The 2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment),

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Army created in response to outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. The battalion comprised local militia in many regions of Ontario (and even from Quebec City). Men came from as far away as

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...

to join in Canada's military endeavour. Local militia gathered at

Valcartier Canadian Forces Base Valcartier (CFB Valcartier), now re-designated 2 Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier (2 CDSB Valcartier), is a Canadian Forces base located in the municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, north northwest of Quebec ...

, in August 1914 and became part of the 2nd Battalion.

Recruitment

The original officers were drawn from the various regiments that recruited for the battalion, including the

Governor General's Foot Guards The Governor General's Foot Guards (GGFG) is the senior reserve infantry regiment in the Canadian Army. Located in Ottawa at the Cartier Square Drill Hall, the regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry unit, and the members are part-time soldiers. ...

of Ottawa, the

16th Prince Edward Regiment 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 (number), 15 and preceding 17 (number), 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 4 (number), 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors be ...

, the

40th Northumberland Regiment 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, the 41st Brockville Rifles, and the 42nd Lanark and Renfrew Regiment, among others. The battalion boarded the S.S. ''Cassandra'' from Quebec City on 22 September 1914, but sailed only as far as the Gaspé Basin, where more troops were collected. The battalion finally left the Gaspé Basin on 3 October as part of a convoy of at least 30 other ships, carrying a combined 32,000 Canadian soldiers, which would be the first of the Canadian infantry contributions to the war. The ''Cassandra'' landed at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

on 25 October, where the battalion disembarked and began rigorous training for the European battlefield.

World War I

On 8 February 1915, the battalion was mobilized for war. They sailed out of England aboard the S.S. ''Blackwell'', bound for France. The battalion's first taste of battle came later that month, on 19 February, when they entered the trench system at

Armentières Armentières (; vls, Armentiers) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fière'' (Poor but proud). Geogra ...

. Their first battle was the Second Battle of Ypres, in April 1915. When the battalion pulled out of the battle, on 29 April, the final count included 6 officers and 68 other ranks killed, 4 officers and 158 other ranks wounded, and 5 officers and 302 other ranks missing, for a combined loss of 543 men. The 2nd Battalion also fought at the battles of Ypres, St. Julien, Festubert, Pozières, Vimy (1917), Arleux, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, and

Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal at Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...

, to name only a few. By the end of the war, 242 officers and 5,084 other ranks had fought with the battalion. Of those, 52 officers and 1,227 other ranks were killed in action, accidentally killed, or died of their injuries.

Demobilization

At 8:30 on the morning of 24 April 1919, the 2nd Battalion was officially demobilized at Kingston, Ontario. The Colours of the 2nd Battalion, consisting of the

King's Colour In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours (or colors), standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some ...

(presented by His Majesty King George V) and the Regimental Colour (presented by Mr. Charles Band), were kept by the congregation of St. Paul's Church in Bowmanville, Ontario, from 1921 to 1942. In 1942, it was decided the Colours should be moved due to decay, and were entrusted to Dr. Gustave Lanctot, Dominion Archivist. When the Military Museum was completed, the Colours held a place of honour for all to see, never again to be moved. The 2nd Battalion is perpetuated by the

and the

50th Field Artillery Regiment (The Prince of Wales Rangers), RCA The 50th Field Artillery Regiment (The Prince of Wales Rangers), Royal Canadian Artillery was a Canadian Army Reserve artillery regiment based in Peterborough, Ontario. The regiment exists "on paper" on the Supplementary Order of Battle. The regi ...

, currently on the

Supplementary Order of Battle In the Canadian Army, a regiment is placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle when the need for the regiment's existence is no longer relevant. When placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle, a regiment is considered "virtually disbanded", and ...

Battle honours

The battalion was awarded 25 battle honours (those listed with multiple years separated by commas count as two honours each). * Ypres: 1915,

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

* Gravenstafel Ridge * St. Julien * Festubert: 1915 *

Mont Sorrel The Battle of Mont Sorrel (''Battle of Mount Sorrel'', ''Battle of Hill 62'') was a local operation in World War I by three divisions of the British Second Army and three divisions of the German 4th Army in the Ypres Salient, near Ypres, Bel ...

* Somme: 1916 * Pozieres * Flers-Courcelette *

Ancre Heights The Ancre (; ) is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme at Corbie. It is long. For most of its length it flows through the department of Somme. For a short stretch near P ...

* Arras: 1917,

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

* Vimy: 1917 * Arleux * Scarpe: 1917,

* Hill 70 * Passchendaele * Amiens * Drocourt-Quéant * Hindenburg Line *

* Pursuit to Mons * France and Flanders: 1915–18

References

{{Reflist *"Eight More Officers Reported Wounded." Globe and Mail. 27 April 1915: A2. *Hopkins, J. Castell. Canada at War: a Record of Heroism and Achievement, 1914-1918. Toronto: the Canadian Annual Review Limited, 1919. *Meek, John F. Over the Top: the Canadian Infantry in the First World War. 1971. *Morton, Desmond. "Canadian Expeditionary Force." The Oxford Companion to Canadian History. Ed. Gerald Hallowell. Oxford University Press, 2004. *Murray, Colonel W. W. The History of the 2nd Canadian Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment) Canadian Expeditionary Force. Ottawa: Mortimer Ltd., 1947.

002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'', *1965 Italian film *Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 ...

Military units and formations of Ontario 1914 establishments in Ontario 1919 disestablishments in Ontario Military units and formations of Quebec Governor General's Foot Guards Prince of Wales Rangers (Peterborough Regiment)

Recruitment

World War I

Demobilization

Battle honours

See also

References