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Only some of the following people are mentioned in the Battlefields
section of this web site, but all have an important place in Canada's history
in the Great War. Many are also mentioned in the six-part documentary
series For King and Empire.
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Sir Robert Borden was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1896 as
a Conservative party member and became leader of the Conservative
opposition in 1901. He was elected prime minister in 1911 and is regarded
today as one of the most successful politicians of the 20th century.
During World War I, Borden's ministry maintained vigorous support of the
efforts of the Allies and obtained, for members of the Commonwealth of
Nations, a voice in British policymaking. Largely through Borden's efforts,
Canada secured independent membership in the League of Nations. In 1917
Borden sponsored the Military Service Act instituting conscription, which
he considered necessary to the war effort. The measure was opposed by the
French-Canadians and contributed to the growing antagonism between the
French- and English-speaking Canadians. Borden formed a coalition
government in 1917 and remained prime minister until ill health forced him
to resign in 1920.
As prime minister, Borden took part in the Imperial War Conference in
London in 1917 and in the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. He also
represented Canada at the Washington Conference on naval disarmament in
1921-22. |
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Major General Samuel Hughes was minister of Militia and Defense from
1911 to 1916, and therefore was responsible for moving Canadian troops to
Europe at the beginning of World War I .
On one hand, Hughes was an able politician and a loyal supporter of the
prime minister, Sir Robert Borden, but on the other he was boastful and
unpredictable. In fact, many viewed Hughes as deranged. While he managed
to raise, train, and arm 33,000 Canadian soldiers within three months of
the start of war, he also insisted the Canadian troops use the Ross Rifle.
This rifle was faulty; it frequently jammed in the field and it cost many
men their lives. It was eventually replaced with the more reliable Lee
Enfield.
Hughes' meddling with the British chain of command, and his disregard of
explicit instructions given him by the prime minister, resulted in his
dismissal in September 1916. As one of Hughes' Cabinet colleagues
remarked, "the nightmare is removed." |
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Sir Arthur Currie was the first Canadian commander of Canada's
overseas forces in World War I. While Currie did not look the part of a
professional soldier, he is generally thought by historians to be the best
military commander that Canada has produced.
Curries was given command of a battalion in the first Canadian contingent
sent to assist Britain in 1914, in spite of his then minimum experience.
He advanced steadily, winning distinction at the battles of Ypres and
Saint-Julien in Belgium and at the battle of Vimy Ridge in France. Within
three years (in 1917) he became lieutenant general and commander of the
four divisions of the Canadian Corps, succeeding the British general Sir
Julian Byng. He lead the Canadian troops at Passchendaele, as well as other
major battles. Currie was knighted in 1918. After the war he served as
inspector general of the Canadian militia and became the first general in
the Canadian Army. In 1920 he accepted the position of principal and vice
chancellor of McGill University, Montreal, and retained this post until his
death. |
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Sir Douglas Haig was British field marshal, commander in chief of the
British forces in France during most of World War I. His strategy of
attrition (tautly summarized as "kill more Germans") resulted in enormous
numbers of British and Canadian casualties but little immediate gain in
1916-17. This made him a subject of much controversy.
On the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Haig led the 1st British
Corps to northern France, and, early in 1915, he became commander of the
1st Army. On December 17 of that year he was promoted to commander in chief
of the British Expeditionary Force and again promoted, this time to field
marshal late in 1916.
Throughout July-November 1916, Haig committed great masses of troops to an
unsuccessful offensive on the Somme River, which cost 420,000 allied
casualties. Again in the resulting battles at Passchendaele
(July-November 1917, also called The Third Battle at Ypres) the total number
of casualties shocked the British public - as the Somme death toll had
done. But, although Haig failed to reach his objective - the Belgian
coast - he did weaken the Germans and helped prepare the way for their
defeat at Passchendaele by the Canadians. |
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By the time the First World War began, Max Aitken had transformed himself
from a man of humble background (he was born in New Brunswick) to a
wealthy newspaper baron, living in London, and with considerable influence
in the highest levels of English politics and society. A member of
Parliament in Britain since 1910, Aitken returned to Canada in September
1914 to offer his services to the Canadian government. He secured for
himself an appointment as "Canadian Eye Witness," with responsibility for
reporting the activities of the Canadian Expeditionary Force to the public
in Canada, and for superintending whatever records the CEF generated.
Aitken established what eventually became known as the Canadian War
Records Office in London, and before long, news of Canadian efforts were
printed in Canadian and British newspapers. Aitken also established the
Canadian War Memorials Fund, which produced a collection of war art by the
finest artists and sculptors in Britain and Canada (for a more in-depth
look at this Fund and what it produced see Culture and the Great War). He
also organized a three-volume series Canada in Flanders, which
chronicled the achievements of Canadian soldiers in the field. Aitken
had a close relationship with Canada's Minister of Militia and Defence, Sam
Hughes. Hughes' dismissal in 1916 put an end to Aitken's tenure as
military representative and he shifted his attention back to British
politics.
Lord Beaverbrook's legacy to historians of the First World War is
considerable. He was responsible for the thousands of feet of film,
hundreds of paintings and drawings, millions of pages of text, and
thousands of photographs which have taught Canadians much
about the Great War. |
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Canon Frederick George Scott was the padre of the 1st Division of the
Canadian Corps and the confidant, friend and spiritual guide to many
generals, officers and enlisted men during the war. When he returned from
the war he continued to be revered by thousands. In 1934 he published The Great War as I Saw It, a memoir of his experiences. He is also known as a
poet of religious, inspirational and patriotic poetry. During the Quebec
Conference, held in the summer of 1943, Canon Scott was invited by
Churchill and Roosevelt to a private meeting where he read some of this
poetry. |
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The Duke of Connaught was Queen Victoria's third and youngest son and
favourite child. He was appointed governor general of Canada in 1911 and
brought a glamour and pedigree to the position not before seen. He retained
this position until 1916, and aroused controversy during the Great War by
intervening in Canadian military affairs.
He married Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia in 1879. Their youngest
daughter was Princess Patricia (see below). |
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Youngest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, she accompanied her
parents to Ottawa when her father served as governor general. The Princess
Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was named in honour of the princess, who
agreed to be its colonel-in-chief. Much was made of the fact that she
designed and embroidered a banner for the regiment to take with them into
battle. She also designed the crest for the cap and collar badges of the
regiment. This consisted of a single daisy, in hour of Hamilton Gault's
wife, Marguerite. |
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Agar Adamson joined the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in
1914 as captain - even though he was 48 years old and blind in one eye. He
served continuously overseas with the PPCLI until the end of the war.
Adamson commanded his regiment a number of times owing to casualties among
his superiors. In October 1916 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and
commanding officer of the PPCLI, and successfully and skillfully led his
regiment at both Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele.
Adamson wrote daily to his wife, Mabel Cawthra, while serving in France and
Belgium. These letters are unique in their detail of events, personalities
and of day-to-day life at the front. Quoted frequently in the
Battlefields section, they give us one of the most thorough accounts in
existence of the Canadian soldier's experience in the Great War. |
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When war broke in 1914 Stephen Bird, Will's younger brother, immediately
enlisted, and made sure that Will's application to enlist was turned
down. When Stephen was killed in a mine explosion near Ypres in October of
1915, Will enlisted in the 193rd Battalion, Nova Scotia Highlanders. The
193rd was a locally raised battalion, the men were all from the same area
in Nova Scotia. When Will arrived in France he and members of his
battalion were sent to reinforce the 42nd Battalion, The Black Watch of
Canada, in the front lines. Will fought at Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele,
Amiens, Arras and Cambrai. He was awarded a Military Medal for bravery in
the capture of Mons, on the last night of the war.
His memoir, Ghosts Have Warm Hands, was first published in 1930 under the
title And We Go On. As Norm Christie writes in his preface to Ghosts Have Warm Hands: "It is remarkable how Will Bird has recorded his war in such exceptional detail, and how the characters of his comrades shine. His story reflects the power of the camaraderie felt by the soldiers of the First
World War, specifically their loyalty to each other and their pride of
being in the trenches.
Will wrote in the preface of And We Go On that the book was an effort to
reveal the psychic or supernatural effects war had on its participants.
The visions of his dead brother Stephen, who visits him on many occasions
during the war, and in fact saves his life on a number of occasions, makes
for fascinating reading. |
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Dr. John McCrae graduated from the University of Toronto and joined
the faculty of McGill University in 1900. He had been a doctor for years
(and had served in the South African War) when the Great War broke out.
McCrae is the author of the most famous poem penned during the Great War,
In Flanders Fields.
As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, McCrae had
treated injured men for days after the Second Battle of Ypres, in May of
1915. One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and former
student, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst
on May 2, 1915. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the small
cemetery outside McCrae's dressing station, and McCrae had performed the
funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain.
The next day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing
station, McCrae vented his anguish by composing In Flanders Fields. He had by this time authored only medical texts, just dabbling in
poetry. The poem was an instant hit after appearing in the December 8th
issue of Punch.
LTC John McCrae continued to serve until he died of pneumonia on January 28, 1918, at age 45. |
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