The 196th (Western Universities) Battalion, CEF was a numbered battalion in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the unit began recruiting during the winter of 1915/16 in universities throughout western Canada. After sailing to England in November 1916, the battalion was absorbed into the 19th Reserve Battalion on January 2, 1917, and its members were later dispersed across a number of different units. History Creation During the First World War, university staff and students from across western Canada wanted the opportunity to serve in the military while retaining their collective university identities. In December 1915, the University of Manitoba branch of the Canadian Officers' Training Corps sent two representatives to the University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, and University of Saskatchewan to lobby for these schools to agree on forming such a unit. This proposition was well received by these schools, along with Brandon College (now Brandon University), who sent representatives to a conference in Edmonton, Alberta, on 15 January 1916. Here, it was unanimously agreed to apply for permission from the Minister of Militia and Defence to create two units: The 196th (Western Universities) Battalion, and XI Canadian Field Ambulance (Western Universities). Canada approved the creation of these two units on 25 January 1916, and an organizing committee for the 196th Battalion was soon formed. The committee, which was led by University of Alberta President Henry Marshall Tory, first met on 7 February in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was agreed that each of the four universities would raise one company of four platoons for the battalion. The University of Saskatchewan was an exception; it would raise a company of three platoons, with Brandon College forming the fourth. The organizing committee was also responsible for choosing the battalion's officers. The committee chose Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Sayre MacKay, who was second-in-command of the 27th Battalion in France and a prewar physician and surgeon, to be the 196th Battalion's commanding officer. His second-in-command was Major Reginald Walter Brock, who was a geologist and Dean of the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Engineering who previously served with the 72nd Battalion (Seaforth Highlanders of Canada). After the core battalion was formed, each institution was responsible for organizing its respective company. Training All battalions arrived in Camp Hughes by the end of June, 1916. There, it underwent a twelve-week training course, which included digging and maintaining part of