The Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion was a unit of the First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), serving in the Canadian Corps Mounted Troops from 1916 to 1920. The battalion saw active service in Belgium, and France as the Mounted Troops of the Canadian Corps. It also served within the Canadian Independent Force, seeing extensive combat during the final Hundred Days Offensive of the war.
Independent companies
When Canada declared war on the 4th of August 1914, the Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM) mobilized at Camp Valcartier to build what would become the first Canadian contingent (later the 1st Canadian Division). At Valcartier it was identified that the NPAM did not contain a Cyclist Company; despite the fact that Cyclist Companies had been a standard component of the Mounted Troops of an infantry division in the British Army since 1908.
The NPAM mobilizing at Valcartier did include a corps which was surplus to the requirements of the Canadian Expeditionary Force: the Corps of Guides. The Guides were organized for employment as a domestic field intelligence and scouting force within Canada and were therefore not required in France and Belgium. The 1st Canadian Divisional Cyclist Company was therefore formed at Valcartier with most of its officers and many of the other ranks coming from the Corps of Guides. The use of the Guides officers to provide the leadership backbone of the 1st Canadian Divisional Cyclist Company was logical, as their duties were expected to be similar, with scouting and reconnaissance being key doctrinal tasks for both the Guides and the Cyclists. The birth of the 1st Canadian Divisional Cyclist Company at Valcartier started what became an enduring connection between the Guides and the Cyclists.
The 1st Canadian Divisional Cyclist Company sailed from Quebec City for the United Kingdom aboard SS Ruthenia on 29 September 1914, arriving in England on 15 October 1914. After a brief period on Salisbury Plain, the Company arrived in France on 10 February 1915. It was present at the Second Battle of Ypres, collocated with the headquarters of the 1st Canadian Division at the Chateau des Trois Tours (Chateau Brielen). The Cyclist Company was key to supporting the famed Canadian defensive action during the chlorine gas attack on Gravenstafel Ridge; its personnel worked almost without rest between 22 and 29 April to keep the divisional headquarters informed during a period of great uncertainty and risk for the Allies in the Ypres sector.
As the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions formed in Canada, they too were organized to include the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisional Cyclist Companies within their Divisional Mounted Troops. The majority of 1915 and the first period of 1916 saw the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisional Cyclist companies operating independently, supporting their divisions in the field, largely performing line of communications duties. The 4th Canadian Divisional Cyclist Company which had only recently formed was broken-up in England with its personnel assigned to either the Canadian Reserve Cyclist Company or the battalion in the field.
Cyclist depot system
In 1914 the Government of Canada recognized that there would be a requirement for a permanent Overseas Cyclist Depot in the United Kingdom for the duration of the war to establish a pool of trained replacements proximate to France and Flanders. The Canadian Reserve Cyclist Company was established as the Cyclist Depot in April 1915, and it moved between Shorncliffe, Hounslow, Chiseldon and finally Seaford.
Between 1914 and 1917 the Mounted Detachments of the Corps of Guides in Military Districts across Canada recruited and training new Cyclist recruits before Drafts were sent from Canada to the Cyclist Depot. In 1917 the CEF established a total of 10 Cyclist Depot Platoons across the majority of the Military Districts of Canada to recruit and train men for the Canadian Corps of Cyclists and take over this task from the Guides.
The Overseas Cyclist Depot ceased to exist in February 1919 when the Canadian Expeditionary Force began to return its personnel to Canada.