Dominion identity formed through shared service

Why did Canadians come back to fight for Britain in World War I?

Many were recent immigrants born in Britain, but they returned in Canadian formations whose shared service helped strengthen a Canadian identity.

Many Canadian servicemen had been born in Britain and had moved to Canada relatively recently. Those personal ties help explain why Canadians returned to fight for Britain. They nevertheless returned as members of Canadian formations. Shared wartime experience helped some volunteers begin to regard themselves primarily as Canadians. The distinction between birthplace and the identity developed through service complicates simple national accounts of recruitment.