The 179th (Cameron Highlanders of Canada) Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the unit began recruiting during the winter of 1915/16 in that city. After sailing to England in October 1916, the battalion was absorbed into the 17th Reserve Battalion on October 21, 1916. The battalion was disbanded on 17 July 1917.
The 27th City of Winnipeg Battalion was the first independent battalion to be raised in Manitoba in the First World War. Officially it was not given a name and fell among the many nameless Canadian battalions raised to conform to the new numbering system introduced by Col. Sam Hughes, Canada’s Defence minister in 1914. The battalion was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Great Britain on 17 May 1915. The battalion was disbanded on 15 September 1920. Some of the 27th Battalion battle honours: Mount Sorrel, Somme, 1916, ’18, arras, 1917, ’18, Vimy, 1917, Scarpe, 1917, ’18. The 27th battalion recruited in Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg, and Kenora and Rainy River, Ontario and was mobilized at Winnipeg.
The 1st Hussars recruited ‘A’ Squadron of the ‘7th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF’, which was authorized on 7 November 1914. It disembarked in France on 17 September 1915, where it fought in France and Flanders as part of the Canadian Corps until the end of the war. Some battle honours: South Africa 1900, Somme 1916, Arras 1917, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1918. The squadron was disbanded on 6 November 1920.
The QOR Regiment was placed on active service on August 6, 1914, for local protection duties. In the First World War, none of the existing militia infantry regiments in Canada were formally mobilized. In 1914 The Queen’s Own Rifles formed the 3rd Canadian Battalion (Toronto Regiment), CEF. The 3rd Battalion, CEF was authorized on August 10, 1914, and embarked for Britain on September 26, 1914. They were deployed to France on February 11, 1915, and fought as part of the 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, in France and Flanders. It was designated “The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada” on May 1, 1920.
The Royal Canadian Postal Corps (RCPC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Canadian Postal Corps was redesignated The Royal Canadian Postal Corps on 20 June 1961. The badge of The Royal Canadian Postal Corps consists of a horn, with a Queen’s Crown on top. Superimposed at the center of the horn is the text RCPC. The RCPC processed literally millions of letters, post cards, parcels and money orders during both world wars.
In 1914, the Royal Canadian Regiment was deployed to the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda for garrison duties from September 1914 to August 1915 when it returned to Halifax and re-attested for overseas service. The RCR arrived in France in October 1915 to join the new 3rd Canadian Division. Some Battle honours of the Great War; Ypres, 1915, ’17, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Festubert, 1915, Mount Sorrel, Somme, 1916.
The 52nd Battalion was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Britain on 23 November 1915. It disembarked in France on 21 February 1916, where it fought as part of the 9th Canadian Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. Some Battle Honours; Somme, 1916, Arras, 1917, ’18, Vimy, 1917. The battalion was disbanded on 30 August 1920. The 52nd Battalion recruited in Port Arthur, Kenora, Fort Frances and Dryden, Ontario and was mobilized at Port Arthur.
The 190th Winnipeg Rifles Regiment raised several battalions for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the Great War, the most notable being the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), CEF, which served in the 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division. The battalion saw some of the heaviest fighting in World War I, distinguishing itself at battles such as Ypres, the Somme, Vimy, Passchendaele, Amiens, Arras and Cambrai.
Three members of the 8th battalion were awarded Canada’s highest honour for gallantry in the face of the enemy, the Victoria Cross.
October of 1914 Canada offered to raise a railway construction corps of 500 skilled railway men at its own expense for service with the Imperial Government at that time the offer was declined. However the offer was accepted by telegram on January 21st 1915 and on February 2nd, 1915 the mobilization of the Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps commenced with experienced workers from the Canadian Pacific Railway at Saint John, N.B. The Corps comprised a regimental headquarters with two companies plus a 100-man reserve. The organization was completed by May 15th, 1915. The unit sailed for England June 15th, 1915 and to France September 15th, 1915. The corps was disbanded along with the rest of the CEF on 1 November 1920.