The 259th Battalion, Canadian Rifles, CEF (Siberia), was an infantry battalion of the

Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force () (also referred to as the Canadian Expeditionary Force (Siberia) or simply the C.S.E.F.) was a Canadian military force sent to Vladivostok, Russia, during the Russian Revolution to bolster the allied p ...

during the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

History

The 259th Battalion was authorized by CEF Routine Order 1087 on 20 September 1918 as well as by General Order 128 on 1 November 1918.Canadian Forces Publication A-DH-267-003 Insignia and Lineages of the Canadian Forces. Volume 3: Combat Arms Regiments. On 21 December, two companies of the battalion mutinied in the streets of

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. The mutiny occurred as the conscripts were marching from the Willows Camp to the city's Outer Wharves. Midway through the march, a platoon of troops near the rear refused to halt. Officers fired their revolvers in the air in an attempt to quell the dissent. When this failed, they ordered the obedient troops, primarily from the Ontario companies, to remove their canvas belts and whip the mutineers back into line. The march proceeded through downtown Victoria to the outer wharves, accompanied by a guard of honour of 50 troops armed with rifles and fixed bayonets. Twenty-one hours later, the SS ''Teesta'' left Victoria harbour bound for Vladivostok, with a dozen ringleaders detained in cells. While a court martial found 8 of the 9 accused guilty of "mutiny and willful disobedience", the sentences (all being some duration of hard labour, though they could have been sentenced to death) were eventually commuted by General Elmsley prior to the Canadian evacuation in early April, amid concern over the legality of deploying men under the Military Service Act for a mission tangentially connected to the "defence of the realm". The battalion and embarked for Russia on 22 and 26 December. The unit disembarked at

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

on 12 and 15 January 1919 where it served with the 16th Infantry Brigade as part of the Allied Forces in eastern Russia until 19 May. The battalion disbanded on 6 November 1920. The 259th Battalion recruited in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, Quebec, and was mobilized at

.Meek, John F. ''Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War.'' Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971. The 259th Battalion was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel A.E. Swift. Major

Paul Fleetford Sise Paul Fleetford Sise (November 10, 1879 – August 1, 1951) was a Canadian businessman, President of Northern Electric (Nortel 1919 - 1948), graduated from McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-languag ...

served in the battalion, where he was one of the three panel members for the court martial of nine soldiers charged with mutiny (despite the fact he had no legal training.)Benjamin Isitt, “Court Martial at Vladivostok: Mutiny and Military Justice during the First World War”, in Canadian State Trials, Volume IV: Security, Dissent, and the Limits of Toleration in War and Peace, 1914-1939, University of Toronto Press, 2015, page 195

Perpetuations

Since 25 June 1998, the 259th Battalion, Canadian Rifles, CEF (Siberia), has been perpetuated by the 12^e Régiment blindé du Canada.

Battle honours

The 259th Battalion was awarded the battle honour SIBERIA 1918-19.

References

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Sources

*''Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914–1919'' by Col. G.W.L. Nicholson, CD, Queen's Printer, Ottawa, Ontario, 1962

259 Year 259 ( CCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aemilianus and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 1012 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 259 for thi ...

Military units and formations of Ontario Military units and formations of Quebec

History

Perpetuations

Battle honours

See also

References

Sources