The Canadian Expeditionary Force

The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the field force raised in August 1914 and was the main contribution Canada's army (known then as the Militia) made to the Allied cause in the First World War.

The CEF was a separate entity from the Canadian Militia, and none of the Regiments of the peacetime Canadian forces mobilized for the war. Instead, numbered infantry battalions along with units of the combat arms and supporting arms were created, assembled at Valcartier in Quebec, and sent to the United Kingdom as Contingents. There, they were formed into divisions, five in total; the first four served in France while the fifth was eventually broken up for reinforcements.