German troops pressed forward threatening to sweep behind the Canadian trenches and put fifty thousand Canadian and British troops in deadly jeopardy. Fortunately the Germans had planned only a limited offensive and, without adequate reserves, were unable to exploit the gap the gas created. After advancing only two miles they stopped and dug in.
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Canadians in the gas masks that
were introduced after Ypres |
All through the night the Canadian troops fought to close the gap. In addition they mounted a counter
attack to drive the enemy out of Kitcheners Wood, an
oak plantation near St. Julien. In the morning two more disastrous attacks were made against enemy
positions. Little ground was gained and casualties were extremely heavy, but these attacks bought
some precious time to close the flank.
The grimmer battle of St. Julien lay ahead. On
April 24 the Germans attacked in an attempt to obliterate the Salient once and for all. Another violent
bombardment was followed by another gas attack in the same pattern as before. This time the target was
the Canadian line. Here through terrible fighting, withered with shrapnel and machine-gun fire,
hampered by rifles which jammed, violently ill and gasping for air through mud-soaked handkerchiefs, they
held on until reinforcements arrived.
Thus, in their first appearance on a European
battlefield, the Canadians established a reputation as a formidable fighting force. Congratulatory
messages were cabled to the Canadian Prime Minister. But the cost was high. In these forty-eight hours
6,035 Canadians, one man in every three, was lost
from Canada's little force of hastily trained civilians - a grim forerunner of what was still to come.
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The War of Attrition |
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An attempt to smash the barbed wire entanglements
using trench mortars. |
During the next three years the Allies hurled eleven full-scale offensives against the Western Front. All of them were part of one basic strategic idea, to break through and win the war quickly. Few First World War commanders, enemy or allied, yet understood the nature of the war they fought. Although the great advantage of trench warfare lay with the defence, they faithfully adhered to outdated army traditions and relied on massive, head-on infantry assaults.
A ghastly pattern soon developed. As attacking troops advanced over the shell-torn ground and tangled barbed wire of "No Man's Land" they were cut down by enemy machine-gun fire in the first advance, falling in tragic, ordered ranks. When the planned breakthrough did not come the uniform pace of the advance broke down, and the attack deteriorated into costly local battles which dragged on for weeks and even months. The casualty lists rose steadily into the millions proving again and
again the futility of attacking on the Western Front.
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Yet Allied commanders seemed convinced that success was merely a matter of persistence - more men, more guns, more ammunition.
When one great attack failed another was planned and undertaken, and the conflict became a "war of attrition" - a grinding struggle to see which side could hold out longer against death and destruction.
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| Following the Battle of Ypres the decimated units
of the 1st Canadian Division, reinforced by volunteers from the cavalry brigade, marched south to join
in the Allied offensives which were already under way.
While the British mounted diversionary attacks
in Artois, the French launched an unsuccessful attack on Vimy Ridge.
Although the British were
bloodily repulsed at Aubers Ridge the offensive continued, and the Canadians were thrust into the fighting at
Festubert in May 1916 and Givenchy in June.
The fighting followed the grim pattern of frontal assault
against powerful enemy defences, and although the Canadians achieved their objectives the gains were
negligible and the cost in lives extremely high.
The Canadians suffered 2,468 casualties at Festubert
and a further 400 at Givenchy.
Canadians trying to get some rest in the
trenches->> |
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Formation of the Canadian Corps |
Meanwhile in Canada enthusiasm remained high
despite the growing casualty lists. A second Canadian contingent sailed for England in the spring of
1915, and from it was formed the 2nd Canadian Division. Following a period of training in England
they joined the 1st Division in France in September.
At the insistence of Canadian leaders, who had
consistently resisted any division of Canadian
troops, the Canadian Corps was now formed under the command of Lieutenant-General E.A.H. Alder-
son. Major-General R.E.W. Turner took command of the new 2nd Division, while Major-General Arthur
Currie became commander of the 1st.
The Canadian Corps now settled down to a dismal
winter in a section of the front between Ploegsteert Wood and St. Eloi. As steady rain filled the trenches
with muddy water the men were forced to fight not only the enemy, but also "trench feet", colds, influenza and lice. They were joined by the Princess
Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, which had served for a year with the British 27th Division; and the
Royal Canadian Regiment which had been performing garrison duty in Bermuda. In December, the 3rd
Canadian Division was formed under Major-General M.S. Mercer. |
