Canada in World War I: Part 4 - The Somme

Moustaches did little to protect the soldiers, but nevertheless many
still grew them.

The Battle of the Somme embodies everything that was horrible about World War I. The purpose of the assault was little more than to push through the German ranks, breaking the trench war stalemate and thus relieving the French who were losing countless troops over in Verdun. Casualties built up incredibly fast throughout the campaign on both sides, pushing men to their limits in a bloody battle of endless shells and bullets. This sounds like regular WWI stuff here (as terrible as that sounds) but what makes the Somme unique is the grandness of the scope mixed with the ultimate futility of attacking just to wear down your opponent.

It had all the makings of a titanic battle before it even began. The Germans were well entrenched, having been there for two years and anticipating the attack well in advance. Their tunnel system was so vast it was more an underground city than a trench, and with the defensive advantage the Germans would hold on as long as they could to slaughter as many forces as possible. From the British perspective (it was a British and French assault coupled with those under British rule, Canada obviously included) they were planning to bomb the Germans out with sheer firepower and force of numbers. Up until that point it would be the largest British assault ever, and the numbers surely reflect that.

There was nothing necessarily wrong with the plan but it certainly lacked originality. To break the German defensive they would bomb it - but since it was well fortified and across a wide area, they had to compensate. The solution would be to bomb it harder. 1,732,873 shells (I'm a little confused how they had it counted to the shell) would bombard a nearly 25 kilometre length and 7 kilometre deep stretch. While it surely must have damaged the psyche of the German line as well as killing hundreds (perhaps thousands?), the bombing didn't have the desired effect. Barbed wire was still pretty well everywhere across the battlefield causing a delay in the assault. Typically a delay means that troops further back can be brought to the front to relieve those who had died in the shelling, and when the British troops charged a short time later it was nothing short of a catastrophe.

It's a good thing they have those bayonets as they'll
somehow find a use for them.

In what would prove to be the single highest total of losses for British troops in a day, 120,000 assaulted the far-from-weak German position. Barbed wire funneled troops into tight spaces for raking machine gun fire to cut them down quickly and effectively. The cost of only some slight gains was a stunning 38,000 wounded and 19,000 dead. That's in one day. To put that in perspective, Canada initially sent over 30,617 as their entire army. This was a monumental loss of life in exchange for such little damage on the other end.

A month later in September 1916 the Canadian forces linked up to begin the second major offensive in the Somme since the mess of the July 1st assault. Fortunately this time around their planning was a little stronger, introducing two new major changes to battlefield strategy; the creeping barrage and the tank. The former was created because the artillery and infantry rarely worked in conjunction with each other. The idea was to shoot just in front of the infantry, weakening the immediate space in front of them and then waiting to continue the barrage once they took the new territory. The guns would then clear out the next section after a short number of minutes so the Germans wouldn't have time to run up and meet them in the trenches after the last artillery shell landed (typically ninety metres every three minutes). The Canadians proved to be masters of this tactic. As for tanks, they weren't immediately very effective. Only fourty-nine were used in the Somme, seven of which were given to the Canadians. To make sure they held a place in the war and weren't just a massive heap of useless metal, they were used sparingly at first to gauge their effectiveness. Early on, they didn't help all that much either. The heat in the tanks rose to fourty degrees Celsius, exhaust built up in the interior, shells would destroy it, visibility was limited and mechanically they were fairly unreliable. However, when you see a giant, moving pile of high powered weaponry rolling towards you with seemingly no way to stop it there's a psychological element that comes into play. You know, if World War I wasn't yet terrifying enough.

Canada hired the best real estate agents to auction off the newly
taken land. "Craterview Road" was a tough sell.

When the second major assault commenced the Canadians were ordered to take the village of Courcelette. Calling it a village, however, was a flattering term; it was at this point in the war so completely destroyed by artillery shells one could hardly call it a village - not even a hamlet! There was little glory in this form of warfare; taking an already blown up village hardly seemed like a victory, and their orders in doing so were to take no prisoners until the objective was taken resulting in a number of callous executions. Nevertheless, the Canadians fought incredibly well through plenty of close-quarters bayonet battles. The Canadians then held their position against seventeen separate counter attacks, taking 7,230 casualties but securing their position in four days of defense. This assault was mostly a failure, but not from the Canadian perspective - they did their part. The German army listed the first and second Canadian divisions as two of the top eight in the entirety of the British Expeditionary Force.

How, by the way, were bayonets still used? At what point is it more effective to run up and stab someone rather than shoot them from a distance? This isn't a kung-fu movie where the weapons get kicked out of each everyone's hands and go flying across the room.

Anyways. The battle was far from over. Thiepval Ridge was next up on the list, a kilometre out of Courcelette. To soften it up the Canadians began a three-day artillery barrage. The battle raged back and forth, and quickly logistics became a serious issue for all sides. Humanity was getting a knack for technology, meaning they were exceptional at getting supplies, ammunition, shells and machines the thousands of kilometres from home to the front in a very timely manner. The problem was getting it that last couple of hundred metres from the back of the line up to the front, as it wasn't as easy as walking up and dropping it off on the doorstep. As a result the soldiers carried many of the supplies on their person, sometimes as much as sixty pounds worth. That's a shocking amount considering people were so tiny back then, the average soldier weighing in at a slim 120-140 pounds.

In addition to being a fierce fighting force at the Somme, the Canadians
still managed to look incredibly cool. I mean really. Look at those guys.

The next three days taking Thiepval Ridge were high in casualties on both sides. The Canadians continued their push, taking more ground as they went but lost 10,000 in that month at the Somme. The Germans lost 135,000. Sadly, their strongest trial lay ahead.

Named Regina Trench by the soldiers, presumably to give it a homey feel to a place of ceaseless bloodshed, their next target stretched three kilometres and was yet to budge in spite of previous assaults. Taking it would be a monumental task; located on the edge of a ridge, artillery had difficulty in hitting the target as it was easy to come up short or go beyond. Worse yet, the Germans had full strength divisions behind the lines as they had just shored up their reinforcements on the line. After bombing what they could, Canadians were able to take the trench but were unable to hold it. They took it again, but arrived at the same fate. On October 8th they tried again with casualties piling up. Finally, they decided they would fire as many shells as were needed until they found the sweet spot and hit the trench directly. The Germans began to be so worn down they no longer sent men to put up barbed wire. One defender describes it: "We hover more or less in danger of death, and have no longer any chance of getting out... May it all just come to an end: how, I don't care..."

On October 21st they take the trench after a great amount of artillery fire. By then there were hardly any defenses after having been bombed so hard it barely resembled a trench. After moving further and taking Desire Trench, it would be the end of the battle for the Canadian forces in the Somme. 24,000 casualties were Canadian, one of four in which were deaths. 84,000 Canadians fought. On November 19th the weather became so terrible the battle was called off in what seems like an unceremonious end to a battle that caused a shocking amount of death and destruction in what was essentially a battle of attrition. Over a million casualties occurred at the Somme Offensive.

Fortunately for Canada, they had learned a great number of lessons and the trial by fire of the Somme hardened them into an elite fighting force. Things get better from here on out.

Canada in World War I: Part 3 - Inexperience Shows

After the success (albeit a distinctly bloody success) at Ypres the Canadian army fell into hard times. Well, they were always in hard times... it's trench warfare after all, but these hard times were in the sense that not only were they throwing men into the meat grinder that is taking small sections of territory by charging through barbed wire and machine gun fire, but they also stopped winning for a time. Being forced to push forward in spite of incredible odds against them (and oftentimes a distinct lack of planning) sounds admirable, but this isn't the movies - you might make one shock victory work on occasion, but nine times out of ten if you're not planning the battle well enough your soldiers will lose. The following battles showed the weakness in the Canadian forces; limited communication between headquarters and the troops, and an artillery that often didn't hit the mark. These problems would be worked out eventually, but after Festubert, St. Eloi and Mount Sorrel - three places where Canadian loss of life did not come hand in hand with victory as it had at Ypres.

Battle of Festubert: 
The Canadian soldiers were still reeling from the Second Battle of Ypres when they were forced to march to Festubert in May, 1915. South of the Ypres salient, the walk there forced many soldiers to collapse under the weight of exhaustion due in part to the distance but also because of the toll the previous battle had taken on them. Unfortunately, it was far from a welcoming party that would be waiting for them once they arrived; what would follow was a bloodbath of limited success and needless loss of life due to poor planning from up high.

In desperate need of soldiers the
Canadian army began a beaver recruitment
campaign. While ferocious and distinctly
Canadian, a lack of opposable thumbs made
weapon firing a difficult ordeal.

Festubert was not a glorious battle. Many of the soldiers felt the fighting was simply for fighting's sake, being forced to take points on a map that hardly matched up to how it looked in reality due to so much of the area being bombed into oblivion. The attacks they threw at the targets came at poor times, often during daylight hours that would often spell certain death. Although the Canadians made the furthest forward into the enemy lines (pushing into a small area of trees and claiming it, thereby renaming it "Canadian Orchard") it was still what could only be described as minimal.

The Brigadier Arthur Currie was disappointed in the organization and purpose behind the attacks. They were told to attack a point called K5, a heavily defended point in the German defence that was almost indistinguishable on the map as they only really knew it was there from crawling through mud and barbed wire to see the place. Why they had to attack that felt baffling to the men leading those in the front lines, but, sadly, orders were orders; if you were told to attack, you did so. Richard Turner, the Brigadier that at Ypres had fallen back to a trench and thus left the flanks open in an attempt to save his men was also upset at the mismanagement of the men at headquarters.

Turner was a complex figure; on one hand, he showed himself to be lacking in leadership, often getting many men killed under his watch. When looking back on his decision making it's often quite poor, sometimes egregiously so. However, you cannot question his devotion to his troops and to the cause; often his mistakes were due to honest attempts to save as many as he could, and he got the position in the first place due to his courage and valour in the Boer War. From what I can tell, Turner was a great soldier - brave and honest, always willing to stand up for his men - but perhaps not the greatest commander.

Anyways.

The plan to take K5 fell on the Canadian troops again. A high level of artillery bombardment was ordered to take place, hopefully dismantling the German defences to soften them up for a ground assault. However, they could see quite clearly the bombardment failed to hit where they hoped it would, meaning machine gun nests and barbed wire was still all around the battlefield. Currie attempted to delay the assault due to the near impossible attacking conditions, but found no such help from on high. The assault went through, but it was hopeless; the only way through to K5 was through a thin communication trench, and when the Germans figured out the Canadians were pouring through that one space they placed the greatest focus on that point, slaughtering the Canadians as they went through the same area on repeat. The assault completely failed, and while a subsequent assault pushed them forward at least slightly, it was too late; the battle was a loss, and many Canadian lives were thrown away pointlessly.

Battle of St. Eloi:
It was almost a year since the last major operation for the Canadian troops. In April 1916 (1916 would prove to be a truly awful year, just for humanity as a whole) the Canadians would go to fight five kilometres south of Ypres. The Germans held a high ground position named The Mound, ideal for artillery barrages on the Canadian and British troops. The goal was to take The Mound, allowing for a means to spread out from that point as the high ground was of critical importance. However, it's quite clear where the point of assault would commence, and therefore the Germans would be ready and waiting for them.

Just men! Stay at home, dames!
The only skirts we need are the
Scottish Highlander divisions!

Attacking by walking up The Mound would be darn near to suicide (although that's never stopped them before!). The solution to this was the idea, if you can't attack above ground, attack below it. British soldiers and engineers tunneled underneath the hill and blew the whole thing to smithereens. As a side note: consider how terrifying war must be, being attacked from what's in front of you in the enemy soldiers and what's above you in the artillery shellfire, but the whole time you're thinking "well, at least the ground isn't going to kill me!" Well... that didn't pan out. The explosions they set off were massive, causing the creation of seven colossal craters where there once were soldiers and trenches. The largest was a staggering 55 meters wide and 20 meters deep (and for American readers.. you're probably not reading Canadian war history anyway). The explosions opened up a new battlefield, and unsure of how to respond, both sides threw men into the holes, desperately trying to defend them as they considered them to be new trench territory - very loosely defining the word "trench".

Richard Turner attempted to convince the command that taking the craters was useless, but his words fell on deaf ears. Canadian and British troops stormed in, battling over the newly exploded areas. The new terrain posed a number of significant difficulties; with the lay of the land entirely changed, no clear battle lines could be drawn. Communication suffered as it was a mess trying to get messages between the front lines in the craters and the base where the artillery would be firing. Worse yet, the Germans had the clear advantage of having the high ground to better see where their soldiers and the enemy were situated. To further confuse the Canadians, the holes were consistently changed sizes by being exploded even further by shellfire. Suddenly there were more than just the seven originals - and who knows who held what?

Soon the bottom of the craters, early in the battle mostly held by Canadian and British forces, were slowly taken over. The men would die and roll to the bottom, causing for massive pile-ups of corpses. Occasionally a shell would hit the bottom of those craters, creating a grotesque explosion of corpses, raining flesh and blood on the soldiers still alive to defend them. Even for war... man.

The situation never improved. Most battles were won or lost by artillery and with bad weather not allowing any sight of the battlefield shells frequently fell well wide of the craters or, worse yet, fell on friendly Canadian forces believing they were held by Germans. The later happened disturbingly frequently as they just couldn't figure out who was holding what. Most of the separated groups were torn to shreds as they could never be reinforced as the main army didn't even know they were still out there and alive. A lack of reconnaissance made the battle impossible, and the result was a rout. The Canadians fell back with their heads low and their reputation sorely wounded - but don't blame the soldiers. The operations were rarely lost by the soldiers themselves, but rather a lack of cohesion between artillery and the front line and damaged communication lines resulting in horrible decisions by the HQ.

As a result, someone had to take a fall. At first it appeared Richard Turner would take the fall but due to a number of backroom political dealings (in part due to his lack of support for the Canadian Ross Rifle as it was replaced by the British Lee-Enfield) General Edwin Alderson got the boot. To be fair, he was dealt a horrible hand. As the rope in a tug of war between British command and Canadian interests he simply couldn't make both sides happy, ultimately leading to his being kicked to the curb. His replacement, however, proved to be a phenomenal choice - if not immediately. Julian Byng, a well respected Brit with a storied military history, took the reins and began to slowly add discipline to the rowdy colonials that were the Canadian forces.

Mount Sorrel: 
So we're back to the Ypres salient. Considering the horrors of the previous expedition there you could only imagine how terrible the troops must have felt about the return. Their role this time was to defend a position of high ground that was critical to the success in the area. The Germans would be attacking it soon in an attempt to draw forces away from the Somme, a massive assault that will cause the deaths of countless soldiers on both side for little territory (more about that terrible battle of mud, rain and blood coming up next blog - nothing but fun on the Idiot Historian). To open up the assault, the Germans poured countless shells into the Canadian trenches, totalling the largest bombardment to date. Some of the most forward battalions suffered a ninety percent casualty rate by the time the Germans followed in and cleared them out.

"Get into Khaki NOW!" later became an Old Navy
slogan.

The only bright spot on the butchery was from one of the most respected, veteran forces in the Canadian military holding a position against all odds and holding on. That particular battalion was the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry - perhaps the least intimidating name for a tough-as-nails force of hardened soldiers ever. (Perhaps My Little Pony will name a red and white horse named in their honour!) With few men still alive and running out of ammunition, it was an incredible feat of selfless bravery to fight on in their weakened and compromised state - a German officer later spoke of them, saying "the resistance of the officer and some men who remained to the last in a portion of an almost obliterated trench was magnificent." If there's one thing about the World Wars that gets my patriotic blood flowing (I've discovered my blood cells are red and white, I kid you not) it's when the enemy forces speak highly of the bravery of the Canadian troops.

Regardless of the PPCLI's heroic last stand, it was hard to ignore the fact that the Canadians had lost in several battles lately. They had to counter attack, mostly due to pride. However, pride can be a dangerous force (see Napoleon, Hitler, America in 1812, and sports movies featuring highly skilled teams against underdogs) and the attack commenced without artillery properly ready to fire, as well as a lack of proper scouting. It was essentially a suicide mission; they were shelled and gassed, thrown into chaos and cut to ribbons. The disorganized counter fell to pieces.

Days later a second counter attack (at that point does it qualify as an attack?) came through again, but this time with organization. Planes could see the lines and a heavily bombardment preceded the assault. An artillery barrage with infantry support proved much more effective when working in conjunction, with 218 highly powered artillery weapons fighting against them (not all Canadian). The four days of shelling gave Currie the opportunity to attack an exhausted force under the cover of darkness and the German line fell under the weight of a Canadian led bayonet charge.

Mount Sorrel resulted in no significant changes in territory but 8,700 Canadian casualties. For World War I, that seems to be the norm.

Canada in World War I: Part 2 - The Second Battle of Ypres

Ypres, for the Germans, was as difficult to take as it was to pronounce. The last major Belgian centre standing against the advancing German army, the city was a major spot of warfare due to its strategic importance. Immediately adjacent to ports critical to supplying the Western Front, it wasn't something that could be readily given up. The French, British and Belgian forces would fight tooth and nail to keep it. And fight tooth and nail they did.

"They're over there!"
"We know, Jim. Sit down."

I believe it's safe to assume pretty well any trench was going to be a tough place to be. Let's for a moment forget the fact that the place was getting bombed, shot at and showered with shrapnel. It was also cold, frequently muddy and wet (causing the oh-so-terrible "trench foot" ailment of which I strongly urge you to refrain from google image searching) and full of rats. Worse yet, those rats were gorging on the fallen; soldiers freshly (or worse yet, not so freshly) killed by artillery shells, gunfire or otherwise. All of this you can expect in the average trench, but when it's one of critical importance and a place of frequent battle, you can take all that and amp it up tenfold. The trenches at Ypres were of an unimaginable condition. One soldier described traversing the place: "we were walking on oozing bodies in the bottom of the trench. There'd be a hand or a foot sticking out of the trench in front of your face".


This is what the Canadian forces, yet to be truly tested, would be sent into. It would prove to be a great source of Canadian pride. Well, that is until we no stopped learning Canadian history properly.

Day 1: 

In the battle of Deadly Chlorine Gas vs. Thin Cloth I'd be
betting on the former, but apparently it helped.

On April 22nd the Germans changed the face of warfare to something much uglier than it already was. Considering just how awful the situation was in World War I, that's quite the feat. Defying Hague Conventions (the handy guide of the Do's and Do-Not Do's of World Wars) the Germans utilized, for the first time ever, gas as a weapon. They released 160 tonnes of chlorine gas (as I understand it was in a liquid form for transportation purposes, if you're wondering how they measured that) into the defending French line. It caused a large number of casualties, and those it didn't kill or wound were instantly forced to retreat. While a scummy tactic, it was wildly successful. Now, with a hole to fight through in the lines, the Germans would capture or close off a vast number of Canadian, British and French forces.

Out of desperation, the Canadian forces charged into the dissipating gas. If the haphazard, spur of the moment defense didn't hold, the French and British would be forced to blow up the bridges leading to the Ypres salient and effectively cutting off two French divisions and three Canadian ones.

The place to make the stand was at Kitcheners Wood, a spread of oak trees northeast of the city of Ypres. It was a spot of high ground over the other Canadian forces, which meant giving it up would allow the Germans to bombard the remaining army from above, a much more strategic and effective position. This would be the first major Canadian operation, made with low levels of intelligence (the intel kind, not stupidity). The plan was to storm the woods, charge in blindly, and force Fritz out of the trenches with bullets and bayonets. They would be doing this without knowing what was on the other end against an enemy that was properly dug in and prepared for an attack. The only hope for surprise was to attack at night, as the defenders were quite certain the assault was on its way.

Soon enough, 1,600 Canadian troops stalked towards the German lines. Stealth was of the utmost importance, as every second was critical. For every moment the defenders didn't know they were coming meant fewer shots fired by the time they got there. Staying quiet could literally mean life or death. That being said, it's darn near impossible to bring over a thousand men to another waiting army without them noticing (perhaps if they pretended to gift a gigantic horse?) and eventually flares illuminated the fields. Machine guns, artillery and small arms tore through the Canadian forces. Any form of command was left in shambles as officers as well as front line infantry were killed, meaning many of the pockets of soldiers fighting towards the trench were forced into finding new, temporary leadership under the most competent man who happened to be there at the time. With a lack of telephones or lights to help with cohesion, direction was difficult. However, they managed to retake the lost land as well as regaining some previously taken British artillery. It wasn't without cost, though - two thirds of those that stormed the trench ended up as casualties.

That number, two thirds, is really shockingly high. It's a testament to the change in quality of weaponry over the course of the century prior to the first World War. When writing on the War of 1812, the guns were so poor that in spite of occasionally fairly large battles (relatively, at least) not that many would be shot. But when you go from firing with a musket that shoots once every second fortnight to a machine gun that fires literally multiple times a second, warfare changes.

See? No doors. No anything, really, but also no doors.

In spite of the victory at the woods, there was another German assault coming at Mauser Ridge. If they succeeded, they would be knocking at the door of Ypres (although the consistent bombing probably left a precious few doors standing there, to be fair). The Canadians basically had to block the advance with whatever force they could muster. Due to inadequate command from the higher ups (which will be frustratingly common for the next several blog posts) they decided to attack over flat ground with inadequate artillery support instead of simply digging in and letting the Germans come to them, taking the defenders' advantage. In spite of a lack of coordination with the French who had seemingly just left without really telling the Canadians all that much about it (surprise, there were a lot of angry Germans) they managed to hold. With only twelve hours since the gas attack, the Canadians lost over 2,100 men. They did, however, earn the respect of both the Germans and the rest of the allied forces. One prisoner told the Canadians "you fellows fight like hell".
I bet the British said "jolly good show", or something.

Day 2:
The following day saw more fighting, finding limited reinforcements due to every reserve battalion now being sent to the front. Outnumbered, outgunned, and weakened by the constant fighting, the Canadians along with British forces managed to hang on. Many hadn't eaten or slept in two days, occasionally falling asleep standing up or face first in the dirt.

Day 3:
By the start of the third day the defenders were holding with twelve battalions plus their British allies against twenty-four German ones. With few reinforcements, they were left to fight on outnumbered against what they knew would be a monumental attack coming in short order. It was 4 a.m. when the second gas attack came, and to stay alive many men would urinate on cloths to hopefully prevent it from seeping into their lungs. The gas attack wasn't as powerful this time around, but it fell to the bottom of the trenches where, typically, the wounded were kept. The gas mostly killed the already weak, subjecting them to a much more painful and terrible death than they would already likely receive.

By 6:30, many attacking forces had broken through. A tenacious Canadian defense, however, managed to stay and defend to the last many times over. The Germans advanced cautiously and in groups, fearful of the remaining gas, and those that stayed cut their numbers down drastically due to their apprehension in following the cloud of poison. With little communication and few commanding officers, small groups of men would fight until out of ammunition or the crappy Ross rifles would inevitably jam, proving that not only were the Canadians a force to be reckoned with, but would keep fighting even if they were sure to be defeated.

Mostly.

Richard Turner, a brigadier, ordered his men to retreat to the safety of a trench further back in the line. He was the only one to do sure, meaning that he left the British and Canadians on his flank to be attacked on multiple fronts. Now, before we place blame, he had been gassed, shelled, and pushed to the point of exhaustion and told to keep him and his men in a meat grinder he didn't believe was winnable. He also wrongfully believed it was an order from command.

While Turner may not have won the
battle at Ypres, he sure had a
winning smile.

Meanwhile, one of those flanks was led by Arthur Currie. Desperately needing reinforcements, he raced back to a line further back and pleaded with the command to supply him with more men. This was really out of the ordinary, but his men had defended five frontal assaults that day, were low on ammunition, and were almost in sight of a number of British soldiers that were milling about instead of being ordered to support them. If he were to retreat, it would mean the British would be completely left open and sure to be annihilated. Regardless, the British general Douglas Haig (who had a strong feeling of resentment towards the Canadians whom he saw as weak) told Currie to return to the front without his men. However, sometime after he left he must have changed his mind as the British did support them a short time after.

Turner, on the other hand, initially refused to return for fear of the lives of his men. He was almost relieved of duty, but due to the fact that, first, there was no one to replace him, and second, it would be poor form to kick out a man who had previously earned a Victoria Cross, he stayed on. All told, the Canadians held but the wounded, captured or dead numbered in at 3,058.

Day 4:
No matter how valiant the British and Canadians fought, a retreat was inevitable. Having most of their groups blasted apart, small patches of men would form up and go together regardless of which battalion they belonged to. This would soon be a part of how much of the Canadian forces would fight over the next few years - damaged, but quickly responding by grouping together with whomever was around them.

Fortunately, the French and British forces finally arrived in full, supporting the retreat and ensuring that the salient was held. In a time that spanned a little over half a week, a massive total of men were killed. However, the Canadians had earned a great deal of respect as soldiers that would hold on strong regardless of the opposition against them. It was at the salient (but not this fight) that John McCrae would write "In Flanders Fields".

Canada in World War I: Part 1 - Rowdy and Undisciplined

If there's a war you don't want to be in, it's probably World War I. Sure, its thrilling sequel gets more attention due to the fact it had more casualties, is more recent (which typically means more relevant), and has a much better good vs. evil story. (Say what you want about the Nazis, but from a purely historical interest standpoint they made the best villains; a strong, frightening accent and language, uniforms made by Hugo Boss with the most evil of colour schemes, and a plan for world domination.) But for sheer horrible wartime conditions, there is nothing I've come across - and correct me if I'm wrong here - that sounds like a worse wartime situation to be in as a soldier than being sent to participate in trench warfare. Through that, with the backwards fighting style of sprinting into machine gun fire, the multitude of diseases and otherwise caused by the trenches, and the near constant concussive blasts of high powered explosives, Canada went from being a colony to a country with spilled blood, grit and courage.

So, how did we get there? 

When the war began we were very much a British colony. With our large-and-in-charge father Britain and sassy mother France going to fight it out with Germany and Co. over in Europe, it was our duty to step in and provide whatever support we could. However, since we were still a self-governing body, it was up to us to decide just how many men we were going to send their way. We certainly wished to help Britain, but at the same time didn't want to cripple our fledgling population and economy - plus, who knew how many would show up to answer the call? Canada, after all, had a population that was 65% rural and many thought that the war had more of a "big city" feel to it, and continuing the work on the farm was of greater importance. Also, who would think of World War I and think "yeah, I'm in"? Well, as it turns out, a heck of a lot.

A picture of Valcartier, the largest military base in Canada
at the time. It's probably bigger than it looks here. This angle
puts it slightly above "hobo shanty town."

Canadians were exceptionally excited, eager to go to war for whatever reasons they may have had. Some wished for adventure, others felt a strong sense of duty, some needed the guaranteed albeit small stream of income, and others were actually British and had just recently settled in Canada. The prevailing thought was that they wouldn't be there for very long; it would be a quick trip, they'd kick some German keister, be lavished with praise and head on back. So many men felt this way and turned up at the recruitment armories that they were turning men down left right and centre. They would have to meet the standards for a good soldier, and if they didn't, they'd get the boot. You would need to have good lungs, good teeth (I mean, why not?), high arches (no flat footed weirdos mutants in our army), be between the ages of 18-45, and have a minimum height of 5'3". Pass those tests and you've got a shot. Unfortunately for the recruitment centres, electronic recordings wasn't yet a thing, and that many people attempting to sign up flooded their system. That meant that a number of people would get rejected, take a look at the proper requirements, return to the back of the line and lie their way through the next time; they could claim previous military status, or older men could dye their hair (but they had to make sure they remembered to dye your chest hair too - really - it was a thing).

As for the types of men that were chosen, Sam Hughes, the Minister of Militia and Defense, decided to shirk recruitment recommendations and build the military with a mostly civilian force. Sending the 30,617 chosen to a newly created military base called Valcartier, it was about as ragtag as a group could be; they showed up in suits, bowler hats, uniforms of their local militia, and many of them had to begin training in such, as uniforms were not as of yet distributed. It didn't help that Hughes himself was a bit on the crazy side, frequently interrupting training, demoting people at random, and shrugging off the need to have experienced soldiers take the lead on instruction to create a cohesive force. By military standards Valcartier was a mess; the men were insubordinate, more brawlers than soldiers, and typical military stuff (saluting, spotless boots, doing pushups while being called a "maggot" and so forth) was mostly dismissed as nonsense. Practical jokes were common and typically if there was a major problem it would be settled by a fistfight.

The brave men leaving Toronto for battle in Western Europe.
I mean, I know Toronto is expensive, but this?! Hiyo!!!!

Canadian military equipment proved to be little better. The famous Ross Rifle, proudly Canadian made, would frequently jam on rapid fire exercises. Also, the bayonet would have a nasty habit of simply falling off. The uniforms themselves, with much of the gear distributed in Europe once they got there, was not created all that well either. An ammo pouch on the front made it difficult to crawl and the goatskin they were given for warmth frequently still had the blood or flesh of the animal on it. 

Nevertheless, in spite of everything, the Canadian forces set sail with the men, artillery, and seven thousand horses, carried across the waters by ocean liner. Arriving at Salisbury Plain, a military camp quite near to Stonehenge, they were given a week before more training would continue. During this time they drank: a private described the unruly force as thinking "of nothing but drinking and getting into all the trouble they can." Some of that trouble came in the form of loose women; 1,249 (keep in mind only 30,617 came over) picked up a venereal disease during that time. Eventually they allowed booze in the camp, mostly to slow the tide of rampaging Canadians causing a ruckus across Britain.

One of the Canadian battalions. Or perhaps a division.
No, a unit! That's not right... Anyways, here's a group of
Canadian soldiers.

As for the conditions in the camp, well... the training was effective but the weather was brutal. Pounding sheets of rain hammered the men day after day, making training a muddy, sick, unpleasant experience. However, the awful conditions helped to toughen them up, and the difficulties served as a bonding time for the inexperienced force. It's beautifully summed up by this lieutenant and former war correspondent:

"On Salisbury Plain, chastened by suffering, saddened by yearnings for home, wounded to the quick by misunderstandings with our English instructors, torture by the vilest winter climate on earth, often prostrated by sickness of the body, or by deeper sickness of the spirit, out of all of this man-breaking and heart-breaking we were being hammered and wrought into an army unit. Out of hell fire, came an Iron Division for service in an Iron War."

It wasn't long before Canadians got their first test in battle. After the training was complete, they were sent to the western front to support British soldiers in trying to break the unbreakable; trench warfare had begun, and it was up to the Triple Entente's forces (the Russians, British and French) to break the line. Defenses wouldn't hold; the Germans had broken into France and had already stormed through Belgium, meaning a defensive position would be in Germany's favour. 

After shadowing experienced British soldiers for some time, they got their first real taste. The initial deaths, through exploding artillery fire or snipers, shook the men to the core. They weren't mentally prepared, but to be fair, how could one be? Their first major battle to test their nerve came at Neuve Chappelle on March 10th, 1915. Basically, the Canadians were used as a diversion force to ensure the Germans couldn't mass a large number where the British, with their Indian allies, hoped to attack. They lost one hundred men, but did their duty. 

In spite of the inferior rifles, sloppy training, frequent insubordination and liquor issues, the Canadian army would soon prove to be one heck of a formidable fighting force. Suffice to say, I bet no one saw that coming.