Filling the ranks : manpower in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1918 / Richard Holt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holt, Richard, author.

Series:

Carleton library series ; 239.

Carleton Library Series ; 239

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Canada. Canadian Army. Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Canada.

World War, 1914-1918--Regimental histories--Canada.

World War, 1914-1918.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (379 pages) : illustrations, photographs.

Place of Publication:

Montreal, [Quebec Province] : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017.

Summary:

Manpower is the lifeblood of armies regardless of time or place. In the First World War, much of Canada’s military effort went toward sustaining the Canadian Expeditionary Force, especially in France and Belgium. The job was not easy. The government and Department of Militia and Defence were tasked with recruiting and training hundreds of thousands of men, shipping them to England, and creating organizations on the continent meant to forward these men to their units. The first book to explore the issue of manpower in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Filling the Ranks examines the administrative and organizational changes that fostered efficiency and sustained the army. Richard Holt describes national civilian and military recruitment policies and criteria both inside and outside of Canada; efforts to recruit women, convicts, and members of First Nations, African Canadian, Asian, and Slavic communities; the conduct of entry-level training; and the development of a coherent reinforcement structure. Canada’s ability to fill the ranks with trained soldiers ultimately helped make the Corps an elite formation within the British Expeditionary Force. Based on extensive research in British and Canadian archives, Filling the Ranks provides a wealth of new information on Canada"s role in the Great War.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Tables and Figures

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Abbreviations

Introduction

Militia Roots

Regulating Manpower: Government and Military Policies 1914–18

Enlistment Criteria

Alternative Sources of Manpower

The Recruiting Structure 1914–18

Infantry Training

Reinforcements: Policy, Management, and Wastage

Reinforcements: Canada to England

The Overseas Via Dolorosa: Reinforcements in England and France

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed April 4, 2017).

ISBN:

9780773549111

0773549110

9780773549104

0773549102