Lest We Forget

100 years of History

1918-2018

Canada's War History

WWI

1914-1918

In 1914, Canada’s external affairs were governed by the United Kingdom. This meant that once Britain declared war, Canada automatically followed. The First World War opened with great enthusiasm and patriotism on the part of many Canadians, with tens of thousands rushing to join the military in the first months so that they would not miss the action. They need not have worried as the war would grind on for more than four years, killing as many as ten million combatants in fighting that would be revolutionised by high-explosive shells, powerful machine guns, poison gas, submarines and war planes.

The armistice of November 11, 1918, brought relief to the whole world. Never before had there been such a conflict. For a nation of eight million people Canada’s war effort was remarkable. More than 650,000 men and women from Canada and Newfoundland served — over 66,000 gave their lives and more than 172,000 were wounded. It was this immense sacrifice that lead to Canada’s separate signature on the Peace Treaty. No longer viewed as just a colony of England, Canada had truly achieved nation status. This nationhood was purchased by the gallant men who stood fast at Ypres, stormed Regina Trench, climbed the heights of Vimy Ridge, captured Passchendaele, and entered Mons on November 11, 1918.

Battle of Passchendaele

The Battle of Passchendaele raged in Belgium in the summer and fall of 1917. The Canadian Corps joined the fighting there in October and would overcome almost unimaginable hardships to triumph on a brutal and muddy battlefield. This victory only came at a high price, however, as over 4,000 Canadian soldiers lost their lives and almost 12,000 more were wounded.

When Britain went to war in Europe in August 1914, Canada being a member of the British Empire automatically found itself at war as well. The First World War soon turned into a stalemate of trench fighting along the Western Front, with a heavily defended 1,000 kilometre long network of trenches stretching across Belgium and northern France from the English Channel to the border of Switzerland. On one side were the forces of France and Britain (along with other allies such as Canada) and on the other were the Germans. From their opposing trenches they faced one another across a blasted “No Man’s Land” of barbed wire, exploding artillery shells and deadly machine gun fire.

In the fall of 1917, the Canadian Corps after its great success at Vimy Ridge that April was now sent north to Belgium. It would be all too familiar ground for the Canadians who had seen heavy fighting there earlier in the war.

The Ypres area of Belgium where the village of Passchendaele is was the scene of several First World War battles, including the first use of poison gas when the Germans unleashed deadly chemical attacks there in April 1915. The Ypres salient was the last portion of Belgium that was not in enemy hands after the initial German advances of the war and, as a result, held great symbolic meaning to the Allies.

Ypres was a very difficult place to fight. It was a region largely made up of flat, low ground that was kept dry only with the help of an intricate series of dikes and ditches. Three years of heavy fighting there, however, had entirely destroyed these drainage systems. The ground, churned up by millions of artillery shells, turned to sticky mud when wet. In 1917, the autumn rains came early and turned the battlefield into a sea of muck, the likes of which still make the name Passchendaele synonymous with the horrific fighting conditions many people picture when thinking of the First World War.

The Third Battle of Ypres was undertaken by the British primarily to take the pressure off the French forces to the south. The British commander, Sir Douglas Haig, launched a drive in Belgium to wear down the German capacity to continue fighting the war while hopefully seizing strategic German railways in the occupied country and capturing the German submarine bases along the coast which were being used to menace Allied shipping.

The campaign began at the end of July 1917. British, as well as Australian and New Zealand forces, opened the attack with a pounding artillery barrage. Heavy rains came down the very night the ground assault was launched, however, and shell holes quickly filled with filthy water. The battlefield soon became peppered with countless flooded craters, too often containing wounded and fallen soldiers. A heavy toll was taken on the attackers as they had to struggle through thick mud with little cover while German machine gunners in pill boxes tore them to pieces. Despite these conditions, the Allied forces slowly gained much of the higher ground as the summer turned into fall. The main objectives of the offensive, however, remained out of reach.

Early in October 1917, the Canadians were sent to Belgium to relieve the battered Australian and New Zealand forces and take part in the final push to capture Passchendaele. Canadian Corps commander Lieutenant General Arthur Currie inspected the terrain and was shocked at the conditions he saw. He tried to avoid having his men fight there but was overruled by his superiors. As at Vimy, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps would see action. However, the ubiquitous mud, flat terrain, and relative lack of preparation time and artillery support would make Passchendaele a far different battlefield than the one the Canadians had encountered at Vimy Ridge.

Currie took as much time as he could to carefully prepare and on October 26, the Canadian offensive began. Advancing through the mud and enemy fire was slow and there were heavy losses but our soldiers clawed their way forward. On an exposed battlefield like that one, success was often only made possible due to acts of great individual heroism to get past spots of particularly stiff enemy resistance. Despite the adversity, the Canadians reached the outskirts of Passchendaele by the end of a second attack on October 30 during a driving rainstorm.

On November 6, the Canadians and British launched the assault to capture the ruined village of Passchendaele itself. In heavy fighting, the attack went according to plan. The task of actually capturing the “infamous” village fell to the 27th Battalion (City of Winnipeg) and it was taken by them that day. After weathering fierce enemy counterattacks, the last phase of the battle saw the Canadians attack on November 10 and clear the Germans from the eastern edge of Passchendaele Ridge before the campaign finally ground to a halt. Canadian soldiers had succeeded in the face of almost unbelievable challenges.

The fighting at Passchendaele took great bravery with nine Canadians earning the Victoria Cross (the highest award for military valour that a Canadian could earn) there: Private Tommy Holmes, Captain Christopher O’Kelly, Sergeant George Mullin, Major George Pearkes, Private James Peter Robertson, Corporal Colin Barron, Private Cecil Kinross, Lieutenant Hugh McKenzie and Lieutenant Robert Shankland. Two of these men, McKenzie and Robertson, sadly lost their lives in the battle.

The efforts of all these men were truly remarkable, but it has been said that the Battle of Passchendaele could not have been won if it were not for the heroic actions of Major George Pearkes of the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Despite a leg wound, he led a few dozen of his men through heavy enemy fire across open ground to capture a strategically located farm. They then fought off numerous counter attacks for more than a day, preventing the Germans from destroying the main advancing Canadian force from their vulnerable flank side.

Canada’s great victory at Passchendaele came at a high price. More than 4,000 of our soldiers died in the fighting there and almost 12,000 were wounded. The some 100,000 members of the Canadian Corps who took part in the battle were among the over 650,000 men and women from our country who served in uniform during the First World War. Sadly, a total of more than 66,000 Canadians lost their lives in the conflict. Their sacrifices and achievements will never be forgotten.

The Canadian victory at Passchendaele was truly impressive and added to our nation’s growing reputation as having the best offensive fighting force on the Western Front. This status meant that our forces would be at the forefront of the series of advances that eventually won the war for the Allies a year later. Canada’s great sacrifices and achievements on the battlefields of Europe indeed gained our country a new respect on the international stage. This esteem helped earn us a separate signature on the Treaty of Versailles that formally ended the First World War.

Battles of the Somme and Beaumont-Hamel

The First World War’s Battle of the Somme began in northern France on July 1, 1916, when waves of Allied soldiers began climbing out of their trenches to advance through a hail of enemy fire toward the German lines. It would be a tragic beginning to a costly battle where more than 57,000 Commonwealth soldiers would become casualties just on the first day of fighting. The brave members of the Newfoundland Regiment who went into action near Beaumont-Hamel were hit especially hard, with only 68 of the more than 800 men who had taken part being able to answer the roll call the next morning.

The Battles of the Somme and Beaumont Hamel would grind on for more than four and a half months and the Canadian Corps would see action their in the late summer and fall. Sadly, more than 24,000 Canadian soldiers became casualties before the fighting finally came to an end in November.

After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the combat in Western Europe soon turned into a stalemate of trench fighting along a front line stretching almost 1,000 kilometres across parts of Belgium and France. On one side of this “Western Front” were the forces of France and Britain (along with allies such as Canada) and on the opposite were the Germans. From their opposing trenches they faced one another across “No Man's Land” made of barbed wire and shell craters.

These strong defensive positions were well-protected by machine guns, snipers and artillery which made a breakthrough of the enemy lines very difficult. Military leaders struggled with devising effective tactics to deal with the realities of this new kind of warfare. Nevertheless, plans were made to break the deadlock and the British and French marshalled their resources for the “Big Push” that would finally shatter the German defensive lines. This bold offensive was planned for the summer of 1916 in the Somme River valley of northern France.

The Battle of the Somme began with a massive attack by hundreds of thousands of British and French troops on the morning of July 1, 1916. It would be a disastrous start for the Allies as their forces were pummelled by heavy enemy fire when they climbed out of their trenches and advanced across No Man's Land. Tragically, more than 57,000 British Commonwealth troops would be killed, wounded, taken prisoner or go missing. Which is the highest single day losses in the British Army's long history. This shocking total included more than 700 soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment (who were not fighting as part of the Canadian Corps as Newfoundland did not become part of Canada until decades later in 1949).

The Battle of the Somme was not a one day affair as the offensive would continue for more than four and a half months. While the Allies did have some battlefield successes later in July, a major breakthrough never happened and the fighting dragged on.

For most of the summer of 1916, the Canadian Corps had been manning a section of the Western Front in Belgium. In late August, however, they began to shift to the Somme front near the French village of Courcelette. The Canadians immediately encountered some stiff action there and suffered some 2,600 casualties before the major new offensive they had been tasked with had even gotten underway.

On September 15, our soldiers took part in a large-scale attack that was launched at dawn and pushed forward on a 2,000 metre wide front. Making use of a newly developed tactic called the creeping barrage, the Canadians advanced behind a carefully aimed wave of Allied artillery fire that moved ahead on a set schedule. This heavy bombardment forced the enemy defenders to stay under cover for protection and prevented them from cutting down the advancing troops with their rifle and machine gun fire. For this tactic to work, though, the soldiers had to stay close to the heavy shellfire and many were wounded by the Allies' own artillery explosions.

The Courcelette battlefield also saw another Allied innovation—the first use of the tank in warfare. They were primitive, few in number and mechanically unreliable, but the tanks' shock value alone was enough to throw the enemy into confusion. The attack went well and by 8:00 a.m., the shattered German defensive position (the sugar factory) was taken. The Canadians then pushed ahead to Courcelette itself which was captured later that day. The Germans did not relent, however, and launched numerous counter attacks which our soldiers repulsed as they consolidated their newly won positions. As was often the pattern during attacks on the Western Front, however, the enemy soon brought up major reinforcements, the defences solidified and any further gains became incredibly hard.

The fighting would not yet come to an end on the Somme, though. In the weeks that followed, soldiers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions would be repeatedly flung against a series of German entrenchments. The final Canadian objective was a defensive line that had been dubbed Regina Trench, but it repeatedly defied capture.

The 4th Canadian Division arrived on the Somme in mid-October to take over from their exhausted fellow Canadians who had been fighting there. They faced a battlefield that had turned to mud and a determined German defence that continued to take a murderous toll on Allied attacks. Despite these great challenges, the Canadians finally captured the shattered remains of Regina Trench on November 11. A week later, in the final attack of the Battle of the Somme, the Canadians took Desire Trench. There were no further advances as the winter weather came and the offensive staggered to a halt. The ‘Big Push' had resulted in the Allied lines being moved forward only ten kilometres.

The scale of the fighting and the shocking toll it took still makes the Battle of the Somme synonymous with the horrors of the First World War for many people. The losses were truly appalling with the Allies having suffered more than 650,000 casualties, including some 200,000 who had lost their lives. The Germans, who had also suffered greatly in the fighting, dubbed the Battle of the Somme “das Blutbad” (the blood bath).

Sadly, Canadian losses would contribute to this grim toll. More than 24,000 of our soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing on the Somme. The fallen from this battle were among the more than 66,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who lost their lives in the First World War.

The Battle of the Somme was in many ways a watershed event in the First World War. The great courage and accomplishments of Canadian soldiers their helped confirm their growing reputation as first rate front line troops who could capture enemy positions in the face of heavy fire. Indeed, the hard lessons on battlefield tactics that the Canadian Corps learned on the Somme would prove to be very valuable in their future actions.

After the Somme, the Canadians were transferred to the sector of the Western Front near Vimy Ridge. Beginning in the spring of 1917, our soldiers would put together an unbroken string of battlefield successes that culminated in them playing a leading role in the Allied offensives in the last hundred days of the war which would finally end the conflict in November 1918.

Battle of Vimy Ridge

The Battle of Vimy Ridge began at 5:30 a.m. on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917. The first wave of 15,000-20,000 Canadian soldiers, many heavily laden with equipment, attacked through the wind-driven snow and sleet into the face of deadly machine gun fire.

The Canadians advanced behind a “creeping barrage.” This precise line of intense Allied artillery fire moved ahead at a set rate and was timed to the minute. The Canadian infantrymen followed the line of explosions closely allowing them to capture German positions in the critical moments after the barrage moved on to the next targets. But, before the enemy soldiers could emerge from the safety of their underground bunkers.

Canadian battalions in the first waves of the assault suffered great numbers of casualties, but the assault proceeded on schedule. Most of the heavily defended ridge was captured by noon. Hill 145, the main height on the ridge, was taken on the morning of April 10. Two days later, the Canadians took “the Pimple,” as the other significant height on the ridge was nicknamed. The Germans were forced to withdraw three kilometres east and the Battle of Vimy Ridge was over. The Allies now commanded the heights overlooking the Douai Plain, which was still occupied by the enemy.

The Canadian Corps, together with the British Corps to the south, had captured more ground, prisoners and artillery pieces than any previous British offensive of the war. Canadians would act with courage throughout the battle. Four of our soldiers would earn the Victoria Cross, for separate actions in which they captured enemy machine gun positions. They were: Private William Milne, Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton, Captain Thain MacDowell and Private John Pattison.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge proved to be a great success, but it only came at a heavy cost. The some 100,000 Canadians who served there suffered more than 10,600 casualties, nearly 3,600 of which were fatal. By the end of the First World War, Canada, a country of less than eight million people, would see more than 650,000 men and women serve in uniform. The conflict took a huge toll with more than 66,000 Canadians losing their lives and over 170,000 being wounded.

At Vimy Ridge, regiments from coast to coast saw action together in a distinctly Canadian triumph, helping create a new and stronger sense of national identity in our country. Canada’s military achievements during the war raised our international stature and helped earn us a separate signature on the Treaty of Versailles that formally ended the war.

Today, on land granted to Canada for all time by a grateful France, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial sits atop Hill 145, rising above the now quiet countryside. This great monument is inscribed with the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who were listed as “missing, presumed dead” in France during the First World War. It stands as a tribute to all who served our country in the conflict and paid a price to help ensure the peace and freedom we enjoy today.

WWII

1937-1940

Our country's great efforts in the Second World War involved virtually the whole country whether by serving in the military or by serving on the home front in industry or agriculture. More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in the military — more than 45,000 gave their lives and another 55,000 were wounded. While the great powers made more significant contributions to the war effort; for a country of only 11 million people Canada's contribution was remarkable. At war's end, Canada had become a significant military power with the world's third largest navy, the fourth largest air force and an army of six divisions. Canada had grown significantly through the ordeal of war and assumed new responsibilities as a leading member of the world community.

September 3, 1939: the passenger liner Athenia is torpedoed, killing the first Canadian of the war, stewardess Hannah Baird of Quebec.

September 10, 1939: Canada declares war on Germany - the first and only time Canada has declared war on another country on its own.

September 14, 1939: The Prime Minister, William Lyon MacKenzie King, declares that Canada should be the arsenal of the Allies and pledges not to institute conscription.

September 16, 1939: the first Canadian convoy of merchant ships sails for Britain.

November 13, 1939: an advance party of Canadian officers lands in Britain.

December 17, 1939: the first of the main body of Canadian troops arrive in Scotland; inauguration of the British Commonwealth air training plan to train pilots and aircrew in Canada, away from the fighting.

April 9, 1940: Canada creates a Department of Munitions and Supply to manage the production of war material.

June 12, 1940: the 1st Brigade of the Canadian 1st Division lands in France; they are forced to leave days later when France surrenders to the Nazis.

November-December 1941: Canadian troops are stationed at Hong Kong; on December 8, 1941, Hong Kong is attacked by the Japanese; on December 25 Hong Kong falls (of 1,975 Canadian troops, 290 were killed with the remaining 1,685 taken prisoner; a further 260 of these Canadians would die as prisoners of war before the end of the war).

April 4, 1942: a Royal Canadian Air Force plane spots the Japanese fleet en route to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and gives warning in time for successful defence of the island (Winston Churchill cites this episode as "the most dangerous moment of the war").

April 27, 1942: the National Plebiscite and subsequent amendment to the National Resource Mobilization Actauthorize conscription.

August 19, 1942: the Dieppe raid sees a force of more than 6,000 Allied soldiers (almost 5000 of whom were Canadian) taking part in a raid in occupied France. The operation would prove to be a failure, with 1,946 of the force being taken prisoner and 916 Canadians losing their lives.

May 1943: the most dangerous period in the Battle of the Atlantic draws to a close; more than 1,200 Canadian and Newfoundland merchant seamen.

July 10, 1943: Canadians, forming a part of the British 8th Army, join in the invasion of Italy.

August 17, 1943: the conquest of Sicily is completed.

September 3, 1943: On the fourth anniversary of Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany, Canadian troops join Allied forces in the invasion of the Italian mainland.

December 28, 1943: After heavy fighting, Canadian troops occupy Ortona, on Italy's east coast.

May 11, 1944: tanks of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade support the Allied assault up Italy's Liri valley to begin the campaign to liberate Rome from the Nazis.

May 14, 1944: after four days of heavy fighting, the first enemy defences in the Liri Valley are broken.

May 16, 1944: the 1st Canadian Corps is ordered to advance on the second German defensive line across the Liri Valley (this is the first time since 1918 that a Canadian Corps - a body of troops numbering about 50,000 - was to attack on a European battlefield).

June 6, 1944: D-Day 15,000 members of the Canadian Army as well as hundreds of members of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the crews of 60 vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy participate in the landing in Normandy as part of an invasion force of some 150,000 Allies (there were 1,074 Canadian casualties on D-Day, including 359 deaths).

July 10, 1944: the city of Caen in France, the Canadian D-Day objective, is finally taken by a combined British-Canadian assault.

July 23, 1944: Lt. General H.D.G. (Harry) Crerar takes over command of the First Canadian Army, the first army-sized field force in Canadian history.

August 1944: by this time 700,000 Canadian-built motor vehicles of more than 100 designs are in service.

August 25, 1944: the Battle of Normandy ends with the liberation of Paris, the Canadians having been successful in what is generally agreed to have been the fiercest portion of the campaign. Canadian losses had been large in proportion to the strength engaged. From D-Day through 23 August the total casualties of the Canadian Army had been 18,444, of which 5,021 were fatal.

September 1, 1944: Canadian troops, tasked with clearing the heavily-defended English Channel ports of their German garrisons, return to Dieppe as liberators.

October 23, 1944: the First Canadian Army begins the Battle of the Scheldt in Holland.

November 9, 1944: the end of the Battle of the Scheldt; a full three weeks would elapse before the Scheldt estuary could be cleared of mines and the first convoy, led by the Canadian merchant ship Fort Cataraqui, could sail into Antwerp with supplies for the Allies.

December 1, 1944: the Canadian Corps in Italy attempts to break through into the Lombardy Plain and attain the Senio River, the northernmost outpost of the Italian Front.

February 1, 1945: the withdrawal of Canadian forces from Italy for deployment in northwest Europe begins.

February 8, 1945: commencement of the Rhineland Campaign; General Crerar's First Canadian Army, augmented by Allied formations, becomes the largest force ever commanded by a Canadian.

April 1, 1945: the First Canadian Army begins its campaign to open up a supply route through Arnhem and clear the Netherlands and the coastal belt of Germany.

May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders, the war in Europe ends; the next day, May 8, is declared V-E Day.

August 6, 1945: dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan and, days later, Nagasaki, ends the necessity of sending into battle the approximately 80,000 Canadian troops who volunteered to serve in the Pacific.

August 14, 1945: Japan surrenders - V-J Day. The Second World War is officially over.

Thank you to all who have fallen, survived and fought for our country.

Lest We Forget <3

Many thanks to the Government of Canada's website for all the information.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history