THE ARMY A Brief History of the Canadian Expeditionary Force The First Canadian Contingent 1914~1915 When the year 1914 dawned in Canada, there were few Canadians who dreamed that the year was destined to usher in what would become the greatest war in history to that point, a war which was to claim the lives of over 65,000 young Canadians. The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo went almost unnoticed in Canada. There had always been …
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…the casualties sustained in them high. These high casualties still further depleted the nucleus of "original Firsts" remaining in France. By the end of the summer, the number of men in France who wore the colored shoulder straps of the First Contingent had become pitifully few. The division had become largely a new force, ready to be merged in the larger formation of the Canadian Corps on the arrival in France of the Second Division.