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The 11th
Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force was a unit
raised for service in the First World War.
History
The battalion
was organized in Valcartier Camp on 6 August 1914 under the
official authority of Camp Order 241 dated 2 September 1914.
The unit drew its recruits from Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The first
commanding officer was Lieutenant-Colonel E.G. Shannon, who
was succeeded on 7 November 1914 by Lieutenant-Colonel R.M.
Burritt.
The battalion
sailed from Quebec City on 2 October 1914 aboard S.S.
Royal Edward and arrived in the United Kingdom on 14
October 1914 with a strength of 45 officers and 1134 other
ranks.
In England,
the 11th Battalion, along with the 6th, 9th and 12th
Battalions, were formed into a Canadian Training Depot on 17
January 1915. The 11th was organized as a reserve unit and
designated the 11th Reserve Battalion on 29 April 1915, and
absorbed the 45th, 61st and 90th Battalions on 7 July 1916.
The 184th Battalion was absorbed on 12 November 1916, and
part of the 151st Battalion on 13 October 1916.
Personnel
transferred to a new 11th Canadian Reserve Battalion on 4
January 1917, and the unit disbanded under the authority of
Privy Council Order 2702 dated 12 October 1917. Official
disbandment of the 11th Battalion came through General Order
149 of 1920.
The unit had
a fife and bugle band.
After the
war, a perpetuation was granted to The Winnipeg Grenadiers.1 |
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11th
Battalion, CEF |
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Authorized:
6 August 1914
Initial Strength: 45 officers, 1134 other
ranks
Service: Redesignated 11th Reserve Battalion,
used for reinforcements for the Canadian Corps.
Disbanded: 15 September 1920 (GO
149/20)
Perpetuated by: The Winnipeg Grenadiers |
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Insignia
In 1914, there had been little time to
adopt distinctive unit badges for the hastily assembled battalions
of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. As many battalions were drawn
from men from several of the pre-war Militia regiments, there was a
desire to avoid using existing badges and forming associations with
those existing units, in favour of creating new identities - the
General Officer Commanding the 1st Canadian Contingent (later 1st
Canadian Division) is quoted as saying sometime in October or
November of 1914 "there must be distinctive badges for each unit."2
Until unit badges were approved and issued, a mixture of
pre-war Militia badges and maple-leaf pattern General Service badges
were seen.
Metal cap and collar badges were also
worn on service dress.
Battle Honours
Ypres 1915, '17
Mount Sorrel
Ancre, 1916
Vimy, 1917
Passchendaele
Scarpe, 1918
Hindenburg Line
Valenciennes |
Festubert, 1915
Ancre Heights
Arras, 1917, '18
Hill 70
Amiens
Drocourt-Quéant
Canal du Nord
Sambre |
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France and Flanders, 1915-18 |
Notes
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Stewart, p.5 and Guide to
Sources p.67. Stewart lists the battalion as being a
Calgary unit with a strength of 1,119 but this certainly wrong.
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Harper, Joseph A Source of
Pride: Regimental Badges and Titles in the Canadian
Expeditionary Force 1914-1919 (Service Publications,
Ottawa, ON, 1999) ISBN 0-9699845-8-8 p.5
References
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Love, David W.
A Call to Arms: The Organization and Administration of
Canada's Military in World War One (Bunker to Bunker
Books, Calgary, AB, 1999) ISBN 1894255-03-8
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Stewart, Charles
H. Overseas: The Lineages and Insignia of the Canadian
Expeditionary Force 1914-1919 (Little & Stewart,
Toronto, ON, 1970)
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Guide to Sources Relating to
Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Infantry Battalions (Library
and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON, 2012)
Archival Holdings
The following holdings at Library and
Archives Canada may be useful for further research on this unit:
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War diary, 2 Sept. 1914 - 28 Feb. 1915
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Badges
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Mobilization accounts
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Inspection
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Accounts
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Canteens, messes
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RG 9, III-B-1, vol. 400, file
C-190-1Muster parades
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RG 9, III-B-1, vol. 452, file M-29-1
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Nominal rolls of men for transfer to
Canada
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Disturbance, officer’s mess
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Canteens. Reports, inspections, etc.
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Inspection
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Badges
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RG 9, III-D-1, vol. 4691, folder 49,
file 16
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Historical Record
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RG 9, III-D-1, vol. 4691, folder 49,
file 15
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Photographs
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RG 9, III-D-1, vol. 4691, folder 49,
file 17
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Nominal roll on leaving Canada, 19l4
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Undershirts for
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Explosives purchased from
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Daily Orders
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