The Canadian Forestry Corps in Scotland during World War II

Abstract

Abstract The Canadian Forestry Corps, composed of professional woodsmen, was first organized during World War One at the request of the United Kingdom to help meet Britain's timber needs during the hostilities. It was re‐formed in World War Two to play the same role. Most of its activities were centred in Highland Scotland during the latter conflict though it also participated in the north‐west Europe operations following D‐Day. Some 33 camps were scattered in north‐eastern Scotland, from Berriedale to Brechin, with major concentrations on Deeside, Strathspey and the Moray/Dornoch Firth Lowlands. In addition to meeting its primary objective the Canadian Forestry Corps’ presence in Scotland was influential in other ways: as a defensive element in the earlier years, as a social factor in many smaller communities, and in post‐war forestry conditions through its widespread clearing activities and in the more modern wood‐handling techniques which it introduced.