25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles), CEF


The 25th Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War. It was the second infantry battalion of ten to be raised in Nova Scotia during the war. The 25th served in Belgium and France as part of the Canadian Brigade">Canadian Corps">Canadian Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division from 16 September 1915 until the end of the war. Regimental headquarters were established at the Halifax Armouries, with recruitment offices in Sydney, Amherst, New Glasgow, Truro and Yarmouth. Of the 1000 Nova Scotians that started with the battalion, after the first year of fighting, 100 were left in the battalion, while 900 men were killed, taken prisoner, missing or injured.
The 25th Battalion was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Great Britain on 20 May 1915. The battalion was disbanded on 15 September 1920.
The 25th Battalion recruited throughout Nova Scotia and was mobilized at Halifax.

Commanding officers

The 25th battalion had eight Officers Commanding:
  • Lt.-Col. G.A. LeCain, 20 May 1915 – 26 October 1915
  • Lt.-Col. E. Hilliam, 26 October 1915 – 18 January 1917
  • Maj. J.A. De Lancy, MC, 18 January 1917 – 4 April 1917
  • Lt.-Col. D.S. Bauld, DSO, 4 April 1917 – 9 July 1917
  • Lt.-Col. A.S. Blois, DSO, 9 July 1917 – 19 April 1918
  • Lt.-Col. J.W. Wise, DSO, MC, 19 April 1918 – 8 August 1918
  • Lt.-Col. F.P. Day, 9 August 1918 – 13 October 1918
  • Lt.Col. C.J. Mersereau, DSO, 13 October 1918-Demobilization

    Battle Honours

The 25th Battalion was awarded the following battle honours:
On 22–23 September 1915, the 25th arrived at Ypres, Belgium, becoming the first Nova Scotian battalion to see combat in the war. The battalion spent 339 days in the treacherous Belgian trenches, 164 of which involved front line duty. They fought in the Actions of St. Eloi Craters, at Hill 62, Mount Sorrel and Sanctuary Wood. These battles marked the first occasion in which Canadian divisions engaged in planned offensive operations during World War I. In those actions the Canadians reconquered vital high-ground positions that denied the Germans a commanding view of the town of Ypres itself. Of the 1000 men that started with the battalion, after the first year of fighting 900 men were killed, taken prisoner, missing or injured. .

France (1916-1917)

Battle of the Somme

The 25th took part in The Battle of the Somme. The battle took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on either side of the River Somme in France. The battle was one of the largest of the war. More than were wounded or killed, making it one of humanity's bloodiest battles.

Battle of Flers–Courcelette

The 25th then took part in the Battle of Flers–Courcelette. The battle was launched on 15 September 1916 and went on for one week. By its conclusion on 22 September, tactical gains had been made in the capture of the villages of Courcelette, Martinpuich and Flers.
The battle is significant for the first use of the tank in warfare. It also marked the debut of the Canadian Division on the Somme battlefield.
In the Battle of the Ancre Heights, the losses in the 2nd Canadian Division October were.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought primarily as part of the Battle of Arras, which took place from 9 to 12 April 1917, was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras, a diversionary attack for the French Nivelle Offensive. The objective of the Canadian Corps was to take control of the German-held high ground along an escarpment at the northernmost end of the Arras Offensive. Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge during the first day of the attack. The town of Thélus fell during the second day of the attack, as did the crest of the ridge once the Canadian Corps overcame a salient of considerable German resistance. The final objective, a fortified knoll located outside the town of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, fell to the Canadian Corps on 12 April. .

Canada's Hundred Days

The 25th was involved in Canada's Hundred Days.
saw some of the greatest loss of life on the Western Front of the First World War, in particular from the three battles of Ypres. Due to the hundreds of thousands of casualties at Ypres, the poppies that sprang up from the battlefield afterwards, later immortalised in the Canadian poem "In Flanders Fields", written by John McCrae, have become a symbol for lives lost in war.

Battle of Passchendaele

The Battle of Passchendaele took place between June and November 1917, for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres. The campaign ended in November when the Canadian Corps captured Passchendaele.
By the end of the war 53% of the men who had served in the battalion had been wounded, while 14% died in battle.
The 25th Battalion is perpetuated by The Nova Scotia Highlanders.
The king's and regimental colours of the battalion are laid up in Government House in Halifax.