The Edmonton Fusiliers in WW1

When war broke out in 1914, Lieut.-Col. F, A. Osborne, then in command of.the Regiment, wired the Minister of National Defence and offered the services of the Regiment if required. The Offer was accepted on August 6th and mobilization began at once. In less than a week, the battalion was up to full war strength and on August 20th no more recruits could be accepted as the Battalion was 200 over strength - having recruited 1,358 All Ranks, the largest number raised by any Unit in Canada. The 101st Regiment Edmonton Fus1liers was the first unit in the West to mobilize and the first unit in Canada to raise a com plete battalion for Active Service.

On August 28th, 22 days after mobilization, the. battalion left for Valcartier where it became the 9th Battalion, C.E.F. After a short but strenuous training period, the unit embarked from Québec on the S. S. Zeeland on October 3rd and arrived at Plymouth on October l8th, disembarking at Davenport on the 20th. From there it went to Salisbury Plain for inten sive training, living under canvas. After four months, the 1^st Canadian Division was formed consisting of three brigades of all arms, and a fourth brigade was formed to be held in reserve and supply reinforcements. It fell to the lot of the l01st Regiment Edmonton Fusiliers or 9th Battalion, C.E.F. as it now was, to be included in this Brigade. Consequently, the battalion never fought in France as a unit. About 500 men were drafted to the 1^st Brigade to replace casualties and the remainder went to Shornecliff, Kent. After the second battle of Ypres, in which the 1^st Canadian Division suffered heavy losses from gas, every available man was sent to France to fill up gaps. From then until the end of the war, the 9^th Bn CEF trained re-enforcements for Divisions in the field. Original members of the Regiment served on nearly all fronts including Palestine, Mesopotamia, Northern Persia, France, Belgium, Archangel and the last long march to the Rhine. During the Great War, one VC, two DSO's, three MC's, six DCM's, 11 MID's and one OBE. were won by members of the Regiment. The Victoria Cross was awarded to Capt. J. Turner. Foreign decorations won included the Russian Cross of St. George and Order of' St. Stanislaus by Lieut. Col. P. Anderson, the French Medaille d'Honneur by Lt. Col. H. B. Jamieson and the Russian Cross of St. George by Capt R. Woods.

The Battle honours gained by the Regiment are as follows

Ypres, 1915 1917

Festuabert, 1915

Mount Sorrel

Somme, 1916

Arras, 1917, 1918

Hill 70

Amiens

Hindenberg Line

Pursuit to Mons

The officers on the strength of the 10lst, when it left for overseas in 1914, together with those granted their commissions through the home unit number 359, a remarkable record which no other regiment in Canada equaled during the War. This number does not include those officers who were commissioned through the 9th overseas. One of our officers Capt H.T. Goodland was on holiday in England when the war broke out. He reported to the Royal Munster Fusiliers and served with that unit in Gallipoli and France, eventually commanding the 1st Battalion in France. He was awarded the CB and DSO Another officer, Lieut. Col. Anderson, gained the distinction of being the first Canadian officer to escape from Germany as a prisoner of war.

On Nov. 11 1918, 91 members of the original battalion were still serving in combatant units of the Canadian Corps.

The sailing Lists for the 9th and 66th Bn CEF are attached at the bottom of this page. They were downloaded from http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~abwcobit/Admin/MilitarMenu.htm Note the number of men who list previous service with the 19th!

Please note that this article is continued in the inter-war period. Click here to read more about the Edmonton Fusiliers - Web Master

One of the most collectable cap badges to CEF Badge collectors is he badge created by the 9th Bn CEF while overseas. Capt W.R. Bone, ex-46th Bn CEF offers the following information in his unpublished manuscript "Notes on Badges of Alberta Units."

Did the 9th C.E.F. Battalion have regimental badges? This question has been asked by collectors since the end of the First Great War and has been answered in both the negative and affirmative.

From information received from an original officer of the Edmonton Fusiliers, who went overseas with the 9th Battalion, and remained with it for several months after it assumed its reserve role in Britain, the facts would appear to be:

The 9th Battalion was one of the few Western Canadian units, if not the only one, which was not composite. It was recruited entirely by the 101^st Regiment (Edmonton Fusiliers) and wore the badges of that formation. When the First Division went to France, the 9th was left as a reserve battalion, and, at least until mid-1915, continued to wear the Fusilier insignia. At an undetermined date, a new badge design consisting of a large figure “9” topped by a crown and resting upon a scroll with the inscription CANADA” at the base. This was in white metal and was superimposed on a bronze maple leaf. Only a limited number of these badges were issued. Collars were "C/9". Thus it would seem that the original type of the 101^st should be included in any C.E.F. collection as well as that of the 9th Battalion.