Canadian Corps

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Canadian Corps

For other uses of Canadian Corps, see Canadian Corps (disambiguation)
Canadian Corps (disambiguation)

The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force.Canadian Corps may also refer to the following:*Canadian Corps , the unnumbered Canadian Corps formed during WWII...

The Canadian Corps was a World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
corps

Corps

A Corps is either a large formation , or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service....
formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Canadian Expeditionary Force

2nd Canadian Division

The 2nd Canadian Division was an infantry formation that saw service in the First World War. A 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was raised for the Second World War....
in France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division

3rd Canadian Division

The 3rd Canadian Division was a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War.The 3rd Canadian Division was formed in France in December 1915 under the command of Major-General M.S....
in December 1915 and the 4th Canadian Division

4th Canadian Division

The Canadian Corps - 4th Canadian Division ? World War I:The 4th Canadian Division was formed in the United Kingdom in April of 1916 from several existing units and others scheduled to arrive shortly thereafter....
in August 1916. The organization of a 5th Canadian Division

5th Canadian Division

The 5th Canadian Division of the Canadian Corps was formed during World War I. The 5th began assembling in United Kingdom in February, 1917, but was broken up in February of 1918 before it was fully formed....
began in February 1917, but it was still not fully formed when it was broken up in February 1918 and its men used to reinforce the other four divisions.

The soldiers of the Canadian Corps, two-thirds of whom were British-born, were mostly volunteers, as conscription was not implemented until the end of the war (see Conscription Crisis of 1917

Conscription Crisis of 1917

The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I....
).

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Encyclopedia

World War I

Corps

Canadian Expeditionary Force

2nd Canadian Division

The 2nd Canadian Division was an infantry formation that saw service in the First World War. A 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was raised for the Second World War....
in France

France

3rd Canadian Division

4th Canadian Division

5th Canadian Division

Conscription Crisis of 1917

The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I....
). Ultimately, only 24,132 conscripts made it to France before 11 November 1918. In the later stages of the war, the Canadian Corps was among the most effective and respected of the military formations on the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Empire army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France....
.

History

New Names Canadian Ww1 Recruiting Poster

Although the corps was within and under the command of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
, there was considerable pressure by Canadian leaders, especially following the Battle of the Somme, in 1916, to have the corps fight as a single unit rather than have the divisions spread out through the whole army. The corps was originally commanded by Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Sir E.A.H. Alderson, until 1916. Political considerations caused command to be passed to Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng, later enobled as Lord Byng of Vimy and Governor-General of Canada. When Byng was promoted to a higher command during the summer of 1917, he was succeeded by the commander of the 1st Division, General Sir Arthur W. Currie

Arthur Currie

Sir Arthur William Currie Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Order of the Bath , was a Canada general during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war militia gunner before rising through the ranks to become the first Canadian commander of the four divisions of the un...
, giving the corps its first Canadian commander.

The Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge in April, 1917, in one of the most successful and daring attacks of the war. During the German Spring Offensive

Spring Offensive

The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht and also known as the Ludendorff Offensive was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during World War I, which marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914....
of the spring and summer of 1918, the Canadian Corps supported British and French soldiers while they held the Germans back. Between August 8 and 11, 1918, the corps spearheaded the offensive during the Battle of Amiens

Battle of Amiens

The Battle of Amiens, which began on 8 August 1918, was the opening phase of the Allies of World War I offensive later known as the Hundred Days Offensive that ultimately led to the end of World War I....
. Here a significant defeat was inflicted on the Germans, causing the German commander-in-chief, General Erich Ludendorff

Erich Ludendorff

Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was a Imperial Germany Army Officer , victor of Battle of Li?ge, and, with Paul von Hindenburg, one of the victors of the battle of Battle of Tannenberg ....
, to call August 8 "the black day of the German army." This battle marked the start of the period of the war referred to as "Canada's Hundred Days". After Amiens, the Canadian Corps continued to lead the vanguard of an Allied push that ultimately ended on 11 November 1918 at Mons where the British Empire had first met in conflict with Imperial German forces in 1914.

At the end of war the Canadian 1st and 2nd Divisions took part in the occupation of Germany and the corps was eventually demobilized in 1919. Upon their return home the veterans were greeted by large and welcoming crowds all across the country.

The Canadian Expeditionary Force lost 60,661 dead during the war, 9.28% of the 619,636 who enlisted.

Canadian Divisions under the Canadian Corps

**Canadian Divisions**
Unit	Active	Commanders	Duration	Major battles
1st Canadian Division 1st Canadian Division This article refers to the division raised in the First World War. For divisions raised afterwards, see 1st Canadian Infantry DivisionFormed in August 1914, the 1st Canadian Division was a formation of the Canadian Expeditionary Force....	Established: August 1914 Disbanded: November 1918	Edwin Alderson Edwin Alderson Lieutenant General Sir Edwin Alfred Hervey Alderson Order of the Bath was a senior British Army officer who served in several campaigns of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries....	March 1915 - Sept 1915	Second Battle of Ypres Second Battle of Ypres The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used chemical weapons on a large scale on the Western Front in World War I and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St....
		Arthur Currie Arthur Currie Sir Arthur William Currie Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Order of the Bath , was a Canada general during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war militia gunner before rising through the ranks to become the first Canadian commander of the four divisions of the un...	Sept 1915 - June 1917	Battle of Mont Sorrel Battle of Mont Sorrel The Battle of Mont Sorrel was a localized conflict of World War I between three divisions of the Second Army and three divisions of the 4th Army in the Ypres Salient, near Ypres, Belgium, from 2 June 1916 to 14 June 1916.... Battle of the Somme Battle of Vimy Ridge Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras , in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War....
		Archibald Cameron Macdonell Archibald Cameron Macdonell Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Cameron Macdonell, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Distinguished Service Order was a Canada police officer and soldier....	June 1917 - 1919	Battle of Hill 70 Battle of Hill 70 The Battle of Hill 70 was a localized battle of World War I between the Canadian Corps and five divisions of the 6th Army . The battle took place along the Western Front on the outskirts of Lens, Pas-de-Calais in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France between 15 August 1917 and 25 August 1917.... Battle of Passchendaele
2nd Canadian Division 2nd Canadian Division The 2nd Canadian Division was an infantry formation that saw service in the First World War. A 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was raised for the Second World War....	Established: May 1915 Disbanded : Nov 1918	Sam Steele Sam Steele Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Royal Victorian Order was a distinguished soldier and famous member of the North-West Mounted Police....	May 1915 - Aug 1915	None
		R. E. W. Turner Richard Ernest William Turner Lieutenant General Sir Richard Ernest William Turner Victoria Cross, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Distinguished Service Order was a Canada army officer during the Boer War and World War I, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross....	Sept 1915 - Dec 1916	Battle of the Somme Battle of Passchendaele
		Henry Edward Burstall Henry Edward Burstall Sir Henry Edward Burstall, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George was a Canada general....	Dec 1916 - Nov 1918	Battle of Vimy Ridge Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras , in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War....
3rd Canadian Division 3rd Canadian Division The 3rd Canadian Division was a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War.The 3rd Canadian Division was formed in France in December 1915 under the command of Major-General M.S....	Established: Jan 1916 Disbanded : Nov 1918	M. S. Mercer Malcolm Mercer Major-General Malcolm Smith Mercer, Companion of the Order of the Bath was a Canadian general, barrister and art patron who practiced law in Toronto and led the 3rd Canadian Division during the first two years of the First World War before he was killed in action at Mount Sorrel in Belgium....	Dec 1915 - Jun 1916 (died in combat)	Battle of Mont Sorrel Battle of Mont Sorrel The Battle of Mont Sorrel was a localized conflict of World War I between three divisions of the Second Army and three divisions of the 4th Army in the Ypres Salient, near Ypres, Belgium, from 2 June 1916 to 14 June 1916....
		Louis Lipsett Louis Lipsett Major General Louis James Lipsett Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George was a senior officer in the British Army and Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War....	Jun 1916 - Sep 1918	Battle of the Somme Battle of Vimy Ridge Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras , in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War.... Battle of Passchendaele
		Frederick Loomis Frederick Loomis Frederick Loomis was a Canadian general who served in the 13th Battalion, CEF and led the 3rd Canadian Division during the last two months of the First World War....	Sep 1918- Nov 1918	None
4th Canadian Division 4th Canadian Division The Canadian Corps - 4th Canadian Division ? World War I:The 4th Canadian Division was formed in the United Kingdom in April of 1916 from several existing units and others scheduled to arrive shortly thereafter....	Established: Apr 1916 Disbanded: Nov 1918	David Watson David Watson (general) Major General Sir David Watson Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George was a Canada journalist, newspaper owner, and general.Born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of William Watson and Jane Grant, Watson was a journalist with the Quebec Morning Chronicle ....	Apr 1916 - Nov 1918	Battle of Vimy Ridge Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras , in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War.... Battle of Passchendaele Battle of Amiens Battle of Amiens The Battle of Amiens, which began on 8 August 1918, was the opening phase of the Allies of World War I offensive later known as the Hundred Days Offensive that ultimately led to the end of World War I.... Battle of Arras Battle of Arras (1917) The Battle of Arras was a British Empire offensive during World War I. From 9 April to 16 May, 1917, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australian troops attacked Germany trench warfare near the French city of Arras on the Western Front.... Battle of Cambrai Battle of Cambrai (1918) The 1918 Battle of Cambrai, also referred to as The 2nd Battle of Cambrai, was an engagement fought between troops of the Canadian Corps, British British First Army and British Third Army Armies and German Empire forces....
5th Canadian Division 5th Canadian Division The 5th Canadian Division of the Canadian Corps was formed during World War I. The 5th began assembling in United Kingdom in February, 1917, but was broken up in February of 1918 before it was fully formed....	Established: Feb 1917 Disbanded: Feb 1918	Garnet Hughes Garnet Hughes Major General Garnet Burk Hughes Order of the Bath, Distinguished Service Order, was a Canada military officer during World War I. Although politically well-connected, he was judged not to be an able officer, and in the latter half of the war, was shunted into administrative roles....	Feb 1917 - Feb 1918	None

Battles

Following its formation in late 1915, the Canadian Corps readied to fight major battles as a unified entity, beginning in 1916. Additional actions were fought by one or more units of the corps (see separate listings for the divisions, above). Major battles fought by the corps were the following:

1916

Battle of Mount Sorrel: June 2–13
Battle of Flers-Courcelette
Battle of Flers-Courcelette

The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, which began on 15 September, 1916 and lasted for one week, was the third and last of the large-scale offensives mounted by the British Army during the Battle of the Somme ....
: September 15–22
Battle of Morval
Battle of Morval

The Battle of Morval, which began on 25 September, 1916, was an attack by the British Fourth Army on the Germany-held villages of Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesboeufs during the Battle of the Somme ....
: September 25
Battle of Thiepval: September 26–28
Battle of Le Transloy
Battle of Le Transloy

The Battle of Le Transloy was the final offensive mounted by the British Fourth Army during the 1916 Battle of the Somme ....
: October 1–18
Battle of the Ancre Heights
Battle of the Ancre Heights

The Battle of the Ancre Heights was a prolonged battle of attrition in October 1916 during the Battle of the Somme . Lieutenant General Hubert Gough's British Reserve Army had finally managed to break out of the positions it had occupied since the start of the Somme fighting and Gough intended to maintain the pressure on the Germany forces...
: October 1 – November 11

1917

Battle of Vimy Ridge
Battle of Vimy Ridge

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras , in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War....
: April 9–14
Battle of Arleux: April 28–29
Third Battle of the Scarpe: May 3–4
Battle of Hill 70
Battle of Hill 70

The Battle of Hill 70 was a localized battle of World War I between the Canadian Corps and five divisions of the 6th Army . The battle took place along the Western Front on the outskirts of Lens, Pas-de-Calais in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France between 15 August 1917 and 25 August 1917....
: August 15–25
Second Battle of Passchendaele: October 26 – November 10
Battle of Cambrai (1917): November 20 – December 3

1918

Battle of Amiens
Battle of Amiens

The Battle of Amiens, which began on 8 August 1918, was the opening phase of the Allies of World War I offensive later known as the Hundred Days Offensive that ultimately led to the end of World War I....
: August 8–11
Second Battle of the Somme
Second Battle of the Somme (1918)

During the World War I, the Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought on the Western Front from the end of the summer, in the drainage basin of the Somme River....
: August 21 – September 2
Battle of the Canal du Nord
Battle of the Canal du Nord

The Battle of Canal du Nord was a military offensive of World War I by the British First Army and British Third Army against the German troops along the Western Front in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, from 27 September 1918 to 1 October 1918....
: September 27 – October 1 (including the capture of Bourlon Wood
Bourlon Wood Memorial

The Bourlon Wood Memorial is a Canadian war memorials that commemorates the actions of the Canadian Corps during the final months of World War I; a period also known as the Hundred Days Offensive....
)
Battle of Cambrai
Battle of Cambrai (1918)

The 1918 Battle of Cambrai, also referred to as The 2nd Battle of Cambrai, was an engagement fought between troops of the Canadian Corps, British British First Army and British Third Army Armies and German Empire forces....
: October 8–9 (including the Capture of Cambrai
Cambrai

Cambrai is a Communes of France in the Nord Departments of France in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France of the department.Cambrai is the seat of Archdiocese of Cambrai whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages....
)

Assessment

The military effectiveness of the corps has been extensively analyzed. The corps evolved steadily following the 1915 summer campaign. As Godefroy (2006) notes, the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Canadian Expeditionary Force

For the organisation that fought in Europe, see Canadian Corps.The Canadian Expeditionary warfare was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War....
"worked ceaselessly to convert all of its available political and physical resources into fighting power." One striking feature of the corp's evolution was its ability to exploit all opportunities for learning. This was a corps-wide activity, involving all levels from the commander

Commanding officer

The commanding officer is the Officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law....
to the private soldier

Private (rank)

A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank . The term dates from the Middle Ages, where privates were known as "private soldiers" who were either hired, conscripted, or feudalism into service by a nobleman forming an army....
. This ability to learn from allied successes and mistakes made the corps increasingly successful. Doctrine

Military doctrine

Military doctrine is the concise expression of how military forces contribute to Military campaigns, major Military_operation#Military_operations_2s, battles, and Engagement s....
was tested in limited engagements and, if proven effectual, developed for larger scale battles. Following each engagement, lessons were recorded, analyzed and disseminated to all units. Doctrine and tactics that were ineffective or cost too many lives were discarded and new methods developed. This learning process, combined with technical innovation and competent senior leadership in theatre

Theater (warfare)

In warfare, a theater or theatre is defined as a specific geographical area of conduct of armed conflict, bordered by areas where no combat is taking place....
created one of the most effective allied fighting forces on the Western Front.

External links

Websites about the Canadian Corps:

Canadian Corps

History

Canadian Divisions under the Canadian Corps

Battles

1916

1917

1918

Assessment

Further reading

External links