World War I: Steps in Building Canada's Identity

‘Our troops that were made up of volunteers that enlisted in the Great War were eventually known as the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The British Commanders planned to have our Force merge together with their British army units. However, the Canadian Expeditionary Force stood on its own for most of the war. They did not get dispersed to fill gaps in the British army. This meant that our troops usually fought together as their own separate unit, and the media usually referred to them as an independent group instead of a part the British army. As the war efforts continued, Canada had more responsibility over its army, including the Canadian Expeditionary Force when they were in combat. For instance, the training of our Canadian troops was a task that was passed on to Canadians. Increasing national independence was shown when Arthur Currie became the first Canadian commander of the Canadian Corps. This demonstrates how Canadians had a rising presence within the war. Since Canadians fought in their own military group and eventually had a Canadian leader, citizens and also the media began to consider them an independent group, distinguished from everyone else.’