The history of Canada in World War I began on August 4, 1914, when the United Kingdom entered the First World War (1914–1918) by declaring war on Germany. The British declaration of war automatically brought Canada into the war, because of Canada's legal status as a British Dominion which left foreign policy decisions in the hands of the British parliament. However, the Canadian government had the freedom to determine the country's level of involvement in the war. On August 4, 1914, the Governor General declared a war between Canada and Germany. The Militia was not mobilized and instead an independent Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised.
Canada's sacrifices and contributions to the Great War changed its history and enabled it to become more independent, while also opening a deep rift between the French and English speaking populations. For the first time in Canadian military history, Canadian forces fought as a distinct unit, first under a British commander but ultimately under a Canadian-born commander. The highpoints of Canadian military achievement during the Great War came during the Somme, Vimy, and Passchendaele battles and what later became known as "Canada's Hundred Days". Canada's total casualties stood at the end of the war at 67,000 killed and 173,000 wounded, out of an expeditionary force of 620,000 people mobilized (39 per cent of mobilized were casualties).
Canadians of British descent—the majority—gave widespread support arguing that Canadians had a duty to fight on behalf of their Motherland. Indeed, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, although French-Canadian, spoke for the majority of English-Canadians when he proclaimed: "It is our duty to let Great Britain know and to let the friends and foes of Great Britain know that there is in Canada but one mind and one heart and that all Canadians are behind the Mother Country." However this did not stop Laurier along with Henri Bourassa from leading the opposition to conscription three years later in 1917. Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden offered assistance to Great Britain, which was quickly accepted.
Beginning
Preparations Prior to the war, military land forces were organized as the Canadian Militia, with the regular Permanent Active Militia, and the sedentary Non-Permanent Active Militia. The Minister of Militia and Defence, Sam Hughes, was ordered by Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden to train and recruit an army for overseas service. At the time, Canada had a regular army of only 3,110 men and a fledgling navy.
Although the Chief of the General Staff, Willoughby Gwatkin, had been planning for a mass mobilization of Canadian Militia for some time, the mobilization plans were scrapped in favour of mobilizing a completely new land force, the Canadian Expeditionary Force, to be based on numbered battalions and reporting to a separate ministry, the Ministry of Overseas Forces of Canada. Although the force was raised quickly, it was riven with political patronage and lacked a solid core of professional officers and NCOs.
Participation
Around 600,000 men and women participated in the war by enlisting as nurses, soldiers and chaplains. In general, non-white people and those born in enemy nations were not welcomed into the military. When Black people from Sydney, Nova Scotia volunteered their services, they were told, "This is not for you fellows, this is a white man's war." Although prejudiced attitudes prevented many non-white people from initially enlisting, some did manage to join CEF units in the beginning of the war.
Nonetheless, some segregated units were formed. In 1915, Indigenous people were allowed to enlist and accepted into a 114th Battalion as well as others. Approximately 3,500 Indigenous people served, although estimates vary due to incomplete records and differing definitions of Indigenous identity.
The No. 2 Construction Battalion was formed in 1916, after leading Black figures from communities in Nova Scotia and Ontario engaged in a letter-writing campaign to request for an all-Black battalion to Sam Hughes, and the British War Office approved segregated units. The unit was the first and only all-Black unit in Canadian military history, and included black soldiers from both Canada and the United States, the latter having crossed into Canada in order to participate. Black Canadians who were in the No. 2 Construction Battalion remained segregated during their tour.
The Canadian Japanese Association in British Columbia put forward a volunteer reserve force of 227 men, some of whom were later admitted into the military. There is a monument to them in British Columbia.
A deal between the Chinese government and the allies resulted in the enlistment of thousands of Chinese who formed the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) mainly poor Chinese men from the North who were told they would be in non-combatant roles. The Canadian government had restricted the arrival of all Asians and the CLC were secretly landed in Victoria, British Columbia. They were drilled in the old quarantine station at William Head and secretly shipped across Canada in cattle-trucks.Quarantined: Life and Death at William Head Station 1872–1959. By Peter Johnson. 2013.
Field formations Canadian Corps
The Canadian Corps was formed as a field formation of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The soldiers of the corps were mostly volunteers, as conscription was not implemented until the end of the war (see Conscription Crisis of 1917). The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December 1915 and the 4th Canadian Division in August 1916. The organization of a 5th Canadian Division began in February 1917, but it was still not fully formed when it was broken up in February 1918 and its men used to reinforce the other four divisions. Although the corps was within and under the command of the British Army, there was considerable pressure among Canadian leaders, especially following the Battle of the Somme, for the corps to fight as a single unit rather than spreading the divisions through the whole army, which contributed to the development of a distinct Canadian military identity and improved battlefield coordination.
Originally commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Edwin Alderson until 1916, command was then passed to Lieutenant General Sir Julian Byng, later, Lord Byng of Vimy and Governor General of Canada. When Byng was promoted to a higher command in the summer of 1917, he was succeeded by the commander of the 1st Division, General Sir Arthur Currie, giving the corps its first Canadian commanders. In the later stages of the war, the Canadian Corps was among the most effective and respected of the military formations on the Western Front.
Canadian Cavalry Brigade
The Canadian Cavalry Brigade arrived in France in 1915. Initially having three Canadian regiments and one British, in January 1916, it became an all-Canadian formation. The brigade was deployed separately from the Canadian Corps and was under the command of various British cavalry divisions. The brigade engaged in several battles, notably the Battle of Moreuil Wood 30 April 1918.
Western Front
1915
Neuve Chapelle
The Canadian Expeditionary Force saw their first battle in March 1915 in the French town of Neuve Chapelle. After arriving from Salisbury Plain in England, the Canadian forces were instructed to prevent the Germans from reinforcing the sector of Neuve Chapelle. This would allow the British 1st Army, under General Douglas Haig, to successfully push through German lines and establish a new Allied front line on conquered territory.
Although the British were unable to exploit their advantage due to poor communication, it taught Canadians that artillery bombardment was too light to suppress the enemy trenches; that better artillery observation points were necessary; that reserves were too few to follow up success quickly; and most importantly, that the procedure of transmitting information and sending orders to the advanced troops was slow and difficult, and that the systems of communication were much too vulnerable.
Second Battle of Ypres
In the first week of April 1915 the soldiers of the 1st Canadian Division were moved to reinforce the salient where the British and Allied line pushed into the German line in a concave bend. On 22 April, the Germans sought to eliminate this salient by using poison gas. Following an intensive artillery bombardment, they released 160 tons of chlorine gas from cylinders dug into the forward edge of their trenches into a light northeast wind—the first use of chlorine gas in the war. As thick clouds of yellow-green chlorine drifted over their trenches the French colonial defences crumbled and the troops, completely overcome by this terrible weapon, died or broke and fled, leaving a gaping four-mile hole in the Allied line. The Canadians were the only division that were able to hold the line.
All through the night, the Canadians fought to close this gap. On 24 April, the Germans launched another poison gas attack, this time at the Canadian line. In those 48 hours of battle, the Canadians suffered over 6,000 casualties, one man in every three, of whom more than 2,000 died.
1916
Battle of the Somme
The next area where Canadians fought was at the Battle of the Somme from the latter half of 1916. Initially launched as a campaign to relieve pressure from the beleaguered French forces at the Battle of Verdun, the Allied casualties actually exceeded those at Verdun.
The battle began on 1 July 1916, and among the first troops to leave their trenches were the men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. Newfoundland at the time was not a part of the Canadian confederation but was considered a separate dominion; as a result, the Newfoundlanders advanced as part of the 29th Division, not the Canadian Corps. The attack went very poorly for the Newfoundlanders, resulting in massive casualties – of the 801 men that made up the regiment just the day before, only 68 reported for roll call on 2 July, and every officer that had gone over the top had been killed.
The Canadian Corps entered the battle in September when it was tasked to secure the small town of Courcelette, France. In the major offensive which began at dawn on September 15 the Canadian Corps, on the extreme left of the attack, assaulted on a 2,200-yard sector west of the village of Courcelette. By November 11, the 4th Canadian Division finally secured most of the German trenches in Courcelette and then rejoined the Canadian Corps at Vimy Ridge.
The Battle of the Somme claimed more than 24,000 Canadian casualties. But it also gave Canadian units the reputation of a formidable assault force. As British Prime Minister Lloyd George wrote, "The Canadians played a part of such distinction that thenceforward they were marked out as shock troops; for the remainder of the war they were brought along to head the assault in one great battle after another. Whenever the Germans found the Canadian Corps coming into the line they prepared for the worst."
1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge
For the first time, all four Canadian divisions were to be assembled to operate in combat as a corps. The Canadian divisions were joined by the British 5th Infantry Division, and reinforced by artillery, engineer and labour units.Nicholson p. 229 The Canadian Corps was supported to the north by the 24th British Division of I Corps which advanced north of the Souchez river and by the advancing XVII Corps to the south.Turner p. 39 The attack began at 5:43 a.m. on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917 whereupon every artillery piece at the disposal of the Canadian Corps began firing. Light field guns laid down a barrage which advanced in predetermined increments, often every three minutes, while medium and heavy howitzers established a series of standing barrages further ahead, against known defensive systems.Cook p. 117