Organization

Canadian Army

Domestic Military Organization

Headquarters

Militia HQ

Canadian Forces HQ

National Defence HQ (NDHQ)

Political Institutions

Dept. of Militia & Defence

►►Minister of Militia & Defence

►►Militia Council

Department of National Defence

►►Minister of National Defence

►►Chiefs of Staff Committee

Reorganizations

1902-1904 Dundonald Reforms
1920 Otter Committee
1936 Reorganization
1954 Kennedy Board
1957 Anderson Report
1964 Suttie Commission
1968 Unification
1995 Special Commission

Organizational Corps/Branches

1900-1968 Organizational Corps
1968-2000 Branches

Field Forces

1914-1919  

Canadian Expeditionary Force
CEF Regional Affiliations

Territorial Reinforcement Regts.

1919

Canadian Exped Force Siberia

1939-1940 (1945) 

Canadian Active Service Force

1945

Canadian Army Pacific Force

1950-1953

Canadian Army Special Force

Field Force Formations

1914-1918  
Canadian Corps

 

 

 

1st Div  | 2nd Div | 3rd Div  | 4th Div


5th Div
1939-1945

1st Canadian Army

1st Canadian Corps

2nd Canadian Corps

Atlantic Command

Pacific Command
1st Infantry Division
2nd Infantry Division

3rd Infantry Division

4th (Armoured) Division
5th (Armoured) Division
6th Division 

7th Division 

8th Division 
1st Armoured Brigade
2nd Armoured Brigade
3rd Armoured Brigade
3rd Tank Brigade

 1950-1953
1 Com Div | 25 Inf Bde

Foreign Headquarters

Allied Forces HQ (AFHQ)

►►15th Army Group

►►►8th Army

SHAEF

►►21st Army Group

►►►2nd British Army
►►►►Beach Groups

Special Forces

1st Canadian Para Battalion

First Special Service Force

Pacific Coast Militia Rangers

Canadian Rangers

Special Air Service (SAS) Coy

The Canadian Airborne Regt

Organizational Formations

Reserve Bdes - 1941-1945

13 Cdn Infantry Training Bde

14 Cdn Infantry Training Bde

27th Canadian Brigade

1 CMBG

2 CMBG

3 CMBG

4 CMBG

5 CMBG

1st Cdn Division (1954-1958)

1st Cdn Division (1988-2000)

Special Service Force

Auxiliary Services
Alliances

1914-1918 Triple Alliance
1939-1945 Allies
1949-1999 NATO

Veteran's Organizations

Defence Associations

Canadian Cavalry Association
Canadian Infantry Association
Intelligence Branch Association

National Defence Emp Assoc
RCAC (Cavalry)
RCA Association
RCOC Association
Union of Nat Def Employees

Veteran's Associations

ANAVETS
Royal Canadian Legion

Supplementary Order of Battle

Unit Listings by year

1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904
1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909
1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914
1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919
1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924
1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929
1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934
1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939
1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944
1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949
1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954
1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959
1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964
1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969
1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974
1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979
1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984
1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994
1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999

Unit Listings by Corps/Branch

Armoured Units 1940-1945

Cdn Dental Corps 1939-1945
Cdn Intelligence Corps 1942-45

Cdn Provost Corps 1940-1945

Infantry Battalions 1939-1945

RCOC 1939-1945

 

Minister of National Defence

The Minister of National Defence (MND) (Ministre de la Défense nationale in French) was the Canadian politician within the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the Department of National Defence which oversaw the armed forces.

Before 1923, the position was divided amongst the Minister of Militia and Defence, Minister of the Naval Service and Minister of Aviation. After the First World War, the three positions were consolidated.

The highest ranking officer reporting to the Minister has historically been the Chief of the Defence Staff from 1964; previously it was the three chiefs of the services, with the Chief of the General Staff representing the Army. Although the Governor General of Canada has been the Commander-in-Chief of Canada's armed forces, the position has been ceremonial and the ultimate responsibility resided with the Minister of National Defence.

The Minister of National Defence is assisted by Deputy Ministers of National Defence.

Ministers of National Defence

  Name Prime Minister Dates
  George Perry Graham under William Lyon Mackenzie King 1 Jan 1923 – 27 Apr 1923
* Edward Mortimer Macdonald (Acting) under William Lyon Mackenzie King 28 Apr 1923 - 16 Aug 1923
  Edward Mortimer Macdonald under William Lyon Mackenzie King 17 Aug 1923 - 28 Jun 1926
* Hugh Guthrie (Acting) under Arthur Meighen 29 Jun 1926 - 12 Jul 1926
  Hugh Guthrie under Arthur Meighen 13 Jul 1926 - 25 Sep 1926
  vacant n/a 25 Sep 1926 - 30 Sep 1926
* James Robb (Acting) under William Lyon Mackenzie King 1 Oct 1926 - 7 Oct 1926
  James Ralston under William Lyon Mackenzie King 8 Oct 1926 - 7 Aug 1930
  Donald Matheson Sutherland under Richard Bedford Bennett 7 Aug 1930 - 16 Nov 1934
  Grote Stirling under Richard Bedford Bennett 17 Nov 1934 - 23 Oct 1935
Ian Alistair Mackenzie under William Lyon Mackenzie King 24 Oct 1935 - 18 Sep 1939
Norman McLeod Rogers under William Lyon Mackenzie King 19 Sep 1939 - 10 Jun 1940
* Charles Power (Acting) under William Lyon Mackenzie King 11 Jun 1940 - 4 Jul 1940
James Ralston (2nd time) under William Lyon Mackenzie King 5 Jul 1940 - 1 Nov 1944
  Andrew McNaughton under William Lyon Mackenzie King 2 Nov 1944 - 20 Aug 1945
  Douglas Abbott under William Lyon Mackenzie King 21 Aug 1945 - 9 Dec 1946
11. Brooke Claxton under William Lyon Mackenzie King 10 Dec 1946 - 15 Nov 1948
under Louis Stephen St. Laurent 15 Nov 1948 - 30 Jun 1954
Ralph Campney under Louis Stephen St. Laurent 1 Jul 1954 - 20 Jun 1957
  George Pearkes under John George Diefenbaker 21 Jun 1957 - 10 Oct 1960
  Doug Harkness under John George Diefenbaker 11 Oct 1960 - 3 Feb 1963
  vacant n/a 4 Feb 1963 - 11 Feb 1963
  Gordon Churchill under John George Diefenbaker 12 Feb 1963 - 21 Apr 1963
  Paul Hellyer under Lester Bowles Pearson 22 Apr 1963 - 18 Sep 1967
17. Léo Cadieux under Lester Bowles Pearson Sep 1967 - 19 Apr 1968
under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 20 Apr 1968 - 16 Sep 1970
* Bud Drury (Acting) under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 17 Sep 1970 - 23 Sep 1970
  Donald Macdonald under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 24 Sep 1970 - 27 Jan 1972
  Edgar Benson under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 28 Jan 1972 - 31 Aug 1972
* Jean–Eudes Dubé (Acting) under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1 Sep 1972 - 6 Sep 1972
* Bud Drury (Acting) (2nd time) under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 7 Sep 1972 - 26 Nov 1072
  James Richardson under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 27 Nov 1972 - 12 Oct 1976
* Barnett Danson (Acting) under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 13 Oct 1976 - 2 Nov 1976
  Barnett Danson under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 3 Nov 1976 - 3 Jun 1979
  Allan McKinnon under Joe Clark 4 Jun 1979 - 2 Mar 1980
  Gilles Lamontagne under Pierre Elliott Trudeau 3 Mar 1980 - 11 Aug 1983
24. Jean–Jacques Blais under Trudeau 12 Aug 1983 - 29 Jun 1984
under John Napier Turner 30 Jun 1984 - 16 Sep 1984
  Robert Coates under Brian Mulroney 17 Sep 1984 - 11 Feb 1985
* Erik Nielsen (Acting) under Brian Mulroney 12 Feb 1985 - 25 Feb 1985
  Erik Nielsen under Brian Mulroney 26 Feb 1985 - 29 Jun 1986
Perrin Beatty under Brian Mulroney 30 Jun 1986 - 29 Jan 1989
  Bill McKnight under Brian Mulroney 30 Jan 1989 - 20 Apr 1991
  Marcel Masse under Brian Mulroney 21 Apr 1991 - 3 Jan 1993
Kim Campbell under Brian Mulroney 4 Jan 1993 - 24 Jun 1993
  Tom Siddon under Kim Campbell 25 Jun 1993 - 3 Nov 1993
David Collenette under Jean Chrétien 4 Nov 1993 - 4 Oct 1996
Doug Young under Jean Chrétien 5 Oct 1996 - 10 Jun 1997
Art Eggleton under Jean Chrétien 11 Jun 1997 - 25 Jun 2002
 

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