When Canada entered the war she had a permanent force of 8,000 men. When hostilities ceased on November 11, 1918, Canada had sent overseas 418,980 soldiers. In addition to this about 15,000 men had joined the British Royal Air Service, several hundred physicians and veterinarians, as well as 200 nurses, had been supplied to the British army, while many hundreds of university men had received commissions in the imperial army and navy.
In September, October and November, 1916, the Canadian corps of four divisions, which had been welded by General Byng and General Currie into an exceedingly efficient fighting machine, took its part in the battle of the Somme—a battle in which the British army assumed the heaviest share of the fighting and casualties, and shifted the greatest burden of the struggle from the shoulders of the French to their own. The British army had grown vastly in power and efficiency and in growing had taken over more and more of the line from the French.
The battle of the Somme was long and involved. The Franco-British forces were everywhere victorious and by hard and continuous fighting forced the Hun back to the famous Hindenburg line. It was in this battle that the tanks, evolved by the British, were used for the first time, and played a most important part in breaking down wire entanglements and rounding up the machine-gun nests. The part played in this battle by the Canadian corps was conspicuous, and it especially distinguished itself by the capture of Courcelette. Although the battles which the Canadian corps took part in subsequently were almost invariably both successful and important, they can be merely mentioned here. The Canadian corps, now known everywhere to consist of shock troops second to none on the western front, was frequently used as the spearhead with which to pierce particularly tough parts of the enemy defenses.
On April 9th to 13th, 1917, the Canadian corps, with some British support, captured Vimy Ridge, a point which had hitherto proved invulnerable. When a year later, the Germans, north and south, swept the British line to one side in gigantic thrusts they were unable to disturb this key point, Vimy Ridge, which served as an anchor to the sagging line. The Canadian corps was engaged at Arleux and Fresnoy in April and May and was effective in the operations around Lens in June. Again on August 15th, it was engaged at Hill 70 and fought with conspicuous success in that toughest, most difficult, and most heart-breaking of all battles—Passchendaele.
In 1918, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade won distinction in the German offensive of March and April. On August 12, 1918, the Canadian corps was engaged in the brilliantly successful battle of Amiens, which completely upset the German offensive plan. On August 26th to 28th the Canadians captured Monchy-le-Preux, and, in one of the hammer blows which Foch rained on the German front, were given the most difficult piece of the whole line to pierce—the Queant-Drocourt line. This section of the famous Hindenburg line was considered by the enemy to be absolutely impregnable, but was captured by the Canadians on September 3d and 4th. With this line outflanked a vast German retreat began, which ended on November 11th with the signing of the armistice.
© Western Newspaper Union. British Official Photo
FORWARD WITH THE TANKS AGAINST BAPAUME
This picture gives an excellent idea of the method of combined tank and infantry attack. Behind a low ridge among artillery positions they are forming their line. A company falls in behind one of the waddling monsters that will break a way for it through all obstacles, while on both sides of the road other detachments await the arrival of the tank they are to accompany.
To the Canadians fell the honors of breaking through the first Hindenburg line by the capture of Cambrai, on October 1st to 9th. They also took Douai on October 19th, and Dena on October 20th. On October 26th to November 2d they had the signal honor of capturing Valenciennes thereby being the first troops to break through the fourth and last Hindenburg line.