Troopships: Repatriation Ships

This utility was created in response to requests from CEFSG members and others for information about homeward sailings that was missing from individual soldier's files. For the reasons given here on the CEFSG Forum Topic (World War I Troopships) it is a supplement to and not a substitute for obtaining service files. 

Please check the Excel Spreadsheet Directory for the most up-to-date version of this Troopship Utility, as those are often uploaded prior to adjusting the HTML version shown below. Also, older versions can be found in the Spreadsheet Archive folder.

Background:

Almost from the moment the First Contingent arrived in England it was obvious that some of its members were unsuitable and would have to be returned to Canada. The first recorded sailing of returning soldiers was a group of 37 men sent on Hesperian Dec 26, 1914. Between then and the Armistice the majority of men returned were wounded men and in 1917 and 1918 lower (medical) category men. Between the Armistice and the end of 1920 nearly all surviving members of the CEF who wished to return to Canada did so on one of the sailings recorded below, over two-thirds of them being returned by Dominion Day 1919. 

The Canadian Corps proper was returned by units as shown in the 'Units on Board' column; all other members of the CEF were returned in 'Dispersal Drafts', those sent to the Canadian Concentration Camp at Rhyl (mostly CFC and CRT men) were organized into 'Wings' corresponding to the Military District in Canada where they were to be demobilized. Drafts from these 'Wings' are indicated where known. Men with Dependents were concentrated at Buxton and usually accompanied their dependents on Sailings carrying the 'D' prefix. Wounded men depending on the level of care required could be sent on normal sailings, or hospital ships.

The information presented here was gathered from several sources:

	soldier files
	war diaries of OC troops and/or the Senior Medical Officer onboard ships, links to those available online appear under the heading WD
	war diaries of the Canadian Concentration Camp at Rhyl available on-line
	for the Canadian Corps proper, pages 156 - 163 of the book Return of the Troops: A Plain Account of the Demobilization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force images of which were provided by CEFSG member "avidgenie" (see this post)
	for men arriving at New York, most will be listed on the ships manifests available for viewing at www.ellisisland.org. The index can be searched without registering and scans of the manifests viewed for free with registration.
	Library and Archives Canada 1865 - 1922 Passengers List db, links to images online are provided where available. Hint: most lists containing soldiers were included towards the end of the manifest
	Library and Archives Canada holds a complete set of files covering the sailings 1918-1920 in R611-428-5-E Former archival reference no. RG150-6 Volume RG150-6 from 345 to 371. Finding Aid 150-2 These files contain Nominal rolls, War Diaries of OC troops and/or Senior Medical Officers and reports of deaths at sea for each voyage.

This utility is a work-in-progress and additions or corrections are welcome.

Please check the Excel Spreadsheet Directory for the most up-to-date version of this Troopship Utility, as those are often uploaded prior to adjusting the HTML version shown below. Also, older versions can be found in the Spreadsheet Archive folder.