It is estimated tens of thousands Americans went north to fight in the First World War before the United States declared war on April 6, 1917.
Chris Dickon, author of Americans at War in Foreign Forces, told the National Post, “Beginning in 1914, it started out as a quiet sort of thing with the Americans going over to Canada. … It was accepted that Canada wanted Americans in its forces.”
In the article, The forgotten history of the thousands of Americans who came north to fight in the Great War, the National Post reports, “The CEF even kept these men together for awhile, creating the 97th Battalion in Toronto in 1915, also known as the American Legion. Other American-based battalions formed in other provinces. But the U.S. government eventually asked Canada to drop ‘American Legion’ from the name and its members were later absorbed into other battalions.”
So, if you are looking for an elusive American male relative who was in his late teens, 20s or 30s between 1914 and 1918, you may want to enter his name in Library and Archives Canada’s Personnel Records of the First World War database.
One of them, William Henry Metcalf, “Bill”, from Maine, won the Victoria Cross (now held at the regimental museum in BC) – after lying about his age and thwarting his mother, who was deathly against his enlistment. Col. Bob Dallison, who’s written several books about the history of Canada, and once was director at King’s Landing, gave a wonderful backstory at a re-dedication of Metcalf’s grave marker in Eastport, Maine, a few years back. My favorite takeaway: The US Ambassador was waiting for the ship to land in England and was ready to snatch underage Bill away from his unit and send him home, but the unit’s officer, from St. Andrews, NB, if I remember correctly, finessed the situation, and Bill managed to stay. He survived the war and lived until 1968 – I remember him well from summers spent with my grandparents.
William Henry Metcalf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Metcalf
Great story, Pam. I bet most Canadians would be surprised to learn Americans fought for Canada during WWI — as much as Americans are surprised to learn about 40,000 Canadians, including my gr-gr-grandfather, fought in the American civil. Thanks for sharing.