It was the first complete infantry unit to be raised in Ottawa; its badge bears the city's motto, "Advance".

C Company was mobilized in the outlying districts of eastern Ontario (headquartered at Smith's Falls) under the command of Capt.

Soon after its arrival, it was required to provide a complete company for a reinforcing draft to proceed overseas immediately.

The original colour party was composed of Lieutenants Stronach and R. F. Greene and Company Sergeant Majors Carroll, Wilkinson and Vance.

The transport proceeded down the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but was ordered back to Quebec City due to the suspected presence of submarines off the Atlantic coast.

Bermuda was divided into three military districts: the Eastern Military district (controlled from St. George's Garrison, the original 18th Century military base in Bermuda), the Central Military District (controlled from Prospect Camp, which also housed the Bermuda Command Headquarters); and the Western Military District, controlled from Clarence Barracks on the co-joined Boaz Island and Watford Island) Headquarters, D Company and half of C Company were located at Prospect Barracks, in Devonshire, near the City of Hamilton; A Company were at Clarence Barracks on Boaz and Watford Islands, close to the Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island, and the other half of C Company were at St. David's Island (in the Eastern Military District), where the coastal artillery guns of St. David's Battery, which guarded the entrance to the main shipping channel through Bermuda's surrounding reef, required protection against rear attack by an enemy shore party.

Active training and garrison duties were immediately begun and with the assistance of Imperial Army Instructors, the battalion reached a high state of efficiency.

On 8 February 1916, the 38th was inspected by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda, who forwarded official reports to the British War Office and militia headquarters at Ottawa declaring the unit fit to take its place in the field alongside the finest regiments in the British Army.

The Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) and the BVRC, normally local-service reserve units of the British Army, both sent two contingents of volunteers to the Western Front during the war (in 1916 and 1917, and 1915 and 1916 respectively).

It had been ordered before the departure of the 38th that no further contingents would be sent abroad by the BVRC, but many of its soldiers were permitted to join CEF battalions, either in Bermuda or Canada.

That evening half the battalion (A and C Companies, commanded by Major Parkinson) was sent forward to support trenches east of Ypres; by morning, they had received their baptism of shell fire.

The battalion took over the front line immediately east of Kemmel Hill (the southern end of the Ypres salient), where they remained until 23 September 1916.

The battalion entrained at Saint-Omer, reaching Canaas on 9 October and bivouacking on the west slope of Tara Hill.

On 17 November, the 38th took over a section of front line from the 11th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers as part of the attack on Desire Trench and Grandcourt.

The first three weeks of December were spent billeted in Bruay-la-Buissière where reinforcements were received, bringing the unit up to strength.

On Christmas night 1916 the 38th went into the line on Vimy Ridge at Souchez, relieving the 13th Royal Highlanders of Montreal.

Many patrol encounters took place in No Man's Land; on 22 February the 38th raided the enemy's front line with a party of 125, inflicting heavy casualties.

The 38th was relieved on 28 March and went into brigade support, returning to the line on the evening of 4 April ready for the "big show".

King George V inspected the battalion on 11 July; August and September were spent in the line at Avion, and on 4 October it was learned that instead of using the Canadian Corps to attack the Mericout-Sallauminee Ridge, they were to be sent back to the Ypres front to take part in the Passchendaele operations.

On their way a week was spent near Staple; on the last day of their stay there the battalion was inspected by the Duke of Connaught, who had last seen the unit on Parliament Hill in Ottawa during summer 1915.

A busy winter was spent in this area, the battalion holding various sectors of the front from Oppy in the south to Loos in the north.

They remained in this vicinity until the middle of May when the Canadian Corps was withdrawn into GHQ Reserve, where time was spent learning the new kind of warfare which the German offensive had made necessary.

The Germans counterattacked and were repulsed; that night, the battalion assembled for an attack the following day on the Canal du Nord.

In the evening the Germans made a determined counterattack, but the 38th held on and by the mid-afternoon of 3 September the position was consolidated.

The battalion was tasked with capturing the railway near Bourlon, and the attack began on the morning of 27 September.

The battalion crossed the Canal at Inchy; at the outset the it captured 25 machine guns and 150 prisoners, but by noon there was stiff opposition.

The battalion colours, donated by the Ottawa Home Guard, were presented by Sir Joseph Pope on 1 August 1915, and deposited in Westminster Abbey on 12 July 1916.

The 38th Canadian Infantry Battalion is perpetuated by The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Duke of Edinburgh's Own).