The Reorganization of the Canadian Militia, 1919-20

8/13/2019 The Reorganization of the Canadian Militia, 1919-20

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NOTE

This is a preliminary narrative and should not be regardedas authoritative It has not been checked for accuracy inal l aspects and its interpretations are not necessarilythose of the Historical Section as a wholeCe texte est preliminaire et n a aucun caractere officielOn nla pas verifie son exactitude et les interpretationsquli l contient ne sont pas necessairement celles du Servicehistorique

Directorate of HistoryNational Defence HeadquartersOttawa anadaK A OK

July 98


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REP 0 R T NO 22H I S T O R I C ~ J SECTION G . S. )

:..RM Y HE AD ~ U ~ i R T R S

CONFIDENTIALDEC L S S F EO

AUiHORliY: 0 H 0 3 12 fOR DHIST DHQ 221986.DETE T

31 Jan 49The R e o r g ~ n i z a t i o n of the Canadian Milit ia , 1919-20

T r ~ Z OF CONTENTSCONTENTS

IntroductoryPre-Wa.r and Wo.rtine Milit iaEarly Proposals for Reorganization

The Otter Corliuttee p p o i n t ~ e n t of the COLlillittee, 1919Preliminary PlansThe Conmittee on TourCmxnittee Procedure

Three Contentious Questionsa Le Vingt-Deuxiemeb Prince Edward Islandc Universal Military TrainingRec OJ Tl Dle nd at ions

P ~ f f i i G R d P H S PAGE1 - 3 14 - 6 17 - 8 2

9 410 - 11 412 - 1 5 56617 - 19 7

20 821 2 5 826 - 28 1029 - 41 11

42 16a Cavalry and Mounted Riflesb Arti l leryc Engineersd Corps of Guidese Offioers Train ing Corps and Cadetsf Infantryg Machine Gun Corpsh Sign:lls i Army Service Corps j Army Medi cal Corpsk Dental Corps1 Veterinary Corpsfa Army Ordnance Corpsn) Postal Corps Chaplain Servicesp) Provostq) Employmentr Tankss ) Pay Corps t RailWay Corpsu Forestry Corpsv Reserve F o r r a ~ t i o n s

Dissolution of the Committee, 1920Principles Under lying the Otter PlanReorganization in 1936

43 0 46\ 47....505 1 52

53 - 5657 - 5 960 - 646.5- 6667 6869 7273 - 747 5 76 708719 8 8282 848 5 - 86

8990 - 929394 - 9 596 9798 - 103104 - 105

17171819202122232324242424252525252626262627272832


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- 2 -rABLE OF CONTENTS

l ~ p p e n i x i1.i1.it C E F Routine Ordor 1913Appendix il il - ta t i s t i c s Regarding Pr and Post War N P i MAppendix IIC I - The Schome fo r the Reorg3.nization of the Can-adian i l i t ia 1936)


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CONFIDENTLUR P 0 R T NO 22

I S T O R I ~ ~ SECTION G.S.ARMY HEADQUARTERS

31 Jan 49The Reorganization of the Canadian Mili t ia , 1919-20

The object of this report is to examine the planfor reorganization of the Canadian Mili t ia at the conclusion ofthe Firs t World War. In particular , i t will attempt to indica tethe influence of the Committee on reorganization set up in 1919under the p re sidency of Sir William Otter.Lt-Col G.F.G. Stanley has dealt with the que stionPreliminary Narrat ive ofand of Canadian Mili tar

- - - j o - - . r - , . , . . . . . . . - ~ - - - . r - , ; ; , , ; ~ l - - i ~ ' ; ; ; ' O ' r T ' . . . . . . . - - - ' + 9 ~ _ - T l . . . . . C ap e r ppp See a so ap er I p. u 1 s e accounts on thissubject are almost entirely lacking, however, and i t has therefore been necessary to s ~ ~ r i z e material found in original f i lesat Army Headquarters, Ottawa, notably H.Q. 593-31-1 and H.Q.462-16-1. Unfortunately, the Otter o ~ m i t t e e rendered noOfficial report in ful l In the Historical Section and Directorate of Military Opera tions and Plans, however, are a number ofmemoranda writ ten by Generals ~ t t h e w s McNaughton and Crerar inthe early 1930s when the question of reorganization again becamea l ive issue. These indicate that the conclusions and recommendations of the Otter Committee had a decided influence upon Armypolicy in the years between. The Committee was undoubtedlygrappling with a pol i t ica l problem as well as a military matterof considerable importance, part icularly with regard to the cont roversial SUbject of universal mi li ta ry t ra in ing . In consequence, many sections of pUblic opinion had to be appeased before aprogramme acceptable to the Government of the day and members ofthe Mili t ia alike could be evolved.3. Of prime importance was the at t i tude of veteransof the Canadian Expeditionary Force who strongly wished to preserve the . traditions and identi ty of units which had fought atthe front. The Defence Forces List , Canada of November 1939contains complete l i s t s of C.E.F. units of Cavalr-y Arti l lery,Infantry and Machine Guns perpetuated by Mili t ia units . Theseperpetuations were authorized in most instances as the directresult of recommendations made by the Otter Committee.Pre-War and Wartime Mili t ia4. Prior to the Firs t World War the Active Milit iaof Canada consisted of the Staff , Permanent Force, Active NonPermanent Mili t ia , and Reserve of Officers. The f i r s t mentioned was drawn from the officers of the Permanent Force, thelas t merely an unorganized l i s t of officers who had been t ransferred from Active status. The Permanent Force had a leg al lim itof 5,000 a l l ranks but on 31 Mar 14 an actua l s tr ength of .only3,000 Report of the Mili t ia Council, 31 Mar 14, p.26 . I t sCorps included:


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- 2 -Royal Canadian DragoonsLord St r at h co n a s Horse Royal Canadians)Royal Canadian Horse A r t i l l e r yRo ya l C an ad ia n Garrison A r t i l l e r y

R o y ~ l Canadian Engineers ~ l Canadian Regiment

and detach men ts of the Se rvic e s .

EngineersCorps of Guides -

- 110 b a t t a l i o n s35 regiments organized into brigades- 35 fiold b a t t e r i e s5 heavy b a t t e r i e s13 coast defence companies2 siege ar t i l l e ry companies9 f i b l d companies, 2 f ie ld troopsdetachments

5. Main emphasis was l a i d upon the Non-Per.manentActive M i l i t i a , whose p r i n c i p a l arms had approximately thefollowing units :Infa ntryCavalryA r t i l l e r y

Eastern Canada was to form 6 diVisions and the West some independent brigades. The allotment of u n i t s on this ba s is was deta i led in Canadian M i l i t i a Fie ld Arm T ables PrO Visional 1 1 H.Q. 462-1 - 1 , vol 1 contains a c o p y . Reflecting t h i s organi z a t i o n , Eastern Canada was divided in to six Di vi si onal Areas a nd W es te rn Canada into thre e Mi l i t ar y Distr ic ts . I n 1916these Di vi si onal Areas became Nos 1 to 6 Mi l i t ar y D i s t r i c t e Duguid, Col F ~ T h e Canadian Forces in The Great War, I t 1 4 12, vol 1 , Appx J Stat is t ics regarding the establishmen an dst r en g t h of the N.P.A.M. i n p re-and p ost-w ar y ears are giveni n Appendix liB to th i s r ep o r t .6. In 1911 a scheme had been prepared f o r mobilizingan expeditionary force of one d i v i si o n and a cavalry brigade to get her with necessary L. of C. u n i t s , the b at t al i o n s of i n f an t r yto be made up from c o m ~ a n i e s s e nt from various regiments of theM i l i t i a I b i d , Appx 11 . This scheme was not used, however, an dmobiliz a tron-in 1914 took place qui t e haphazardly. Fa ilure tout i l ize the M i l i t i a organization r esu l t ed in units of the C.E.F.having no dire c t connection with i t a t a l l . Recruiting fo r theIn f an try a t f i r s t being done by b a t t a l i o n s , a gr eat many morewere r ai sed than could be used as f i e l d units . As a consequencethe surplus became d r af t - g i v i n g u n i t s which were broken up e i t h e rin Canada or in England. Early in 1917, however, i n f an t r y a t thef r o n t were organized into regiments bearing provinc ia l t i t l eswith corresponding reserve battalions in England and t e r r i to r-ia l regiments with the i r depots i n Canada. H.S.) 500.099 D81):Proc is No. 26 , Mili t ia t ff C ou rs e, 1 92 4- 25 , in i t ia led T.V.A.

M ~ j ~ e n T.V. Anderson, D.S.O., then G.S.O. a t the Royal Mi l i t ar yCollege with the rank of Colonel)).Early Proposals fo r Reorganization Through this -C .E .F. r eor gani zat i on, the Chief ofthe General St af f Maj-Gen W.G. Gwatkin, C.B.) hoped not onlyto aid r e c r u i t i n g but to encourage m i l i t a r y t r a d i t i o n s H.Q.593-31-1, vol 1: Memorandum in i t ia l led II V.G. undated but withpapers of April 1917). There ha d been a suggestion by SenatorJames Mason of Toronto t h a t in order to preserve the i r deedsfighting b a t t a l i o n s should be a l l o t t e d among the M i l i t i a


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j

- 3 -regiments. The off ic ia l reply preparod by the Deputy Minister(Surg-Gen S ir Eugone Fiset , K.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.) stated:Brig-Gen Cruikshank has been dotailod on duty to deal with th ismatter, the work to bo performed in conjunct ion with MajorDoughty, Dominion Archivist (Ibid, Inquiry of the Minister7 Feb, and reply, Apr 17). A marginal noto indicates thatthe C.G.S. did not entirely agree with relegating the matter tothe Director of the Historical Soction, however, and in May 1917he pointed out that preservation of the identi ty and handlingdown of the t radit ions of the Corps then oversoas could only bedone by a complete reorganization of the Canadian Mili t ia ( ibid,Gwatkin to .1.. G., 16 May 17 . -8. Files contain no further reference to the matterunt i l January 1918, when the Minister of Mili t ia Maj-Gen the HonS.C. Mewburn, C.M.G. and the C.G.S. spoke one evening of appoint ing a Committee to consider the future l i fe and welfare of theMilit ia Units H.C2.1937, vol 2: Mewburn to Gwatkin, 21 Jan 18).Mention was made of the name of Maj-Gen Sir William D. Otter,K.C.B., C.V.O., who had just submitted a tentat ive scheme for demobilization of the C.E.F. On th is report the C.G.S. l a te rcommented:

The problem to which I had hoped General Otterwould apply himself, he has not touched: I meanthe fusion of the C.E.F. with the Canadian Mili t ialeading, as I believe i t wil l , t o a re -o rgani za ti onof the l a t t e r on l ines sim ilar to those alongwhich Lord Wolseley worked when he reformed theArmy in 1881.(Ibid, Gwatkin to Mewburn, 28 Jan This f i le also contains acopy of General Otte r s report ,dated 9 Jan 18)

General Gwatkin went on to advocate appointment of a committeewith Maj-Gen Otter as chairman and Brig-Gen Cruikshank as secretary. Suggesting i t s terms of reference, he concluded:diff icul t problem so fa r i t relate? to infantry; comparativelyeasy for the other arms (Ibid). Verbally instructed by theMinister to explore the Situation, General Otter and hiscolleague reported on 31 Jan 18:The impending demobilization of C.E.F. Unitswill afford an unparalleled opportunity forthe reorganization and t e r r i to r ia l readjustment of Units of the Active Mili t ia on properl ines witbout na te r ia l inoreuse to the presentestablishment.

f th is occasion i s los t i t is not l ikelyto recur, and our reconunendation is that theCommittee be author ized to consider and reporton this question and at the same time cr i t ica l lyexamine th e present Mili t ia Act with a view to i t srevision and co-ordination.with the MilitaryService Act.(Ibid, Otter to the Minister ,31 Jan 18)

Gen Gwatkin at once suggested Gen Otter s Conmittee be calledthe lIDemobilizat ion Committee and la id down three specificterms of reference for i t (ibid, Gwatkin to Mewburn, 4 Feb18). His advice does not appear to have been followed, how-


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- 4 -ever, as no further mention of the Otter m ~ i t t e e i s found inthe f i le dealing with demobilization of the C.E.F. (H.Q. 1937,vols 1 to 4).

THE OTTER COMMITTEE

9. One yea.r l a te r General Gwatkin revived thequestion of a COmIlittee on Mlli t iu Reorganization to be headedby S ir William Otter, who was :11so to be Chairnan of the Selection Board concerned with Per,nanent Force appointraents H . ~ .593-31-1, vol 1: Otter to Gwatkin, 23 Jan 19 and reply 6 Feb;als 0 Gwatkin to D M., Feb 19. See :l.ls 0 H Q 462-1-18).Following the Armistice, requests for perpetuation of C.E.F.uni ts , p a rt icu la rl y infantry and ar t i l l e ry had begun to pourin . The C.G.S. los t no tif:1e in draft ing for the COI:l.D.ittee ternsof reference, which the Minister approved on 31 Jan 19. BrigGen Cruikshank was designated Secrotary. Sone delay was caused,however, over selection of a General Officer to represent theOverseas Military Forces of Canada. Sir Willian wanted Brig-GenJ.F.L. Embury, C.M.G., other ~ s proposed included Maj-GenSir H.E. Burstal l , K.C.B., C.M.G., and Brig-Gen R Rennie, C.B.,C.M.G., M.V.O., D.S.O. rhe Corps Conmander (Lt-Gen Sir .Arthur1 ;r Currie, K C B., K C M G.) would not release them, however,and reconnended instead Ma.j-Gen S ir Archibald C Macdonnel,K.C.B., C.M.G.) D.S.O., a nd Brig-Gen i..G.L. McNaughton, D.S.O.,to represent tne Permanent Force and Militi:l respecti v ~ - l y .Jl i: Gwatkin to A. G., 5 Mar 19; Gwatkin to Otter, 22 Mar 19;Currie to Cana.dian Section G.H.Q., 20 Mar l ~ .Appointment of the Cornr rl t te e. 191910, Prelimina.ry notif icat ion of the Otter Committeewas given to a l l Military Districts by A.G. Circul.:1r LetterNo. 424 of 28 Mar 19, but soon after Gen Otter p.roposed IIpronulgation of a Routine Order with a view to giving greater publ ic i ty to so important a schGLle (ibid: Otter to _i.G., 1 5 Apr19). This was done by C.E .F . Routine Order 1913 of 23 Apr 19,which defined the menbership, termB of reference and procedure.A copy is ilttached as Appendix i A: i to th is Report.11. The COLwittee as off ic ia l ly consti tuted consistedof Major-Generals Otter and Macdonell, Brigadier-Generals Cruikshank and McNaughton. During the slliillUer, however, GeneralsMacdonell a.nd Cruiksha.nk ceased to be membors. The former be

C f u ~ e C O E ~ l a n d a n t of the Royal Military College in July 1919. Thel .at ter was lIdropped in favour of General Morris on, whose viewson ar t i l l e ry the. Min ist er des ir ed to ut i l ize There is nooff ic ia l record of these changes, but correspondence suggeststhat there was perhaps some question of personalit ios involved.(Ibid, vol 3: Gwatkin to Morrison, 1 Sep 19; to Cruikshank, 2Sep; to Otter, 3 Sep). As a matter of fact , the Minister hadat one time unseated Sir William Otter himself, according to anote penned by the l a t t e r in June 1919.

I oQ1iged to return these papers without action,as under the decision of the Hon The Minister ofMili t ia conveyed by the Chief of the General Staff


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- 5 -

on the 7th ins t I was relieved irom iur therduty on the Reorganization Comruittee, the l a t teroff icr taking my place.Ibid, vol 2: Minute, Otter to 0., 17 Jun 19)

There is no further l ight on th is action, which did not stand,but i t is in te re sting to note that the C.G.S. became a member ofthe Co ll.lIli t tee The f i les contain no authority ,for th is but hesigned nu...merous papers as J\ cting Secretary. .At pract ica l ly a l lthe meetings held while the CODrlittee was on tour Sir Williampresided and Generals Morrison, Gwatkin and McNaughton werepresent as members. Port Arthur was vis i ted by Generals Otterand Gwatkin alone; Charlottetown only by Generals Morr ison andMcNaughton, with the former presiding.Prelliainary Fla[12. By R. o. 1913 the ComIni t tee was charged to I cons ider and report how best to give effect to th e proposal that ,with a view to preserving thoir tradit ions and ident i ty , theseveral units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which servedat the front , should be incorporated in the Canadian Milit ia; l .Limiting factors were that t he es ta .b lishment should not beavoidably increased nor the divisional system of organizationprejudiced also that due regard should b ~ paid to the servicesof the Mili t ia .13. I t began work by considering suggestions andpeti t ions forwarded to t t w ~ by various C.E.F. units desiringperpetuation. As a working basis , a confidential document wasprinted 7 Jul 19 ent i t led IIReorganization of the i ~ c t i v e NonPermanent) Militis. Infantryli. Circulated unofficial ly toD.Os.C. on 2 Aug and m.::l.rked as ilpurely tento.tive , th is schemel is ted by military dis t r ic t s the existing and proposed unitdesignations. H.Q. 462-16-1, vol 1 contains 0. copy). TheN.P .> oM Cavalry was dealt with in a similar docWllent, alsoprinted J.nd marked aConfidential a.nd ilpurely tentat i ve il a l-though undated. This grouped 21 regli Jonts under The CanadianLight Horse and 13 regiments plus an independent squadron underThe Canadian Mounted Rifles , leaVing The Fort Garry Horse byi t se l f at the head of the l i s t Ibid) At t.le suggestion ofH.R.H. The Duke of Connaught, this regiment was then being considered for inclusion in the Permanent Force. H . ~ . 593-31-1,vol 2: Brig-Gen Fa.tterson to Mewburn, 19 Jun 19). The C.G.S.considered the plan drastic but pointed out art has the one ad-. vantage of a llowing every unit to feel that i t h l s in i t s veinsthe blood of the C.E.F. II ibid: Memo in i t ia l led ;IW.G. to Otter,McNaughton and ... G., 21 Ju l l9T The Adjutant-General MajorGeneral E.C. Ashton, C.M.G.) replied with some very pointedcriticisms ibid: ~ s h t o n to C.G.S., 25 Jul 19).14. Regarding ar t i l l e ry Maj-Gen Sir Edward Morrison,K.C.M.G., prepared early in 1919 while s t i l l overseas as G.O.C.Royal Art i l lery Canadian Corps 0. proposed demobilization schemewhi ch he hoped would form 0. dependable basis for the future .reorga,nization of the Canadian i i . r ~ i l l e r y in such post.:..war Army S Canada. may desire to maintain ibid, vol 1: Morrison to

G ~ O C ~ a n a d i a n . C o r p s 6 Feb 9 ~ Later Brig-Gen McNaughton pUbl lshed In Canadlan C orp s Heavy i i .rt l l lery Routine Order No. 10e of4 Apr 19 his recorrllillindations for the brigades and bat ter is of t ~ a t


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- 6 -Corps ibid, vol 2: Memo signed M c N ~ u g h t o n 31 Jul 19). Printedcopies ~ tentativG scheme for l ~ r t i l l e r y by the Otter

C o r u ~ i t t e e in these early stages do not appoar to exis t , but manyof these ideas were ref lected in a cOlaprehonsive table headedTentati ve Proposal for the Incorporation of the Arti l lery of theCanadian Expeditionary Force into the Canadian Mili t ia non-permanent) . I t i s r larked only 3 S basis fo r disoussion .(H.Q. 462-16-1, vol 1 contains a typewritten copy, undated andunsigned) 1 5 By G. i r c u l ~ r Letter No, 4 51 of 11 Jul 19a l l Military Distr ic ts wore ordered to submit the schenes which

p ~ r a g r p h 4 of R.O. 1913 had dirocted should be prepared, Thesereached Ottawa after the tentat ive proposals of the Canoittee hadbeen put_forth, but doubtless wore studied in deta i l during thesumner nonths (H. .593-31-1, vols 2 2nd 3 contain copies ofthese Reports by D.Os.C.)The Committee on Tour16. Beginning in S e p t e ~ b e r 1919 the Otter Committeevisi ted in turn the principal ci t ies of Canada in accordancewith paragraph 3 of R.O. 1913, File H.Q. 462-16-1 containsvery complete minutes of meetings held in leading a n ~ d i a n ci t ies Lio schedule of these is ts folloWs:

Meeting Date PlacePreliminary 6 Sep 19 OttawaFirs t 7 Sep 19 MontrealSecond 16 Sep 19 Toront 0Third 18 Sep 19 HamiltonFOlJrth 3 Oct 19 OttawaFifth 6 Oct 19 WinnipegSixth 7 Oct 19 Port ArthurSeventh 24 Oct 19 VancouverEighth 2 5 Oct 19 VictoriaNinth 27 Oct 19 CalgaryTenth 29 Oct 19 ReginaEleventh 19 Nov 19 s t John, N,B.Twelfth 2 Nov 19 HalifaxThirteenth 2 5 Nov 19 Charlottet ownFourteenth 1 Dec 19 London, ant.Fifte enth 12 Dec 19 KingstonSixteenth 5 Dec 19 Ott ownSeventeenth 17 Doc 19 Quebec

No minutes exis t for the meeting at quebec nor for the p relim in -ary meeting. The purpose of the fourth meeting, held a t Ottawaon 3 Oct 19, was to hear the views of Mr. H.M. Mowat, M.P. re-garding universal mili tary t ra ining. This phase will be dis-cussed la te r in plragraphs 29-30). During the tour, however,the Committee concerned i t se l f with problems of perpetuation andredesignation of units . In each centre the Distr ic t OfficerC O m L ~ n d i n g sot S on Associate Member and numerous representativesof C.b.F. 2nd Mili t ia units attended. These representativeswere responsible for the i r own expenses but.were granted tro.ns-portat ion warrants within the Distr ic t (H.Q. 593-31-1, vol 3; G Circular Let ter No. 467 of 9 Sep 19). The minutes revealthat they entered quite Vigorously into the debates and provedthemselvGs zealous guardians of regimental t radit ions.


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7 -Cborn.ittee Procedure17. I t was the goneral plan of the Coonittee to pre-pare a printed nenorandun af te r each necting of the tour and send100 copies to the D.O.C. concGrned for distr ibution and furtherstudy. These memoranda o u t l i n e d l ~ h e schene which r e m ~ e n d si t se l f to the Re-Organization Committee , detai l ing the p roposa lsregarding Cavalry, Arti l lery :lnd Infantry of the l1.ctive nonpcrnanent) Mili t ia of the Distr ic t H.Q. 462-16-1, vols 1 and2 contain copies). They ~ r e very useful s u r u ~ a r i e s of conclusionsreached during the tour.18. Subsequent meetings of the C Q ~ n i t t e e were held inOttawa at the turn of tho year but unfortunately no record ofthese is at hand. A memorandum in the handwriting of Maj-GenGwatkin, however , indicates the subjects discussed.

C T I ~ T T E E tffiETINGS1919 Matter s d iscussed

22 Dec Arti l lery27 Dec Inter in report on ar t i l le ry status of22nd Bn. C.E.F. Infantry units inToronto30 Dec . Cavalry C.M.R. status of 22nd Bn.C. E. F.1920

3 Jan Cavalry C.M.R.Mobilization, generalHome DefenceMobilization, part ia l for serviceoverseas.10 Jan Engineers14 Jan Engineers21 Jan 70th Regt de HullEngineersIn f in B.C. No. 1119 Feb C C

d M GH.Q. 462-16-1, vol 2: Memoheaded Comoittee Meetings ,unsigned and undated)

There were no doubt other meetings to f inal ize decisions priorto the pUb lication of General Orders Quthorizing reorganizationof the Milit ia . As these were issued over a period of severalmonths in a series lacking logical order and subject to numerousamendments, i t may be assumed that the Committee attempted tofollow the principle of sat isfying as many i nt er es ted pa rt ie s aspossible. Correspondence indicates that ample opyortunity wasullowed for a l l arguments to be presented and in general promulg:ltion was deferred in cases where d ispute s aro se. For example,the General Order dea ling w ith the Infantry of Military Distr ic tNo.2 , which registered many complaints, was published on 1 May2 whereas in the case of other Military Distr ic ts . action had beentaken a month or more beforehand.

The procedure to be followed in the actual reorg-


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Cavalry

A r t i l l e r y

I n f a n t r y

- 8 -anization of M i l i t i a u n i t s was s e t forth i n a d et ai l ed subnissionto the Minister in Militia. Council by the .d.djutant-Genero.l. Minutes of th e M i l i t i a Council, 1920, vol 1: Decision N o . 2 ,fJ an 2 0 ) .

THREE CONTENTIOUS iUESTIONS20. I t was in ev ita ble th at to sone ext ent the existenceof th e Otte r ~ ~ n i t t e e presented a convenient agency upon whichcould be f o i st ed Bany of the problems which beset th e post-ware ra . At l e a s t thre e of these were n a t t e r s of n a j o r importance. a) Le Vingt-Deuxieme21. Although dealing na inly with the Non-Pernanont

~ t i v e M i l i t i a , the Ot t er CQmittee was t o a minor e xte nt alsoconcerned with the r o co n st i t u t i o n of the Pernanent Force. ByDecision Nunbor 224 of 19 Feb 19 the M inis te r i n M i l i t i a Councilha d detornined under au t h o r i t y of Order-in-Council 29 of .11 Jan19 t h a t i t s conposition would be as follows:Royal Canadian DragoonsLord Stra thc ona s Horse RoyalCanadians)Royal C an ad ia n H or se A r t i l l e r yRoyal Canadian Garrison A r t i l l e r y

Royal Canadian Engineers - two f o r t r e s s crompaniesThe Royal Canadian RegimentH.Q. and five companies)Princ e s s P a t r i c i a s Canadian LightInfa ntry H.t1. an d 4 companies)

Detachmen t s of Army Service, Medical, Veterinary,Ordnance and Pay Corps and the Corps of M ilita ryS t a f f Clerks C.E.F. R.O. No. 1716 of 25 Feb 19)

22. Immediately following pUblication of t h i s as anappendix to G.O. 27 of 1 Apr 19, the City Council of Quebecpe tit ione d t h a t the 22nd French Canadian) B a tta lion C.E.F.become nO por t i on of the permanent M i l i t i a Force and be st at i o n edin the City of Q uebec H G ~ 593-31-1, Vol 1 contains theo f f i c i a l copy of t h i s r eso l u t i o n adopted unanimously 4 Ap r 19).Other regiments were a.lso seeking inc lus ion in the PernunentForce, but t h i s request car r i ed considerable weight and wasbacked strongly by the l o c a l branch of th e Great War Veteranshs s oc ia tion. At the suggestion of the M i ni st er , i t was immediately re fe rre d to the Ot t er COf:1ll1it te e . I bi d: Mo j Y / R Creightonto C.G.S., 9 Apr 1 9 ~23 . Early i n May 1919 the Dire c tor o f O rg an iz at io n Col J. Sutherland Brown C.M.G. D.S.O.) s t a t e d t h a t the aut hor ized s tre ngth of the P erm an en t F or ce would not permit the organization of another infa ntry b a t t a l i o n , but a f t e r a v i s i t toMontreal he observed t h a t th e East was taking l i t t l e pa rt in th e


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- 9 -then prevalent in various parts of Canada and pointed out thatthe Mili t ia of ~ u e f u e c should be encouraged.

I understand that a ill to increase the PenoanentForce from 5,000 to 10,000 is to be laid beforethe House very shortly In order to give the Militia th is stimulus,and 21so to provide for a French speaking force,which may be used in any pnrt of Canada topreserve order, I strongly recrumuend th2t the22nd Canadian Battalion, C.E.F. be consti tutedas a Unit of the Permanent Force.

l 2i.S ., vol 1: Br JWn to .1..G., 26 May 19)24. Against considerable opposit ion, General Mewburnon 24 un 19 steered through the House of O D r ~ o n s the proposalto double the sta tu to ry lim it of the Permanent Force to10,000* and in November the reginental establishLlents of the IPermanent Force were anended e ..,nong other ch2nges, there wasadded a Canadian Machine Gun Corp,s whose orgQnizQtion had beenauthorized in June. G.O. 47 of 1 Jun 19 ~ n d G.O. 90 of 3 Nov19). No provision was nade fo r a dd itio na l in fa ntry units , buttowards the end of the year the Otter COQTIittee found the 22ndBattalion C.E.F. s t i l l strongly desirous of being included. The r u ~ i t t e e reported that sone sixteen French-Canadian unitsclained connection with i t Qnd therofore recoLrrlended that i t benade part of the PORlanent Force with a headquarters and twocanp:J .nies , one of the l a t t e r to be withdrawn from the Royal ,CnnJ.dio.n Reginent. The name proposed was itThe Q,uebec RegimeIft:1st Bn (22nd Bn, C.E.F.) with the t i t l e Roya,l possibly addedla ter

On general grounds, the effect would be good:a French Canadian bat tal ion borne on the establishment of the Permanent Force, and s e r v i n g ~in the province of Quebec, could hardly fa i lto s t i m u l ~ t e the military spi r i t which amongstFrench-Can2dians, e s p e i ~ l l y those of the off icerclass, i s o n s p i ~ o u s l y absent.

(H.Q.462-l6-l, vol 2: Memo on thesubject of the 22nd (French-Canadian)Bn., C.E.F., unsigned, 1 Jan 20)To this the Minis te r r ep lied on 9 Jan:

I fear i t will be impossible to include this Unitas part of the Permanent Force. I spent a l l las tevening on Estimates at Privy Council, 2nd theat t i tude is to cut down and cut down.(Ibid: Mewburn to Otter, 9 Jan 20)

The C.G.S. at once pointed out a company could be withdrawnfrom each of the two existing P.F. regiments, leaving onlythe pay of four addit ional off icers and N.C.Os to be net(Ibid: Gwatkin to Mewburn, 10 Jan 20). The proposJ.l gained For financial reasons, the Force was never re cru ite d to th isnumber. The words in whole or part were inserted here in the handwriting of Gen Gwatkin.


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10tho fo..vour of S ir Arthur Curr ie , Inspector-General and M l l i i b o ~ yCounsel lor, who obtained the approval of the Minis ter in Mil i t iaCounci 1 on 10 Feb 20 (Deci sion Ne. 1.53). The new uni t w0ac tua l ly c.u thor i zed as tho 22nd Regimen t G. o. 37 of ~ Apr 20),the t i t l e IIRoyal being added over year l a t e r (G.O. 149 of 1Jun 21) . Regimental establ ishments of the th roe in fa nt ry u n it sof the Perma.nent Force when a.mended provided four companies fo rthe R ~ C R three fo r tho P.P .C.L. I . , a.nd two for the 22e R,2.5. There i s no d i roc t ovidence tha t tho o t t e rCommittee had a.ny fu r the r inf luence upon tho recons t i tu t ionof the Permanent Force, apar t from ensur i ng the inclusion of French-Canadia.n uni t . I t i s cer ta in t ha t the o n ~ i t t e e didnot or ig ina te the proposal rega.rding the For t Garry Horse (seopara. 12) , Which in the event wa.s not ca.rried out .(b) Prince Edward Is land26. Anmng ma.tters referred to the o t t e r Committeo wasthe content ious question of a separate Mili tary Dis t r i c t fo rPrince Edward Is land, which in 1911 ha.d beon grouped wi th NOVa.Scotia in M.D. No. 6 on the recommendation of S ir John French.Certa in pro te s t s made tha.t time through po l i t i c a l channelswere brushed as ide on mil i ta ry grounds. (H.Q. 9939-1-9: Maj-Gen Colin MacKenzie (C.G.S.) to D.M., 28 Ju l 11. This f i l e i sin badly damaged condi t ion) . In 1918 the D.O.C., M.D. No .6Mo.j-Gon F.F. Lessard, C.B.) found Illi t t le troub los had boene;raduo.lly pi l ing up in to 0. desire fo r 0. separate d i s t r i c t buthe secured ins tead the appointment of un O.C. Troops, P .E . I .ib id: Lessard to Secty Mil i t i a Council, 10 May and r ep ly , A.G.to D.O.C., M.D. No . 6 , 23 May 18) .27. In July of the fo l lowing year , however, pol i t i ca lpressure was appl ied and the C.G.S . commented tiThe Milit ia. ofCanada i s a federa l for co which tho re i s 0. mischi evous tend encyto provincin l ize ib id: Gwo.tkin to Private Secretary , 14 Ju l 19) .Tho Minister was beSIOgod by Senators and Members of Parl iamentas well as 0. deputation from the Is lan d but would toke no act ionlunt i l we know what tho fu turo policy of the Mil i t ia reorganizat ionwi l l bo ib id : Mewburn to D. Nicholron, M.P., 18 Ju l 19) .Pol i t i c a l pressure from the Is land was again o.pp l iod in Novemb e r ,in response to which tbe C.G.S. wired Gener al Morrison Ministerwishos committee while a t Charlottetown to hoar a l l t ha t loca lau thor i t ie s have to say regarding establishment of P.E. I . asseparate Mili ta ry Dis t r i ct II ib id: Gwa tk in to D.O.C., M.D. No. 6fo r Morrison, 24 Nov 19) . It-sEOuld bo notod tha t only Genera l s ,Morrison and McNaughton proceeded to the Is land, the formeract ing as Chairman pro-tem. Fi l es do not reveal Why the othertwo membors of tho Oommitteo returned to ottawa a ft er v is it i ngHalifax on 20 Nov 19.28. Minutes and newspaper accounts of the meeting on2.5 Nov a t Charlottetown bear out the previous comment of theC.G.S. , for the arguments were almost exclusively based on provinc ia l pride and prejudice . They were suf f ic ient ly impressive,never the less , to r esu l t in th o fo llowing r epor t :

As a re su l t of the represGntat ions made tis well asof enquir ies on the spot , the undersigned m ~ e r sof the COElIilittee recommend tha t , in the i r opinion i s advisable tm t the Province be formed in toa separate .mi l i tary di s t r ic t , commanded and admini s te red by a loca l of f i c e r of war experienc e ,

In. 1874, one yoar a f t e r enter ing Confedoration, tho Province ofPrlnce Edward Is land had boen so t up as Mili tary Dis t r i c t NumberTwolve.


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- 11 -

assis ted by Staff consisting of a BrigadeMajor, and Paymaster, with th e necess aryN.C.O's Qnd clorks.(Ibid: Morrison and M c N ~ u g h t o nto C.G.S., 3 Dec 19)

In this the Inspector-Genera l (Sir Arthur Currie) concurredbut the Mili t ia Council postponed c o n s i d e r ~ t i o n unt i l 1 Apr20 (ibid: I.G. to 3.M.C., 17 Jan ~ n d reply, 27 Jan 20).MeanWFiITe in a g e n e r ~ l Cabinet shuffle, the Hon Hugh Guthrieb e c ~ e Minister of Mili t ia and renewed pressure was appliedon him by I s l ~ n d poli t icians (ibid: N i c h ~ l s o n etc to Guthrie,25 Mar 20. The House of Commons-Gn 18 Mar 20 formally calledfor subLlission of the report of the COrJ.nittee on Reorganizationnd in par t icular the report regarding Prince Edward Island(H.Q. 462-16-1, vol 3: H. of C. Order Doved by Mr. Robb, 18Mar 20). In reply, the C.G.S. wrote, The Conmittee on Reorgani za tion w i ll not subnit a g e n e r ~ l report , nor has i t yet completed i t s labours :md with regard to the report on the mil-i tary s ta tus of P. E. 1. he pointed out to the Minister 1 1 warn youthat i t s production just now may create an embarrassing sitUQtion: (iJ2..li: Gwatkin to Secty M. D., 26 Mar 20). The Mili t iaCouncil in April def er red action pending discussion in the PrivyCouncil, where th e question was ~ l l o w e d to dio. Even withoutpossessing fu l l knowledge of the pol i t ica l background, i t is quiteobvious that the Otter Comnit tee or a part of i t bec.:l.ne involved in contentious poli t ical issue which did i t l i t t l e good.A f inal attempt to reopon the matter in January 1921 met with thesane fate, e'conony in military ex;.:>onditure then coming into vogue(H.q. 9931-1-9: d.G. to the Minister, 4 Jan 21).(c) Universal Military Training29. There is considerable evidence to indicate tha tthe Otter O ~ i t t e e was great ly influenced by arguments favouring universal mili tary training for the youth.of C ~ n a d ~ . Outstanding among earl ier advocates of such a scheme was the Canadian Defence League, whose journal published before the War animpor tant Senate debate on 4 Jun 12 led by the Hon L.G. Powerof Halifax, N.3. (Canadian Defence, July 1913. A copy i s onf i le H.Q.C. 2862, vol 1). In 1917 the P ~ e s i d e n t of the Leaguewrote on the subject book which gained considerable attention(Merrit t , Col ~ . H . , Canada and National Service). Conscription for overseas service then being in force, many of f ice r snaturally c a ~ e to be favourably disposed towards compulsory service in peace tine too . The very month the Armis tice was declaredMaj-Gen Gwatkin advised that scheL1.e for uni versal trainingshould be submitted to Parliament at the approaching session andobtained pGTIuission frOB the Minister to p r e p ~ r e a draft (H.Q.C.2862, vol 1: 'Gwatkin to D.M., 20 Feb 18, with fuinute in i t ia l ledS.C.M. ). In this he was strongly supported by Lt-Col O.M.Biggar, then Judge Advocate General i b i d : M e m o r ~ n d u m respecting mili tary organization in Canada af ter the War nd l1Reorganization of the Mili t ia : Memorandum of a possible schem)lI, bothby Lt-Col Biggar, dated 13 Dec 18 and 22 Jun 19 respectively).Attenpts to arouse public enthu sia sn for the proposnl were ledby Major H.M. Mowat, a Toronto Membor of Parliament (Mowat, H.M.,f Citizen Am.yil, Queen's QJuCtrterly, Oct - Dec 1918. H.Q..C. 2862,vol contains a copy). The Deputy Minister foresaw trenendousdiff icul t ies however, and the Minister although livery muchinterested , was ilinclinec1 to think tha.t i t would be premJ.ture tointroduce legis lat ion on the SUbject of universal training, ~ tany rate unt i l af ter e n o b i l i ~ t lon, when tho in fluence of the


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-,

e m c ~ t i c country is defence against agression and the preserv2tion of law and order , i t was emph


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14 -This Force requires 132 Infan try Batt al ions,and 36 Cavalry Reginents. I

(Ibid, pp 27-8)- 35. Considering the distr ibution of the Mili t iathroughout Canada, the nenorandurl advocated aboli t ion of

i l i t a r y i s t r i ~ t s and subst i tut ion of a dual systen sui tablefor both peace and wartine condit ions. t i s necessary then to keep clearly in nind thedifferent functions to be pcrforncd by and to dist l ~ g u i s h between-(a) The t e r r i to r i a l organization for adninis trat ion,and train in g in peace and for the supply andt raining of reinforcenents in war.(b) The organization for the c O l l ~ a n d of the unitsplaced in the f ie ld on nobil izat ion.

For (a) an organization of Provincial OOnIlandsis contemplated, and for (b) a Divisional system. f the units of a l l ~ n ~ s are evenly distributedthe actual fighting Divisions may be madeei ther on a te r r i tor ia l or natiunal basis ,according to circumstances.

NOTE:- Terri tor ia l for e ~ e n c eNational for ExpeditionaryIn view of the above, a l l c a l ~ u l a t i o n s ondistr ibution of troops wil l be nade on thebasis of Provinces, and the units of a l larms and services will be u n i f o r ~ l y dis t r i -buted according to the ra t io in which they arerequired in a Division.The local i t ies which require garrisons offor tress troops wil l receive due consideration when the question of distr ibution ofCorps, Anny and L. of units is taken up.

~ p.30)36. t was considered that the most suitable regi-mental organization for the Infantry would be two ~ c t i v e Mili t ia1st Line Battalions, one 2nd Line, and one of the ReserveMili t ia of the 1st Line. CanadaYs exis t ing 110 infantry regiments Gould probably not be reduced below lOO br ucalBanationor disbandment and as a consequence the majority of the regiments will have only one active battal ion for the present , butrapid increase of population would take care of this la terWith regard to the Cavalry, each regiment of Active Mili t ia wouldrequire a 2nd Line and a reserve regiment. These calculationsassumed a peace strength of 375 a l l ranks for a cavalry regiment and 750 for an infantry battal ion with a three year termof enlistment.37. On this basis extensive tables were worked outto show the al locat ion of annual drafts by ~ l r m s and Services andthe distr ibution of units among the pr evinces. The memorandum


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- 1.5-then proceeded to deal with the Permanent Force organization,but a f t e r b r i e f generalizations abruptly ended in a n ~ t a t i o npencilled, i t is believed, in the handwriting of General

M c N a u g h t o n ~ reaclipg aThe rema.inder of t_le report i s under pre ;pa.ration and wil l be submitted la te ra ( ib id ). The f i l e however, contains no fur ther papers other t h ~ n estimates of tne .cost of the scheme (see paragraph 31 above). 38. I t is interest ing t o note sone co w m ents made a tthe time by Gen McNaughton with reference t o the table s re fe rr edto above, part icularly Table Jil en t i t l e d I ~ ~ l l o c . J . t ion of )I,nnuo.lDrafts to Infantry, Co..vo.lry, Division.1l Corps and i l rray Troops .

This taole W drawn up with 'compulsoryt r a i n i n g i n view r ~ n d i s not s t r i c t l ya p p l i c ~ b l e to a Ml1itia with t e r r ~ of service analogous t o what weTe in effec t inCanada prior to the war.The n l l i a b ~ r of units required i s approxi@atelythe same whether Compulsory or. VoluntaryService i s adopted.With the l a t t e r t ~ e r e seees l i t t l e chcnce ofembodying more than 50 per cent of the yearlyclass which are physically f i t for t raining,but the peace strengths of the u n i ~ s nay withadvantage be considerably reducod.

H . ~ . 4 ~ 2 - l 6 - l vol 1:lJiIemorandum on the Re'organization of the Canadian M i l i t i a in theIN estern P r o v i n c e s i l ~signed by McNaughton,undated)With regard t o t h e Infantry, Gen McNaughton f e l t that there was

a l r e a ~ y a suff ic ient n ~ r of units i n the M a r i t i m ~ a n d Brit ish o l i l l ~ b i a w h e r e ~ s Onturio had S8me 12 s u r p l ~ s bat tal ions; on theother hand, considerable increases were necessary in quebec andthe P r a i r i e Provinces. Moreover, although s a t i s f i e d with theCavalry, he f e l t l'In Art i l l e r y Engineers and AuxiliClry Servi ces,u marked increase wil l be required in each Province (Ibid)39. Conscription in 1917 had dealt the Union Govern-ment a severe blow, ~ n d by 1920 nei ther the ~ l d m i n i s t r l t i on northe country was i n the mood to be convinced of the necessityfor universal mi lit ar y tr ain ing . When a legal firm wrote forinformation, Gen Gwatkin point ed out th:,.t i t would be aimpoli t i cfor the Mili t ia Department to lay i t s e l f open to the charge ofattempting, by means .Jf proRago.nda, to pave the way to compulsorymili tary service: (H.Q..C. 2t562, vol 1: Minute 3, GWCltkin to~ r i v Q t e Secretary, 3 Jan 20, on l e t t e r Rowan) Somraerville Company to the Minister, 20 Jan 20). In February, 1920, TheCanadian Military Gazette and The University Magazine (McGill)publicized, certain portions of the scheme, especially those concerned with the t raining of boys. Full dress debate in the Houseof C m ~ ~ o n s took place on 31 Mar 20 with Major Mowat ~ ~ d Brig-Gon ~ f . , n GriesbClch as leading protagonists , but the Governmentput forward no spokesman and took no steps to p r Q ~ o t e an Acton Compulsory Training (Ibid, Vol 2: Fiset to J.el. McClung,University of ~ ~ l . l b e r t a 24 NoV 20. This f i l e also contains copiesof the magazine a r t i c l e s and the debate in the House).


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- 17 -In the absence of on of f i c i a l r epor t , a br i o f examination ofthosopubl i shed during i t s l i fe t ime wi l l sorve to indicate thepol icy put in to pract ice . In addi t ion , Minutes of the Mil i t i aCouncil , 1920 throw considerable l i gh t upon the manner in whichf i na l decis ions were made.(a) Cavalry ani Mounted Rif les43. G0neral Order No. 26 of 1.5 Mar 20 provided forreorganizat ion of the Co..valry into 26 regimoots with two Alber tauni ts to be disbanded. C.E.F. uni ts were perpetuated by anaddi t iona l seven regiment s of Mounted Riflos each w ith one o rtwo Reserve regiments . Fi r s t l ine regiments authorized by tb i sOrder therefore to tnl led 33.44. t wo..s l a t e r decreed by G.O. 184 of 1 Nov 20 thn ta Cavnlry regimen t , upon reorgill1ization, would cons i s t of Head-.quar ters n three squadrons. 1l.t the same t i ne , G.O. 18.5 authorized far each act ive caval ry regiment 0. corresponding ResGrveregiment.4.5. Brigade organizat ion was se t up by G.O. 88 of 1.5Jun 20, which provided for seVGn mounted br igades . Each wasa l lo t t ed three regiments , with un addi t ional regim8nt at tachedin each case to the 6th and 7th Mountod Brigades. Tho remaining ten regiments l e f t unbrigaded were to be avai lablo fo rallotment as Corp s Cavalry fo r l oca l defence and general duty onLines of COIDQunication.46. Gene ra l Ordor s of the period made no mention ofdivis ional or corps o rg an iz atio n f or the Cavalry or MountedRif le s . From appreciat ions writ ten a decade l a t e r , however, ti s known t ha t the Otter Committee had in mind four cavalrydivis ions (two cavalry corps) requir ing a t o t a l of 24 regimentsplus 11 to be avai lable fo r in fan t ry div is ions . By 1930 thoee3.5 cavalry regiment s were in exis tonc e . (IlMemorandum on theReorganizat ion of the Non-Pernnnont Active i l i t i a ~ 29 Jan 31,in i t i a l l ed by General Crerar (then Lt-Col, G.S.O. I , page 2and Tables All and B . A copy is in th e p os se ssio n of His tor-

i c a ~ Section (G.S.) Army Hoadquarters. See also ~ S .5902,vol 1: MeIllo McNaughton to the Minister, 21 Dec 31, p .2 .Al,so by 1930 headquarters had been o rg an iz ed fo r nine mountedbri gades, corresponding to cavalry bri gades in the Bri t i shArmy. The peaco or ganiza t ion of the Fi eld Army was by no meanscomplete, hONever, and no hi01er forma t ion than the brigadeexis ted . M c N a u ~ 1 . t o n Papers, Book C: aMemorandum on the LandForces of Canada, 1930 , i n i t i a l l ed H.H.M.il (Col l a t e r MajorGoneral) H.H. Matthews, D.M.O. I . t Soptember 1930. Inpossession of the His tor i ca l Sect ion}.(b) Art i l l e ry47. Reorganizat ion of N.P.A.M. a r t i l l e ry uni ts wasaccomplished by G.Os. 13 and 25 of 2 Fob and 1.5 Mar 20 respec t -ive ly .* Field a r t i l l e ry uni ts were ro-numbered and re-groupedinto brigades, each consi s t ing of a headquarters ani fourba t tGries , but many were l e f t unbrigaded. In addi t ion , ba t te r ie sof hoavy or of siege a r t i l l e ry were grouped in to brigades ofhoavy a r t i l l e ry . On the other hand, companies of CanadianGarrison Art i l l e ry wore grouped into rogiments. In many

Perpetuat ion of a r t i l l e ry uni ts of the C.E.F. was made tnosubject of a s e p a r a t ~ General Order many years l a t e r (G.O. 83of 1 Oct 27) .


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- 18 -cases n i l l ~ e s of locali t ies were added to numerical d6signations.Particular at tent ion was directed tGwards grouping under thet i t l e 2nd Montreal RegiLlent, C.A. a l l ar t i l l e ry units on theisland, the batter ies being ass igned to the 2nd Brigade, C F ~or the 2nd Heavy Brigade. The Milit ia Council o rig inally in tended that COLlmnnding Officers of ar t i l l e ry units should begazetted at the sane time as the General Orders were pUblished,but as this would have involved too much delay the decision Wasrevoked.48. Severa l yea rs l a te r G.O. 82 of 1 Jul 25 detaileddrast ic changes of nomenclature which i n ~ r o d u c e d a nlliJ1ber of newterms. Brigades were designated l Field , MediWJ.II, llHeavy orIi Coast \ batter ies were sinil3.rly terf.1cd Field , l'Mediurn II orHeavy il; ;;.11 ant i a i rcraf t units were cal lcd Sections t Theterm Siege as well as the in i t ia l s ; I C F _ ~ l l and I C G ~ .... ;1 disapi?eared.

49.N.P .,.J...M. : By 1930 there had actual ly been organized in the20 Field Brigade Headquarters65 Field Batter ies (49 x 18 pdr; 16 x 4.5 in How3 Medium Brigade Headquarters12 Medilliu Batter ies (3 x 60 pdr; 8 x 6 in How;1 x 4.7 in)3 Heavy Brigade Headquar ters (Coast )11 Heavy Batteries (2 x 8 in How3 Anti-aircraf t Sections

(Book Memo on Land Forces, Q ,p.6)A few other units although authorized await-ed P.C. authorityto organize, but there s t i l l were serious deficiencies in a l ltypes except 8 inch Howitzer batteries . For example, thereshuuld have been 150 batter ies cif Field .iJ..rtillery based on thefollowing:

12 for v l ~ y Horse Arti l lery Brigades99 for 11 Infantry Divisions33 for Corps rmy Field Brigades6 for A ~ l Y Field Brigadesrhere was a very se r i ous lack in Corp sand i > rF ly Troops and AirDefence units such as medium, heavy and. . .l batteries , surveyc O l ~ p a n i e s ~ J aml searchlight units . (Crerar Memo,' c i t p.4and Tables ; l ..ll ana. ;lB;).50. As in the case of cavalry regiments, actualallotment of ar t i l l e ry units to divisions does not appear tohave been laid dawn by the Otter Committee.(c) Engineers51. The Otter Committee was on the verge of dissol-ution before policy with regard to the engineer units nf theN.P.A.M. had been p r ~ u l g t e d in Genera l Orders (Minutes of theMilit ia Council, 1920, vol 2: Decision No. 764 of 17 Jun 20).Reorganization on a temporary basis only was outlined by G.O.


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- 19 -89 of 15 Jun 20, which provided for 11 v s o n ~ l or dis t r ic tengineer headquarters, 33. f ield compcmies, and 20 niscellaneousuni t s . iLS interim arrangement, the Order restr icted Jrganizat ion to c e r t ~ i n units and detailed their distr ibution byMilitary Dist r ic ts .52. By 1930 there had been fomed a l l 11 headquartersbut only 15 f ield c o a p ~ n i G s and not quite half the reBainingunits Book C Memo on Land Forces, E c i t p.6 -d Corps of Guides53. The Corps of Guides had Gxisted in the Can2dianMili t ia since 1903, but, there being no Guides on the establ ishflent of a Brit ish infantry d iv isio n, the pGrsonnel had to bedistr ibuted among other C.E.F. units during the War. On theother hand, the Canadian Mili t ia lacked cyclis t units and whenthe divisional War Establishr.lent was al tered in 1914 to providea cyclis t company i t was necessary to ca l l for volunteers frona l l arns and services. Duguid, p.67 .54, There is evidence that the Otter COQflittee a t anearly stage favoured reorganization of the Corps of Guides intocycl is t canpanies. I ts memornndULl regarding tentat ive reorganiZQtion of the N.P._ ...M. in Military District No.2 stated:

I t is proposed that the Corps of Guidesshould be associated with the CanadianCyclist Corps, C.E.F., and, i f i t be decidedto include cycl is t. un it s in the future establishment of the Mili t ia , the Corps of Guidesshould fu rn ish th ea .H.Q. 462-16-1, vol 1

55. The remarks of the ~ d j u t a n t G e n e r a l made l a te rto the Mili t ia Council in this connect ion are of in teres t .While the Corps of Guides has, in thepast , f i l led Q useful p l ~ c e in the ActiveMili t ia of Canada, there is no role for theCorps in i t s present form in the War Organizat ion.I t is considered that the Intel l igenceduties performed by t ~ e Corps of Guides intime of peace could be bet ter p e r f o n ~ e d byBattalion and Brigade IntelligGnce Sections.By the creation of Battalion and BrigadeIntell igence Sections, Peace Organizationwould be based on what was actually found

necessary in time of war. The adoption of theWar Organization ensured that the members ofcombatant Units were trained to the need ofclose co-operation between the sources ofifIntel l igence 11 and the neans of fActi on I I .In the concentration of Intell igence intoone Corps, there i s a tendency to divorce intel l igence from action, which is fa ta l .The suggested reorganization of the Corpsof Guides into twelve Cyclist Companies provides each M ~ l i t a r y District with Q CyclistCompany, with two Companies for Military i s ~t r i c t No 2, which wil l have a l iberal estab-


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companies authorized hadrated [ Efficient to Good Canadian universi t ies thatto tal of 39 companies

- 20 -l ishnent of Officers, who, in additionto the r eg inen ta l du tios , wil l carry outany special intel l igence wurk requiredby the G.O.C. of the Distr ictOn mobilization for war services orHOfle Defence, Cyclist CompQni6s would becOflbined into Cyclist Battalions as Unitsof Corps Troops, or be t t c h e ~ to Divis ions as Divisional Troops, as the casemight be.

(Minutes of the M ili tiD. C0uncil,1920, vol 2: G. Submission~ 7 and Decision No. 496 of28 20)56. Confirmation of this policy was Lmde by G.O. 75of 15 May 20, which authorized 12 cycl is t coapanies. Later, atentat ive establishment was provided by G.O. 163 of 1 Oct.20.The next month nunbering and allocJ.tion of these 12 conpaniesto Military Distr ic ts took place by G.O. 205 of 15 Nov 20. Forreasons of sentiment they retained the n i l l ~ e of Corps of Guidesalthough without central organization. Each conpany was alloweda Corps Reserve Cyclist Company by G.O. 66 of 1 Mar 21. Policychanged within a decade, however, ~ n d G.O. 191 of 1 Dec 28 provided for disbandnent of the Corps of Guides of the N.P.effective 31 Mar 29.(e) Office rs Tra in ing Corps and Cadets57. The study of man-power undertaken in 1919 con-templated the provision and t raining of a large nunber ofo fficers fo r the Active Mili t ia , Pernanent Force and Reserve ofOfficers through Officers Training Corps units open to studentsat universi t ies and selected technical schools (H.Q.S. 3500:p.28). Files on the Otter ~ l i t t e e do not elaborate on th isunfortunately. Authorized oompanies in 1919 to tal led 64.General Orders of the period ref lec t a certain ~ o u n t of reorganizat ion but no defini te policy other than G.O. 82 of 1 Jun 20which authorized a Corps Reserve for each contingent of theC.O.T.C.58. By 1930 the number ofbeen reduc0d to 41, of which 30 were(Crerar Memo: Tables ; A and IIC ).year sponsored 22 contingents with aBook C, Memo on Land Forces, p.6) .59. With regard to Cadets, f i les indicate tha t theOtter Conwittee stud ied the question at some length and while ontour obtained a great deal of advice and inforraation from in ter-ested officers . f il though General Orders of t ~ e period do notindicate what policy the Committee favoured, i t is s ignif ic an t tonote that in the year ending 31 Mar 21 Parliament ~ n c r e s e d theappropriation for Cadet Services from 100,000 to 390,000 andnlliubers t rained correspondingly. increased by nearly 15,000. Some115 inactive c ~ p n i e s were d isbanded but 106 new ones wereauthorized. On that date to ta l strGngth stood at 81,493, organized into 713 Cadet Corps compris ing 1,627 ccnpanies. (Report ofthe e p r t m e ~ t of Mili t ia and Defence, 31 Mar 21, p.14).


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- 21 -f ) Infantry60. The greatest problem fncinB the Otter Conoitteeundoubtedly w ~ s the reorganization ~ n rodesign)tion of infantryunits in order to perpetuate t radi t ions Qnd t i t l e s of the past .Within the fraIlework of the i ~ c t i v e Mili t ia provision had to be

~ a d e for the perpetuation of the 50 fighting and 260 reinforcingbat tal ions of the C.E.F. Preliminary Canadian Narrativ e, 2 c i tChap I p.5) . Many a 8 e n i l i ~ e n t s subsequently were necessa ry butthe basic schene for each Mili tary Distr ic t was made the SUbjectof a separate General Order. ~ schedule these follows:M I L I T ~ ~ R Y DISTRICT GENER L ORDER D; TE

No 39 1 Apr 20No. 2 66 1 May 20No. 3 27 15 Mar 20No. 4 40 1 Apr 20No. 5 41 1 Apr 20No. 6 42 1 Apr 20No. 7 28 15 Mar 20No. 10 29 15 Mar 20No. 11 30 15 Mar 20No. 12 31 15 M l r 20No. 13 32 15 Mar 20These Orders l i s ted in detai l the new t i t l e for each regimenttogether with the C.E.F. units i f any) perpetuated by i t sbat tal ions. In general, numerical designations which the Mili t iahad formerly employed were abolished in.favour of regimentalnar:J.es. Originally i t was intended to add the l e t t e rs jIB.E.F.af ter those battal ions which hQd served in France but the Mili t iaCouncil ruled that C.E. F. i should be used instead. Minutes ofthe Mili t ia Council, 1920, vol 1: Minute dated 3 Feb 20 toDecision No. 125 of 27 Jan 20). i ..l l regiments were al lo t ted oneor more active battal ions together with an equivalent or highernlli1ber of reservo battal ions; several had two of the l a t te r anda few as I mny as four or five. The reserve bat tal ions, beyondhaVing a complement of officers , were only paper units in peace,but in war they were intended to serve as reinforcing depotsfor the active bat tal ions. P r e l i m i n ~ r y Canadian Narrative,Chap I p.5) . Within a regiment i t s b ~ t t a l i o n s were nuoberedconsecutively beginning with those of the 1st Line.61. By G.O. 83 of 1 Jun 20 infantry rogiments of morethan one active battal ion were granted an establishment of aRegimental Headquarters ~ n s i s t i n g of a Cmuoundant Colonel),Regimental Adjutant Major), Orderly Officer Captain or Lieu-tenant), a Regimental Sergeant Major ~ O I) and an OrderlyRoam Sergeant. This was in l ine with that approved by G.O. 52of 15 Apr 20 for the Montreal Regiment, Canadian Arti l lery andcould be ado)ted by the following regiments:

2nd Regiment Queens Own Rifles of CanadaOld designation)Royal Highlanders of Canada1st Brit ish Columbia RegimentNorth Saskatchewan RegimentSouth Saskatchewan RegimentEdmonton RegimentCalgary Regiment Minutes of the Mili t ia Council,fj920, vol 2: Submissiono. 469 and Decision No. 494of 28 Apr 2


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- 22 -62. There were two other General Orders of the periodwhich ref lected the policy of the Otter C o ~ ~ i t t e e with regard tothe N.P .1.M. Infan t ry. The f i r s t of these waS G. o. 38 of 1 Apr20, which detailed the t raining establishment of a b ~ t t Q l i o n ona four-company basis . I t stated specif ical ly The Reorganizationof Infa.n try Battalions of the Non-PenGanent Active Mili t ia ofCanada, both City and Rural CorpsJ wil l conforo to the DoubleComp::..ny organizat ion QS laid down in Infant r Training, 1914 A copy of this booklet is aVJ.ilo.ble in the ibrary of theHistorical Section (G.S. )) . This p roviles fo r 0. Battalion Headquarters and four conpanies with a tota.l personnel o f 541 a l l

r ~ n k s and @eant 0. repudiation of the pre-war orgo.nization ofeight companies which h ~ d caused so much confusion in the earlydays of the C.E.F. (Duguid, c i t p.148). This point hJ.d beenle f t to the discret ion of the-n.Os.C. as la te as March 1919H.Q.. 593-31-1, vol 4: .G. Circular Letter No. 421, 17 Mar 19).63. In so fa r as Infantry was concerned, what m3Y beregarded as the s ~ L a t i o n of the Otter C o ~ ~ i t t e e s work appearedin G.O. 91 of 15 Jun 20. By th is Order Infantry brigadesN.P._lo.M.) of Military Distr icts were reconsti tuted as follows:

DIVISION INF. BDES 1st 1s t 2nd, 3rd2 2nd 4th, 5th, 6th2 5th 14th2 22nd (Reserve)3 3rc1 7th, 8th, 9th4 4th 10th, 11th, 12th5 5th 13th, 15th6 6th 17th, 18th7 6th 16th10 20th11 23rd12 19th, 21st13 24th

The Order named the four battalions compr ls lng each brigade anda lso speci fi ed those attached or lef t unbrigaded. In general ,this reconsti tution of brigades followed very closely the organization of Field Army Tables, 1913 c i t .64. The number of infantry batta l ions authorized in1919 total led 112: by 1930 there were 123. Requirements for 11divisions or 33 brigades, however, to tal led 132 .battal ions.(Crerar Memo, Tables : 11. and 1IBiI). Only 26 Infantry BrigadeHeadquarters had been organized and no nigher formation for Fieldoperations existed Book C, Memo on Land Forces, pp 5 and 6).In c o m p ~ r i s o n with other Arms and SerVices, nevertheless, organizat ion of the C ~ v a l r y and Infantry along l ines laid down by theOtter C ~ ~ l i t t e e had shown greatest progress.(g) Machine Gun Corps65. Shortly af ter the const i tut ion of the OtterComruittee, the Canadian Machine Gun Corps e i l l ~ e an authorizedCorps of the Active Mili t ia of Canada. G.O. 47 of 1 Jun 19 provided for an establishH8nt in the N P ~ ~ of two Motor MachineGun Brigades, twelve Machine Gun Brigades, and one Machine GunSquadron. This Order also l i s ted in detai l the composi tion ofeach type of unit . G.O. No.1 of 2 Jan 20, llilended by G.O. 67


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- 23 -of 1 May 20, lo ca liz ed t ho ir headquarters. I t was the intent ionof the Dopartmont to perpotuato in these new units a l l those ofthe Canadian Machine Gun Corps, C.E.F. but, as the ottOI C o n ~ i t t c ehad not at that time completed i t s work, this policy was stated onlyin au A.G. circular and not mentioned in General Orders. Sevoralyears la te r th is omission was remedied by G.O. 77 of 15 Nov 26 (H.Q.640-1-22: A.G. Circular No. 434 of 27 M ~ y 19 and subsoquent correspondenc e) 66. In 1924 the twelvo brigades wore redesignatedbatta l ions , but the two Motor Machine Gun Brigades and the Machine GunSquadron r eta in ed t he ir t i t l e s In 1930, however, the General Staffwas contemplating using uni ts of tho Corps to moot deficiencies ofeight Armoured Car Regiments (two per cavalry div si on) (CrerarMel:1o: Tables A and B . Seo also Tables c and liD ). The WarOffico did not establish a similar Corps in i t s Torri torial Army(Book C, Memo on Land Forces, pp 3 and 5).(h) Signals67. Wit h rogard to Signal units , G.O. 56 of 15 Apr 20mado provl S on for an e stabl i shr:.len t very similar to tha t Bot up forEngineers. I t also localized a fow units by c i t ie s and others byM.Ds. on an interim basis .68. By 1930, however, there had beon formod only Division-al Signals ~ and 30 Signal cOwpanies plus a fow other units (BookC, Momo on Land Forces, p. 6).(i) Xmy Service Corps69. Tho divisional establishment upon which the ot te rCommittee based i t s calculations with regard to man-power called fara t ransport H . ~ . and ~ i v e transport conpanies for an infantry division,and in the case of a cavalry division a t ransport H . ~ . a supplycompany, and only one t ransport company. Total requirements of theForce prujocted therofore were 15 Headquarters and 63 transport andsupply companies. These coranies would bo organizod into T r a i n ~In 1919, however, there wore no Headquarters in existence and only20 corJpanies (H.Q..S. 3500, c i t Tables ilK , iiL and IfW'). 14 morecompanios which had been a u ~ o r r z e d wero not organized (Crerar Memo,rrable A ).70. Nevertheless, the submission requ8sting dissolutionof the ottOI Co:r:llnittee indicated that IIWith reference to the ArLlYSorvice Corp s no change was rec.ommended from the pre-war organization H.Q.. 462-16-1, vol 3: A.G. Submission No. 691 dated 5 Jun 20).71. By 1924 there were only 21 companies although 44 hadbeen authorized. Organization into Divi si onol Trains had just takenplace (Precis No. 26, Mili t ia Staff Course, ~72. Even by 1930 none of the Headquarters had beenorganizod but the number o companio s then to t alled 36, forming 12Divisional Trains. There yet was a noed for a variety of companies Supply, Baggage, ~ ~ u n i t i o n and ~ ~ a i n t e n a n c e - for the divisions plusCorps and Army requirellBnts (Crerar MeDo, Tables All and IfBIl).Canada s t i l l retained 12 Horse Transport Companies, a l ~ h o u g h theBritish l ~ m y had disbanded i t s l a s t the previou s year (Short History?f t l ~ Royal Armz Service Corp s, p . 48). Due to the constant oxpGrlItlontal reorganization of the Royal Army Service Corpsll i t s CanadiLUlcounterpart had to await some form of s tabi l iza t ion (Book C, onLLUld Forces, PP 3 an d 5).


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- 2 ~ -

~ l . I J . y Medical Corps73 . . Re-oreaniza t i on of the Cun


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- 2 5 -80. By 1930 the 11 detachments, however, were s t i l lin existence. No attenpt p p e ~ r s to have been ~ d e to organize the large number of Workshops and Field Parks required forthe Field Force (Crerar Meno; Tables An B;I).,(n) Postal o ~ p s81. Reorganization of the N.PHI-.M. Canadian PostalCorps was delayed unti l the end of 1920. G.O. 226 of 1 Dec 20provided for an e s t b l i s ~ e n t of 58 a l l ranks divided into aDetachBent for each Military istrict The survey on man-power,however, indicated tha t existing detachnents were to be replacedby 11 Field Post Offices and 4 Cavalry Field Post Offices(H.Q,. S. 3.500: Tables K , ifLiI and iIMlt).82. In 1930 r equ ir al en ts cal led for 1 5 Postal Unitsfor the divis ions and 12 Post Offices of various types forhigher f o r m ~ t i o n s but a l l were lackine except 12 Postal Detachnents, this ter.Q apparently having survived in the exist ingorganiza tion (Crerar Meno, Tables ilA and i'Btl). There also hadbeen organized one Base Post Office (Book C).0 Chaplain Services 83. In the survey on manpower provision was made fora Chaplain Gr ,up to be allot ted to each division. This wouldseem to have been a new ten:l (H.Q.S. 3.500: Tables K: , :'Lil andlIMit) No General Orders in that regard were pUblished in theperiod, however.84. By 1930 the proposal appears to have been droppedin favour of a General List of Officers (Book C, Memo on LandForces, p. 7).(p) Provost8.5. In drafting r e c o L l l ~ e n d a t i o n s regarding ProvostMarshals services, the Otter m ~ i t t e e had the benefit of proposals put forth by the Reorganization o ~ ~ i t t e e adVising theBrit ish ArQY. In brief , they advocated t h ~ t c o ~ b i n e d policeand t raf f ic services be performed by a self-contained troop ina cavalry division and by a headquarters plus a self-containedconpany for each infantry divis ion (H.Q .593-31-1, vol 4: ColG, Godson-Godson (Provost Marsha] to McNaughton, 26 Aug 19, withenclosures). This basis was u s e ~ u l in calculating manpower~ i g u r e s although none of the units then Gxisted (H.Q.S. 3500:Tables ilKll, ilLil and ; 1Y1il).86. In 1930 they were s t i l l shown' as deficiencies,although the tonn Provost Squadron u had been substi tuted forItTroops cwd an addit ional number was required far Corps and

~ r m y purposes (Crerar Memo, Table liBB).(q ) Employment87. The composition of an i nf an try d iv is ion in 1919'included an Eoployment o ~ p a n y that of a cavalry division anEmployment Troop. None of these had been organized. (H.Q.S.3500: Tables Kil, llLil and i M fl By 1930 the term haC.


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26disappeared frQl tables of calculat ion. r ) TUnks88. The ot te r CoDnittee does not appear to have con-sidered in any way the inst i tut ion of arnoured units into theCanadian Arr w By 1930, howevor, i t WQS recognized that eachinfantry division should have a Medimu Tank Battal ion althoughnone had been authorized. In the Table of Cooposition they werenot included with the Cavalry but wore l i s ted direct ly beforeinfantry bat tal ions. Crerar Merao: Table l lBlIs) Pay Corps

89. Similarly, the Otter CoaDittee appears to haveneglected the organization of Pay units. By 1930, however, eachdivision was to have a Field Cash Office and ~ l r m y Troops wereallotted two COmLlund Cash Offices ~ .t ) Railway Corps90. Disbandnent of units of the Railway Troops provided for the C,E.F. was accomplished by G O 196 of 1.Nov 20.Prior to that date, however, G O 50 of 15 Apr 20 authorizedthe Canadian Railway Corps to be Q Corps of the Canadian Mili t ia ,i t s establismaent to be notified la ter . Files on the OtterCommittee, unfortunately, do not reveal specific recommendations.91.ized by G Oof officGrs.follows:

Much la ter , tenporary establishment was Quthor18 of 1 Feb 23, which permitted only the postingN P ~ i M Railway Groups were to be organized usNo 1 Ontario and QuebecNo 2 Nova Scotia, Prince Edward s l n ~ and NewBrunswickNo.3 New Ontario, Manitoba and SaskatchewanNo 4 Brit ish Coluobia Qnd Alberta

This intention was borne out the following yearby G O 142 of 15 Oct 24, which authorized correspondingReserve Depots at Montreal, Moncton, Winnipeg and Ednonton buts imilarly allowed only the posting of off icers .92. No action apparently was taken to implement theseOrders, and on 4 Nov 36 the Adjutant-General stated with regardto the Railway Corps lilt has never been org::mized H.Q.C. 60010-79: A G to Defence Council, 4 Nov 36). Disbandment waseffected 15 Nov by G O 151 of 28 Nov 36.u) Forestry Corps93. The Otter Committee while in tour heard certainrepresentatives of the Forestry Corps but made no provision fori t s continuation during peace. By G O 212 of 15 Nov 2 forestry units of the C.E.F. were disbanded.


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- 27 -v Reserve Formations94. Frequent reference has bGen m a c ~ e o bove to Reserveforf:13.ti ons fo r the N.P p ~ . M . They can undoubtedly b e attr ibutedto the policy of the Otter C o n ~ L i t t e e but are dealt with in too

n ~ n y Genera l Orders to justify detai led examination.9.5. An excellent sULlLlary of the 1930 s i tuat ion inthis regard is given in the McNaughton papers.

The peace organizatiors provide for -i )

i i

i i i

One or Qore reserve units for each active unit ,confined to posting of officers only, who arel iable to annual t raining with the i r respectiveactive unit should the l a t t e r fa l l short of i t squota in any year.Reserve Reginental Depots. C ~ v a l r y and Infantryonly at present a paper organization only.Reserve of O fficers - C c r ~ p o s e d of officers whohave seen service with active units , and who desire to be so carried on ret i renent frOB theactive l i s t . Officers who fa i l to report thenselves, in writing, to thoir respective Distr ic tHeadquarters on the f i rs t day of Apri l in eachyear are, i f so r e c o ~ l l n e n d e d by the Distr ic tOfficer C o m r ~ Q n d i n g a u t o B a t i c ~ l l y struck off thel i s t .

p r o x i ~ Q t e strength of the Reserve ~ f Officers~ s at June 30th, 1930: 6,400.. :

Book C Meno on Land F o r c e s ~P. 7J

DISSOLurION OF THE COMI\llTTEE96. On 1 Jun 20 Maj-Gen Gwatkin writing on behalfof the Inspector -General requested the hdjutant-General toins t i tute steps to dissolve the Otter Comnittee H.Q. 462-16-1vol 3: Gwatkin to ..: .G., 1 Jun 20 . Five da7s la.ter a formal

. ~ . G . subnission llupon recomnendation of the General Staff wasaade to t he Min is te r in Mili t ia Council, I t read, in part :2. The policies la id down fo r the reorganizationof a l l Branches of the Service have been ap9roved,and, with the exception of the Engineers, have beenpromulgated in General Qnd Mili t ia Orders,3. With reference to the Amy Service Corps nochange was re commended fron the pre-war organi zat i on.4. Any suggested changes recommended by Distr ic tOfficers C o n ~ Q n d i n g which have been received s u b ~sequent to the promulgation of Orders, have eachbeen wnde the subject of individual Subnissions toMili t ia Council,

~ G Submissi on No. 691)


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I-- 28 -

l decision No. 764 the Mili t ia Council on 17 Jun 20 authorizeddissolution. Official action was prcnulgated in Routine OrderNo. 2501 of 29 Jun 20, which read as follows:The c r ~ ~ i t t e e authorized under authority ofC.E.F. Routine Order, 1913 of 23rd April , 1919,to investigate ~ n report on the a b s o r ~ t i o n ofUnits of the Overseas Military Forces of Canadainto the CanQdian Mili t ia , in order to preservei t s identi ty, having comQleted i t s work, isdiss olved.

97. As has been pointed out above (see parQgraph 28),the fact that the Otter o n l l ~ i t t e e did not submit a general report may perhaps be at tr ibuted to pol i t ic l considerations. tis emphasized a g ~ i n that this p)licy had been set t led upon asearly as 26 ~ r 20, some three nontllli before dissolution andwhile the Comnittee was s t i l l engaged on i t s work (H.Q. 462-16-1,vol 3: Gwatkin to Secty M D., 26 Mar 20). In 1942 theSecretary to the Minister of ~ t i o n a l Defence received a requestfor a copy of such a report and was ~ p p a r e n t l y unaware thatnone existed (D;H.S. 5-1-18: ' O.J. Waters to Col Duguid (D.H.S.),27 ii-pr 42).Principles Underlying the Otter Plan98. To conclude this exinination of the OtterCOIili.littee and i t s recoIil. J.enda.tions, sone attention nust bo paidto circUQstances of the period which caused adoption of peaceorganiza tion for the Mili t ia of Canada aimed at prOViding onmobilization a to t l force of 11 divisions and 4 cavalry divisions.By i t s terms of reference, the Comnittee was bound to act ilwithout avoidable increase of establishl 1ont tl and without prejudiceto the divisional system of reorganization (see Ap;)endix IIA; .The consequences which arose f r c r ~ i t s reconurrendations have beensUJ Jned up o s follows:

Insofar as Infantry and Cavalry units were concerned,the requi rements for this c o n s i d e r ~ b l e force alreadyexisted or cou ld reo .d ily be provided by the perpetuation in the Mili t ia of some of the overseas unitsthen in process of demobilization. The provision ofthe addi t ional needs in technical and supporting armsand services was, however, a matter l e f t for futureaction,

(D.M.O. fo lder No, 51:memo enti t led liThe Principlesunderlying the Plan for theFuture Organization of theCane,dio.n Mili t ia , unsigned,14 Aug 36)

Fully aware of the manpower involved, the Committee must havefe l t certain jus t i f ic t ion for advocating this f1considerableforce: of so many divisions. The survey on manpower of thatperiod contained a section enti t led liThe objects of militaryorgo.nization in Cnnada which presented arguments based onboth internal and external conditions then prevail ing (seepara 32 above for a Slliill,Ury . A decade l ter certain seniorofficers elaborated upon these reasons.99. In 1930 Maj-Gen ( then Col) H.H. Matthews .


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- 29 -3S Director of Mili tary Operations and Intel l igence dealt at somelength with the tasks and general principles upon which existingdefence plans were drafted. Quoting f igures for 30 Jun 30, hepointed out that the Peace Establishr.1ent of a,uthorized N.P ..... lVIunits tota,lled 124,241 .while the actual streng th was only 53,160;also that in the preceding year funds had been voted to tra.inonly 34,695 a l l ranks. To raise the additional units necessaryto complete the 15 divisions with anci l lar ies was inpossible dueto shortage of funds, i even i f the Genoral Staff defence planshad required i t which they .do not.;r (McNaughton Papers, BookCt , MenorandUf:1 on the Land Forces of C.J.n :lda, 1930, Part in i t ia l led lH. H.M. ii S e ~ t e b e r 1930, pp 5 and 7). He fe l t thatthe eXisting SYStSffi was based largely on sent i8snt , although nonethe less cogent when exaoined in the l ight of pract ical resul ts .At the sane time he pointed out:

I f i t is permissible to apply the principles ofwar to defence problems in peace then i t mightbe argued that the peace organization of the landforces contravenes two of them viz:- economy offorce and concentration.(Ibid: Parts I I and I I Irso in i tiallec1 f H.H.M. itS6ptember 1930)

100. Early the next year General (then Lt-Col) Crerarenl.J.rged upon t he se conside ra tions. He remarked that in 1919-20there were certain aspects of world poli t ics which seemed reason.J.bly definite - ilthe it lproba.bility of a na.j or European war for a tleas t a decade, the r ise to f i rs t c lass importance as 0. worldpower of the United sta tes and ths dangers inherent in themanifest intentions of Japan to occupy a doninant position in thePacific . Moreover, lithe Bolshevik rev olution in Russia hadspread i t s contagion to the foreign element in a n a d ~ and also tothe less in te l l igent Canadi an born c i t i zens . DerJobilizationanc1civi l re-establismlent of large nUQbers of C.E.F. personnel resulted in lIa not unnatural feeling of unrest a conditionfavourable to revolutionary propaganda l Therefore i t was Withthese views as regards usefulness in psace and responsibi l i t iesin V lar that the Otter COffimi t tee began i t s work. Gene ra l Crerarccxl1 c 1lented upon i t s conclu sions as fo llows:

The termination of the Great War found GreatBritain unchallengeable on the seas, and infer ior only to France as regards a ir power.The other components of the Brit ish Empire wereat a maximum of efficiency and strength in landforces. In visualizing a possible confl ic t withthe United States, therefore, the problem asregards Canada was the rapid mobilization of thelargest Mili t ia forces possible in order thateffective defence of essential communications inCanada could be maintained pending the arr ivalfrom overse,J.S of the necessary Empire land anda ir forces; such being made possible by thestrength of the Brit ish Navy. A detailed examination of the question of Canadian man-power bythe Otter Committee led to the fo llowing conclusions: - that in a war of self-defence conducted on our awn te rr i tory the maximum forcethat Canada could raise and maintain in a war ofapproximately two years duration would. not ex-ceed 11 divisions and 4 cavalry divisions .with certa,in additional and necessary units andformations; the whole reaching a to ta l of some


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30 300,000 . 11 ranks. ~ i n while was recognizedthat deficiencies in many units and forwations,and in much q u i p m n ~ would exist for a number ofyears, even un0_er conditions nost favourable tore-organizat ion, th is project of 11 divisions and4 cavalry divisions forDed the basis of the conclusions and recrutinendo.tions of the ot te r O T W ~ i t t e eon which the subsequent re-organizat ion of theMil i t ia was carried out.

Crerar MeLlO pp 1-3In the f i les of the Otter Commit tee no contenporary evidenceexis ts for this statement of Gen Crerar that the inf la ted forceof 15 divisions for hone defence was based on the possib i l i tyof war with the United s ta tes101. Gen Crerar went on to discuss the pol i t ica l ands t ra tegical evolution of 1919-30 and i t s influence on the problem of the direct defence of Canada but this l ies beyond therealm of the present report . I t is of in teres t however, toquote his findings:

To summarize the conclu sions o f this memorandumthe exis t ing Mili t ia organization i s radical ly in -complete; without greatly increased expenditurecan never be completeJ, and, as the circumstancesindicating the need of this force of 11 divisionsand 4 cavalry divisions no longer exis t even i fthe o r g n i z ~ t i o n were completed, there i s now noquestion to which i t would offer the only pract ica lo.nswer.There are, however, two mili tary contingencieswhich Canada must face pa rt ic ip a ti on i n an overseas Empire war and defence of Canadian neutral i tyin the event of a war between Japan and the Uniteds ta tes A Canadian Mil i t ia o r g ~ n i z a t i o n of 6divisions and 1 cavalry division, with requis i te

Corps and Army Troops, capable of rapid mobilizationand concentration and equipped on modern l ines i sconsidered adequate to meet ei ther contingency.Ibid; p. 23

To reinforce his argument, he appended a table indi eating thatthe proposed force of seven divisions plus anci l lar ies wouldca l l for a War Establ ishmen t o f 147,863 but a Peace Establ ishment of only 85 235. This l a t t e r figure was based on an estimated 5010 of W. E. allow ing f or certain units with a :I E only.{Ibid, Table ilEll}.102. At the end of 1931 Gen McNaughton as Chief of theGeneral Staff prepared for the Minister of National Defence priorto the Conference for the Limitation of Armaments an elaborat ionof the Crerar thes is In his paper he sta ted:

the role of the land forces of Canada wasclearly to hold back any invasion from the UnitedStates unt i l such time as adequate forces fordecisive operations could be brought in fromGreat Bri ta in and elsewhere, and to do this i t washeld to be expedient to place in the f ie ld the


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31 Baximum forces which could be o r g ~ n i z e d andmaintained.

Actually, the Milit ia establishoentr e c o ~ ~ e n d e d in 1919 was based on the to t lman power avuilable in Canada less the numbersestimated to be required for replacements intwo years of active operations only. Reduced toterms of divisions, this force amounted to 11Infantry and 4 Cavalry Divisions, together withthe required c o m p l e m ~ n t of Corps, Army and Linesof ~ ~ u n i c a t i o n units , depots, etc . In the reorganization of the Canadian Milit ia the fu l lcomplement of Infantry and Cavalry units and a subs t nt i l proportion of Arti l lery, Machine-Gun,Engineer, Signal and other units required for thisestablishment were created Qr recreated and arein existence today.

H.Q.S. 5902, vol 1: McNaughton tothe Minister, 21 Dec 31, p. 2)He went on to e x p l ~ i n why that basis was no longer sui tableand then proposed the following:

The possibi l i ty of war with the United Statesbeing ruled out the need disappears for a mil i t iorganization designed for hone defence and basedon the maximum man power available. And there nowemerges as of f i r s t lllportance, the problem oforganizing a force capable of overseas employmentin support of other members of the Brit ish Empire,or possibly to implement a decision of the Councilof the League of Nations, i f that should bedecided upon. In 1919 this question of a future

a n ~ d i a n Expeditionary Force was also investigated. t was then considered that a force of 6 Infantryand 1 Cavalry Division was the maximum that couldbe effect ively organized and reinforced in a warof long duration overseas. Recent re-considerntionof this problem confirms this view.

~ pp 4-5)103. Continuing, Gen McNaughton estimated that pro-VlSlon of the necessary rt i l lery nd ~ n c i l l a r i e s to supportthe force of 15 divisions would involve, beyond those alreadyprOVided lIa further increa.se of nearly 100,000 in the PeaceEstablishments ibid, P. 6). For the reduced force, the proposed Peace Establishments would be:

6 Divisions at 10,000 l l ranks1 Cavalry Division at 5,000 l l ranksCorps Army and Lines of Comuunication unitsSchools, Administrative Units and Coastand Anti-Aircraft defence unitsTOTAL

60,0005,00020,00015,000100,000

rrhis would be nQrl posecl of 10,000 Permanent Force of which 1,000should be off icers, and 90,000 N.P.A.M. inclUding 6,000 off icers.


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- 32 -Reorganization in 1936104. Late in 1932 the Conference of Defence Associationsat i t s organization Beeting in ottawa heard fron Lt-Col G._ Drewa detailed cri t icisB of the e x i s ~ i n g Mili t ia organization basedon the recomnendat ions of the ot te r Committee and passed a resolution urging reorganization H.0.S. 5902, vol 1: Minutes ofConference of Defence Associations, 18-19 Nov 32, pp 6-16). TheGeneral Staff subsequently drew up a lIlVIemorandum on the PresentMili tary Requirements of Canada if proposing reorgani zati on on thebasis of one cavalry division plus s i x 1 i visi ons and the necessaryproportion. of for tress, L. of C. and administrative unitsibid: C.G.S. confidential l e t t e r 21 Feb 33, Appx ~ i i r . Ins t ruct ions-were issued to D.Os.C. in October 1933 to discuss the matterwith senior officers and detailed C Q T h ~ e n t s were submitted by a l lMilitary Distr ic ts Ibid: synopsis of notes contained in repl iesfrom D.Os.C.). - - - -105. The new scheme, although approved in principle bythe Bennett administration in 1933, required considerable s t a f fwork before i t was finally accepted in detai l by the King Government three years la ter . In May 1936 the Hon Ian Mackenzie asM inister of National Defence announced the plan in the House ofCommons. As before, actua l re-organiza tion was achieved througha ser ies of General Orders. Although i t is beyond the scope ofthis report to deal in detai l with tho changes which were therebyeffected a swrunary of those proposed in 1936 is given in AppendiX;iC . Further study may be made through an examination of thefollowing memoranda f i led with the Historical Section or theDirectorate of Military Operations and Plans:H S. )

D M, 0 )Folder No. .51)(D.M.O. P .)Folder No. 50)(D.M.O. P .)Folder No. 51)

McNaughton, Maj-Gen ~ l . . G . L . 1 , C.G.S.),liThe Defence of Canada , 2 ~ May 3.5.Gene ra l S taff paper lIScheme for the Reorganization of the Canadian Milit ia ,unsigned, 15 Jul 35.Ashton, Maj-Gen E.C. C.G.S.), nSchemefor the Re-organizat ion of the CanadianMili t ia l l , 5 Dec 35.D.M.O. I . paper 6nt i t led ThePrinciplesunderlying the Plan for the Future Organizat ion of the Canadian Milit ia , unsigned,14 Aug 36.

This report has been written by Major R.B.Oglesby, narrator in the Historical Section G.S.), Army Headquarters, Ottawa./ ~ . / ? ; .' Cl.. ~ V J / L f / J ~ .


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~ . J - P E N D I X IIto Report-No. 22

C.E.F. ROUfINE ORDER 191323 Apr 191913 cOJV.fJ.\[rrrEE TO IN v:3;STIG_ TE REPORT ON T rlE ABSORPTIONOF Ul ITTS OF THE OVERSEAS M I L I I l ~ J t Y FORCES OF C_u LillA INTO;rHE C.tui;.DTd.N M I L I T I ~ > . IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THEIR IDENTITY

AND TRillITIONS.OwinG to typographical errors , Routine Order No. 1900,dated April 17th, i s cancelled, and the following subst i tuted:1. A conI.lit tee conposed as follows wil l o.ssenble upon

orders of the President:PRESIDENT - Major-General Sir William Dillon Otter,K.C.B., C. v.O.M3MBERS - Major-General Sir Archibald CameronMacdonell, K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.,Commanding Firs t Canadian Diyision.Brigadier-General Ernest ~ l l e x a n d e r Cruikshank, Director of theHistorical Section.Brigadi-er-General ~ 1 . n d r e w G.L. McNaughton D.S.O Coamanding Canadian Corps Heavy Artl l lery

2. The committee will consider and report how best togive effect to the proposal tha t , with a view to preserving the i rt radi t ions and ident i ty , the several units e spec ia lly the ILfantry Battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, whichserved a t the front, should be incorporated in the CanadianMili t ia : this without avoidable increase of estQblishment, wi th -out prejUdice to the divisional systen of organization, andwith due regard to the services which at various times, both before and during the war, the Mili t ia i t s e l f 11o.s rendered.3. The committee wil l v i s i t in turn each Military Dist r ic twhere i t will be assis ted by associate members who shal l beappointed by the Distr ic t Officor C O I h ~ 3 . n J i n g -and shal l include,besides the Distr ic t Officer Comao.ncling Officers CommandingUnits of both the Canadian Mili t ia and the Canadian ExpeditionaryForce, and any prominent c it iz ens in te re sted in ni l i ta ry matters.4. Dist r ic t Officers Commanding will in the meantime, consider the quest ions involved , and will prepare a scheme ca1cul8.ted to meet the requ irements o f the i r respective Military Dist r ic ts ; a scheme which wil l serve as a basis for discussion, whenthe conmittee, in due course, vis i ts the Headqua rte rs of the

Distr ic ts5. The President of the comrrdttee wil l give the Distr ic tOfficer Commanding due warning of the time tha t the committeewil l make i t s v is i t

-t-eferenoe: : 1 . ~ . 595-31-1, of 19-4-19 .


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-

: ~ P E N D I X liB to Report No. 22STATISTICS R E G ~ 1 R D I N G I. RE- I ND POST- :\LR N.P \..M.

1913-19141914-191.51924-192.5192.5-19261926-19271927-19281928-19291929 -19301930-19311931-19321932-19331933-19341934-193.5193.5-19361936-19371937-19381938-19391939-1940

EST:lBLISHMENT*7 6 ~ 6 670,064122,600121,183138,316136,70.5134,967123,84312.5,748126,633134,707134,7.51, 13.5,284133,93.599 58 58.5,98286,31089,294

STRENGTH5 5 28259 004-.50,49249,07.549 07 5.52,326 2,24851 831.53,201.51,287.51,873.52,627.50,07448,7614.5,7464.5,631.51,41846 8 5 5

Report of the Department ofN ~ t i o n a Defence 31 Mnr 40,pp 48-49

Establismaent figures are the totals of the PeaceEstab li shments of authorized units .


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~ ? P E N D I X C to Report No,. 22

THE SCHEME FOR THE REORG iliIZiI TIONOF fH C ~ I 1 U D L I N MILr.cLt 1936

A Statement showing the changes in the tota l numberof N P ~ M Units, tota l Peace Establisruaents, etc.that would be affected by the Scheme.

N.P :\ M UnitsCav. armoured car regts.Arti l lery batteriesEngineer conpaniesSignal ~ o y s troopsInfantry, M.G. tank bns.R.C.A.S.C. coys, etc .Medical unitsOrdnance unitsVeterinary .uni tsPoste,l .uni ts

Totals

Present1.6.36 FuturE129 20 a97 16617 4236 b 36 b131 93 c47 4556 42l l d 149 1112 b 12 b

445 481To

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The Reorganization of the Canadian Militia, 1919-20

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