Map Repaired November 11, 2007

According to the authoritative works of Nicholson, the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was Canada's commitment to the First World War from 1914-1919, primarily in the battles against Germany. Other theatres of war included Macedonia (1915-1917); Dardanelles (1915-1916); Egypt and Palestine (1915-1916, 1918); North West Persia and the Caspian Sea (1918-1919); Murman (1918-1919); Archangel (1918-1919) and Siberia (1918-1919). (Nicholson pg, 556)

The Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group is a team of international researchers who are dedicated to restoring the history of the CEF and assisting others, as they track their relatives in the Great War or try to learn more about the battles in which they served. To assist in that task, the CEFSG has initiated the Matrix Project to allow the researchers to learn more about the structure and operation of the Army Corps and Army Troops. This is only one of many projects, others include the transcription of war diaries, the recovery and transcription of personal letters and records, the development of a data base of Great War web sites, and the day-to-day assistance provided on the CEFSG Forum.

As part of the Matrix Project, a complete transcription has been made of the authoritative 1962 text of Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson, CD of the Army Historical Section of the Department of National Defence. Included in this, is the scanning of the 15 key Nicholson Maps of the CEF action during the Great War, covering the Ypres Gas Attacks of 1915 until to final advances to Cambrai and Mons in 1918. In this current phase of the project, we are now preparing overlays in Google Earth for the maps.

In the posts that follow, we will identify each battle map. If you have an interest in the details of this work, we also welcome you to join "all of us" at the CEF Study Group.

Initial postings that were made to Google Earth will first be moved to this topic area. To start with, I include the overlay KMZ file of the CEF Operations in France and Belgium in 1915-1917. The map is the right side of the inside front cover of Nicholson's text. It is oriented on the Somme River and the Belgian coast at that time (note the extension of that coast line since that time) and the Dover Coast of England.