OTHER BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE

That Canada should have had no flying branch of her military establishment at the outbreak of the war is hardly a matter of surprise when her lack of military preparedness in other branches is also considered.

Nevertheless, though it was not considered advisable to organize specially a Canadian flying force until only a short time before the close of the war, over 8,000 Canadians became proficient flyers and aerial fighters, that number having enlisted and held commissions in the Royal Flying Corps. This number, it will be noted, is quite above the logical proportion that could ordinarily have been expected from Canada, population considered.

Those Canadians who entered the Royal Flying Corps were exceptionally well adapted to this branch of the service. Apparently conditions of life and open-air training in the Dominion tend to endow men with those faculties which are essential to the successful flyer.

During the latter part of the war the question of forming a separate Canadian flying corps began to receive consideration, and finally, in the early part of 1918, steps were taken to bring this idea to a point of materialization. The matter now formed the subject of discussion between the Canadian Ministry and the Secretary of State for the Royal Air Force. A memorandum setting forth tentative arrangements was then drawn up. On July 8, 1918, it was definitely settled that the Canadian Flying Corps should be organized.

The memorandum provided specifically for two air squadrons. These were to be organized in England by the overseas military forces of Canada, in conjunction with the Royal Air Force. For the carrying out of this provision a Canadian Air Force Section of the Canadian General Staff was created. The types of squadrons decided upon were a single-seater scout squadron and a day bombing squadron. These were actually organized and went into quarters at Upper Heyford, near Oxford. Training was in progress when the armistice was signed, so that the Canadian flying force never went into action.

Training continued, however, but was adapted to future postwar flying, special attention being paid to wireless operations, photographic training, aerial geographical training, and cross-country flying.

To provide for a flying force on a peace basis, for the future Canadian military service, the following establishment was then authorized:

A director of air service, assisted by a staff captain and a staff lieutenant, along with four other ranks; a wing headquarters, consisting of a lieutenant colonel, who will have command of the two squadrons, assisted by a captain for administration, a captain for technical duties, and a lieutenant for armament, along with five other ranks; No. 1 Squadron (scout), consisting of 18 aeroplanes, commanded by a major with three captains, flight commanders, and 18 flying officers of the rank of lieutenant, the total personnel being 159; No. 2 Squadron (day bombing), also consisting of 18 aeroplanes, manned like Squadron No. 1; and a technical and supply branch, consisting of a headquarters, technical branch, and a supply depot.

At the end of 1918 the equipment of the Canadian Air Corps consisted of 3 aeroplanes, presented by the Imperial Air Fleet Committee; 16 presented by the Overseas Club and Patriotic League; and 40 German aeroplanes allotted by the Air Ministry. In addition to the above 50 Curtiss machines were presented to the Canadian Government by the Imperial Munitions Board, making a total of 109 machines available for service on the return to Canada of the Canadian Air Force.

Like the aeroplane, the tank became a military weapon only during the Great War, and tank battalions were entirely unknown as a branch of any army service before hostilities began. At about the same time that the matter of forming a Canadian air force came up for consideration, the organization of a separate Canadian tank battalion was also discussed. It was in March, 1918, that the British War Office requested the Canadian Government to supply the men for one tank battalion. By the middle of summer the battalion had been formed and had arrived in England, comprising 92 officers and 716 men.

What made this battalion especially noteworthy was the fact that the entire body had been recruited from among the students of Canadian universities. One company came from McGill University, another from Toronto University, while the third came from the others.

While the battalion was in training, two months later, the British Government again requested the Canadian Governor General to provide a tank battalion. This request was immediately complied with, and in the middle of October, 1918, the 2d Canadian Tank Battalion arrived in England from Canada, consisting of 44 officers and 960 other ranks.

Meanwhile the 1st Battalion had completed the training course and was preparing to embark for France when the armistice was signed. At that time, however, Canada had been requested to recruit a third tank battalion.

At the time that hostilities ceased, says the official report of the Overseas Ministry, the Medical Corps of the Canadian overseas forces exceeded in numbers the entire British Royal Army Medical Corps during the South African War. In November, 1918, the bed capacity of the hospitals overseas amounted to 40,000, as compared to 3,000 in June, 1915.

In the matter of a military medical service Canada had been prepared to a certain degree. Back in 1904 the first nucleus of the Army Medical Corps had been formed, and in 1911 the equipment of a military medical branch had been authorized, including a complete scheme for quick mobilization in case of hostilities. Thus there was a basis for the high degree of efficiency which characterized the Canadian Medical Corps, and won for it the highest recommendations as early as the Second Battle of Ypres. This efficiency was largely due to the director of the corps, Major General G. L. Foster, C. B.

This, however, was merely a nucleus, and the later tremendous development of the corps was entirely due to the spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotism of the great number of Canadian doctors and surgeons who flocked to the colors during the early months of the war and freely offered their professional services.

The work of the corps was divided into two distinct sections, each with a character peculiar to itself yet harmonizing and cooperating closely. There was, first of all, the professional side, comprising scientific medical work and investigation, and the military side, which provides for the physical organization on which the professional work must be based.

One of the first tasks undertaken was the creation of a consultant staff, with officers of rich experience to superintend at hospitals, sanitary formations, laboratories, etc. It was organized on an effective and systematic basis, and its big success was largely due to the invaluable services which were rendered by some of Canada's most brilliant medical men, in cooperation with those of England and France. The Canadian consultants and specialists attended the various important Allied medical conferences and made tours of observation and instruction in the hospitals of the various countries, and it was by these and other means that the Canadian soldiers in hospitals benefited by the latest medical and surgical discoveries in every land which was at war with the country responsible for the horrors which had to be faced. This knowledge was passed on and diffused among the staffs of all the Canadian hospitals. In the remarkable development of reconstructive surgery which took place during the war the Canadian surgeons had their full share.

In the defensive warfare with epidemic diseases the Canadian Medical Corps attained a degree of efficiency that contrasted well with the medical corps of any of the Allied armies. The results in regard to enteric were perhaps the most remarkable of all. Of 100,000 Canadian patients only one man was found to have typhoid, and he, for some reason or other, had not been inoculated.

The military organization of the corps was in all respect equal to the professional qualities of its members. In one division there were about twenty regimental medical officers and three field ambulances, with nine medical officers each—about 750 men to the three ambulances. For transport each ambulance had fifty horses, and seven motor and three horse ambulances, with general service wagons and carts in addition.

The following represented a few of the specific achievements of the corps:

A school of massage and Swedish remedial drill was organized for training nurse sisters and soldiers for this service in hospitals.

A laboratory service was organized on an economical and efficient basis. Four grades of laboratories were adopted, with standard equipment and an established personnel for each; and each of the two laboratory units and twenty-two hospital laboratories were organized. The X-Ray laboratory service was similarly organized and systematized.

A central medical stores was established, through which all medical supplies and technical equipment were received and distributed.

The sanitary service was also completely reorganized and measures for the prevention and control of infectious diseases placed on an effective basis.

Among the units organized were: Ten general hospitals; 8 special hospitals; 6 convalescent hospitals; 3 ship hospitals (one of which, the Llandovery Castle, was sunk by a German submarine); 2 laboratory units; 4 sanitary sections; 1 medical stores; 1 regimental depot and training school; 7 administrative units for training areas.

The following table, taken from the official report of the Ministry, shows the strength of the Canadian Army Medical Corps on June 1 of successive years and on November 30, 1918:

In connection with the medical service, and yet comprising a separate and certainly a new feature of military organization, was the Canadian Army Dental Corps, which was developed to extraordinary dimensions. Undoubtedly thousands of young Canadians had never had their teeth troubles properly attended to until they entered the army.

The Dental Corps was organized within a few months after the first contingent had gone overseas, early in 1915, in fact. The organization was under the direction of the Director of Dental Services, Colonel J. A. Armstrong, C. M. G. In France the corps members carried on their work principally at field ambulances, casualty clearing stations, general and stationary hospitals, and at base camps.

On arriving in England every Canadian soldier was obliged to submit to mouth inspection, and, if time permitted, his requirements were attended to there. If the time did not permit, his teeth record followed him over to France, and there, as soon as he found a permanent station, the work was continued and completed. In addition to the general clinics, which handled the bulk of the work, there were special clinics, where dental surgery was practiced and wounds affecting the region around the mouth and jaws were attended to. Here was performed some of the remarkable facial surgery whose development was a special feature of the war.

To combat an epidemic of infectious stomatitis, commonly known as "trench mouth," which at one time affected 10,000 men, the Dental Corps established the Department of Oral Pathology, and as a result of microscopic diagnosis and persistent treatment the disease was finally brought under control. Summed up, the total number of dental operations from July 15, 1915, till December 31, 1918, amounted to 2,225,442, including 96,713 operations performed on soldiers of Imperial units who chanced to come within the jurisdiction of the Canadian Dental Corps.

On first coming overseas the strength of the Dental Corps was 30 officers, 34 noncommissioned officers, and 40 privates. When the armistice was signed this number had increased to 223 officers, 221 noncommissioned officers, and 238 privates.

No consideration of Canada's war establishment, as developed during the great world struggle, can be complete without a few words devoted to Canada's naval service.

At the outbreak of the war Canada's naval strength was represented by two vessels, the Niobe, a cruiser of 11,000 tons displacement, with a main armament of sixteen 6-inch guns, stationed at Halifax, and the Rainbow, a small cruiser of 3,600 tons, armed with two 6-inch, six 4.7-inch, and four 12-pounder guns, stationed at Esquimalt.

The latter vessel performed patrol service along the Pacific Coast during the war, cruising as far south as Panama, and captured several ships carrying contraband of war.

The Niobe performed similar duty on the Atlantic Coast for over a year, and afterward became a depot ship at Halifax.

When the war began the Canadian Government immediately took over a number of small craft from the Departments of Marine and Customs, which were fitted out for patrol duty. To this fleet were added two submarines, which had been purchased just before war was declared. Later more vessels were taken over from private owners and utilized for coast patrol.

The officers and men of the Royal Canadian Navy numbered 749, and the officers and men of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve amounted to 4,374. In addition to these over 1,700 Canadians went into the Imperial navy and saw service in the war area.