The Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers came into being officially on 15 May 1944, with the fusion of various elements from the Royal Canadian Engineers, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, following the model of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
With the passing of the 1855 Militia Act, volunteer militia engineering companies formed within local militia units. The “Great War” saw the Canadian Engineers dispatched to Europe with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Included were adjunct military engineers such as tunnellers, railway troops and foresters. More than 40,000 “Sappers” were involved, many sacrificing their lives on famous battlefields such as Somme and Vimy Ridge. A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties.
As a matter of honour, King George V, bestowed on the organization the right to use the prefix royal before its name in 1932.
Major Wallace Bruce Matthews Carruthers established a militia (Non-Permanent Active Militia) component of signallers under the designation “Signalling Corps” on 24 October 1903, making it the first independent signal corps in the British Empire. It was redesignated “The Canadian Signal Corps” on 4 June 1913. On 15 June 1921, King George V, bestowed on the permanent force portion the title “The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals” and the militia component on 29 April 1936. And finally aligned “The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals” on 22 March 1948.
Established during the First World War in August 1914, the 1st Canadian Division was a formation of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Following the war, the division was stood down, only to be re-mobilized as a formation on 1 September 1939 as the 1st Canadian Infantry Division for service in the Second World War. The First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of The Great War. It concentrated at Valcartier Camp in Quebec and set off for England in the largest trans-Atlantic convoy to that date two months later.
During the First World War, 524 clergymen served in the Canadian Chaplain Service. Of this number 447 served overseas. The Royal Canadian Army Chaplain Corps (RCAChC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Canadian Chaplain Service was first authorized on 1 June 1921. It was later redesignated as The Canadian Army Chaplain Corps on 22 March 1948 and as The Royal Canadian Army Chaplain Corps on 3 June 1948. The Royal Canadian Army Chaplain Corps was succeeded by the Chaplain Branch on May 2, 1969. The official march of the RCAChC was “Onward Christian Soldiers”.
The Royal Canadian Army Service Corps was an administrative and transport corps of the Canadian Army. The Canadian Army Service Corps was established in the Non-Permanent Active Militia in 1901 and in the Permanent Active Militia in 1903. It received the Royal designation on 3 November 1919. Its march song is “Wait for the Wagon”.
The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Militia Medical Service was established in 1898. It consisted of an Army Medical Service and an Army Medical Corps. During the First World War, the corps provided field ambulances, a casualty clearing station and sanitary sections for the Canadian Corps in France, as well as Canadian general and stationary hospitals in the UK and on the continent. The regular component was redesignated “The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps” on 3 November 1919; the militia on 29 April 1936.
The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (RCOC) can trace its roots back to the Canadian Stores Department. Formed in 1871, the Canadian Stores Department was a civil department of the Canadian Government. This civil service was charged with control of forts, ammunition, stores, buildings and an ordnance depot left by the departing British Military. On 1 July 1903 the responsibilities of the Canadian Stores Department were transferred to the Ordnance Stores Corps. In 1907 it was renamed the Canadian Ordnance Corps (COC). In 1919, King George V authorized the “Royal” designation.
The Royal Canadian Dental Corps is a personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The branch was first raised in 1915 as the Canadian Army Dental Corps and was known from 1947 until 1968 as The Royal Canadian Dental Corps. From 1968 to 2013 the branch was previously named the Dental Branch. January 1947 King George VI granted the Royal Warrant to the Canadian Dental Corps in recognition of outstanding service, and became the “Royal Canadian Dental Corps.