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Britain declared war
When Britain declared war, they dragged Canada and Newfoundland, which wasn't a Canadian province yet, along with them. By October 1914, the First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, was on its way to England. Many soldiers volunteered from both Canada and Newfoundland but unfortunately, a lot of them didn't return after the war. (-1) -
Air Force-Flying in it's infancy
Canada didn't have an air force until the final months of the war but Canadian pilots, like Billy Bishop, helped to advance Canada's reputation as reputable air force in WWI. Even though we didn't have an air force of our own, almost a quarter of all British flyers were Canadian. Still, in 1914, flying was still in its infancy and it was a great success to fly a plane and land it without crashing. Planes evolved through time and were used as deadly weapons in the sky. (0) -
2nd Battle of Ypres
The 22nd Battalion was in this battle and were there when the Germans introduced poisonous gas. These soldiers witnessed people foaming at the mouth and people struggling to breath. This battalion lost over half their men in three days. This battle came with a high cost and in only 48 hours 6 035 Canadians, which was one man in every three, that became casualties. Through all of this we managed to hold onto most of their positions despite the gas. (-2) -
The Battle of the Somme
In this battle, the 22nd battalion was involved. They joined the Newfoundland Regiment. This battle suffered disastrous consequences in only the first day of battle, on July 1st. Of the 801 men that fought in this battle, only 68 were not injured or killed. Among the dead were 14 sets of brothers, which included 4 brother from one family from St. Johns. At the end of the summer, more Canadian soldiers entered the Somme offensive end. (-1) -
Women on the Home Front
This was a time of slight progression with women being more of an equal to men and allowing women to work. When men left to fight in the war, they left their jobs and soon their was a shortage of men to fill the open job positions. Many businesses and industries had to hire women to work for them and to make things to meet the demands of war. Factories only wanted single women but the need for employees forced employers to hire married woman but they still refused to hire woman of colour.(+1) -
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War Artists
The first world war provided many opportunities for artists, like photographers and painters. People were also hired to be Canada's "Eye Witness" to the war. They created film, pictures and paintings to capture the war and show it to people who weren't there. This raised an awareness to the people who weren't fighting in the war, of what the war was really like and the horrors the soldiers, and their loved ones were going through. (+1) -
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The Battle at Vimy Ridge
Link text https://www.warmuseum.ca/the-battle-of-vimy-ridge/
This battle is looked as a defining moment for Canada. We emerged from the shadow of Britain. This battle was an important Canadian success. However, this victory came with a great cost of 3 598 Canadians dead and another 7 000 wounded. The Vimy memorial stands for the 11 285 Canadian soldiers that were killed in France and had no known grave. (+2) -
Halifax Disaster
The Halifax harbour was the largest in Atlantic Canada. This disaster happened when a Norwegian ship was carrying war supplies and was leaving the harbour. At this time, a French ship was approaching the harbour and carrying cargo of explosive material. These two ships were heading towards each other and due to the confusion of the paths of the ships, they collided and caused a devastating and tragic explosion. Thus explosion immediately killed 1500 people and hundreds died due to injuries. (-2) -
Enemy Attack on the 1st Canadian General Hospital
In the Hague Convention, which set out the rules of war, stated that hospitals must be spared from attacks. The Llandovery Castle was a hospital ship that was marked with red crosses that lit up the night, but a German submarine torpedoed this ship and only 24 survived of the 258 people on bored. This ship had 14 nursing sisters, who all died, and carried the wounded from war and was bringing them home. (0) -
The End of World War I
Germany surrendered on November 18th, 1918 and this was when the armistice was signed. During this war, over half a million men and women had served in the Canadian forces and between 60 000 and 70 000 never returned home. Along with this, more than 17 000 were wounded physically and mentally. The total number of military and civilian casualties in this war, for all countries that were involved, was over 37 million. (+2)
