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“The torch; be yours to hold it high” . Europe Meeting . March 24, 2013. Somme.
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“The torch; be yours to hold it high” Europe Meeting March 24, 2013
Somme • Though it is often overshadowed by the victory at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canadian soldiers displayed the same bravery and determination in the deadly fighting at the Battle of the Somme. Many hard lessons were learned in those muddy battlefields ninety years ago—and the Canadians' success at Vimy Ridge owes much to this earlier struggle. • Footage
"We were walking on dead soldiers ... I saw poor fellows trying to bandage their wounds... bombs, heavy shells were falling all over them. Poor Angéline, it is the worst sight that a man ever wants to see." • The Battle of the Somme lasted five months in 1916 and placed young men on both sides of the war in the middle of a protracted hell. Pictured here, Canadian soldiers returning from the trenches of the Somme. • Few battles better epitomize the horror and futility of war than the Battle of the Somme as Canadian soldier Frank Maheux described in a letter to his wife Angéline. The battle lasted five months, maimed or killed more than a million soldiers and placed young men on both sides in the middle of a protracted hell.
In 1916, the British and French planned the attack in part to break through the German lines and end a stalemate that existed in the trenches in Europe. The Somme Valley in northern France was near the junction of the French and British fighting sectors but the location served little other strategic purpose. • The Germans were well forewarned of the attack and ready to defend their line.
On the morning of July 1, 1916, 100,000 British troops came out of their trenches and advanced in broad daylight toward the German lines. The soldiers staggered under the weight of 66 pounds of gear as they walked across a crater-filled field known as "No Man's Land" in long orderly lines. • The slow, massive advance was an outdated military tactic that was no match for the new weapons of war. The British soldiers were easy target for the Germans who mowed them down with machine gun fire. More than 20,000 British soldiers lost their lives that day, the worst in British military history.
The Newfoundland Regiment, fighting with the 29th British Division (Newfoundland had not yet joined Canadian Confederation), was nearly annihilated. Of 801 men at the beginning of the battle, only 68 were unwounded. It took days for the survivors to retrieve the bodies of the 301 dead and bury them. • Canada entered the Somme offensive at the end of the summer. On September 15 1916, two Canadian regiments including the Quebeckers of the 22nd Regiment received orders to capture Courcelette, a village in the Somme Valley occupied by Germans.
It would be an improvised and nearly suicidal attack for the inexperienced Quebec regiment as Lieutenant-Colonel Louis-Thomas Tremblay well understood. • "We know very well," he wrote in his diary, "that we are heading to the slaughterhouse. The task seems nearly impossible, considering how ill prepared we are, and how little we know the layout of the front. Even so, morale is wonderfully high and we are determined to show that we Canadians are not quitters."
The Canadian soldiers managed to capture Courcelette. The success earned the Quebec 22nd Regiment a reputation as a stellar fighting force and several officers and soldiers were decorated for their courage. But it was at a bloody cost. • Frank Maheux, a lumberjack from Quebec, described the scene to his wife: • "All my friends have been either killed or wounded ... My dear wife, it is worse than hell here. For miles around, corpses completely cover up the ground. But your Frank didn’t get so much as a scratch. I went to battle as if I had to cut wood with my bayonet. When one of my friends was killed at my side, I saw red: some Germans raised their arms in surrender, but it was too late for them. I will remember that all my life."
The Somme offensive continued into the fall of 1916 and the numbers of dead and wounded mounted. • Clare Gass, a nurse from Nova Scotia, treated the wounded at the Somme. • "Some terrible cases, oh so much the better dead. One young lad with eyes and nose all gone - one blur of mangled flesh - and body whole and sound ... All are so brave, and yet those who are not badly wounded are so tired of the war, tired in such a hopeless way."
The Battle of the Somme finally ended in late November, when rain, snow and sleet made operations impossible. • It was difficult to tell victor from vanquished, The Germans had 660,000 dead or wounded. The Allies (including Britain, France and Canada) had 623,907 casualties including 24,000 dead or wounded Canadians, representing a quarter of the Canadian contingent. • The Allies had pushed forward only 13 kilometers in the Somme Valley during the bloodiest battle of the war.
Ypres • In 1915, the second Battle of Ypres established the reputation of the Canadians as a fighting force. The 1st Canadian Division had just arrived on the Western Front when they won recognition by holding their ground against a new weapon of modern warfare - chlorine gas. • It was also in the trenches at the second Battle of Ypres that John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields when a close friend was killed, one of 6000 Canadian casualties in just 48 hours.
Basic Info Date of Battle of Ypres 1915: • April 22 to 24, 1915 Location of Battle of Ypres 1915: • Near Ypres, Belgium Canadian Troops at Ypres 1915: • 1st Canadian Division Canadian Casualties at the Battle of Ypres 1915: • 6035 Canadian casualties in 48 hours • More than 2000 Canadians died
Four Canadians won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Ypres in 1915: • Edward Donald Bellew • Frederick "Bud" Fisher • Frederick William Hall • Francis Alexander Scrimger
Summary of the Battle of Ypres 1915: • The 1st Canadian Division had just arrived at the front and were moved to Ypres Salient, a bulge in front of the City of Ypres in Belgium. • The Germans held the high ground. • The Canadians had two British divisions on their right, and two French army divisions on their left.
On April 22, after an artillery bombardment, the Germans released 5700 cylinders of chlorine gas. The green chlorine gas was heavier than air and sank into the trenches forcing soldiers out. The gas attack was followed by strong infantry assaults. The French defenses were forced to retreat, leaving a four-mile wide hole in the Allied line.
The Germans did not have enough reserves or protection against the chlorine gas for their own troops to take immediate advantage of the gap. • The Canadians fought through the night to close the gap. • On the first night, the Canadians launched a counter-attack to drive the Germans out of Kitchener's Wood near St. Julien. The Canadians cleared the woods, but had to retire. More attacks that night resulted in disastrous casualties, but bought some time to close the gap. • Two days later the Germans attacked the Canadian line at St. Julien, again using chlorine gas. The Canadians held on until reinforcements arrived.
Third Battle of Ypres - Passchendaele Battle Dates: • July 31 - mid-November, 1917. The Canadian Corps began their attack on October 26, 1917. Location of Battle: • Village of Passchendaele, Belgium, near Ypres. Canadian Troops at Battle of Passchendaele: • 20,000 members of the Canadian Corps Canadian Casualties at the Battle of Passchendaele: • Over 15,000 Canadians dead and wounded
Nine Canadian soldiers received the Victoria Cross in recognition of their efforts at Passchendaele: • Colin Fraser Barron • Thomas William Holmes • Cecil John Kinross • Hugh McKenzie • George Harry Mullin • Christopher Patrick John O'Kelly • George Randolph Pearkes • James Peter Robertson • Robert Shankland
Battle of Passchendaele Summary: • This offensive in Flanders was launched by British commander Sir Douglas Haig to break through the front and destroy the German submarine bases on the coast of Belgium. • The initial barrage of Allied artillery warned the Germans and created a mass of craters, potholes and dust in the battlefield. Heavy rains turned the field into a bog of thick mud that severely limited mobility. • British, Australian and New Zealand forces fought for months with few advances and 100,000 casualties.
When the Canadian Corps was ordered to relieve the Anzac forces in October, Canadian Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie objected but was overruled. • The Canadians began a series of attacks on October 26. • On October 30, with two British divisions, the Canadians began the attack on Passchendaele itself. By November 6 when reinforcements arrived, the village of Passchendaele was taken.
Backpacks • Tour booklet • Amazing Race • Jackets - $79.50 • Other Group (Kipling SK) – laying wreaths with ceremonies and researching soldiers
