| Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade | |
|---|---|
Cleaning armoured cars
| |
| Active | 1914–1919 |
| Country | Canada |
| Branch | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
| Type | Motorized infantry |
| Part of | Canadian Independent Force |
The Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, also known as Brutinel's Brigade or the Brutinel Brigade, was the first fully motorized unit of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the First World War.[1] It was established on August 24, 1914, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as Automobile Machine Gun Brigade No. 1 by Canadian Brigadier-General Raymond Brutinel, who initiated the program and was the unit's first commander.[2] The unit played a significant part in halting the major German spring offensive of March 1918, and in the final Hundred Days Offensive when it was part of the Canadian Independent Force (CIF) commanded by Brutinel.
The brigade was originally equipped with eight Armoured Autocars mounting two Colt Model 1914 machine guns (later replaced with the standard British Vickers MG) manufactured by AutocarinArdmore, Pennsylvania. Autocar also supplied six unarmoured support vehicles, four "roadsters" for the brigade's officers, and an ambulance.
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig wrote that the "work of the 1st CMMG Brigade in recent operations has proved the value that can be obtained from such units, and recommends the formation of a 2nd Brigade be undertaken forthwith."[3] So in May 1918 the 2nd Canadian Motor MG Brigade was added. With the new unit Brutinel's CIF consisted of the 1st and 2nd Motor Machine Gun Brigade (each of 5x8 gun batteries), Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion, one section of medium trench-mortars mounted on lorries (plus an assumed wireless and medical support).[4] This totaled 80 machine guns and about 300 bicycle infantry. Canadian historian John A. English points out that this "was the first mechanized formation in the Commonwealth armies and the forerunner of the armoured division."[5]
By June 1916 there were five batteries in the brigade:[6]
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