50th Battalion , CEF The 50th Canadian Battalion was a battalion of the First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force . The battalion was commanded by Colonel E . G . Mason at the beginning of the war . Later in the war , he was put with another battalion and Lieutenant - Colonel Page took over the battalion . The battalion recruiting headquarters was in Calgary , Alberta . It was formed to increase the numbers of the newly forming 4th Canadian Division . History . Formation . The 50th Canadian Battalion was a battalion of volunteers from Calgary and its local area . They were added into the newly forming 4th Canadian Division because the Canadian Mounted Rifles had taken over the last few spots in the 3rd Canadian Division . They were recruited when the war started , trained in Calgary , sailed for England on October 27 , 1915 , and sent off to the Western Front with the rest of the 4th Division , disembarking in France on August 11 , 1916 . 1916 . Ancre Heights / Somme . The battalion was ordered to Ancre Heights in October . Ancre Heights was the first Canadian participation in the Battle of the Somme , which had begun on July 1 . Later , they were ordered into the Battle of the Somme , where the Canadians suffered 25 , 000 casualties . The battle saw the deaths of many non - commissioned officers ( NCOs ) of the 50th . Since the NCOs were usually in the second wave , they were shot by hidden German machine - gun posts . 1917 . Vimy Ridge . From the Somme , they went northward to Artois in November 1916 , where they spent their winter and Christmas preparing for the offensive on Vimy Ridge . From January to March , the division ' s artillery was part of the pre - battle barrage . In March , the Canadian Corps changed the commander of the battalion . They took Colonel E . G . Mason and put him in charge of another battalion while giving the 50th to Lieutenant - Colonel Page . In April , the Canadians made their three - day offensive , starting the Battle of Vimy Ridge . The 50th Battalion and the rest of the 4th Canadian Division were assigned to attack Hill 145 . After many attempts to capture the hill , they finally managed to take it from the Bavarian Reserve force . For the next two days , the 4th Canadian Division and 50th Battalion tried to attack the little knoll known as the Pimple . Finally , the Bavarians , low on food and having suffered many casualties , surrendered the Pimple and retreated from Vimy . The 50th , having suffered heavy casualties , were taken out of the line and rested for a while . Lens and Passchendaele . After Vimy the 50th Battalion , with the rest of the Canadian Corps , started preparations for the Battle of Lens . They fought the Germans in the streets of Lens and in the generating plant , which a group of Germans had fortified . After a hard - fought battle there , the Canadians gained a reputation as elite or storm troops . During this battle , they were taken out of the line for a little bit , and put into billets . They stayed with French families in their remaining small houses . Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig ordered them into the heavy fighting at Liévin and Hill 65 in June and July 1917 . After suffering low casualty rates , the Canadians were ordered to one of the costliest battles in the war , the Third Battle of Ypres . The Canadians suffered 16 , 000 dead and many more wounded , while 50th Battalion lost a quarter of their fighting men . The Canadian Corps was successful however , by capturing Passchendaele Village . After the battle at Passchendaele , the Canadians finally got a break and they had Christmas dinner at Château de la Haie . In the German Spring offensive , the 50th Battalion , along with the other Canadian units , were training instead of being on the front lines of the heavy fighting . 1918 . Kaiser ' s Battle . During this German offensive , dedicated to the German Kaiser , the Germans managed to penetrate the Allied front lines and push them back . The Allies fell back almost all the way to Paris , which was the German objective , but the Allies took advantage of the barrier of the Marne River situated just outside of Paris , where they subsequently managed to halt the German advance . The Germans , wasted after having to sacrifice a large amount of their troops during the offensive , could not withstand the strong Allied push that followed and which ultimately brought about an end to the war . " Llandovery Castle " Operations . In 1918 , a Canadian medical ship , was sunk by a German U - boat , even though " Llandovery Castle " had a white flag put up . The Canadians , furious with the Germans , started an offensive dedicated to " Llandovery Castle " . The 50th fought in " Llandovery Castle " operations and they managed to liberate a few towns and villages . Canada ' s Hundred Days . The German advance to Paris was halted by the Second Battle of the Marne . After years of stalemate on the Western Front , the war was finally coming to an end . In the last 100 days , the 50th Battalion fought at the Battle of Amiens on August 8 – 10 ; the Second Battle of the Somme ( 1918 ) , which was also known as the Battle of Arras ; the Battle of Cambrai , where they helped recapture Cambrai and hold it against German attacks ; the battle of Drocourt - Quéant where the 50th Battalion helped to defeat the German defensive line ; the Battle of the Canal du Nord , where the Canadian Corps , with 50th Battalion crossed the canal ; and the Battle of Valenciennes , one of the last battles of the war , where Mons was captured . By then , the Germans were retreating from France and Belgium . On November 11 , on the eleventh hour , the Germans agreed to an armistice , ending the First World War . After the war . In 1919 , the 50th Battalion was sent back to Canada and they were allowed to return to their own homes in Calgary and its surrounding area . The 50th Battalion was subsequently disbanded on August 20 , 1920 , and was never reformed again . The King ' s Own Calgary Regiment ( RCAC ) perpetuates the 50th Battalion , CEF . Battle honours . First World War : Records . The history of the 50th Battalion is recorded in books and in letters that kept by their families , or discovered by historians later in years . A few examples of members whose stories have been told are Richard Playfair and Victor W . Wheeler . Memorials . Soldiers of the 50th Battalion that went missing in action are memorialized on the Menin Gate and the Vimy Memorial . Soldiers of the battalion killed in action are commemorated on the Calgary Soldiers ' Memorial , dedicated in April 2011 . There is also a bridge over the Elbow River in Calgary named after John George Pattison , VC .