The 219th (Highland) Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in

Aldershot, Nova Scotia Aldershot is a community in Nova Scotia, Canada, in Kings County. A quasi-suburb of Kentville, Aldershot developed as a farming community along the Cornwallis Valley Railway branchline of the Dominion Atlantic Railway in the 19th century, served ...

, the unit began recruiting in early 1916 as part of a four-battalion "Nova Scotia Highland Brigade". The 219th recruited personnel from the counties of Halifax, Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth, Digby, Annapolis and Kings. The 85th Battalion, the first - and senior - unit of the brigade, solicited enlistments from the entire province. Two of the 219th's 'Brigade' counterparts recruited from designated areas of the province. The 185th Battalion raised its complement of soldiers on Cape Breton Island, while the 193rd Battalion canvassed the six counties of northeastern Nova Scotia. The brigade's four battalions trained at Camp Aldershot, near Kentville, throughout the summer of 1916. After sailing from Halifax on October 13, 1916, to England on RMS ''Olympic'', the 219th Battalion was based at

Witley Camp Witley Military Camp, often simplified to Camp Witley, was a temporary army camp set up on Witley Common, Surrey, England during both the First and Second World Wars. The camp was about southwest of London. Camp Witley was one of three faci ...

and later relocated to Bramshott. The battalion was absorbed into the 17th Reserve Battalion on January 23, 1917, although a number of men were transferred to the 85th around the same time. The 219th (Highland) Battalion, CEF, had one Officer Commanding, LCol W. H. Muirhead. The battalion is perpetuated by

The West Nova Scotia Regiment The West Nova Scotia Regiment is a line infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, part of the Primary Reserve, and is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 36 Canadian Brigade Group. The regiment recruits volunteers from the South-Western part of th ...

References

*Meek, John F. ''Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War.'' Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971. *Hunt, M. S
Nova Scotia's Part in the Great War - 1920.
Battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Military units and formations of Nova Scotia {{WWI-stub