Canada. A No. 1 Construction Battalion Cap Badge, C.1915

In blackened brass, maker marked "ELLIS BROS" on the reverse, measuring 36 mm (w) x 42 mm (h), both lugs intact, surface wear, spotting, better than very fine.

Footnote: In the winter of 1915, the Imperial War Office requested that the Canadian Government send two railway construction companies to France. The Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps was organized on May 15, 1915 and comprised about 500 men from the construction forces of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. The unit sailed June 14, 1915. Two months later, they landed in France. The 1st Battalion, the cap badge of which is presented here, was authorized on July 11, 1916. In May 1916, the Imperial War Office asked Canada to furnish another railway construction unit of approximately 1,000 strong. Recruits drawn from skilled railway workers across the country were organized into the 239th Overseas Railway Construction Battalion. On June 15, 1917, the Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps was re-designated as the Corps of Canadian Railway Troops.