On August 1, 1914, Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada, offered the services of Canada’s help to Great Britain in her war against Germany The offer was immediately accepted. Shortly thereafter, approximately 300 men of the Black Watch of Canada (the Royal Highlanders) volunteered. Over 60 percent of the initial recruits were of British origin, and many of them were former British soldiers who had relocated to Canada at the turn of the century.

During its first actions of the war, the 13th Battalion lost 120 officers and 454 other ranks. The unit also won its first Victoria Cross (England’s highest military honour) and the first VC for the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

On April 9, 1917, the 13th Battalion went over the top in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. This epic Canadian battle is one of the most important in Canada’s military history. During the course of the action, the battalion lost 39 men and listed 147 wounded.

The 13th Battalion Black Watch served with distinction from 1914 to 1919. During the course of the war, the battalion, numbering approximately 1,000 men at full strength, suffered 5,881 casualties, including 1,105 fatalities.

The 46th Canadian Infantry Battalion from southern Saskatchewan was established on February 1, 1915, with its headquarters in the Moose Jaw Armory under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Snell. The 46th traveled to Camp Sewell, Manitoba on May 28, 1915, for basic training and left for Halifax on October 18. The battalion sailed for England on October 23 and arriving on November 1, 1915, with a total of 36 officers and 1,115 other ranks.

There they trained until embarking for France on August 10, 1916, where they became an integral part of the 10th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Division until the Armistice.

During its active service the battalion fought in every major victory attributed to the Canadian Corps, suffering 3,484 casualties (a 91.5% casualty rate), including 1,433 deaths and earning the title of “Suicide Battalion.”

The 28th Northwest Battalion was formed at Winnipeg out of companies from Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon, Port Arthur, Fort William and a half company from Prince Albert under the command of Colonel J.F.L. Embury of Regina.

The battalion was sent overseas to Britain as part of the Second Contingent in June of 1915. There it joined the 6th Brigade, 2nd Division of the Canadian Corps. In September of that year, they crossed the channel and were promptly sent to the front lines. The Battalion suffered its first major casualties within the month.

The last soldier killed on the Western Front was Private G. Price of the 28th, shot by a sniper while on patrol at 10:58 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, just two minutes before the Armistice. Private Price is thought to be the last soldier killed in the Great War and the only Canadian to die on that day.

By March 1915 the 52nd battalion was formed as the first complete overseas battalion from western Ontario. The local militia from Port Arthur, Ontario (now Thunder Bay), which mustered the day after war was declared, began a recruiting drive to bring itself up to strength, and there was no shortage of men willing to fight. Before the war ended, more than 4,000 troops were to pass through the battalion.

Within days of arriving in France, the Battalion joined the 9th Brigade and the 3rd Canadian Division on February 23, 1916. The 52nd moved to the front in early March of that year and thus began the trial by fire in the trenches of France and Belgium, fighting in battles such as Mount Sorrel, Vimy Ridge, and Passchendaele. Over the next three years the casualty list included 140 officers and 2,819 other ranks.

After the war, the men returned home and the 52nd was disbanded in the early 1920s with its Regimental Colours retired and hanging in St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church.