Canadian History
SCO 2.3 (3.4,3.5, 3.10)
Canadians in Europe
 Cdns. Fought in the Canadian Expeditionary
Force (CEF)
 Initially under the command of the British
(Alderson, Byng)
 By 1917, they impressed so much as “shock
troops” that the were given their own command
under Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie
 Known for the “Creeping Barrage”
Ypres
 Ypres was a city in Belgium that saw multiple battles throughout the war
 It is known for the Ypres Salient (a bulge in the line controlled by the Allies)
 Troops were sent to Ypres and would leave through Menin Gate to go to the
front lines
 In the Spring of 1915, Cdn’s faced the first gas attack and 6000 lost their
lives before reinforcements arrived.
 They managed to stop the Germans from breaking through and reaching the
English Channel ports
 John McCrae’s famous Flanders Field was written at a field hospital close by
Menin Gate and Tyne Cot
 The Menin Gate memorial bears the names of 54,389
officers and men from United Kingdom and Commonwealth
Forces (except New Zealand and Newfoundland) who fell
in the Ypres Salient before 16th August 1917 and who have
no known grave.
 Since WWI (except while occupied by Nazis) every
evening at 8PM they have a memorial ceremony
 Tyne Cot is the largest Commonwealth War Graves
Cemetery, 35,000 buried there. Many graves are marked
as Unknown Soldiers
The Somme
 The Battle of the Somme started on July 1st., 1916 and lasted 151 days
 Prior to this the allies had heavily bombarded the German line and
expected to easily overtake the German trenches
 The Newfoundland regiment was slaughtered, over 90% casualty rate
 In 1916, the Canadian Corps was moved south to the Somme in France
 The Cdn’s suffered 24000 casualties
 Effects:
 They developed a reputation as shock troops
 Relieved pressure off the French at Verdun
 Showed the failure of military strategy
 Longer term effects on Newfoundland??
Vimy Ridge, April 1917
 The Battle
 The Vimy Monument
 What advantage does high ground provide an army?
 How tactics were important for the success of Canada in this battle?
 Why was this such a significant event in Canadian History?
Passchendaele, 3
rd
Battle of Ypres
Oct. 30th, 1917 Cdn’s ordered to attack at
Passchendaele
General Currie felt it was too muddy, but was
overruled
Only 4000 of 20000 survived
Cambrai
 Meanwhile the Newfoundland Regiment fought bravely to defend
Masnières as part of the 1st Battle of Cambrai
 Given the honour of the title “Royal”
 More on the Newfoundland regiment
 Drafts of men began to return home in the spring of 1919 and the
Royal Newfoundland Regiment disbanded on August 26, 1919.
Canada’s 100 Days
 The final days of the war was brutal for the Cdn. Corps as
they suffered 46000 casualties
 Key battles included: Amiens, Arras, Canal du Nord, and
Cambrai
 George price was the last killed by a sniper 5 mins before
the armistice was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of
the 11th month.
 619 636 served… 66 655 died
Timeline
 See handout.
 This assignment should be passed in directly to teacher for grading
 Not to be placed in portfolio until afterward
At Sea
 Battleships were not a factor, only one battle at Jutland
 Germany concentrated on U-Boals from then on
 Britain instituted a Naval blockade of the North Sea
 German U-Boats harassed merchant ships supplying the
western front (see fig 3.3.h)
 Unrestricted Submarine warfare: Sinking of the Lusitania
was a factor which brought America into the war
 The British developed a convoy system to protect these
vessels
 The Cdn. Navy grew immensely during the war
 Only 2 ships in and 350 personnel in 1914
 112 vessels and 5000 officers and 100 anti-sub boats (sonar
and depth charges)
In the Air
 Initially, planes used to scout enemy placement and troop movements
(Reconaissance)
 Eventually, machine guns mounted on planes
 The Red Baron (Manfred von Richtofen – 80 kills) was shot down by
Cdn. Capt. Roy Brown
 Billy Bishop was awarded the Victoria Cross for shooting down 72
enemy planes
 The Germans developed the single wing Fokker with syncopated
machine gun
 The British developed the Sopwith Camel
 Zeppelins were used for longer range recon and bombing missions
Women and the War
 Served as: nurses, ambulance drivers, worked in clubs and canteens for
soldiers on leave, and as personnel in army offices
 Replaced men in factories (labour unions fought this) and on farms
 IODE and Women’s Institutes fundraised, knit sock and sent care pkgs.
 Filled father-role… sometimes permanently
Conscription and Suffrage (p. 92-94)
 Women started to rally for equal rights
 They argued for the right to vote (suffrage or enfranchisement)
 Robert Borden was under pressure to introduce conscription
 So he enacted the Wartime Elections Act: granted the right to vote to the
mothers, daughters and wives of soldiers
 He calculated that they would support him on conscription
 1918 the Federal Women’s Franchise Act gives all women over 21 the vote
 1920 the Dominion Elections Act allows women to run for Parliament
 See fig’s 3.8.d & 3.8.e
First Nations Soldiers in WW1