WW1 Canadian lads for ID

[GriffMJ]

Hi All

Can anyone ID these two Canadian Units from the Great War...... the two lads have a direct connection to my village here in Leicestershire.

[sixxpackjack]

The 38th Battalion in the second picture. I cant make out the 1st, could be 38th as well. Are they related?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38th_Battalion,_CEF

[GriffMJ]

I am just trying to find out the name and a bit of history......

The collar badges on the chap in the SD cap dont appear to be a maple leaf? I think you are right though...... he is the same chap He has "Four" wound stripes on his left sleeve.

Three of the Quorn village casualties were in the Canadian Forces ie 29th Battery Canadian Forces Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment), Princess Patricia's Infantry Canadian Expeditionary Force, 7th Battalion and 60th Canadian Victoria Rifles...... so was the 38th Btn part of the PPInf CEF?

[RCN]

Originally Posted by GriffMJ

Three of the Quorn village casualties were in the Canadian Forces ie 29th Battery Canadian Forces Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment), Princess Patricia's Infantry Canadian Expeditionary Force, 7th Battalion and 60th Canadian Victoria Rifles...... so was the 38th Btn part of the PPInf CEF?

The 29th Batt'n CEF was not a Battery, they were an Infantry Batt'n from the province of British Columbia (BC).

The 38th Batt'n CEF & PPCLI were two different Canadian Infantry Units.

Bryan

[GriffMJ]

Thanks Bryan.....

[RCN]

CEF is not my area of collecting Griff, but in over 40 yrs of collecting I have come across many CEF medals, so I have picked up some knowledge of the CEF Units - the CEF was quite large consisting of 260 numbered Batt'ns from 1914 to 1918 plus other named units such as the PPCLI & of course the various Corps units that made up part of the CEF.

I am certain one of our knowledgable CEF members will be along to assist you more fully with the Batt'ns you ask about.

Bryan

[GriffMJ]

Bryan

Its not my subject.... I am helping out my local history society with some ID.... so any help is much appreciated Its amazing how many "home" Brits served in the CEF.... there are four from the neighboring village, never set foot in Canada.

[RCN]

My understanding is that anyone could & did sign up for the CEF, either here in Canada (& of course that is where most of the soldiers signed on, usually in their home or County area Batt'n) or over in the Uk when the Batt'n arrived in UK. But why a British citizen would sign on in a CEF Unit I have no real idea, but it did happen as you have discovered.

I collect RCN 1 & 2 WW, & one reason many ex RN sailors signed on in the RCN immediately after 1WW was due to the fact that the pay rates for an RCN/RNCVR rating were considerably higher than those of the same rank/rate as RN ratings.
Thus there was a monetary incentive for them to sign on in the RCN, & of course many veterans emigrated to Canada before & after 1WW, so many were living here when the war was declared & chose to sign on in a Canadian unit.
I expect also that the pay of the CEF was considerably higher than that of the Kitcheners Army was offering a recruit, so like the RCN, this might have been an incentive for them to enter the CEF in the UK.

& the reverse is true as well, many Canadians who were former immigrants to Canada took their discharges in the UK, as presumably they wanted to return home - perhaps our COLD Canadian winters turned them off, & parts of Canada were a hell of a lot colder then than they are now!!!

Bryan

[redman]

hi
don't you think that the two pictures are of the same chap? if not then brothers that looked very similar?
if you have a name you can look him/them up on their attestation papers to the cef.
kind regards dan
i think you will find that all the soldiers that served in the cef volunteered in Canada.
We have a Cef soldier cerememorated on our village war memorial in north Essex, UK, because he was born here but emigrated to Canada and volunteered there.
kind regards Dan