Canadian Corps
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The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from Canada's soldiers in September of 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December of 1915 and the 4th Canadian Division in August of 1916. In February of 1917 the organization of a 5th Canadian Division began but in February of 1918 before it was fully formed, it was assimilated with the others.
The Canadian Corps was originally commanded by British Lieutenant General E.A.H. Alderson until 1916 when another British Lieutenant General Julian Byng took over. When Byng was promoted to an Army command, he was succeeded by the commander of the 1st Division, General Arthur W. Currie, giving the corps its first Canadian commander.
In the later stages of the war, the Canadian Corps, like the Australian Corps, was among the most effective and respected of the armies on the Western Front. This was, in large part, relative to the British and French armies, which had suffered constant and extreme rates of casualties since August 1914, resulting in large-scale conscription, and the resulting dilution of experience and commitment among the European armies. (See also Conscription Crisis of 1917.)
The Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge in one of the most successful and daring attacks of the war. Between August 8 and 11th 1918, the Corps fought in the Battle of Amiens, inflicting a significant defeat on the Germans in what was called by German commander-in-chief, General Erich Ludendorff, "the black day of the German army."
The Canadian Expeditionary Force lost 60,661 dead during the war.
Formation:
- 1st Canadian Division
- 2nd Canadian Division
- 3rd Canadian Division
- 4th Canadian Division
- 5th Canadian Division
Battles:
- See individual Divisions.
Related topics:
- No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force