Training continued, however, but was adapted to future postwar flying, special attention being paid to wireless operations, photographic training, aerial geographical training, and cross-country flying.
To provide for a flying force on a peace basis, for the future Canadian military service, the following establishment was then authorized:
A director of air service, assisted by a staff captain and a staff lieutenant, along with four other ranks; a wing headquarters, consisting of a lieutenant colonel, who will have command of the two squadrons, assisted by a captain for administration, a captain for technical duties, and a lieutenant for armament, along with five other ranks; No. 1 Squadron (scout), consisting of 18 aeroplanes, commanded by a major with three captains, flight commanders, and 18 flying officers of the rank of lieutenant, the total personnel being 159; No. 2 Squadron (day bombing), also consisting of 18 aeroplanes, manned like Squadron No. 1; and a technical and supply branch, consisting of a headquarters, technical branch, and a supply depot.
At the end of 1918 the equipment of the Canadian Air Corps consisted of 3 aeroplanes, presented by the Imperial Air Fleet Committee; 16 presented by the Overseas Club and Patriotic League; and 40 German aeroplanes allotted by the Air Ministry. In addition to the above 50 Curtiss machines were presented to the Canadian Government by the Imperial Munitions Board, making a total of 109 machines available for service on the return to Canada of the Canadian Air Force.
Like the aeroplane, the tank became a military weapon only during the Great War, and tank battalions were entirely unknown as a branch of any army service before hostilities began. At about the same time that the matter of forming a Canadian air force came up for consideration, the organization of a separate Canadian tank battalion was also discussed. It was in March, 1918, that the British War Office requested the Canadian Government to supply the men for one tank battalion. By the middle of summer the battalion had been formed and had arrived in England, comprising 92 officers and 716 men.
What made this battalion especially noteworthy was the fact that the entire body had been recruited from among the students of Canadian universities. One company came from McGill University, another from Toronto University, while the third came from the others.
While the battalion was in training, two months later, the British Government again requested the Canadian Governor General to provide a tank battalion. This request was immediately complied with, and in the middle of October, 1918, the 2d Canadian Tank Battalion arrived in England from Canada, consisting of 44 officers and 960 other ranks.
Meanwhile the 1st Battalion had completed the training course and was preparing to embark for France when the armistice was signed. At that time, however, Canada had been requested to recruit a third tank battalion.
At the time that hostilities ceased, says the official report of the Overseas Ministry, the Medical Corps of the Canadian overseas forces exceeded in numbers the entire British Royal Army Medical Corps during the South African War. In November, 1918, the bed capacity of the hospitals overseas amounted to 40,000, as compared to 3,000 in June, 1915.
In the matter of a military medical service Canada had been prepared to a certain degree. Back in 1904 the first nucleus of the Army Medical Corps had been formed, and in 1911 the equipment of a military medical branch had been authorized, including a complete scheme for quick mobilization in case of hostilities. Thus there was a basis for the high degree of efficiency which characterized the Canadian Medical Corps, and won for it the highest recommendations as early as the Second Battle of Ypres. This efficiency was largely due to the director of the corps, Major General G. L. Foster, C. B.