The Last 100 Days

The final days of the war were known as the last 100 days. The United States of America had entered the war and caused fear among the Germans. Germany's last hope was to launch a mighty offensive or "Final Assault" at Paris. Thousands of German troops entered France. They were stopped only 80 KM from Paris. On August 8 Canadian troops spearheaded the allied assault (also the name of to Medal of Honor games) into the advansing German Army. American troops arrived with new tanks, planes, cannons, and weapons. Using new tactics they dropped bombs on the entrenched Germans, causing them to either expose themselves to run or charge, or be blown up in the trenches. By November the allies arrived on the frontiers of Germany. Germany surrendered November 11, 1918. After 4 years of fighting WW1 was finally over.

Billy Bishop

Billy Bishop was a Canadian ace pilot. You become an ace once you shoot down 5 planes. At first Billy signed up for the Canadian Mounted Rifles, but then transfered to the Air Force. At first he flew scouting missions and patrols. In 1916 he got his fighter pilot's training. He got into his first dogfight (an engagment between 2 or more planes) in March 1917. In a 5 day period he shot down 13 planes. At the end of the war he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He then went on to become Director of Recruiting for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940.

Battle Of The Western Front

The first division of 20,000 Canadiens took up places with their allies in mid April 1915. Over the years of WW1 600,000 more Canadians made it to the front lines because of the casualties. Some of the places Canada fought were: Ypres, Festubert, the St.Eloi craters, Mount Sorrel, the Scarpe, the Somme, Courcelette, Amiens, Arras, the Nord Canal, Cambrai, Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Beaumont Hamel, and Passchendaele. These were dangerous times as soldiers were unaware what weapons the enemy had. Like the German gas attacks, and Mustard GAs, or the invention of tanks, bombers, and fighter aircraft. Countries poured money into labs to see who could develope the better killing machine. Because of their egos and ambitions the war was one of the bloodiest wars in the history of the world second only to WW2.

French-English Conflict

French and English relations were always tense. One of the reasons was that the English thought the French were cowardly because very few enlisted to fight overseas. The French said that it was an English war, even though France was fighting overseas to. One of the conflicts was about the firing of Colonel Sam Hughes, who was the minister of militia, and the man responsible for training the troops at Valcartier. The British saw him as a hero saying how he helped Canada go from 3,000 to 100,000 troops. The French however saw him as arrogant who antagonized the French by making training an instruction manuals in English only. English saw Hughes as a hero, the French saw him as arrogant. Another reason was conscription. Conscription is the mandatory enlistment of any healthy male into the armed forces. The English supported it, thinking that the French would finally fight. The French opposed it and rioted all over Canada, saying this wasn't their war.

Impact On Society

In 1914, the majority of Canada's population was British. Most of the volunteers who enlisted were also British. At first Canada only wanted "British" soldiers, and discriminated Asians, Blacks, Aboriginals, and anyone who wasn't white, even though they were volunteering to fight for Canada. Canada didn't want any "non-white" soldiers. They agreed only because of the huge casualties and lack of recruits. 4000 out of just 100,000 Aboriginals fought in the Canadien armed forces. Hardly anyone who wasn't white made it to the front lines, instead they were doing hard labor like loading heavy cannonballs into cannons and carrying supplies to troops in the front lines. People from "enemy" countries like Germany, Ukraine, and Austrians were sent to concentration camps, accused of spying for the enemy. Even though some came to Canada to escape, they were still discriminated and sent to concentration camps. 10,000 Ukrainians fought in the Canadian army and some were even arrested. These were Canada's darkest days.

Battle of Passchendaele

The battle of Passchendaele was also known as the third battle of Ypres, or second battle of Flanders. It was a strategic Allied victory, but a tactical German Victory. It lasted from July 11-November 10 1917. It was fought by the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and France. There were 508,800 dead, wounded, captured, or missing. 16,000 of them were Canadien. The battle was also a disaster. In the 4 months of fighting the allies only captured 7 KM of ground which the Germans recaptured later. It was very muddy there and tanks wound bog down, and some soldiers even drowned in the deep mud. Tanks, cannons, horses, and other vehicles could't pass therough the unforgiving mud and it was up to the soldiers to go in alone with no support.

Battle of the Somme

The battle of the Somme was from July 1-November 18 1916. It was fought by the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and Newfound land. At first there were 13 British and 11 French divisions, but later there was 51 British and 48 French divisions. There were 620,000 dead, missing, or wounded. 57,400 of them were Canadien. 782 planes and 100 tanks were also lost. It was commanded mostly by Brigadier General Haig. The battle was a disaster since noone clearly won, however the Germans fell back to Hindenburg Line in February-March 1917 as a result of the battle.

Battle of Ypres

The battle of Ypres lasted from April 22-May 25 1914. It involved Belgium, Canada, France, Colonial Forces (France), British Empire, and British India. It is technically called the second battle of Ypres since this is the second battle fought in Ypres. It consisted of 8 infantry divisions, and there were 70,000 dead, wounded, or missing. It was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the western front. At around 5 PM on April 22 1915, the German army released 188 tons over a 6.5 KM front held by the French. 6000 French and Colonial troops died within 10 minutes. The rest climbed out despite heavy enemy fire. The Germans, not aware of how effective the gas would be didn't launch a propper charge, resulting in British and Canadien troops sealing up the gap before Germany could attack.

Battle Of Vimy Ridge

The battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the biggest battles in the war. Over 100,000 canadiens and 70,000 British in 5 divisions advanced on the well fortified German location. English and Canadien troops took part in the attack. There were 3,598 casualities and 7,004 wounded, with 4000 Germans captured. It was fought as part of the Battle of Aras in the Nord-Pas-De-Calais region of France. The battle took place from April 9-12 1917.

Mobilizing The Troops

When the time came to train the volunteers to be soldiers, they sent them to a sandy plain in Valcartier, Quebec. Tents littered the field as more than 30,000 soldiers were there. Colonel Sam Hughes was in charge of training these men to become the soldiers that would fight for Canada overseas. The Ross rifle was the standard firearm for the Canadien troops. At first it was a good gun, but then during trench warfare it was proven useless with the concentrated close fighting, and it constantly jammed in the mud. Canadien soldiers would drop the Ross and pick up a Lee Enfield from a dead British soldier. Sam Hughes was fired for his stand by the Ross rifle despite its many problems.

Canada Goes To War

Canada joined the war as part of the British Empire. Since it was a colony of Britain, Canada had to join the war when Britain declared war on Germany. On August 6, just 2 days after the war was declared, Canada offered 25,000 fully trained troops. Within a week, 10,000 soldiers volunteered. Colonel Sam Hughes wanted the majority of the army to be volunteers, saying they had more spirit and morale then soldiers forced to fight.