Organized in August 1914 under the command of Major E.G. Hanson, and under the command of Brigadier-General Henri Alexandre Panet (2nd Canadian Divisional Artillery), this rare identification bracelet comes from a WWI Canadian artillerymen serving in the 2nd Canadian Division, 5th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery, 20th Field Battery. The formation of the 2nd Canadian Division began in May 1915 in Britain, following the arrival of a large contingent of soldiers from Canada. The 2nd Division remained in Great Britain only a short time before embarking for the Western Front in September 1915. It joined the 1st Canadian Division to form the Canadian Corps. The division was under the command of Major General R.E.W. Turner, and its members spent a long and bitterly cold winter in a Belgian section of the front between Ploegsteert Wood and St. Eloi, south of Ypres. The 2nd Canadian Division served on the Western Front until the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

This WWI C.F.A. soldier's ID dog tag bracelet shows heavy use and where as it was worn by an artilleryman with the last name of “Ingram” and a serial number of No. 87182. During the length of WWI he wore this bracelet during combat against the German as an artilleryman providing artillery support and defensive and offensive artillery barrages to Allies in the area. This bracelet most likely saw some incredible combat during the Great War and was apart of some of the most famous battles of World War I. Identification bracelets like this we worn by soldiers as an additional means for identification in the case of being killed in action or needed to be identified quickly. The ID tag is in incredible condition and the clasp is original and still in functional order.

This field artillery unit is accreded as playing a huge role in artillery suooprt during the infamous “Battle of Vimy Ridge”. Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps against three divisions of the German Sixth Army. The battle was part of the opening phase of the Battle of Arras, part Nivelle Offensive and took place from 9–12 April 1917. The objective of the Canadian Corps was to take control of the German-held high ground, along an escarpment at the northernmost end of the Arras Offensive. This would ensure that the southern flank could advance without suffering German enfilade fire.

This listing covers Allied Powers and Central Powers formations and units involved in the battle. Although the Canadian side is well studied, historians have had trouble determining the exact dispositions of the German forces and even more trouble assessing the casualties it suffered in the battle. The Canadian Corps suffered 10,602 casualties; 3,598 killed and 7,004 wounded. The German Sixth Army suffered an unknown number of casualties with an approximate 4,000 men becoming prisoners of war.

The significance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge is most strongly felt in Canada. Elsewhere the battle is principally noted as part of the much larger British offensive known as the Battles of Arras 1917. The historical reality of the battle has been reworked and reinterpreted, in a conscious attempt to give purpose and meaning to an event which came to symbolize Canada's coming of age as a nation. The idea that Canada achieved nationhood as a direct result of the experiences of the First World War, is an opinion widely held in military histories of Canada and also regularly appears in general histories. A 250-acre (100 ha) portion of the former battleground is preserved memorial park and site of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

Battles and engagements on the Western Front:

1916:

• Actions of St. Eloi Craters: 27 March – 16 April

• Battle of Mount Sorrel: 2–13 June

• Battle of Flers - Courcelette: 15–22 September

• Battle of Thiepval: 26–28 September

• Battle of Le Transloy: 1–18 October

• Battle of the Ancre Heights: 1 October – 11 November

1917:

• Battle of Vimy Ridge: 9–14 April

• Attack on La Coulotte: 23 April

• Battle of Arleux: 28–29 April

• Third Battle of the Scarpe: 3–4 May

• Battle of Hill 70: 15–25 August

• Second Battle of Passchendaele: 26 October – 10 November

• Battle of Cambrai (1917): 20 November – 3 December

1918:

• First Battle of Arras: 28 March

• Battle of Amiens: 8–11 August

• Actions round Damery: 15–17 August

• Battle of the Scarpe: 26–30 August

• The Pursuit to the Selle: 9–12 October

• Passage of the Grande Honnelle: 5–7 November