Military History Of Canada During The First World War
When the First World War started in the year 1914, the British Empire called upon all its dominions to participate in the war. Once of the British colonies to take part in the First World War was Canada. Due to the contributions made by Canada in the war, it changed the entire course of the country's history and allowed it gain more independence. It also caused the rift to deepen between the French and English speaking populace in Canada. |
When Canada got involved in the First World War, the Canada forces were under the command of a commander, who was born in Canada. The forces fought bravely in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Second Battle of Passchendaele, and the Battle of the Somme.
In the war, the casualties suffered by Canada reached 67,000 soldiers killed and another 173,000 soldiers were injured.
It was on 5th August 1914 when the governor general of Canada officially declared a war with Germany. The war was supported by the Canadians as most of them had British descendents, and when the Canadian prime minister offered support to the British in fighting the war, it was accepted.
The Canadians had a small army but a large militia. However, within a span of 2 months, an army of three thousand odd men was transformed to an army of thirty-two thousand men. More than six hundred thousand Canadian men as well as women took part in the First World War as soldiers, nurses and chaplains. Even the Aboriginal Canadians were allowed to enlist, but this only occurred in the year 1915. Some three thousand five hundred Aboriginal Canadians served during the First World War.
In September 1915, Canada formed the Canadian Corps in France from the Canadian Expeditionary Force. These soldiers were primarily volunteers. The corps was under the command of the British army and took part in the Battle of the Somme.
The first battle that the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought was in the town of Neuve Chapelle in France. In this battle, the Canadians learned that they required better artillery observation points as the bombardment was ineffective in destroying the German trenches. And, so they did just that. The Canadian forces gained respect of other troops and were highly regarded at the Western Front as time went by.
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When Britain declared war against Germany, the government of New Zealand had no hesitation whatsoever in joining the war even though they were completely isolated from the rest of the world in terms of geography. 