Object 19880274-001, Canadian War Museum http://www.warmuseum.ca/collections/artifact/1042602/
This early Colt M1911 was used by an individual with the 27th Infantry Battalion (City of Winnipeg), Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War.
If you note, there is a bullet or shrapnel hole from the right penetrating the left-hand side of the grip, meaning if the pistol was in a holster or hand, the owner likely had a very bad experience somewhere on the Western Front.
Canada placed orders for a total of 5,000 Colt Government Model pistols between August and October 1914, with officers, senior NCOs and machine gunners of early units heading to France so equipped with these .45ACP Connecticut-made guns.
The 27th Winnipeg was authorized on 7 November 1914 and disembarked in France as a fully trained and equipped unit on 18 September 1915, just in time to head to the front for the meat-grinder that was Somme the next year.
Close to 61,000 Canadians were killed during the war, and another 172,000 were wounded.
The 27th and a dozen other Manitoba-area Great War battalions are perpetuated today as the “Little Black Devils” of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles (R Wpg Rif).
