After collecting many statistics on the battle of WW1 (Battle of Ypres, Battle of Somme, Battle of Vimy Ridge, Battle of Passchendaele, and Battle of Last Hundred Days) I came to the conclusion that the battle of Hundred Days had the greatest number of Canadian casualties overall. After looking through the statistics of the casualties among Canadian soldiers throughout the following battles I saw that Canada’s Hundred Days Battle had a substantially greater amount of wounded and dead soldiers compared to the battles of Ypres, Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Passchendaele. Canada’s Hundred Day battle cost Canada about 36,000 casualties in total, then Battle of Somme with about 24,000 casualties, then Passchendaele with approximately 16,000 casualties,
The feats achieved by Canadians were incredible, and more influential than anything they had done before. Vimy was one of the German’s most heavily guarded areas, and it was thought that it was impossible to over take. However, when the Canadians did take it, they captured the most artillery and guns since the start of the war. They also managed to take 4,000 Germans as prisoners of war. Past battles at Vimy witnessed over 200,000 causalities. During the Canadian attack on the ridge, they lost 3,598 soldiers while the Germans suffered over 20,000 causalities. Canadians had much to be proud of after Vimy, a feeling they did not often get while fighting under British command. Critics question whether Vimy aided Canada’s birth as a nation. “It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that if Vimy Ridge had been captured
During the first world war, Britain, and Canada’s allies demanded multiple resources from Canada. The allied countries were France, Serbia, and Russia. Since they were all in a coalition, they agreed to help each other, and send needed resources that would assist them in winning the war. Some common resources that were sent included food, munitions, money, and men. Since Canada during WW1 was still developing and expanding, the allies thought it was a great place to collect the necessities from, as they were in an abundance. Canadians at the commencement of the war were very eager to fight, as the war had been glorified, and made to look adventurous. So without any hesitation, Canada sent over as many resources the allies demanded. Canada then became responsible for supplying resources to the allies soldiers, and their own. Since so much effort was going towards the
On April 9, 1917, Canada sent out 100 000 fine men to serve and protect their country. To this day, the battle of Vimy Ridge is still known as the day Canada became a nation. Despite the cataclysm of the battle and the thousands of lost souls, Vimy Ridge is considered to be defining moments in Canadian History. The Germans were in complete control of Vimy Ridge for over two years prior to the Canadian onset. This enabled the Germans to strengthen their position, making them seem unvanquishable. The German forces were appeared to be impregnable. Nor the British armada or the French were able to vanquish the Germans. The French battled for over two years and suffered over one hundred and fifty thousand casualties. Despite the twenty divisions and three massive
All because of Canada’s workers intelligence, from scratch, they created the best gear such as handguns, fighter planes, armoured personnel carriers that were to be used overseas. “Canadian industry produced more than 800,000 military transport vehicles, 50,000 tanks, 40,000 field, naval, and anti-aircraft guns, and 1,700,000 small arms”. All of these vehicles, and guns were either designed and put onto blue prints in Canada or the United Kingdom but each and every single vehicle and gun was produced in Canada’s factories. Of the eight hundred thousand military vehicles, approximately one hundred sixty eight thousand were issued to Canadian forces. This meant that our Canadian army had an approximate soldier to vehicle ratio of three soldiers to one vehicle. When the Great Britain joined into the Italian campaign, they had eighty thousand vehicles, and seventy five thousand of those were left behind in the evacuation of Dunkirk. Britain relied on Canada to almost “bail” them out with relief vehicles. Once Canada shipped in their obscene amount of vehicles across the Atlantic, the Germans would find themselves overwhelmed and were forced to retreat out of Sicily, thus proving how strong of a threat Canadians posed to the Axis powers. Not only did the contribution of land vehicles support the Allied troops, on the other hand, but the influx of antiaircraft guns help the
World War I, also known as The Great War and The War to End All Wars, was caused by a build-up of offenses and the multitude of complex treaties made between the many countries of Europe and the need for those treaties to be enforced. As a member of Great Britain’s imperial kingdom, Canada was expected to help on the war front, and the Canadians didn’t disappoint. Although an aspect that may be surprising about the Canadian effort is the amount of indigenous Canadians that participated. These indigenous Canadians made accomplishments for their people that included war notability, honor, and a need to promote their civil rights.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the greatest military battles ever fought. This battle contributed to Canada’s coming of age as a nation. The taking of Vimy Ridge claimed more than 200,000 lives during the first World War and will forever remain in the history as one of the worlds great military triumphs. The Canadian Military used extensive planning, new innovative weaponry and relied on the tremendous courage and sacrifice of its soldiers in order to claim victory.
The first major event that impacted Canada’s legacy, as a whole, was the sacrificial battle of Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge was proven to be essential to the foundation of Canada as it signified the birth of a new nation and it was considered to be the greatest battle fought, in World War One. Firstly, the Battle of Vimy Ridge established Canada’s emergence as a newly born nation from under the shadow of Britain and gave a verification of Canada’s prominence on the international level. For instance, after successfully regaining the ridge, it displayed to the British superpower, that Canada are worthy of independence, that must be granted upon as a reward for a significant victory (Fonseca). As a result, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, marked the end of British soldiers commanding Canadian troops, as Canada showed tremendous resilience internationally, and also proved that we are independently, capable of leading a well-organized attack against other countries (Fonseca). This milestone was a huge accomplishment for Canadians, as eventually this was the catalyst for total autonomy of Britain (“History Now”). Secondly, the Battle of Vimy Ridge gave Canada justified independence on the international stage. As a result of winning the complicated battle, Canada was deservedly permitted to their own independent seat and signature at the peace talks after the war. This then allowed Canada, to participate in voicing their thoughts, and plans as a newly independent country. This was seen to be,
Another reason that Canada is said to have lost this war is that the war hit Upper Canada the hardest. The Niagara Peninsula was taken by the Americans and they idealized that it could be used as a sort of base for them. Instead, guerilla warfare ensued, which to this day Americans are reluctant to mention. York was burned by Americans. It is believed that Upper Canada only survived the war because of the tremendous support from the British forces. This may be true, but without the British, the Canadians would not have been in the war to begin with. Upper Canada was also changed dramatically in terms of economics. Farms became
The failures being they didn't achieve set goals and so many people had died and if not then wounded terribly and/or taken prisoner; in nine hours 907 canadian soldiers were killed, 2,460 wounded and the other 1,946 were taken prisoners. “Definitely the worst hours that canadian soldiers endured during world war ii”
Canada could have left Britain alone to fight their own war, but Canada showed support and helped them unconditionally. Also the Canadian soldiers went through so much pain and agony in the battle and prison camps. Lastly Canada provided a great deal of hope and support to the once hopeless people in Hong Kong. All these points proves the strength of this red and white nation, and make them a memorable piece of our world history. We should honor and carry on the legacy that the deceased Canadian soldiers left in the trenches and war camps, so that their death was not in
The Battle of Vimy Ridge is one of the most important battles in all of Canadian history. Prior to Vimy Ridge, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps had never fought with each other as one unit, but in this battle, they were assembled together and fought as a country. In addition to that, the whole battle was planned and prepared by General Byng and Arthur Currie, two high-ranking Canadians. They created an all new strategy called involving a creeping barrage of artillery which was so effective, it was even adopted by the British army in 1918.
During the course of the Second World War, Canada evolved into a powerful, resourceful nation that was needed by the Allies. Canada contributed significantly to the Allied war effort during World War II where they fought on land, water and air and assisted indirectly from the home front. On land, they fought in numerous battles and campaigns such as D-Day, Hong Kong, and the Italian campaign. However, they were also strong and resourceful when it came to air and naval forces in battle. But even outside of battle, Canada was still able to make a contribution through its civilians.
The battle of Passchendaele is important to Canada’s identity because it symbolizes the sacrifice Canada had to make, the legacy that Canada made and because it represents the Canadian valor. Canadians have made huge accomplishments through the battle of Passchendaele-It brought peace since the battle played a significant role in bringing World War I to an end and because achieving such great accomplishments came at a price. The success of the war was possible because of the sacrifice Canada had to make and because of the individual acts of heroism. Canadian soldiers had to endure exhausting months in trenches in terrible conditions, live in fear of possible surprise attacks from nearby enemies, develop trench’s feet, which is a nasty disease.
Many countries have tried but failed to capture this area. Both French and British armies tired but failed the Germans were too strong. This area was known as Vimy Ridge, which has many high hills and was located in France. The Germans had captured this area since September 1914, the Germans started to build artillery proof bunkers and trenches. Germanys had the advantage in every battle; Germanys had their bases on top of the long hills. Which lead them to look down on their enemies, which was easier for Germanys to kill their target. After countries failing to capture Vimy Ridge, Canada decided they were going to attempt to fight for Vimy Ridge. For the first time Britain asked for generals to lead Canada to victory for the battle of Vimy Ridge. Sir Julian Byng and Major Arthur Currie were asked to lead the Canadian Military to win the battle of Vimy Ridge. After months of practicing a strategy Canada was ready. April 1917, Canada went to battle with Germany for Vimy Ridge. This became one of the most devastating battles ¬in Canadian history. Canadians should remember that Vimy Ridge was not their triumph alone. British artillery and the elite 51st Highland Division helped make victory possible (Desmond Morton, Significance of Vimy Ridge). Vimy Ridge is considered a defining moment in Canadian history because, it was Canada’s first time using a general to plan tactics and strategy’s, Canada was the only country that succeeded on capturing Vimy Ridge, lastly all Canadian
concluded that the joint actions of Gough and Plumer were in part of making the