It is typically considered that WWI was a war that majorly involved with European powers, as well as the American operations in the last few years of the war. However, since Britain has a tradition of pulling all of its colonies into wars, countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc. also became some important participants in the war. In this article, I will briefly introduce some of the important accomplishments of Canadian troops during the First World War, that had actually made a significant influence toward the result of the Great War.
- The Battle of Vimy Ridge
This is probably one of the most well-known Canadian combat during WWI. Though internationally, many people still don’t notice it. But for people from Canada, France and Belgium, this war was a great accomplishment made by the Canadian troops. It was one of the most celebrated historical battles in Canada, because it was viewed as the symbol of the birth of Canadian national pride and self-awareness. It was also one of the events that subtly, somehow, separated the bond between Canadian and Great Britain because of the self-awareness that Canadian finally considered themselves as a single nation.
Vimy Ridge was part of the Northern original offensive planned by the British commanders on the western frontline. However, the whole plan met the obstacle when it came to the occupation of the Vimy Ridge. The Vimy Ridge was a high ground occupied by the German troops, heavily guarded with killing machines and a complex German tunnel system built underground to consolidate the occupation. Attempts to capture the high ground had been made by the French and English troops for over 2 years, but the high ground was so heavily guarded, that after huge losses, the British and French troops still couldn’t take over the Vimy Ridge. However, the Canadian troops’ arrival in 1916 totally changed the situation of the offensive.
As soon as the Canadian troops arrived, they started the preparation of the combat, and were collecting intelligence right away. In order to do that, they started continual and frequent raids on the German defense. From the late autumn of 1916 to the spring of 1917, these raids cost about 1,400 Canadian casualties. However, a replica of the defense system of the Germans was able to be drawn and presented to every single units about their individual operations. They rehearsed again and again, in order to eliminate the casualties to the lowest rate. Beside these trainings, the miners also dug a system of underground tunnels below the Ridge. Explosives were placed to blow up the German trenches, and a subway system in total length of over 5 kilometers was completed, in order to help send the troops to their fighting positions. These tunnel systems greatly helped supplying and sending the troops across the no-man’s land safely afterwards.
(a map showing the operation and movements of different Canadian Battalion in the battle of Vimy Ridge)
At 5:30 on the morning of April 9, 1917, the artillery barrage started raining down artillery shells on to the German position. Behind the barrage was 20,000 advancing Canadian troops. The leading infantry companies crossed the no-man’s land successfully, and went into combat with German troops. Strong resistance was received, but most of the infantries made it to their position right on time in midday. After some struggling on the highest position of Hill 145 for the nest few days, the enemy had accepted the loss of Vimy Ridge and pulled back over 5 kilometers.
The battle came to a final conclusion at this point, and it was obvious that Canadian troops had captured the high land that made French and English troops struggled for years. Historians today call the success at Vimy Ridge “a point where Canadians recognize themselves as a nation“. The battle of Vimy Ridge was a confirmation that Canada can participate in a Global stage, and it is an independent nation that is not to be messed with, even only by itself. Later on, Canada was granted for an individual seat at the negotiation of the Treaty Versailles, and its participation in the battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the reasons why it had this right.
2. The battle of Ypres
In October, 1914, over 30000 of Canadian troops stepped on to the land of Europe, and after a training period in England, they were sent to the frontline of France. At this point, the European battlefield was already a sea of mud. Their first major battle in Europe was the second battle of Ypres. And from this battle, they learnt about the bitter taste of war—-it was the first war that involved with chemical weapons, and over 6,500 Canadian casualties were resulted.
The salient of Ypres was an important strategic position to the allies, majorly because it protects some railway and road systems in the ancient Belgium city of Ypres behind the frontline. However, the salient of Ypres was a dangerous place for the Allied forces—-their trenches were in a “V” shape deep into the German line, 3 sides were surrounded by German forces and artillery fire. Moreover, the salient of Ypres used be a farm before the war, and the manure that was used to fertilize the fields made the wounds of the injured soldiers were infected, and death rate was always high. Despite of all these disadvantages, the Allied forces still managed to hold it.
(the positions of the Allied and German trenches)
The stalemate of the trench warfare continued to take away money, resources and the soldiers’ lives on both sides. In order to break this stalemate, Germany secretly decided to test a new weapon: chlorine gas on the salient of Ypres. Chemical weapons had been made illegal since WWI, mainly because it is an inhumane weapon, that lets the victims suffer to death. Chlorine gas, with no exception, makes soldiers suffer.
On April 22, 1915, the Germans fired thousands of artillery shells on to the Allied position, releasing 160 tonnes of chlorine gas. The Canadians, and the French-Algerian troops in the trenches, watched the yellow-greenish gas cloud moved toward to them in a panic, and the heaviest part of the cloud soon arrived at the French-Algerian line. Chlorine gas hit the Algerians, and breathing in the gas directly started dissolving the lung tissues and inner organs of the Algerian troops. Not long, the men were drown by their own liquefied tissues. The attack made thousands of Algerian soldiers fled from their lines, left behind with a 6 kilometer gap on the Canadians’ left wing. The German forces moved behind the chlorine cloud, and the Canadians and British battalions moved into the French-Algerian trench to fill up the hole. After hours of fighting that day, they managed to stop the enemies from encircling the first Canadian division, and protected the city of Ypres.
After the first gas attack, Canadian and British troops launched a series of desperate counter-attacks, many of these attacks failed with some total destructions of the whole units. Although from the view today these attacks may seem to be chaotic and unworthy, but they somehow made the Germans believed that there were still lots of Canadians and British troops inside the Allied lines, yet there obviously weren’t many of them left. A second gas attack was launched on April 24, and this time some Canadians fled away. Some others hid inside the trenches and crevices, hoping to let the cloud go through, where they were suffocated and killed by the chlorine cloud that was denser than air; whereas many others survived by holding a urine-soaked cloth over their mouths and noses—- after a medical officer identified that the gas was chlorine.
“(The gas) came up and went over the trenches and it stayed, not as high as a person, all the way across,” said Lester Stevens, a member of the Eighth Battalion from Winnipeg, who witnessed the second gas attack. “Two fellows, one on my right and one on my left, dropped. And eventually they got them to hospital, but they both died. […] I was a bit of an athlete in those days and a good swimmer, and I could hold my breath […] as soon as I saw that gas coming, I tied a handkerchief over my nose and mouth. […] That saved my life.” (Canadian Encyclopedia—-the Second Battle of Ypres)
The second gas attack managed to push Canadian troops back, but after all, their fighting spirits saved time for the reinforcements to come in. On April 25, they were finally relieved. Overall, this attack caused over 55,000 casualties in the British forces, among them, about 6,500 were Canadians. The performances of Canadian troops in the second battle of Ypres made them appraised for their fighting spirits, and earned them with a reputation.
(John McCrae, wrote down the famous “In Flanders’ fields” after experiencing the effect of the battle of Ypres)
3. The Battle of Passchendaele
The Battle of Passchendaele had been a very argumentative battle. For soldiers who had fought this battle, it was known as the “Battle of Mud”. Few battles during the Great War can compare with the severity of this one, yet essentially the huge cost of human lives did not get the same sort of outcome.
The British and French started sending troops into the Passchendaele salient since July 31st, and in the following few months, they started a chaotic battle with the Germans, involving hundreds of thousands of men, with attacks and counter-attacks all the time. However, the heavy lost and exhaustion made few progress for both the Germans and the Allied. Seeking for a turning point, Douglas Haig ordered the Canadians to take over the village Passchendaele, which was the same front that Canadians tried to defend in the Battle of Ypres. This operation was originally against the will of the Canadian commander Arthur Currie because of the heavy loss of human lives this battle would result. However, as the British high commander Douglas Haig insisted, Currie decided to order his men to the front of Passchendaele: a hell of marshes and swamps, and against the heavy fire power from the German troops on the high ground.
The operation began in late October with a series of barrage and attacks. The Canadians crawled forward using the same old tactic of creeping barrage( a tactic used for advancing across the heavy firepower of the no-man’s land.) However, the German knew that the attack was coming, therefore they left the Canadians with an empty trench. And as soon as it was taken, the German shells started showering down to the head of the Canadians. In the beginning few days, few points were controlled by the Allied forces. The battle was so fierce, that on October 30th, a battalion had lost almost all of its junior soldiers in a single hour. Under the continuous rain and bombardment shell, the condition of the battleground had long been a see of mud and cranes filled with water, that could drain a whole person.
“Our feet were in water, over the tops of our boots, all the time,” wrote Arthur Turner, an infantryman from Alberta. “We were given whale oil to rub on our feet . . . this was to prevent trench-feet. To solve it I took off my boots once, and poured half the oil into each foot, then slid my feet into it. It was a gummy mess, but I did not get trench-feet.”(retrieved from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-passchendaele/ )
On November 6th, Canadians finally launched a third attack that successfully captured the village of Passchendaele. A fourth attack was carried out on November 10th, and the Canadians ended the four-month battle at last.
The estimated casualties were among 16,000 to the Canadian troops, and over 275,000 casualties were resulted to all the Allied forces, and the Germans had suffered another 220,000 casualties. However, despite of these heavy losses, a German assault in 1918 regained the ground, and the Allies had to evacuate.
Overall, the Battle of Passchendaele was one of the bloodiest and muddiest battle during WWI. The crazy attacks and counter-attacks resulted nearly half a million of casualties to both sides. The offensives on Passchendaele did wear down the Germans, but it wasn’t enough for a decisive success. In history, this battle was regarded by Churchill, the future Prime Minister of Britain in WWII as “a forlorn expenditure of valour and life without equal in futility.”(retrieved from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-passchendaele/ ) Until today, the battle was still regarded controversially. Anyway, the performance and losses of the Canadian troops was again acknowledged, and a Canadian Passchendaele Memorial was built to the east of the city of Ypres. It was inscribed for the memorial of the no-name 6,940 Canadian soldiers who died in the battle of Passchendaele.
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