the first brigade, red for the second, blue for the third.

Another random reference was found in May 2008 while researching the 20th Infantry Battalion war diary.  There in September 1916 was an entry about sewing on the patch and a sketch showing the measurements:

20th Battalion Distinguishing Patch

Initially these were derived from Nicholson Appendix G and later these were confirmed from the CanadianSoldier.com Formation Patches.  Thanks to all on the CEFSG Forum that assisted with identification and correction of these patches.  Not all are complete, some are difficult to recreate and others may be incorrect or missing.  Send in your additions, corrections or suggestions to the Matrix Project.

Each of the patches was created using standard symbols available in Microsoft Word.  These were then printed to Adobe PDF format so that they could be imported into Nuance PaperPort and then converted to an image file (i.e. jpg, bmp, tif, etc.).  As of this date, that is the best way I have found to create such image files.

For details and an ongoing discussion related to these items please see the topic posted at the CEFSG Distinguishing Patches topic.

The majority of the patches have now been created, sorted and uploaded into the separate pages for the Army Corps Divisions as well as the Army Troops.  There are patches missing (i.e. there is no Forestry Patch) and so we will continue to add to this Matrix Utility until it is complete.  Please send in any information that you have!  In addition to the information on each of the pages, you can also download the images from the Patch Image Directory.