The Nominal Rolls of the Canadian Expeditionary Force are described by Library and Archives Canada as the “lists of soldiers on strength with the unit on a particular date.” They were generally created in the course of a unit’s formation in Canada, often in preparation for departure overseas. Five copies of nominal rolls (army form MFW 20) were to be prepared by the regimental adjutant. Two were submitted to the headquarters of the Military District in which the unit was raised, in the case of the 60th Battalion, this was Military District 4. The Military District sent one of its copies to the Department of Militia and Defense in Ottawa. The remaining three copies accompanied the battalion overseas. The first page was to contain a list of officers, arranged in order of rank. Other ranks followed on succeeding pages, arranged in alphabetical order, showing full name, rank, regimental number, the former Corps, the name and address or he next of kin, the man’s country of birth and when and where the man was taken on strength of the battalion.Follow this link for a copy of the 60th Battalion & 1st Reinforcing Draft These lists show only the names of men recruited by the 60th battalion and who were on the Nominal Roll at the time of departure for overseas. The nominal roll of the 60th Battalion prepared just before they sailed lists the names of 41 Officers and 1,098 Other Ranks, a total of 1139 men. However, 83 of the men on the list had been previously discharged or had missed the sailing. 41 officers and 1,015 men from the sixtieth were actually on board the ship. 4 of the men who missed the boat would join the 60th in England during December 1915.
The Nominal Roll on this site differs in that it contains the names of every man who served at some point in time with the battalion. It includes the names of men who signed up in Canada and who were subsequently discharged before the battalion sailed and men who transferred into the battalion overseas as reinforcements or replacements. It is arranged alphabetically regardless of rank and includes a man’s Regimental Number. Officers were not assigned Regimental Numbers so there is no number beside their names, unless, the man started out as an enlisted man and received a promotion from the ranks.
The 60th Battalion recruiters were originally assigned the Regimental Number sequence A57000 to A58999, but this was changed to 457001 through 458999. They used 457001 through 458650. There are seven numbers in that range that I have been unable to account for. These may never have been used or the man was appointed an officer and the number was dropped or, as with some cases the man was discharged from the 60th and attested to another battalion with a new number and the Library and Archives has all the information in a file under the new number or, it was somehow voided or never used. The search to put a name to these continues.
Those unaccounted for numbers are:
457098 – 457185 – 457410 – 457483 – 457486 – 457781 – 458469
The Part II Daily Orders of the battalion were a prime source in ascertaining the names of men who arrived as reinforcements. The Part II Daily Orders numbers 26 through 44 for the period August 22nd to September 21, 1916 are missing and it is possible they contain the names of men who both joined the battalion and left the battalion during that time period. The period in question is during the Battle of Courcelette.
Click on the letter that the last name begins with to view the list:
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I – J – K – L – M – N – O – P – Q – R – S – T – U – V – W – XYZ
Follow this link for more Nominal Rolls of the 60th Battalion
The 60th Battalion C.E.F. "Victoria Rifles of Canada" 