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CANADIAN BATTLES WWI. Charging in No-Man’s Land: barbed wire, hidden saps, land mines, sharpened stakes, shell craters filled with mud. Communication trench from relief to the front line. Heading to support trenches after a battle.
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Charging in No-Man’s Land: barbed wire, hidden saps, land mines, sharpened stakes, shell craters filled with mud
Messages were sent from front lines to command by bicycle and carrier pigeon
YPRES - 1915 • Three battles at the same/similar region; • Second Battle of Ypres (April 1915): Germans used chlorine gas against the Allies, breaking down the lines temporarily; • Four Canadians earned the Victoria Cross. • Positions won were not of great strategic value; • Over 59,000 casualties during these battles; • From this battle John McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields;
Infantry soldiers wearing early gas masks in a machine gun nest
HISTORICA MINUTES • Watch the two videos and answer the following: • Valour Road • John McCrae • What are two deeds in the video that indicate the bravery of the Victoria Cross winners? • In what state of mind was John McCrae when he wrote the poem? What was he trying to say and to whom?
THE SOMME - 1916 • July – November 1916 • Plan was a joint British-French assault, but problems at a previous battle took the French out; • British built-up artillery and man power while the Germans waited – already prepared; • The attack was preceded by bombardment, but the Germans were protected in deep dugouts;
THE SOMME • The British advanced during daylight on July 1 and sustained many losses; • Newfoundlanders lost all but 68 men in their 801 man unit; • There were 4,000 casualties in the first 24 hours; • By the end (November) Allies suffered 623,907 losses, German 465,525 losses; • Canadians lost 24,029;
Troops travelled behind tanks for protection. Churchill called tanks “a pretty toy” and saw no future in them. They lost tracks frequently, moved very slowly, and got bogged down in the mud. Soldiers caught inside them were often burned alive.
VIMY RIDGE -1917 • April 1917 • Represented a strong point of German defenses in France – reaching 110 metres high and 8 miles long; • Allowed view of Allied defenses; • Heavily defended by the German, as they fortified it over 3 years; • Large underground chambers that protected German’s from bombardments;
CANADIANS AT VIMY RIDGE • Led by Sir Julian Byng and Sir Arthur Currie, Canadian Corps had been at Vimy 5 months before the assault; • These were likely the best trained and equipped troops on the Western Front; • Represented a cohesive and effective fighting force because of their earlier experiences; • Planning was undertaken using lessons learned at previous battles;
PREPARATIONS AT VIMY RIDGE • PLATOON TACTICS • Reorganization of platoons to ensure an equal distribution of infantry, riflemen, grenadiers, bombing and machine gunners; • Officers had better command and flexibility to maneuver and respond during the battle;
PREPARATIONS AT VIMY RIDGE • MACHINE GUNS • Canadians had 64 Vickers machine guns (450 rounds per minute) for up to 5500 meters; • By firing indirectly, day and night, onto the German front, supply and communication lines, they prevented the Germans from making repairs to barbed wire, supplementing defenses and repositioning, but allowed the Allied to do so;
PREPARATIONS AT VIMY RIDGE • ARTILLERY • 45, 760 artillery personnel; • 848 guns (250 heavy, 600 field); • New tramways were constructed and existing track repaired; • Plank roads built to transport the ammunition for the guns; • The week before the attack over 42,000 tons of ammunition were fired at the Ridge;
PREPARATIONS AT VIMY RIDGE • Reconnaissance of the German positions made it possible to pinpoint 180 of their 212 artillery guns; • This allowed Allied forces to eliminate these batteries before the battle began; • Infantry and artillery had to work together in this attack to be effective;
PREPARATIONS AT VIMY RIDGE • ROLLING BARRAGE was employed; • This meant that the artillery would fire at the German lines at a rate of 100 yards every three minutes, ahead of the infantry to prevent the Germans from firing on the moving troops; • This prevented heavy losses and maintained the element of surprise for the Allied troops; • Barbed wire cutters were also detailed to allow troops through to the front lines;
PREPARATIONS AT VIMY RIDGE • RAIDING AND REHEARSING • A series of raids ahead of the attack were meant to gain information from the German lines as well as hurt German morale; • Behind the front lines practice areas were set up resembling the German lines in order to rehearse attacks;
PREPARATIONS AT VIMY RIDGE • “Subways” to the front lines were constructed and fitted with electricity, water and phones; • Mines were dug under the German lines; • Plans were established for treating and evacuating casualties; • Telephone cables were dug in from the communications to the front; • Portable bridges were built for passage over trenches; • 50, 000 horses and mules brought to the front; • Pumping stations for water for the animals were built;
HISTORICA MINUTES • Watch the video and answer the question on the next slide (regarding Vimy Ridge). • Valour Road
ASSIGNMENT • Go back over the slides: • Determine and record 4 reasons why you think that Vimy Ridge was a successful assault for the Allies. • Do you think that any other nation could have been successful in this assault? • What was special about this Canadian command and experience helped them to be so successful?
Battle of Passchendaele • * This offensive in Flanders was launched by British commander Sir Douglas Haig to break through the front and destroy the German submarine bases on the coast of Belgium. • * The initial barrage of Allied artillery warned the Germans and created a mass of craters, potholes and dust in the battlefield. Heavy rains turned the field into a bog of thick mud that severely limited mobility.
* British, Australian and New Zealand forces fought for months with few advances and 100,000 casualties. • * When the Canadian Corps was ordered to relieve the Anzac forces in October, Canadian Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie objected but was overruled. • * The Canadians began a series of attacks on October 26.
* On October 30, with two British divisions, the Canadians began the attack on Passchendaele itself. By November 6 when reinforcements arrived, the village of Passchendaele was taken. • At the end of the battle, one mile of territory was won. It was retaken by the Germans shortly after. Haig was dismissed.
