Canada in Flanders, Volume I

by Baron Max Aitken Beaverbrook

Indeed, in Canada, and I believe the same is true in all the Overseas Dominions, the difficulty has been with armament and equipment—all that is necessary for the organisation of a great modern army, and not with the provision of men, for the men came faster than we were able to organise the armour to equip them. And so it has been in India as well. I remember having, in the early months of the war, the privilege of reading a debate which took place in the Council of India, a great debate which was worthy of the Mother of Parliaments herself; a debate couched in language of the most intense patriotism; and in that debate the demand of India was that she should be permitted to do her part in this war. The same is true of Egypt and all the Crown Colonies. From East to West, from North to South, throughout the Empire, the response on all hands has been more than we could have ventured to anticipate.

Mr. Balfour has referred in the most eloquent and appropriate terms to the work of the great Navy which is under his direction, and which has accomplished its task so wonderfully ever since the war broke out. We of the Overseas Dominions realise as much as you realise, that the pathways of the seas are the veins and arteries of this Empire through which its lifeblood must flow. If these are once stopped or interfered with in any way the Empire cannot continue to exist. We are as conscious as you are conscious of the wonderful vigil in the North Sea and of the patience, endurance, and fortitude of officers and men. We are grateful, as you are grateful, with the most intense appreciation of all they have done for us, and, more than all, the fact that they have rid the seas of the marauders by which our commerce was troubled has enabled us to keep in close contact with you, and keep up that intercourse which is so absolutely necessary for you and for us, not only in war but in peace as well.

I have no military knowledge nor experience—I am going to say a word with regard to military affairs in a moment—but before doing that I would like to express my own appreciation, and I think of all the people in the Dominion which I have the honour to represent, of the splendid work which has been done by the Royal Flying Corps in this war. Knowing the great efforts that have been made by other nations in this particular branch of the military and naval services, we were rather inclined to anticipate and expect that it might not be up to the highest standard of the great nations of the world. I have good reason to know, because I have had some intimate accounts of what has transpired at the front—I have good reason to know that the work of our aeroplane service has been equal to the best, and that in initiative, courage, resourcefulness, and fortitude our men have held their place with the best, ever since the outbreak of this war.

It is not necessary to dwell on the valour of our troops, to which eloquent reference has been made by Lord Crewe and Mr. Balfour. I do not believe that in all the splendid traditions of the British Army for centuries past, a more splendid record can be shown than that displayed in the retreat from Mons. I believe that no retirement was ever conducted successfully under greater difficulties and against more overwhelming odds, and the conduct of officers and men adds glory to the British Army that will not be forgotten as long as our race endures. I may, perhaps, be permitted to say that those who were sent across the sea to France and to the Dardanelles, from Australia, from New Zealand, from Canada, have proved that the old traditions of our race are not forgotten overseas, and that the men there are prepared in any danger, in any peril, to stand side by side with their comrades of these islands. A splendid force has been raised in South Africa, and I associate myself with what has been so well said as to the valour of the troops from India, who have fought by the side of our men in France and Belgium.

Mr. Balfour has spoken of our Allies, and with what he has said I may be permitted to associate myself. One cannot forget the courage, the patience, the fortitude of France. We know that the soul of Russia is unconquered and unconquerable. The devotion and heroism of Belgium and Serbia have moved the admiration of the world. The fine valour of Italy is now in the fighting line with the Allies, and she is doing her appointed task as we expected she would do it. She stands ready, I imagine, for further services in case the emergencies of this war should demand them. I have said before that this is not like the wars of a hundred or two hundred years ago.

This is a war of nations, and not of armies alone. But it is more than that. It is a war of material resources to an extreme degree. The industrial resources of the nations are being organised; all that the knowledge and science of the nations can devise is being brought into play. The command of the forces of nature which in the past centuries, and especially in the past 100 years, we have learned has been brought to bear, and for that reason I have every confidence in the outcome of this struggle, because we have within this Empire resources almost limitless—resources infinitely greater than those of Germany and Austria-Hungary combined, and it merely depends upon our self-denial, and organised capacity and patriotism, as to whether we can and shall organise those resources to the end that our cause shall triumph.

I do not believe that we shall fail in that. Our race has never failed in time of crisis. Why should it fail now? To fail in doing that would be accounted to us, in the years to come, as dishonour. We will not fail. All that men can do, our men have done at the front, and they will continue to do in the future.

In Canada, we began, as early as possible, to organise our industrial resources for the production of munitions of war. We made our first effort as far back as August 21st. Munitions of war have been the great and growing need of our men at the front. Because it is apparent to us that, so far as it is in the power of this Empire to strain every effort for the purposes of the war, we must not attempt to do with men alone what our enemies are doing with munitions and guns.

As to what we have done in the past, whether in Canada or in these islands or elsewhere, let the dead past bury its dead. This is not the time to speak of the past, but to look at the future. What concerns us, whether in these islands or in any of the Overseas Dominions, is to see that, so far as the future is concerned, there shall be no failure; and I believe there will be no failure.

It may be said that in some respects the twelve months' war has not been all that we anticipated. I believe I am entirely within the bounds of truth when I state that if there is any disappointment with us, the disappointment of Germany is tenfold greater; and if there has been any disappointment, or if there should be any reverse in the future, that should merely inspire us with a higher resolve and a more inflexible determination to do our duty, and to see that that which concerns the cause of civilisation and humanity shall be carried to the issue which we all desire.