ORIGINAL OFFICERS OF CAVALRY UNITS

A digest of the foregoing tables will indicate the proportionate enlistments in the various sections of the country. Population considered, the West did better than the East.

As to the proportional representation of the various occupations in the enlistments, some light is thrown on that by figures presented by Mr. N. W. Rowell, K. C., in the Ontario Legislature, covering the period of heaviest voluntary enlistment, up to March 1, 1916. Out of a total of 263,111 recruits, 6 per cent, or 16,153 were professional men; 2 per cent, or 6,530, were merchants or men in the employing class; 18 per cent, or 48,777, were clerical workers; 64 per cent, or 170,369, were manual workers; 6 per cent, or 17,044, were farmers; and 1 per cent, or 4,238, were students.

The latter item deserves special mention, in the unusual enthusiasm shown by the students of the Canadian universities. At the end of 1914 McGill University had nearly a hundred of its student body in training on Salisbury Plain, many more were at Exhibition Park, preparing themselves for active service at the front, while others were in different camps throughout the country; 1,800 men were in the Officers' Training Corps, with 80 members of the faculty acting as officers. On March 1, 1915, 307 undergraduates had enlisted. Out of 4,000 registered students there were, at the end of 1915, 811 enlisted men, together with 1,003 graduates and 83 members of the staff.

The University of Toronto, by the end of 1918, was represented by 5,308 men, from its staff, graduates, undergraduates, and its faculty of education, of which 531 were killed. Other Ontario universities were represented by 900 men on active service. At the close of the war it was estimated that about 17,000 college students, or graduates, had enlisted, of which about 1,200 were reported as casualties.

CHAPTER VI

THE "PRINCESS PAT" REGIMENT

No consideration of the activity of the university graduates, or undergraduates, in the war can be made without reference to that famous regiment whose personnel was very largely made up of university men—the Princess Patricia Regiment, the first Canadian body of fighting men to reach the front, and the one that suffered most heavily.

The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment was recruited in Montreal, though its members were from all parts of the Dominion. This body was formed on the initiative of A. Hamilton Gault of Montreal. The regiment was first commanded by Lieutenant Colonel F. D. Farquhar, D. S. O., of the Coldstream Guards, and military secretary to the governor general. The other original officers were Major A. Hamilton Gault; Adjutant, Captain H. C. Buller; Quartermaster, the Hon. Lieutenant C. A. Wake; Paymaster, the Hon. Captain D. H. MacDougall; Medical Officer, Major C. B. Keenan. The heroic career of this body of men at the front will be followed in a later part of this volume.

Those brigades which embarked from Quebec during the fall of 1914 were those which were later to become famous as the First Canadian Division, which was the first large body of Canadian troops to arrive in France.

The First Division was constituted as follows: First Artillery Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel E. W. B. Morrison; Second Artillery Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J. J. Creelman; Third Artillery Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Mitchell; First Infantry Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel M. S. Mercer; Second Infantry Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A. W. Currie; Third Infantry Brigade, commanded by Colonel R. E. W. Turner; Royal Canadian Dragoons, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel C. M. Nelles; Lord Strathcona's Horse, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A. H. Macdonnell; Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel H. A. Panet; Fourth Infantry Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J. E. Cohoe; First to Ninth Field Batteries, commanded respectively by Major C. H. L. Sharman, Lieutenant Colonel C. H. MacLaren, Major A. G. L. McNaughton, Major E. G. Hanson, Lieutenant Colonel H. G. McLeod, Major W. B. M. King, Major H. G. Carscallon, and Major E. A. McDougall. The General Staff officers were: Colonel E. H. Hard, Lieutenant Colonel A. H. Macdonnell, Lieutenant Colonel G. C. W. Gordon-Hall, Lieutenant Colonel C. H. Mitchell, and Lieutenant Colonel H. J. Lamb. Besides the above units there were also the Automobile and Machine Gun Brigade, various line of communication units, a clearing hospital, two stationary hospitals, and two general hospitals and remount department.

The Second Canadian Division was composed of those units which arrived in England during March, April, and May, 1915. It was in command of Major General S. B. Steele, who was afterward succeeded by Brigadier General R. E. W. Turner. As finally constituted the infantry included the Fourth Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Lord Brooke; the Fifth Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel David Watson; and the Sixth Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel H. D. B. Ketchen.

A fifth division was later organized in England, but was there held as a reserve, most of its constituent elements being sent to France as reenforcements to the first four divisions.

The Canadian Cavalry Brigade was not organized until early in 1915, in England, but its constituent parts had come over from Canada with the first contingent. From the time of its formation until May, 1918, it was under the command of Brigadier General (later Major General) J. E. B. Seeley, C. B., C. M. G., D. S. O., M. P., a veteran of the South African War, where he served under Sir John French, and later Secretary of State for War in the Asquith Cabinet.

The brigade was originally formed from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, Lord Strathcona's Horse, King Edward's Horse, an Imperial unit, and the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. In 1916 the King Edward's Horse left the brigade and its place was taken by the Fort Garry Horse, previously known as the Canadian Reserve Cavalry Regiment. Later the brigade had added to it the Machine Gun Squadron, the Canadian Cavalry Field Ambulance, and the Mobile Veterinary Section. During the early part of its services in France the brigade operated as infantry, and it was not till the early part of 1916 that it was finally reconstituted as a cavalry force. The cavalry brigade ranged in numbers from two to three thousand throughout the war.

CHAPTER VII

CANADA'S HUGE FORESTRY CORPS

Of the special corps, outside the regular classifications into which all armies are subdivided—infantry, cavalry, artillery, etc., special emphasis and more detailed description should be accorded the Canadian Forestry and the Canadian Railway Corps. The extraordinary dimensions which these arms of the service acquired must be considered when the number of Canadian troops on the actual field of battle is compared with those who did not reach the front. No general history of the war can ever be written without devoting considerable space to these two corps as factors which assumed much importance in the defeat of Germany.

In the production of lumber, and in the building of railways, to keep up with the rapid westward progress of the Canadian population, Canada stands forth preeminent. It was only natural that the special skill and knowledge acquired in these industries should be in strong demand by the Allied forces in general, and it was Canada which could supply it in the greatest measure. Hence the unusual number of Canadian recruits who were diverted to these particular branches of military service.

The formation of the Forestry Corps came about through the growing shortage of shipping. In February, 1916, the British Government issued a proclamation restricting certain imports, for the sake of economy in shipping. One of the chief commodities affected was timber, of which six million tons was being brought into the country annually.

The Secretary of State for the Colonies called on the Governor General of Canada for assistance in the production of timber for military purposes from the home forests in England and Scotland. A special force of Canadian lumbermen was asked for.

The result was the formation of the 224th Canadian Forestry Battalion, which was sent over to England in the early part of the year. The first unit to arrive in England carried with it all the machinery necessary and immediately established a lumber camp and saw mill in Surrey. Within three months after the first call for this special assistance the battalion had been organized, transported across the waters, and had sawn and delivered its first lot of sawn English lumber. The battalion eventually reached a working force of over 1,500, detachments from which were distributed over various parts of England and Scotland.

So big a success was the work of the 224th Lumber Battalion that further and continuous demands were made on the Canadians for lumbermen to cut the trees of Britain into lumber for the allied armies on the western front. From this battalion gradually developed the Canadian Forestry Corps, which later came to supply cut lumber to the military forces of all the nations participating in the operations against the Germans in France and Belgium.

Not long after the first contingent of Canadian lumbermen had arrived in England, another cablegram was sent by the British authorities to the Governor General of Canada, asking for more lumbermen. "His Majesty's Government again turns to Canada for assistance," the cablegram concluded.

This was the occasion for the formation of the 238th Canadian Forestry Battalion, which arrived in England a few months later, in September, 1916. But even before it had arrived the French Government's grant of extensive forests to the British forces had brought about the necessity of putting the timber-cutting activities of the British Government on a much broader basis, and some of the Canadian lumber detachments were sent across to France.

In October, 1916, authority was granted for the formation of the Canadian Forestry Corps, under the command of Major General Alexander McDougal, who was then a Lieutenant Colonel, commanding the 224th Battalion. By the British Government he was appointed director of the timber operations for France and Great Britain. The two battalions already in France and England thus became the nucleus of the corps.

Meanwhile enough machinery and other equipment was being prepared and shipped from Canada to afford employment to 10,000 men. For by this time it had been decided that timber imports would have to bear 60 per cent of the total reductions decided upon, as three and a half million tons of shipping could thereby be saved.

The first detachment of the Forestry Corps to arrive in France began work in the Bois Normand. Later three other centers were established: one in the Jura Mountains, one near Bordeaux, and another in the Marne district. But the work of the corps spread over a wide area, reaching out to the frontiers of Switzerland, Spain, and Germany.

The corps headquarters was established at Paris-Plage, in the neighborhood of Boulogne, the supply department for equipment being at Havre.

In so far as it was possible the methods of the Canadian lumber camps were employed in cutting lumber in the corps' camps, but certain differences in physical conditions caused many obstacles to present themselves. In the absence of the waterways facilities, so common in the Canadian forests, a great many miles of railways had to be built for the transportation of the logs to the sawmills.

In the mountainous districts, however, conditions, especially during winter, more closely representing those to which the men were used in their native forests, and Canadian methods could therefore be more closely applied.

The officers and men of the corps were recruited from all parts of Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboards. Special effort was made to allot men to forests more nearly resembling those they were used to at home. As an instance, the men from eastern Canada, not used to the giant logs of the West, were assigned to the medium-sized timber in the level portions of France, while the Westerners were sent to the Jura and the Vosges Mountains, where logging engines, heavy steel cables, and modern railway construction were involved in the work of getting the logs out.

Most of the detachments worked in stationary camps, but there were also a great number of mobile camps which, together with their equipment, moved about from place to place, supplying timber to those points at the front where a demand happened to develop to an acute degree. Often detachments would be working within range of the enemy artillery fire and at considerable risk to men and equipment. The degree of efficiency which some of these detachments acquired in their movements is illustrated by the following extract from an official report:

"This, the record transfer, was in the case of a sawmill where the last log was sawn at nine o'clock on the day the move was to take place. By seven o'clock the next day the mill had been moved to a wood three miles away and was in full operation. The following day the product of this mill exceeded 18,000 board feet, and the day after the total output was 23,000 board feet, much more than the guaranteed capacity of the mill."

The largest output by any one stationary camp, according to the official report, was registered by the group operating in the Jura Mountains. Here a total of 156,000 board feet was cut in ten hours in a mill which was only registered to turn out 30,000 feet in that time.

Across the Channel, in Great Britain, the operations of the Forestry Corps extended over six districts—four in England and two in Scotland. Forty-three detachments were spread over these areas, totaling 12,533 men at the end of the war, though of this number about 3,000 were attached labor or prisoners of war. In England the corps did especially noteworthy service in supplying the Royal Air Force, more specially for the defense wing. In a letter of appreciation written by Lord Derby, Secretary of State for War, it was indicated that on several occasions the men of the Forestry Corps had worked at the rate of ninety hours a week to supply timber needed in the construction of aerodromes for the aeroplanes used to repel hostile air raids.

In November, 1918, at the conclusion of hostilities, the total strength of the Canadian Forestry Corps stood at 31,447, divided as follows: In France, regular officers, 425; attached officers, 53; other ranks, 11,702; attached, 1,039; prisoners of war, 5,021; giving a total of 18,240. In Great Britain there were: Regular officers, 343; attached officers, 49; other ranks, 9,624; attached labor, 1,926; prisoners of war, 1,265; making a total of 13,207.

When hostilities ceased over 70 per cent of the timber in use on the western front by all the Allied armies had been supplied by the Forestry Corps. Up to December, 1918, the corps had supplied nearly 814,000,000 board feet of sawn lumber.

"It is largely due," wrote Lord Derby, in the spring of 1918, "to the operations of the units of this corps in France that we have practically stopped the shipment of British-grown timber to France, thus saving cross-channel tonnage, while we are also able to save the shipment of foreign timber by having the production of the corps in England to meet the various national demands."

CHAPTER VIII

THE CANADIAN RAILWAY CORPS

Never did railways as a means of transportation play so important a part in warfare as during the recent World War, in spite of the remarkable development of motor vehicles. It was her superior railway systems which gave Germany her principal advantage over the Russians on the eastern front, and as the great struggle developed, it became daily more obvious that the Allies would have to draw on their resources in railway construction to the uttermost to offset the initial advantage which Germany had in this respect on the western front.

At first the French undertook to direct what railway construction it was thought would be necessary, but it was not long before the French Government was forced to call on the British for help. Finally the British found themselves unable to keep pace with the demand, and what was more natural than that Canada, the land of marvelous railway construction, should in her turn be appealed to?

It was in the spring of 1915 that the British Government asked for two railway construction companies. The Canadian Government turned the request over to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, with the result that from the employees of that corporation were recruited the first five hundred members of the Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps, which landed in France in the following August.

In May, 1916, the situation in France had become so pressing that the British War Office was compelled to ask for another unit, of about one thousand men, for railway construction behind the lines in France.

The task of organizing this body of men was assigned by the Canadian Government to Lieutenant Colonel J. W. Stewart, who combed the railway workers of the whole country for technical experts and efficient workers. These men were then formed into the 239th Overseas Railway Construction Corps.

Meanwhile Sir Eric Geddes had been assigned the task, as director general of transportation, to reorganize the transportation service behind the lines on the western front. He immediately called General Stewart over to England for a special conference, the outcome of which was a further demand on Canada for railway men.

It was agreed that Canada should furnish five battalions of railway construction men, which were to be known as the Canadian Railway Troops. General Stewart was then instructed to proceed to France to act as deputy director of light railways, as well as chief in command of the Canadian Railway Troops.

In January, 1917, General Stewart became Deputy Director General of Transportation, which gave him jurisdiction over the Royal Engineers' Railway Construction companies as well as over his own Canadians. By this time it had been decided to increase the number of battalions to ten.

The 127th Infantry Battalion was reorganized as the 2d Battalion of Canadian Railway Troops, and proceeded to France in January, 1917. The 239th was renamed the 3d Battalion of Canadian Railway Troops, and followed the 2d two months later. The 4th and 5th Battalions were organized at Purfleet, and proceeded to France at about the same time. By the following April still another battalion had arrived in France, and by June all ten were behind the lines. Henceforward they carried on practically all the light railway construction along the whole western front, especially such lines as had to be laid in quick time, over ground evacuated by the enemy in their retreat.

Upon their first arrival the Canadian Railway Troops rendered notable service, just before the attack on and capture of Vimy Ridge. For some weeks before the weather had been unusually rainy, and the ground was so deep with mud as to be almost impassable for any kind of vehicle. In spite of these conditions the Canadian railway men laid their roads to within rifle range of the front lines, ready to serve as supply lines when the advance should begin.

The attack begun, and the advance progressing, the railway detachment followed the front line closely, laying their tracks almost as fast as the infantry could push ahead. In this way supplies of provisions and ammunition were carried forward, while the wounded were carried back to the clearing hospitals.

Within a week before the Arras offensive tracks had been laid to the top of Vimy Ridge, and by the end of April, 1917, when the British lines were pushed across the level plain beyond the Ridge, the light railways had followed them so closely that food supplies were dumped almost by the field kitchens. Such similar service was rendered by the Canadian Railway Construction Troops at Messines as well.

It was at Ypres, however, that they especially distinguished themselves. During two months of the summer of 1917, says the official report, the average daily number of breaks in the light railway lines behind the front, due to German artillery fire, was about a hundred exclusively within the area occupied by the Second and Fifth British Armies alone. Here the Canadians pursued their construction work exposed to the full fire of the enemy guns, without even the moral satisfaction of being able to return the fire.

On one occasion, however, they were to have this satisfaction in full. It was during the last four days of March, 1918, while the Germans were advancing on Amiens, that a break suddenly developed in the British lines. No reserves were available at the time. On the spur of the moment the railway men organized sixteen Lewis-gun teams and held the ground in the break until finally they were relieved by regular troops.

Early in 1918 the Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps, the 58th Broad Gauge Operating Company, the 13th Light Railway Operating Company, the 69th Wagon Erecting Company, and the 85th Engine Crew Company were brought under headquarters, and the whole were formed into the Corps of Canadian Railway Troops.

In the summer of 1918, General Allenby, in command of the expeditionary force in Palestine, called for a company of expert bridge builders. The War Office immediately called for volunteers from among the Canadian Railway Troops, and 6 officers and 250 men were sent to Palestine. The following table, taken from the report of the Ministry of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada, shows the relative strength of the Canadian and the Imperial Railway Construction Corps at different periods of the war:

Besides the foregoing, there were four Canadian Railway Troops Operating Companies, with a total strength of 1,087 when the armistice was signed. The total number of Canadian railway troops in England when hostilities ceased was 3,364.

During the period of their work at the front members of the railway troops were awarded 489 honors and decorations.

CHAPTER IX

OTHER BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE

That Canada should have had no flying branch of her military establishment at the outbreak of the war is hardly a matter of surprise when her lack of military preparedness in other branches is also considered.

Nevertheless, though it was not considered advisable to organize specially a Canadian flying force until only a short time before the close of the war, over 8,000 Canadians became proficient flyers and aerial fighters, that number having enlisted and held commissions in the Royal Flying Corps. This number, it will be noted, is quite above the logical proportion that could ordinarily have been expected from Canada, population considered.

Those Canadians who entered the Royal Flying Corps were exceptionally well adapted to this branch of the service. Apparently conditions of life and open-air training in the Dominion tend to endow men with those faculties which are essential to the successful flyer.

During the latter part of the war the question of forming a separate Canadian flying corps began to receive consideration, and finally, in the early part of 1918, steps were taken to bring this idea to a point of materialization. The matter now formed the subject of discussion between the Canadian Ministry and the Secretary of State for the Royal Air Force. A memorandum setting forth tentative arrangements was then drawn up. On July 8, 1918, it was definitely settled that the Canadian Flying Corps should be organized.

The memorandum provided specifically for two air squadrons. These were to be organized in England by the overseas military forces of Canada, in conjunction with the Royal Air Force. For the carrying out of this provision a Canadian Air Force Section of the Canadian General Staff was created. The types of squadrons decided upon were a single-seater scout squadron and a day bombing squadron. These were actually organized and went into quarters at Upper Heyford, near Oxford. Training was in progress when the armistice was signed, so that the Canadian flying force never went into action.

Training continued, however, but was adapted to future postwar flying, special attention being paid to wireless operations, photographic training, aerial geographical training, and cross-country flying.

To provide for a flying force on a peace basis, for the future Canadian military service, the following establishment was then authorized:

A director of air service, assisted by a staff captain and a staff lieutenant, along with four other ranks; a wing headquarters, consisting of a lieutenant colonel, who will have command of the two squadrons, assisted by a captain for administration, a captain for technical duties, and a lieutenant for armament, along with five other ranks; No. 1 Squadron (scout), consisting of 18 aeroplanes, commanded by a major with three captains, flight commanders, and 18 flying officers of the rank of lieutenant, the total personnel being 159; No. 2 Squadron (day bombing), also consisting of 18 aeroplanes, manned like Squadron No. 1; and a technical and supply branch, consisting of a headquarters, technical branch, and a supply depot.

At the end of 1918 the equipment of the Canadian Air Corps consisted of 3 aeroplanes, presented by the Imperial Air Fleet Committee; 16 presented by the Overseas Club and Patriotic League; and 40 German aeroplanes allotted by the Air Ministry. In addition to the above 50 Curtiss machines were presented to the Canadian Government by the Imperial Munitions Board, making a total of 109 machines available for service on the return to Canada of the Canadian Air Force.

Like the aeroplane, the tank became a military weapon only during the Great War, and tank battalions were entirely unknown as a branch of any army service before hostilities began. At about the same time that the matter of forming a Canadian air force came up for consideration, the organization of a separate Canadian tank battalion was also discussed. It was in March, 1918, that the British War Office requested the Canadian Government to supply the men for one tank battalion. By the middle of summer the battalion had been formed and had arrived in England, comprising 92 officers and 716 men.

What made this battalion especially noteworthy was the fact that the entire body had been recruited from among the students of Canadian universities. One company came from McGill University, another from Toronto University, while the third came from the others.

While the battalion was in training, two months later, the British Government again requested the Canadian Governor General to provide a tank battalion. This request was immediately complied with, and in the middle of October, 1918, the 2d Canadian Tank Battalion arrived in England from Canada, consisting of 44 officers and 960 other ranks.

Meanwhile the 1st Battalion had completed the training course and was preparing to embark for France when the armistice was signed. At that time, however, Canada had been requested to recruit a third tank battalion.

At the time that hostilities ceased, says the official report of the Overseas Ministry, the Medical Corps of the Canadian overseas forces exceeded in numbers the entire British Royal Army Medical Corps during the South African War. In November, 1918, the bed capacity of the hospitals overseas amounted to 40,000, as compared to 3,000 in June, 1915.

In the matter of a military medical service Canada had been prepared to a certain degree. Back in 1904 the first nucleus of the Army Medical Corps had been formed, and in 1911 the equipment of a military medical branch had been authorized, including a complete scheme for quick mobilization in case of hostilities. Thus there was a basis for the high degree of efficiency which characterized the Canadian Medical Corps, and won for it the highest recommendations as early as the Second Battle of Ypres. This efficiency was largely due to the director of the corps, Major General G. L. Foster, C. B.

This, however, was merely a nucleus, and the later tremendous development of the corps was entirely due to the spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotism of the great number of Canadian doctors and surgeons who flocked to the colors during the early months of the war and freely offered their professional services.

The work of the corps was divided into two distinct sections, each with a character peculiar to itself yet harmonizing and cooperating closely. There was, first of all, the professional side, comprising scientific medical work and investigation, and the military side, which provides for the physical organization on which the professional work must be based.

One of the first tasks undertaken was the creation of a consultant staff, with officers of rich experience to superintend at hospitals, sanitary formations, laboratories, etc. It was organized on an effective and systematic basis, and its big success was largely due to the invaluable services which were rendered by some of Canada's most brilliant medical men, in cooperation with those of England and France. The Canadian consultants and specialists attended the various important Allied medical conferences and made tours of observation and instruction in the hospitals of the various countries, and it was by these and other means that the Canadian soldiers in hospitals benefited by the latest medical and surgical discoveries in every land which was at war with the country responsible for the horrors which had to be faced. This knowledge was passed on and diffused among the staffs of all the Canadian hospitals. In the remarkable development of reconstructive surgery which took place during the war the Canadian surgeons had their full share.

In the defensive warfare with epidemic diseases the Canadian Medical Corps attained a degree of efficiency that contrasted well with the medical corps of any of the Allied armies. The results in regard to enteric were perhaps the most remarkable of all. Of 100,000 Canadian patients only one man was found to have typhoid, and he, for some reason or other, had not been inoculated.

The military organization of the corps was in all respect equal to the professional qualities of its members. In one division there were about twenty regimental medical officers and three field ambulances, with nine medical officers each—about 750 men to the three ambulances. For transport each ambulance had fifty horses, and seven motor and three horse ambulances, with general service wagons and carts in addition.

The following represented a few of the specific achievements of the corps:

A school of massage and Swedish remedial drill was organized for training nurse sisters and soldiers for this service in hospitals.

A laboratory service was organized on an economical and efficient basis. Four grades of laboratories were adopted, with standard equipment and an established personnel for each; and each of the two laboratory units and twenty-two hospital laboratories were organized. The X-Ray laboratory service was similarly organized and systematized.

A central medical stores was established, through which all medical supplies and technical equipment were received and distributed.

The sanitary service was also completely reorganized and measures for the prevention and control of infectious diseases placed on an effective basis.

Among the units organized were: Ten general hospitals; 8 special hospitals; 6 convalescent hospitals; 3 ship hospitals (one of which, the Llandovery Castle, was sunk by a German submarine); 2 laboratory units; 4 sanitary sections; 1 medical stores; 1 regimental depot and training school; 7 administrative units for training areas.

The following table, taken from the official report of the Ministry, shows the strength of the Canadian Army Medical Corps on June 1 of successive years and on November 30, 1918:

In connection with the medical service, and yet comprising a separate and certainly a new feature of military organization, was the Canadian Army Dental Corps, which was developed to extraordinary dimensions. Undoubtedly thousands of young Canadians had never had their teeth troubles properly attended to until they entered the army.

The Dental Corps was organized within a few months after the first contingent had gone overseas, early in 1915, in fact. The organization was under the direction of the Director of Dental Services, Colonel J. A. Armstrong, C. M. G. In France the corps members carried on their work principally at field ambulances, casualty clearing stations, general and stationary hospitals, and at base camps.

On arriving in England every Canadian soldier was obliged to submit to mouth inspection, and, if time permitted, his requirements were attended to there. If the time did not permit, his teeth record followed him over to France, and there, as soon as he found a permanent station, the work was continued and completed. In addition to the general clinics, which handled the bulk of the work, there were special clinics, where dental surgery was practiced and wounds affecting the region around the mouth and jaws were attended to. Here was performed some of the remarkable facial surgery whose development was a special feature of the war.

To combat an epidemic of infectious stomatitis, commonly known as "trench mouth," which at one time affected 10,000 men, the Dental Corps established the Department of Oral Pathology, and as a result of microscopic diagnosis and persistent treatment the disease was finally brought under control.

Summed up, the total number of dental operations from July 15, 1915, till December 31, 1918, amounted to 2,225,442, including 96,713 operations performed on soldiers of Imperial units who chanced to come within the jurisdiction of the Canadian Dental Corps.

On first coming overseas the strength of the Dental Corps was 30 officers, 34 noncommissioned officers, and 40 privates. When the armistice was signed this number had increased to 223 officers, 221 noncommissioned officers, and 238 privates.

No consideration of Canada's war establishment, as developed during the great world struggle, can be complete without a few words devoted to Canada's naval service.

At the outbreak of the war Canada's naval strength was represented by two vessels, the Niobe, a cruiser of 11,000 tons displacement, with a main armament of sixteen 6-inch guns, stationed at Halifax, and the Rainbow, a small cruiser of 3,600 tons, armed with two 6-inch, six 4.7-inch, and four 12-pounder guns, stationed at Esquimalt.

The latter vessel performed patrol service along the Pacific Coast during the war, cruising as far south as Panama, and captured several ships carrying contraband of war.

The Niobe performed similar duty on the Atlantic Coast for over a year, and afterward became a depot ship at Halifax.

When the war began the Canadian Government immediately took over a number of small craft from the Departments of Marine and Customs, which were fitted out for patrol duty. To this fleet were added two submarines, which had been purchased just before war was declared. Later more vessels were taken over from private owners and utilized for coast patrol.

The officers and men of the Royal Canadian Navy numbered 749, and the officers and men of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve amounted to 4,374. In addition to these over 1,700 Canadians went into the Imperial navy and saw service in the war area.

CHAPTER X

ADMINISTRATION OF CANADA'S WAR ESTABLISHMENT

Although the Canadian forces operating in the field were under the British High Command, Canada retained control of the vast army she had sent overseas in so far as military operations were not concerned. For this purpose an extensive and a somewhat complicated administrative machinery was required.

Up until the close of 1916 Sir George H. Perley acted as High Commissioner for Canada in England. At the end of that period, however, Sir George became the Minister of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada with enlarged powers, and a Military Council composed of Brigadier General P. E. Thacker, as Adjutant General; Brigadier General A. D. McRae, as Acting Quartermaster and Chief Executive Officer, and Major General R. E. W. Turner, as Commander of the Canadian troops in England.

During the summer of 1917 still further changes were made, through which the administration of the Canadian military establishment in England was divided into four branches, under the supervision of the Military Secretary, Major F. F. Montague, the General Staff, in charge of Lieutenant Colonel H. F. McDonald, the Adjutant General, Brigadier General P. E. Thacker, and the Quartermaster General, Brigadier General A. D. McRae.

In May, 1918, the Canadian Headquarters Staff in England was created, with Lieutenant General Sir R. E. W. Turner as Chief of Staff.

Over in France, in the war zone, by agreement with the British War Office, a Canadian section of General Headquarters of the British armies in France was formed in July, 1918. This section was in no way supposed to interfere in purely fighting operations, but through it the Canadian Government obtained control over matters of organization and administration within its own forces.