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World War 1 Remembered - 49th Canadian Overseas Infantry Battalion - 1915 Q1

1915 – January to March

Having just gone overseas with the 19^th Alberta Dragoons Special Service Squadron in October 1914, Lieut. Colonel William (Billy) Griesbach arrived back in Edmonton on the morning of December 26 with orders from Ottawa to recruit and train a new battalion of infantry.

The numeral 49 was the next in succession of similar battalions of about 35 officers and 1000 other ranks to be locally raised across Canada. Recruiting was completed in eight days and training began. The 49^th Bn, 1033 strong, departed Edmonton for England on Saturday May 29, 1915.

For more on the 49^th Battalion read the article in our latest newsletter at the link below.

Remember 15-1

This is the third in the series of quarterly newsletters we have planned to recognize 100th anniversary events of the First World War as they occur over the next four years.  We want to highlight significant and/or interesting events, people, stories and artifacts from that war with an emphasis on Edmonton and the 49^th Battalion.  The newsletters will also include articles related to the Second World War and to more current events, including museum activities.  Anyone wishing to be included on our email contact list to received copies of our newsletter should email us at lermusm@telus.net.

For even more on the 49th Battalion look under the Regimental History tab on this site.