|
World
War I |August 1914 |
Recruitment |
Sam Hughes |
To England |To
France | 2nd Battle
of Ypres | Battle of
St Julien | The Navel War
| Festubert |
Givenchy |
Canadian Corps |
The Air War |
Newfoundland | The Somme
| St Eloi Crater |
Mount Sorrel |
Hill 70 |
Passchendaele | Vimy Ridge
| Amiens |
Cambrai |
Mons | Flanders Fields
| Victory
The formation of the
Canadian Corps as an mainly Canadian composed military
unit was not the result of planning or political
rational, but the natural progression of the building up
of Canadian formations in Europe. The first Canadian
Division had been sent to England in 1914, trained on
the Salisbury Plain and then crossed over to France to
engage in the fighting. The second Canadian Division was
formed and by September 1915 had crossed over to France
to join in the fighting.
On the previous April 1st, Colonel Carson
had written a letter to Sam Hughes the Canadian Minister
of Militia which suggested that the 2nd Canadian
Division should be assigned to Corps command with the
1st Canadian Division and thus form a wholly Canadian
Corp. Up until this point the largest military unit in
the British military that would usually be considered as
undividable was the Division so that as Corps and Armies
were formed, broken up and reformed on a continuous
basis it was with these Divisions as the building
blocks. Hughes followed this suggestion up when he
suggested to the British General HQ through his military
liaison officer, Lieutenant Colonel J.J. Carrick that it
was "the earnest desire of all of Canada" that a
Canadian Corp be formed and maintained as a Canadian
force which would eventually be increased to 3
Divisions.
The communication was
presented to Sir John French who commanded British
troops on the Western Front and he immediately
dispatched Carrick to London to suggest the formation of
the Corp to Lord Kitchener, the commander in chief of
the British and Empire forces, with a strong
recommendation that the suggestion be accepted.
Australian and New Zealand forces had already combined
into a similar force with positive results. Kitchener
considered a commander for the Corp and viewed General
Alderson who had the confidence of the Canadian troops
and officers, as capable of command the Corps. French
concluded with "I think vest return we can make for
splendid service rendered by Canadian Division is to
meet their wishes."
Kitchener concurred with all of these
suggestions and June 15th the British Secretary of State
for the Colonies communicate to the Canadian Governor
General that the Army Council believed that it would be
advantageous for the two Canadian Divisions to be joined
together into a permanent Canadian Corp as soon as the
2nd Division took the field. The idea caught on n Canada
and almost immediate organizational arrangements were
begun to provide the Corps infrastructure support for
the formation. Sam Hughes and Prime Minister Robert
Borden were both in England during that summer and the
realization of military and political benefits of a
Canadian Corp were immediate and hence their support for
the initiative was strong.
On September 3, 1915 the Corp HQ was
established by General Alderson with his successor as
1st Division Commander be assigned to Major General
Arthur Currie who would become the most distinguished
Canadian Commander of the First World War. This also
meant that the Canadian Corp would be in a position to
fight large scales battles on their own an hence
generate and enhance a proud feeling of Canadian
nationalism which was to reach it's apogee at the Battle
of Vimy Ridge. |
