| 1st Canadian Division 1st Canadian Infantry Division 1st Canadian Division | |
|---|---|
| 1re Division du Canada (French) | |
 1st Canadian Infantry Division formation patch | |
| Active | 1914–1919 1939–1945 1954–1958 1989–1999 2010–present |
| Country | Canada |
| Branch |
|
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Part of | Canadian Joint Operations Command |
| Nickname(s) | "The Old Red Patch" |
| Motto(s) | Agile, Versatile, Ready |
| Engagements | World War I |
| Website | www |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | MGen Mark Misener |
| Notable commanders | Edwin Alderson Arthur Currie Archibald Cameron Macdonell Andrew McNaughton George Pearkes Harry Salmon Guy Simonds Chris Vokes Harry Wickwire Foster Roméo Dallaire David Fraser |
The 1st Canadian Division (French: 1re Division du Canada) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short notice, and is staffed and equipped to meet Canada's military objectives to counter any potential threat.
Formed during the First World War in August 1914, the 1st Canadian Division was a formation of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The division contained a cavalry squadron and a cyclist company, three infantry brigades (the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigades, each of four battalions), representing all parts of Canada, three field artillery brigades (roughly equivalent to modern regiments) armed with 18-pounders and engineers, together with elements of the Army Service Corps and the Army Medical Corps. The total war establishment of the division was 17,873 all ranks, with 4,943 horses.[1] During its service in the First World War, the division fought at Ypres, Festubert, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and Amiens among other notable battles on the Western Front.
Following the war, the division was stood down, only to be re-mobilized as a formation on 1 September 1939 as the 1st Canadian Infantry Division for service in the Second World War. The division was part of the Allied campaign to invade Sicily, as well as their campaign on the Italian mainland, where they are associated with such notable battles as Ortona, the Liri Valley and the Gothic Line. The division reunited with the First Canadian Army in 1945 to participate in the liberation of the Western Netherlands before the end of the war in Europe.
The division was also reactivated twice during the Cold War: from 1953 to 1958, and again from 1988 to 1992.
In 2010, the division was reactivated for a third time. While the four divisions (2nd to 5th) of the Canadian Army are responsible for command of units within their respective geographic regions, the 1st Canadian Division Headquarters was formed to serve as a task-tailored, deployable joint headquarters at high readiness to command and control joint, inter-agency, multinational forces to achieve national objectives at home and abroad.