No. 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, WW I 

This is a database in our Name Index  containing the names (and a growing collection of biographies) of 879 WW I soldiers who died at No. 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station in select periods between February 1916 and January 1919. It is taken from journals kept by the chaplains who served there. Most records include the soldier’s name, rank, service number, unit, date of death, and the name of the chaplain who wrote the information. Some include also the date of admission to the CCCS, the date of burial, a description of the soldier's wounds and the next of kin, with an address.  

Context of No. 1 CCCS

Canada's casualty clearing stations, located within a few miles of the Front, were one of the most important links within the Canadian Army Medical Corps for the treatment of wounded soldiers during WW I.

CCCS medical staff treated emergency cases and then, if necessary, evacuated the wounded soldiers to hospitals further behind the lines or in England for more extensive medical aid. While the stations were staffed by Canadians, they administered to wounded soldiers from all Allied armies and a few enemy soldiers. Not everyone brought to the stations would survive, however, and the official records of their deaths may be sparse. 

The chaplains’ journal covers servicemen who died at No. 1 CCCS between February 1916 and February 1919 and provides us with a possibly unique account of the passing of these 879 soldiers. The chaplains who signed most of the records were James Patrick Fallon, Walter Francis O’Neill Fisher, Andrew Dunn Reid, John Knox Tibbits, Geoffrey Cyril d’Easum, Robert Kerr Lambert, and Ralph Lionel Brydges. The original journal held at Library and Archives Canada is the Record of Deaths, 17 February 1916–10 February 1919, a record maintained at No. 1 CCCS, (Record Group 9, series IIIC10, volume 4556).

No. 1 CCCS, originally designated as No. 2 Clearing Hospital, was organized at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and at Valcartier, Quebec, in August and September 1914. The unit, consisting of 11 officers and 75 other ranks commanded by Major F. S. L. Ford, was part of the First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. It arrived in England in October 1914 and was posted to France in February 1915. On 6 March 1915, it was redesignated No. 1 CCCS.

No. 1 CCCS settled in near Aire, France, and remained there until January 1916. According to Sir Andrew Macphail, author of The Medical Services (Ottawa, 1925), the station received 550 casualties within two days of its arrival. Casualty clearing stations were not stationary, but they moved infrequently. During the course of the war, No. 1 CCCS was located in France, Belgium and, at the end of the war, in Germany. Throughout the war, the station had a capacity that ranged from 200 to 900 beds. It ceased operations in February 1919 and was demobilized two months later, upon arrival at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

For further information about the history and operations of No. 1 CCCS, see the “Canadian Army Medical Corps” section in the Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Macphail’s book, cited above, also includes a chapter devoted to the organization and operation of casualty clearing stations.

The chaplains used many abbreviations in their entries:

Transcription

In this database, you will find transcriptions of the chaplains’ journal, documenting the deaths of 879 soldiers who died at No. 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. Click on [eye icon] beside each listing to read the transcription. The records in the database have been transcribed exactly as written by the chaplains and contain many abbreviations [“abbreviations” hyperlinked to “Learn more” page]. Many mistakes were made in the records but, as BIFHSGO volunteers have researched the individual soldiers, their full correct names have been recorded in “Researched Full Name.”

Biographies

The BIFHSGO volunteers are researching and writing biographies for all soldiers. Information from the No. 1 CCCS records was supplemented with other publicly available information. In some instances, the volunteers have been able to connect with soldiers’ family members, who may have been able to provide more personal information and family pictures. Every attempt has been made to ensure that these biographies are accurate but, if an error has been made, we do apologize. Please advise us so we can fix the biography.

Current BIFHSGO volunteers include:
Ann Burns                                               Heather Carmody   
Marcia Clement                                      Sheila Dohoo Faure (team leader)       
Jean Kitchen (editor)                              Nigel Lloyd

Former biographers:
David Agar                                               Lynda Gibson                                          
Lynne Willoughby

June 2025