The 1st world war started August 4, 1914, not the 14th.
According to "Canada in the Great War" by W.S. Wallace of the University of Toronto (Lately Major, Canadian Infantry), the Canadian government promptly cabled to England offering the services of Canadian troops and the first Canadian contingent, 33,000 strong, arrived in Plymouth in October, 1914. The first Canadian troops to land in France were the Princess Pat's which arrived in early December 1914 along with a hospital unit. The First Canadian Division left for France in February 1915. In March 1915 Canadian artillery took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and in April 1915 the Division entered the trenches of the front line north of Ypres in Belgian Flanders in time for the 2nd battle of Ypres.
In the afternoon of April 22, 1915 Chlorine gas was first used by the Germans. On the immediate left of the Canadian division were French colonial troops, the Turcos and Zouaves who fled before the asphyxiating gas. The Canadian left flank was completely exposed and our boys were outnumbered 5 to 1 by the massed German troops. The Canadians held fast. The strength of the Canadian defense and the success of two brilliant and heroic counter-attacks gave the Germans the impression that the Canadians were in greater strength and consequently were never able to fully press home their advantage. After three days of ceaseless fighting, the Canadians were relieved.
By the end of 1916 The Canadian Corps comprised 4 divisions and had an unbroken record of victory in the Somme.
I could go on and on about Canada's contributioin in the Great war; Courcelette when Canada used tanks for the first time, the capture of the Desire Trench, Vimy Ridge, Arleux and Fresnoy, Lens, Hill 70, Passchendale, Bellevue Spur, Amiens, 2nd Battle of the Somme, Arras, Cambrai, Mons. Suffice it to say that the Canadian Corps had come to be regarded by the High Command as "Shock Troops." It was always with great trepidation when the Germans learned that they were facing Canadian troops across No Man's Land as that almost nearly always meant an attack was forthcoming. In 1918 alone Canadian troops engaged and defeated no less than 57 German divisions, captured 35,000 prisoners, 750 field guns, 3,500 machine guns, advanced over 100 miles, captured over 150 towns and villages, and released over 300,000 French and Belgian civilians from the domination of the Hun, all without a single failure!
Canada carried this fighting spirit into WW II. Case in point: At the outbreak of WW II, Canadian infantry units were classified into one of three categories, A (best trained), B (second best), and C (insufficiently trained and not recommended for operations). Two units, the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada were classed as "C". In October of 1941, neither Battalion was at full strength and both included men who had never thrown a grenade or fired a mortar. In November, 1941 these two Battalions landed in Hong Kong where with four other Commonwealth battalions they held off the combined might of the Japanese Air Force, Imperial Japanese Navy, and 60,000 seasoned Japanese troops for 18 days with nothing but their rifles and a few machine guns. After the fall of Hong Kong the Japanese became enraged when they realized how few defenders had held up their advance and they embarked on a campaign of murder, rape and torture of the survivors.
Canada's contribution to the war effort was all out of proportion to it's size as a country. The hubris shown by those in the other forums is a testament of their ignorance. Give me the website and I'll set those buffoons straight. Derek
