The Corps of Canadian Railway Troops were part of the

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 divisi ...

(CEF) during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Although Canadian railway units had been arriving in France since August 1915, it was not until March 1917 that the units were placed under a unified headquarters named the Canadian Railway Troops. They were redesignated as the "Corps of ..." on 23 April 1918. The corps was disbanded along with the rest of the CEF on 1 November 1920.

Organization

The initial 500 men came from the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

, but overall the railway troops had 13,000 members. * Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps * 1st Construction Battalion * 2nd CRT Battalion – formed from

127th Battalion (12th York Rangers), CEF The 127th (12th York Rangers) Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Toronto, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in th ...

* 3rd CRT Battalion – 239th Battalion * 4th CRT Battalion – Depot unit * 5th CRT Battalion – Depot unit * 6th CRT Battalion – 228th Battalion * 7th CRT Battalion – 257th Battalion * 8th CRT Battalion – 218th and 211th Battalions * 9th CRT Battalion – 1st Pioneer * 10th CRT Battalion – 256th Battalion * 11th CRT Battalion – 3rd Labour Battalion * 12th CRT Battalion – 2nd Labour Battalion * 13th CRT Battalion – Depot unit

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Canadian Expeditionary Force Administrative corps of the Canadian Army Military railways