The first detachment of the Forestry Corps to arrive in France began work in the Bois Normand. Later three other centers were established: one in the Jura Mountains, one near Bordeaux, and another in the Marne district. But the work of the corps spread over a wide area, reaching out to the frontiers of Switzerland, Spain, and Germany.
The corps headquarters was established at Paris-Plage, in the neighborhood of Boulogne, the supply department for equipment being at Havre.
In so far as it was possible the methods of the Canadian lumber camps were employed in cutting lumber in the corps' camps, but certain differences in physical conditions caused many obstacles to present themselves. In the absence of the waterways facilities, so common in the Canadian forests, a great many miles of railways had to be built for the transportation of the logs to the sawmills.
In the mountainous districts, however, conditions, especially during winter, more closely representing those to which the men were used in their native forests, and Canadian methods could therefore be more closely applied.
The officers and men of the corps were recruited from all parts of Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboards. Special effort was made to allot men to forests more nearly resembling those they were used to at home. As an instance, the men from eastern Canada, not used to the giant logs of the West, were assigned to the medium-sized timber in the level portions of France, while the Westerners were sent to the Jura and the Vosges Mountains, where logging engines, heavy steel cables, and modern railway construction were involved in the work of getting the logs out.
Most of the detachments worked in stationary camps, but there were also a great number of mobile camps which, together with their equipment, moved about from place to place, supplying timber to those points at the front where a demand happened to develop to an acute degree. Often detachments would be working within range of the enemy artillery fire and at considerable risk to men and equipment. The degree of efficiency which some of these detachments acquired in their movements is illustrated by the following extract from an official report:
"This, the record transfer, was in the case of a sawmill where the last log was sawn at nine o'clock on the day the move was to take place. By seven o'clock the next day the mill had been moved to a wood three miles away and was in full operation. The following day the product of this mill exceeded 18,000 board feet, and the day after the total output was 23,000 board feet, much more than the guaranteed capacity of the mill."
The largest output by any one stationary camp, according to the official report, was registered by the group operating in the Jura Mountains. Here a total of 156,000 board feet was cut in ten hours in a mill which was only registered to turn out 30,000 feet in that time.
Across the Channel, in Great Britain, the operations of the Forestry Corps extended over six districts—four in England and two in Scotland. Forty-three detachments were spread over these areas, totaling 12,533 men at the end of the war, though of this number about 3,000 were attached labor or prisoners of war. In England the corps did especially noteworthy service in supplying the Royal Air Force, more specially for the defense wing. In a letter of appreciation written by Lord Derby, Secretary of State for War, it was indicated that on several occasions the men of the Forestry Corps had worked at the rate of ninety hours a week to supply timber needed in the construction of aerodromes for the aeroplanes used to repel hostile air raids.
In November, 1918, at the conclusion of hostilities, the total strength of the Canadian Forestry Corps stood at 31,447, divided as follows: In France, regular officers, 425; attached officers, 53; other ranks, 11,702; attached, 1,039; prisoners of war, 5,021; giving a total of 18,240. In Great Britain there were: Regular officers, 343; attached officers, 49; other ranks, 9,624; attached labor, 1,926; prisoners of war, 1,265; making a total of 13,207.