54th Battalion (Kootenay), CEF
The 54th Battalion (Kootenay), CEF, was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War. The 54th Battalion was authorized on 7 November 1914, embarked for Britain on 22 November 1915 and disembarked in France on 14 August 1916. It fought as part of the 11th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. The battalion was disbanded on 30 August 1920.[1]
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The 54th Battalion recruited in Southern British Columbia and was mobilized at Nelson, B.C.[2]
The 54th Battalion had three Officers Commanding:
- Lt-Col A.G.H. Kemball, CB, DSO 22 November 1915 – 1 March 1917
- Lt.-Col. V.V. Harvey, DSO, 2 March 1917 – 24 August 1917
- Lt.-Col. A.B. Carey, CMG, DSO, 24 August 1917-Demobilization[3]
The 54th Battalion was awarded the following battle honours:
- SOMME, 1916
- Ancre Heights
- Ancre, 1916
- ARRAS, 1917, '18
- Vimy, 1917
- HILL 70
- Ypres 1917
- Passchendaele
- AMIENS
- Scarpe, 1918
- Drocourt-Quéant
- HINDENBURG LINE
- Canal du Nord
- VALENCIENNES
- SAMBRE
- FRANCE AND FLANDERS, 1916-18[4]
The 54th Battalion (Kootenay), CEF, is perpetuated by The 24th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA, currently on the Supplementary Order of Battle'.[5]
References
- Canadian Forces Publication A-DH-267-003 Insignia and Lineages of the Canadian Forces. Volume 3: Combat Arms Regiments.
- Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971. ISBN 0906158109
- Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971. ISBN 0906158109
- Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971. ISBN 0906158109
- Canadian Forces Publication A-DH-267-003 Insignia and Lineages of the Canadian Forces. Volume 3: Combat Arms Regiments.
Sources
Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919 by Col. G.W.L. Nicholson, CD, Queen's Printer, Ottawa, Ontario, 1962