Research Catalog

Title

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

Author

Holt, Richard, 1948 February 21-

Publication

Montreal ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2017]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Granatstein, J. L., 1939-
• Cook, Tim, 1971-

Description

xvi, 347 pages; 24 cm.

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. --

Series Statement

Carleton Library series ; 239

Uniform Title

Carleton library series ; 239.

Subject

• Canada. Canadian Army. Canadian Expeditionary Force > Personnel management
• Canada. Canadian Army. Canadian Expeditionary Force
• World War (1914-1918)
• 1914-1918
• World War, 1914-1918 > Regimental histories > Canada
• World War, 1914-1918
• Armed Forces > Personnel management
• Regimental histories
• Canada

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic formats.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction -- 1. Militia Roots -- 2. Regulating Manpower: Government and Military Policies 1914-18 -- 3. Enlistment Criteria -- 4. Alternative Sources of Manpower -- 5. The Recruiting Structure 1914-18 -- 6. Infantry Training -- 7. Reinforcements: Policy, Management, and Wastage -- 8. Reinforcements: Canada to England -- 9. The Overseas Via Dolorosa: Reinforcements in England and France -- Conclusion.

ISBN

• 9780773548770
• 0773548777

OCLC

• 962129204
• SCSB-11750964

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library