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CDN KIA's by Month for WW1

54/102 CEF

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Anyone out there know where a list might be?

Just need the numerical totals by month

Thanks in advance
 
Hello,

I haven't perused this in awhile, but I recall it including many invaluable statistics.  It may include what you are searching for.  The source is as follows:

Report of the Ministry, Overseas military forces of Canada, 1918. London : Printed by authority of the Ministry, Overseas Military Forces of Canada, 1919

Failing that, you may want to search through the Canadian Annual Review for the years spanning the war (J.Castell Hopkins was the author/editor if I recall correctly).  That might have some of the sources you are looking for.

Hope that helps,

T.
 
54/102 CEF said:
Anyone out there know where a list might be?

Just need the numerical totals by month

Thanks in advance

OK, I have to ask: why?

I'm just glad that none of my relatives who served in WW1 are on that list, or I wouldn't be here to ask annoying questions!
 
Maybe you can try StatCan, they have all kinds of figures for just about everything you can think of.
 
The 1918 report referred to above does not contain monthly KIA numbers, only yearly KIA/DOW totals 1914-1918.

Casualties.jpg
 
54/102

After re-reading your original post it occurred to me that gathering stats for KIA could be a murky area of research. I suppose one would have to carefully define the term "Killed in Action".

For instance, when a man died half an hour after being wounded was he considered "KIA" or was he classified as "Died of Wounds". Many of those who were wounded laid unattended in no-mans land for hours or even days, their actual time of death unknown.



 
Ken MacLean said:
54/102
For instance, when a man died half an hour after being wounded was he considered "KIA" or was he classified as "Died of Wounds". Many of those who were wounded laid unattended in no-mans land for hours or even days, their actual time of death unknown.

If they were DOA at hospital, or left as Obviously Dead ( transsected, decapitated or decomposed ) in the field, I would consider them KIA.
My understanding is that "Died of Wounds" means they were admitted to an aid station or hospital.
 
Ken MacLean said:
54/102

After re-reading your original post it occurred to me that gathering stats for KIA could be a murky area of research. I suppose one would have to carefully define the term "Killed in Action".

For instance, when a man died half an hour after being wounded was he considered "KIA" or was he classified as "Died of Wounds". Many of those who were wounded laid unattended in no-mans land for hours or even days, their actual time of death unknown.

I tend to agree with mariomike... in the first day of the Somme the British took more KIA than Iraq and Afghanistan combined.  At some point, I'm sure that dead is dead, unfortunately.
 
54/102

I posted your question regarding monthly KIA stats for the CEF on the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group (CEFSG) forum and had several responses, including-

The book, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914 - 1920, republished by the Military and Naval Press has tables of casualty numbers, by month, by theatre of war, by British Empire military force (for lack of a better expression) which separately lists the CEF, by type of casualty which includes Killed, Died of Wounds, Died of Disease, Total Deaths, Wounded, Missing and Prisoners, and Total.

The Canadian War Museum library has a copy of the book. I will have a look at the book next week, and determine whether the information contained therein is suitable for photographing. If not suitable for photos I will take the book out on loan and scan the pertinent pages at home.
 
Ken MacLean said:
The 1918 report referred to above does not contain monthly KIA numbers, only yearly KIA/DOW totals 1914-1918.

Casualties.jpg

I sent these numbers to a former OC of mine in the UK (who's a full Col now somewhere in Whitehall) who attended staff college in Canada. He sent me this back:

There died a myriad,
And of the best, among them,
For an old bitch gone in the teeth,
For a botched civilization,
Charm, smiling at the good mouth,
Quick eyes gone under earth's lid,
For two gross of broken statues,
For a few thousand battered books.

-- Ezra Pound, 1920
 
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