Canadian Machine Gun Corps

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The Canadian Machine Gun Corps (CMGC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and of the Canadian Militia. It was part of the CEF sent to France during World War I. By 1918, the CMGC consisted of four battalions (each of four machine gun companies), and five independent motor machine gun batteries, attached to each of the four Canadian divisions. In addition, the 20th Machine Gun Company CEF served at Vladivostok as a unit in the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force. The CMGC donated a wall plaque at St. George's Church in Ypres.

The Canadian Permanent Machine Gun Brigade was organized in the Permanent Force on 16 April 1917. The brigade was redesignated the Royal Canadian Permanent Machine Gun Brigade on 16 June 1921. This brigade was disbanded on 1 November 1923. The Non-Permanent Active Militia component of the CMGC continued to serve until it was disbanded as part of the 1936 militia reorganization, and its roles were transferred to the newly formed infantry (machine gun) battalions.

The Canadian Machine Gun Corps was formed on 16 April 1917 and the official publication of the formation occurred in the Canadians' Routine Order 558 of 22 February 1917. It was initially composed of:

• Machine Gun Squadron, Canadian Cavalry Brigade,
• Machine gun companies,
• 1st Motor Machine Gun Brigade and motor machine gun batteries,
• A depot organized in England on 4 January 1917 (authorized by Canadians' Routine Order 150 of same date).

During the Battle of Vimy Ridge the CMGC, with some British units, used a total of 362 Vickers guns. 104 guns went forward with the infantry while 258 were used in the indirect barrage role. Nearly 5 million rounds of ammunition were allocated for the barrage.

Lieutenant Hugh McKenzie was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 30 October 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele.

This unit was allied with the Machine Gun Corps of the British Army.

Bibliography

• Grafton, C. S. (1938). The Canadian Emma Gees; a history of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. London, Ontario: The Canadian Machine Gun Corps Association.
• McBride, Herbert W. (1918). The Emma Gees. Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs-Merrill Company.

• Dorosh, Michael A. (2014). "Canadian Machine Gun Corps". Canadian Soldiers. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
• Fisher, Richard (2013). "Canadian Machine Gun Corps". The Vickers Machine Gun Collection & Research Association. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
• Laughton, Richard (2014). "Machine Gun Corps". Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
• Leroux, Marc (2015). "Canadian War Diaries: Machine Gun Brigades". The Canadian Great War Project. Retrieved 22 July 2015.