Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War . The force fielded several combat formations in France and Flanders , the largest of which was the Canadian Corps , consisting of four divisions . The Canadian Cavalry Brigade and the Canadian Independent Force , which were independent of the Canadian Corps , also fought on the Western Front . The CEF also had a large reserve and training organization in England , and a recruiting organization in Canada . In the later stages of the European war , particularly after their success at Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele , the Canadian Corps was regarded by friend and foe alike as the most effective Allied military formation on the Western Front . The Germans went so far as to call them " storm troopers " for their great combat efficiency . In August 1918 , the CEF organized the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force , which reinforced the anti - Bolshevik garrison in Vladivostok during the winter of 1918 – 19 . Composition . The Canadian Expeditionary Force was mostly volunteers , as conscription was not enforced until the end of the war when call - ups began in January 1918 ( " see " Conscription Crisis of 1917 ) . Ultimately , only 24 , 132 conscripts arrived in France before the end of the war . Canada was the senior Dominion in the British Empire and automatically at war with Germany upon the British declaration . According to Canadian historian Dr . Serge Durflinger at the Canadian War Museum , popular support for the war was found mainly in English Canada . Of the first contingent formed at Valcartier , Quebec in 1914 , ' fully two - thirds were men born in the United Kingdom ' . By the end of the war in 1918 , at least ' fifty per cent of the CEF consisted of British - born men ' . Recruiting was difficult among the French - Canadian population , although one battalion , the 22nd , who came to be known as the ' Van Doos ' , was French - speaking ( " Van Doo " is an approximate pronunciation of the French for " 22 " - " vingt deux " ) To a lesser extent , several other cultural groups within the Dominion enlisted and made a significant contribution to the Force including aboriginals of the First Nations , Black Canadians as well as Black Americans . The CEF eventually numbered 260 numbered infantry battalions , two named infantry battalion s ( The Royal Canadian Regiment and Princess Patricia ' s Canadian Light Infantry ) , 13 mounted rifle regiments , 13 railway troop battalions , 5 pioneer battalions , as well as numerous ancillary units including field and heavy artillery batteries , ambulance , medical , dental , forestry , labour , tunnelling , cyclist , and service units . A distinct entity within the Canadian Expeditionary Force was the Canadian Machine Gun Corps . It consisted of several motor machine gun battalions , the Eatons , Yukon , and Borden Motor Machine Gun Batteries , and nineteen machine gun companies . During the summer of 1918 , these units were consolidated into four machine gun battalions , one being attached to each of the four divisions in the Canadian Corps . The Canadian Corps with its four infantry divisions comprised the main fighting force of the CEF . The Canadian Cavalry Brigade also served in France . Support units of the CEF included the Canadian Railway Troops , which served on the Western Front and provided a bridging unit for the Middle East ; the Canadian Forestry Corps , which felled timber in Britain and France , and special units which operated around the Caspian Sea , in northern Russia and eastern Siberia . Major battles . The Battle of Ypres , 1915 . The 1915 Battle of Ypres , the first engagement of Canadian forces in the Great War , changed the Canadian perspective on war . Ypres rushed young Canadian soldiers out of their former naïve ideal of glory and showed them common themes of war . As a testament to its gruesome nature , Ypres is also considered the grounds upon which poison gas in the Great War ceased to be irregular . Possibly the most impressive of the Canadian forces was the Second Brigade under the command of Arthur William Currie , who would later attain the rank of general . This first battle spat them out the other end as professional and skilled soldiers ( especially at improvisation on the battlefield ) , with a high morale and confidence . The battle cost the BEF ( of which the Canadian Corps was a part of ) 59 , 275 men . The Battle of the Somme , July – November 1916 . “ The Somme offensive had no great geographical objectives . Its purpose was threefold – to relieve pressure on the French armies at Verdun , to inflict as heavy losses as possible on the German armies , and to aid allies on other fronts by preventing any further transfer of Germany troops from the west . ” The Canadian Corps is formed after receiving the 2nd and 3rd division ; its first commander was Major - General M . S . Mercer . On 1 July a seven - day assault began and British losses numbered 57 , 470 . During this time the 1st Newfoundland Regiment is decimated when attacking German trenches . Mark I Tank first appears in Battle at Somme , though premature the psychological impact is astounding and the sheer sight of it makes many German soldiers surrender immediately . The toll of the 5 - month campaign cannot be statistically verified by a single reliable source however historians have come into the range of German losses roughly 670 , 000 and an Allied total of 623 , 907 . The Battle of Vimy Ridge , 9 – 12 April 1917 . The battle of Vimy Ridge had incredible significance for Canada as a young nation . For the first time ever the Canadian Corps , with all four of its divisions attacked as one , under Canadian leadership with sole members from Canada . This tactical victory clearly showed how effective and powerful the Canadian Expeditionary Forces had become . This one Canadian offensive amounted to the capture of more land , prisoners and armaments than any previous offensive . The main offensive tactic was the creeping barrage , an artillery strike combined with constant infantry progression through the battlefield . Passchendaele , October – November 1917 . Led by Lieutenant General Arthur Currie , the first offensive of the Canadian Corps in Passchendaele or the Third Ypres , was on October 26 , 1917 , cost 2 , 481 Canadian soldiers and made little progress . The second assault on October 30 took the lives of 1 , 321 soldiers and also made small gains . However on November 6 , the third attack won the town of Passchendaele , forfeiting 2 , 238 killed or wounded . The final assault to capture Passchendaele Ridge began on November 10 and was completed the same day . The Canadian Corps did in two weeks what the other Allied forces were not able to do in three months . Canadian Corps suffered 15 , 654 battle casualties in the muddiest stalemate battle of the Great War . The final count . After distinguishing themselves in battle from the Second Battle of Ypres , through the Somme and particularly in the Battle of Arras at Vimy Ridge in April 1917 , and Passchendaele the Canadian Corps came to be regarded as an exceptional force by both Allied and German military commanders . Since they were mostly unmolested by the German army ' s offensive manoeuvres in the spring of 1918 , the Canadians were ordered to spearhead the last campaigns of the War from the Battle of Amiens on August 8 , 1918 , which ended in a tacit victory for the Allies when the armistice was signed on November 11 , 1918 . The Canadian Expeditionary Force lost 60 , 661 men during the war , representing 9 . 28 % of the 619 , 636 who enlisted . The end of the CEF . The CEF was legally distinct from the Canadian Militia which did not mobilize in 1914 . The Militia remained active in Canada during the war . After 1918 , it was decided ( after lengthy dissertation by the Otter Committee ) that units of the CEF would be disbanded , and that the Militia would be reorganized . Individual units of the Canadian Militia , notably infantry and cavalry regiments , were permitted to perpetuate the battle honours and histories of the CEF units that had actually fought the war . After the war , the Canadian Military Hospitals Commission reported on provision of employment for members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force on their return to Canada , and the re - education of those who were unable to follow their previous occupations because of disability . Mark I tank training tank , UK Equipment . Small arms . . 303 rifles Uniforms , load bearing and protective equipment . " See also : Battledress , Uniforms of the Canadian Forces " Load bearing equipment Head dress