The Canadian Battles of the First World War

1. The Canadian Battles of the First World War

2. First Battle of Ypres:October-November 1914 German army en route to English Channel met French, British and Belgian troops near small Belgian town of Ypres.

3. First Battle of Ypres:October-November 1914 • Losses: • Belgian: 18,522 German: 134,315 • French: 50,000 + 31,265 missing • B.E.F.: 58,155 or POW Result: Stalemate • Front lines drawn through Belgium • Ypres still held by the Entente • “Kindermord von Ypren” • The Massacre of the Innocents

4. Second Battle of Ypres:April 22-May 27, 1915 Where Canadians first see battle in WWI

5. German Plan • Break stalemate by punching hole through Allied line • Try out poisonous chlorine gas • Around 6000 cylinders of the gas delivered • Weigh 90 lbs each • An 1899 treaty banned the use of gas in war

6. The Attack • Germans shell Ypres with 2000 pound shells • Germans open canisters of gas, by hand, and use wind to blow gas to French-Algerian section of line.

7. Algerians panic, flee clutching their throats • Leaves 4 mile wide gap in the line • Canadians fill in the gap • Outnumbered 5:1 (50,000 : 10,000) • Use urine soaked cloths to neutralize the effects of the gas • Somehow hold the line First use of poisonous gas in the war

8. Results • Canada: • First major Battle of the Great War • Reputation of hard hitting “shock troops” • British saw it as “Exceptionally good performance for raw colonial troops” • Contrast from first view of soldiers when they arrived

9. Cost • Canada: 6037 casualties (66 officers, 1784 killed) • B.E.F.: 59, 275 • French: 10,000 • Belgian: 1,530 • German: 34,267

10. John McCrae In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved, and were loved, and now we lie      In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies grow      In Flanders fields.

11. The Somme: July-November 1916 • British Commander in Chief, Douglas Haig, decides to go on offensive and “smash” through enemy lines. • The offensive becomes known as the Battle of the Somme.

12. The Plan • British and French launch 1.5 million rounds of ammunition. • Heavy artillery was supposed to break up German barbed wire and wipe out their lines • Germans just retreated to concrete reinforced bunkers, and used crater holes as machine gun nests • 100 machine guns ready and waiting

13. “When we started firing we just had to load an reload. They went down by the hundreds. You didn’t have to aim, we just fired into them.” - German soldier on what he observed during the early attacks at the Somme

14. Beaumont-Hamel: July 1st, 1916 • Newfoundland Regiment • 658 of 758 dead or injured in one day • Memorial set up in their honour (right)

15. Results of The Somme • 600,000 allied soldiers killed or wounded in first three months • Over one million killed or wounded on both sides • Allied forces gained 12 kilometers • Germans referred to it as “das Blutbad”

16. Canadians at the Somme • The Somme had cost Canada 24,029 casualties, but it was here that the Canadians confirmed their reputation as hard-hitting shock troops. • "The Canadians", wrote Lloyd George, "played a part of such distinction that henceforward they were marked out as storm troops; for the remainder of the war they were brought along to head the assault in one great battle after another. Whenever the Germans found the Canadian Corps coming into the line they prepared for the worst."

17. The Somme • Debut of the tank • 2 km/h • Easy target for artillery

18. Vimy Ridge, April 9th 1917 • 8 km stretch of high ground, occupied since 1914 by Germans • British and French tried to take ridge at a cost of 200,000 casualties • Ridge seen as invincible

19. German Advantage • German defenses could oversee a huge amount of territory – surprise was very difficult and it was easier to site their artillery • German troops had dug in – they had deep bunkers in the ridge designed to keep them safe from artillery

20. You and one or two other people, brainstorm and suggest – what ideas do you have that might help overcome the German advantages? • Some hints will be given in the course of your deliberations. • List them!

21. Canadian Corp, 1917 • 100,000 soldiers led by British General Julien Byng • Meticulous planning • Rehearsed for weeks and months • Gave each soldier a map • Trench raids at night • Gained information and terrorized • Dig 20 km of tunnels under the ridge • Blow out exits into no-man’s land • Blow up under German lines

22. Tunnels! Surprise!

23. Scale Trenches for Vimy Attack

24. Artillery bombardment – a million shells kept the German in their bunkers (and awake and hungry) for two weeks • Deadly night time raids gained intelligence

25. Silence the German Guns • Used audio equipment and triangulation to discover and silence the German guns on the day of the attack

26. Vimy: The Attack, April 9th • Heaviest barrage of war so far • 983 artillery pieces, 150 machine guns • In 100 minutes, ¼ million shells and 7 million bullets fall onto ridge • Creeping Barrage (next slide) • Everything was timed. No stopping for injured • In eight hours, all objectives complete

27. Creeping Barrage • Guns fire at one spot for 5 minutes, and then fire 100 m further • Troops follow 100 meters behind • Do this until troops reach destination • Destroys barbed wire and enemy lines

28. Vimy: Canada • Accomplished what French and British could not • National Pride • First and last time all 4 Canadian Divisions fight together • Byng promoted, Arthur Currie commands Canadian Corps • First Canadian to do so • Cost • Casualties: 10, 602 • Killed: 3, 598 • Germans said Canadians “Could go home in a Row Boat”???

29. Historical Significance? • An example of the value of preparation – learn lessons of the war and attempt to spend shells, money, time rather than men • A Nationalist FIRST – what had been a number of Canadian battalions attached to the British army was becoming a Canadian Army – soldiers from coast to coast in Canada fought for a single objective, and won, although at great cost in lives

30. Legacy: Canadian National Vimy Memorial

31. 1917: Passchendaele(July - November 1917) • Canadians move here after Vimy • Currie argued that it was too muddy but was ignored by Haig • Currie says attack will cost 16,000 casualties

32. Passchendaele: Results • 15, 654 casualties: worst battle for Canada • Attack left little support for British tanks in Cambrai • By end of November, Germans regained ground • June, 1918, Borden furious at British Generals for their incompetence • Stormed at Lloyd George, who made his generals listen • Empire leaders sat down and mapped out, together, strategy to end war.

33. CHC2P Read 26-29 • Question 1 and 2 pg 29 • CHC2D Read pages 71-75 question 1 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzceNGU-9Vw King and Empire Vimy ridge