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Title: The Story of the Great War, Volume VIII (of VIII)
Victory with the Allies; Armistice; Peace Congress; Canada's
War Organizations and vast War Industries; Canadian Battles
Overseas
Author: various
Editor: Francis J. Reynolds
Allen L. Churchill
Francis T. Miller
Release Date: November 25, 2010 [EBook #34444]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR ***
Produced by Charlene Taylor, Christine P. Travers and the
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THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR
History of the European War from Official Sources
Complete Historical Records of Events to Date,
Illustrated with Drawings, Maps, and Photographs
Prefaced by
What the War Means to America
Major General Leonard Wood, U.S.A.
Naval Lessons of the War
Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight, U.S.N.
The World's War
Frederick Palmer
Theatres of the War's Campaigns
Frank H. Simonds
The War Correspondent
Arthur Ruhl
Edited by
Francis J. Reynolds
Former Reference Librarian of Congress
Allen L. Churchill
Associate Editor, The New International Encyclopedia
Francis Trevelyan Miller
Editor in Chieft, Photographic History of the Civil War
P. F. Collier & Son Company
New York
[Illustration: _Signing the Peace Treaty in the Hall of Mirrors,
Palace of Versailles, on June 28, 1919. Georges Clemenceau, French
Premier, is standing and inviting the German delegates to affix their
signatures to the document._]
THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR
VICTORY WITH THE ALLIES
ARMISTICE · PEACE CONGRESS
CANADA'S WAR ORGANIZATIONS
AND VAST WAR INDUSTRIES
CANADIAN BATTLES OVERSEAS
VOLUME VIII
CANADIAN EDITION
THE STORY OF CANADA IN THE GREAT WAR
EDITED AND COMPILED BY
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN A. COOPER LATE COMMANDER OF THE 198TH
BATTALION, CANADIAN BUFFS
P · F · Collier & Son · New York
Copyright 1920
By P. F. Collier & Son
CONTENTS
PART I.--THE WESTERN FRONT
CHAPTER Page
I. Destruction Marks the Great Retreat--The French
Capture Soissons, Fismes, and Important Positions--The
British Win Great Victories Near Albert 9
II. The German Retreat Continues--The French Victorious
Between the Oise and the Aisne--The British
Win Miles of Territory Daily 23
III. The French Take Noyon--The British Bapaume and
Péronne--The Allies Conquer on Every Front 36
IV. The British Close in on Cambrai--French Occupy St.
Quentin--The Germans Fire Cambrai and Retreat--The
Allies' Great Victory in Flanders 49
V. The Germans Retreat on All Fronts--British Capture
Valenciennes--The Armistice--The War Over 63
PART II.--RUSSIA
VI. Countering the Germans in Fallen Russia 80
VII. Allied Intervention in the North of Russia 88
VIII. The Bolsheviki Resent Allied Intervention 90
IX. The Baltic Provinces 95
PART III.--THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN
X. The Austro-Italian Front 96
PART IV.--THE GREAT WAR'S END
XI. The Internal Collapse of Germany 106
XII. The Liberation of the Holy Land--Mesopotamian Campaign 113
XIII. Collapse of Austria 123
XIV. The Surrender of Turkey 135
XV. Austria-Hungary and Germany surrender--"The War
Thus Comes to an End," President Wilson to
Congress--The President Sails for France 137
PART V.--VICTORY ON THE SEA
XVI. Naval Exploits of the Allies--Submarines 142
XVII. Surrender of the German Fleet 147
PART VI.--THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE
XVIII. American Achievements on the Western Front, by Frederick
Palmer (Late Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. R.) 151
PART VII.--THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT PARIS
XIX. First Session of Peace Congress--Clemenceau, Permanent
Chairman--President Wilson's Address--The
League of Nations Covenant Completed 198
XX. The Covenant and Draft of the Constitution of the
League of Nations--President Wilson's Speech in Support;
He Returns to America--The United States Senate
Criticizes League Document 208
XXI. Revised Covenant of the League of Nations--The Treaty
of Peace 221
THE STORY OF CANADA IN THE GREAT WAR
Introduction by Lieutenant Colonel John A. Cooper (Late Commander
of the 198th Battalion, Canadian Buffs) 249
PART I.--PREPARATION FOR WAR
I. Canada Before the War 259
II. Building a War Machine 264
III. Departure of First Contingent 267
IV. The Steady Stream of Recruits 270
V. The Conscription Act 272
VI. The "Princess Pat" Regiment 285
VII. Canada's Huge Forestry Corps 287
VIII. The Canadian Railway Corps 291
IX. Other Branches of the Service 295
X. Administration of Canada's War Establishment 302
PART II.--CANADA AT THE FRONT
XI. The Canadians in Flanders--Neuve Chapelle--Their
Brave Part in the Second Battle of Ypres--The Princess
Patricias 303
XII. Battle of Festubert--The Canadians Fight for the
Orchard--Valor of the Second Brigade and Fourth
Battalion--Givenchy 322
XIII. The Second and Third Canadian Divisions--Battles of St.
Eloi and Sanctuary Wood--Victory After Defeat 339
XIV. Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele 357
XV. Holding the Vimy Sector 367
XVI. Holding Lens and Arras 372
XVII. The Amiens Battle of August, 1918 383
XVIII. The Attack Against the Hindenburg Line 389
XIX. Capture of Bourlon Wood and Cambrai 396
XX. Capture of Valenciennes and Mons 406
PART III.--CANADA AT HOME
XXI. Shoulder to Shoulder with the Empire 423
PART IV.--CANADIAN WAR INDUSTRIES
XXII. Behind the Guns at Home 430
XXIII. From Trenches to Farms 438
XXIV. Keeping Their Home Fires Burning 443
XXV. Remaking Men 448
XXVI. Service to the Troops 456
XXVII. Succor and Solace 463
Chronology of the World War 469
INDEX 481
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Signing the Peace Treaty in the Hall of Mirrors, June 28, 1919
_Colored Frontispiece_
Opposite Page
Prince of Wales, General Currie, and General Watson at Denain 62
A Canadian Brigade Serving as Guard of Honor in the Occupation of
Mons 78
General Sir Arthur William Currie 254
Lieutenant General Sir William Turner, V. C. 302
Major General Sir Henry Edward Burstall 366
Major General Sir Archibald Cameron Macdonell 366
Major General Louis James Lipsett 382
Major General Sir David Watson 382
Brigadier General Raymond Brutinel 414
Major General Sir Frederick Oscar Warren Loomis 414
Major General Hon. Sydney Chilton Mewburn 462
Major General Sir Edward Whipple Bancroft Morrison 462
LIST OF MAPS
Page
The Rhine Valley, Showing Neutral Zones and Bridgeheads
(_Colored Map_) _Front Insert_
The New Map of Europe, Showing Approximate Boundaries
_Colored Insert_
The Western Front _Colored Insert_
Advance of the Allies on the Amiens Front, August 8, 1918 14
Battle Lines and Operations on the Western Front in 1918,
Including German Territory Held by the Allied Armies
of Occupation 61
The "Hindenburg Line," the Line of Farthest German Advance,
and the Battle Line When the Armistice Began, November
11, 1918 64
The German Territory Occupied Under the Armistice Terms 77
Italy's Successful Offensive, October, 1918 101
The Conquest of Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia by the British
Armies 115
The Surrender of the German Fleet 148
PART I--THE WESTERN FRONT
CHAPTER I
DESTRUCTION MARKS THE GERMAN RETREAT--THE FRENCH CAPTURE SOISSONS,
FISMES, AND IMPORTANT POSITIONS--THE BRITISH WIN GREAT VICTORIES NEAR
ALBERT
The continued advance of the Allies in the first days of August, 1918,
along the front from Soissons to Rheims was a decisive blow to the
German hopes of gaining Paris; the capital was no longer threatened.
The hard-pressed foe was now forced to retreat hurriedly on all sides
of the Marne salient, which was rapidly being flattened out by the
irresistible pressure of French and British armies.
On August 2, 1918, the forces under General Mangin took Soissons.
Southwest of Rheims General Berthelot occupied Ville-en-Tardenois,
marking an advance for the day of over three miles. Supported by a
French contingent, British troops crossed the Crise River, which joins
the Aisne at Soissons, and regained a considerable strip of territory
southeast of that city. The German retreat was orderly and in no sense
a rout. Their hurried retirement was marked by pillage and
incendiarism and the usual devastations according to their settled
program.
North of Fère-en-Tardenois French and American forces advanced
simultaneously in the early morning of August 2, 1918, the French
occupying Cramaille and Cramoiselle and later Saponay, where forty
railroad cars and a number of locomotives fell into their hands. The
advance of the Allies was made under heavy barrage; the German
artillery replied at times, but it was feeble and ineffective. Their
retreat was in a northward direction through the valley from Saponay
and was marked by great fires behind the lines as they destroyed many
ammunition dumps before retiring. At a few points there was some sharp
fighting, but the Germans made no serious attempt to stem the advance
of the Allies and seemed only eager to get away and avoid trouble as
far as possible.
French cavalry, with American infantry supporting, operated near
Dravegny about two and a half miles to the north of Coulanges. This
forward movement was of importance as it brought the Allies within
eight miles of Fismes to the southeast, on the railroad between
Soissons and Rheims.
It was learned through prisoners that the Germans would make a stand
on the line of the Vesle River, where determined resistance might be
expected. It was not believed, however, that this effort would prove
formidable; for the Allies had only to make a slight advance when
their heavy guns would be in a position to shell Fismes and render any
other place in the neighborhood untenable.
The Germans had succeeded in extricating the greater portion of their
armies from the salient, but it was evident that there was confusion
in their ranks and a lack of order. Their retreat was marked by clouds
of smoke and many fires and explosions that denoted hurried flight.
Though the Germans were hurrying to escape, they took time to destroy
practically everything that was of any value in the towns evacuated.
Before leaving Fère-en-Tardenois there was not one house that had not
been shelled or dynamited. When the French entered Villeneuve they
found twenty-three villagers who had been virtually German prisoners
for nearly two months. They all slept in a cellar for mutual
protection, subsisting on a stock of flour and canned goods, and
vegetables which they had raised themselves. During the day they
avoided the Germans, declining to associate with them or to accept the
food they offered. In this place the French found twenty-five wounded
or dead Germans in the church. Several had died of starvation as
result of the hurried retreat.
In another town occupied by the French they found the church was used
by the Germans as a storehouse for loot. There were piles of
mattresses and boxes containing copper and brass articles, also church
vestments ready for shipment to Germany.
The roadways through which the Germans retreated from
Fère-en-Tardenois were obstructed by wagons, dead horses and men, and
piles of ammunition. Some of the wagons had been abandoned in hurried
flight and in some cases drivers and horses were killed by French and
American gunners.
Allied forces continued their victorious sweep northward on August 3,
1918, capturing practically the entire Aisne-Vesle front between
Soissons and Rheims, which marked an advance of six miles at some
points, while more than fifty villages recently held by the enemy were
recovered.
The Allies' advance was on a front of thirty miles, and before the
close of the day they held the southern banks of the Aisne and the
Vesle from Soissons to the important town of Fismes, where American
troops occupied positions on the outskirts.
East of Fismes the Allies were on a line north of Courville,
Brancourt, Courcelles, and Champigny, towns in close proximity to the
Vesle River, while cavalry patrols were operating along the
Soissons-Rheims railroad which follows the course of the stream.
To the north British forces operating in the Albert sector were making
substantial gains, forcing the Germans to retreat to the east bank of
the Ancre River on a frontage of between seven and eight miles and at
some places over a mile in depth. This was followed by the capture of
Dernancourt by the British, while their patrols entered the outskirts
of Albert.
The capture of Fismes, the great ammunition and supply depot, on
August 4, 1918, was the most important victory won by the Allies on
that date. The brilliant performance of the American troops on this
occasion received high praise.
Northwest of Rheims the Allies had pushed forward to the village of La
Neuvillette, about two miles north of the Vesle. East of Fismes at
several points in the neighborhood of Champigny bodies of French
troops had crossed the Vesle River, and the result of these advances
was the retreat of the Germans from the southern bank.
The inability of the enemy to make a determined stand on an
established line was due to the constant pounding which Foch
maintained and a constant pressure that never relaxed. The big salient
that had loomed so formidable a fortnight before was now almost wiped
out. With British and French troops in one corner of it, Americans in
the center, and British, French, and Italians in the other corner, the
Germans never had an opportunity, harassed as they were on all sides,
to establish themselves in positions to check the Allies' advance. So
they chose the better part of valor and retreated, leaving a trail of
burning villages behind them. But their flight was too hurried for
them to destroy all their stores, and goods to the value of millions
of dollars fell into the hands of the Allies.
The Vesle River, flooded by recent rains, hampered the retreat of the
German rear guards, who, unable to cross the stream, were forced to
fight for their lives. Most of them were killed and the rest were made
prisoners.
On August 5, 1918, the Germans attempted to make some kind of stand on
the Vesle, where their heavy guns were busy shelling the Allies'
lines. In spite of this resistance French patrols succeeded in
crossing the river at several points between Sermoise, east of
Soissons and Fismes, and between Fismes and Muizon. The Germans on the
north bank were well supplied with machine guns and bomb throwers,
while their aviators, using machine guns, wrought considerable
destruction among the French troops. Between Muizon and Rheims, where
the French were firmly established on the south bank of the river,
there was hard fighting, but the Germans were unable to dislodge the
French from their positions.
In the morning of August 7, 1918, Field Marshal Haig delivered a heavy
blow at the armies of Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria on the southern side
of the Lys salient. The British attack was launched on the front of
about five miles, advancing their whole line to a depth of a thousand
yards. To the south on the front east of Amiens on the Bray-Corbie
road British troops recaptured positions which the Germans had
occupied on the previous day.
Along the Vesle between Braisne and Fismes, where French and American
troops held the highway which runs parallel with the river, the
Germans made furious counterattacks, but failed to dislodge the
Allies. Nor were they able to hinder more than temporarily the French
and Americans from crossing the river on hastily constructed bridges
which their engineers had thrown over the stream protected by a heavy
barrage.
At daybreak, August 8, 1918, Field Marshal Haig attacked the German
lines from near Albert south to Braches, on the Avre above Montdidier,
with forces that included not only British, French, and Australian
troops but also Canadians who had been brought up suddenly from the
vicinity of Lens. The enemy, taken by surprise, were thrust back along
almost the entire front of twenty-five miles, and this resulted in the
capture by the Allies of over a hundred guns and more than 10,000
prisoners. The advance was between four and five miles, and at one
point seven miles.
The British launched their attack in a mist, after only a few minutes
of artillery preparation, and the Germans were overwhelmed in the
first onrush. The British won their objectives with only nominal
losses. Of an entire army corps only two officers and fifteen men of
the ranks were reported as casualties. The heavy mist in the early
morning when the Allies advanced favored their plans, for not until 8
o'clock did a German aeroplane appear over the line and by that time
the Allies had already made important progress. In the advance, tanks
and armored cars accomplished wonders, striking dismay in the ranks of
the enemy as they plunged through the mists, spouting fire and
destruction, sweeping on heedless of obstacles and of the concentrated
attack of German guns. By noon the Germans were making desperate
efforts to escape with their transports.
The quick and complete victory of the Allies on this day, August 8,
1918, proved that Foch's counteroffensive had turned the scale in
their favor. From this time on, the Allies attacked and the Germans
retreated.
[Illustration: Advance of the Allies on the Amiens Front, August 8,
1918.]
Moreuil and the territory adjoining Villers-aux-Érables were taken by
the French while the British captured the Dodo and Hamel Woods and
Marcelcave after hard fighting and occupied territory to a
considerable distance beyond. Four German divisions were badly cut up
in course of the struggle, while the Allies' casualties were
unimportant. It was only around Morlancourt that the Germans made a
determined stand. Here fighting continued throughout the day, and
though the enemy launched a number of counterattacks they failed to
gain or recover any ground.
Along the French front after an artillery preparation of forty-five
minutes the troops made a dashing advance, and by 8 o'clock in the
morning had gained their first objectives. Their advance was in the
direction of Demuin and Aubercourt, while at the same time the British
were thrusting forward toward Cerisy-Gailly on the south side of the
Somme.
After the capture of Moreuil, where the French met with stout
resistance, they crossed the Avre, a difficult operation, as they were
constantly under the fierce fire of enemy guns. Once across the river
their difficulties increased, for they had to advance up steep slopes
from the river edge in the face of heavy German fire. They had had no
help from the tanks to lead the way and break down the enemy's
resistance.
Somewhat later when bridges were thrown across the stream the tanks
got over, but by that time the French had succeeded in winning the top
of the slopes and the enemy had fallen back.
After the Germans had been forced out of the Moreuil region their
resistance became steadily weaker. The French captured all the heights
together with the villages of Braches and La Neuville on the eastern
bank of the Avre. On the northern portion of the battle area, where
the German opposition was feebler, the advance was more rapid.
While the French and British were engaged in smashing the German
forces in the west, the American and the French (as described
elsewhere in these pages) were keeping up an irresistible pressure
along the Vesle River.
The Allied advance east of Amiens continued on August 9, 1918, with
the Anglo-French forces in possession of a line running through
Pierrepont, Arvillers, Rozières, and Morcourt, marking an advance
since the previous night of about five miles. Beyond this newly
established line Allied cavalry and tanks had succeeded in penetrating
within a mile of the important Chaulnes railway junction. In this
advance the Allies captured over 17,000 prisoners and 300 guns,
including railway guns of the heaviest caliber. In the Lys sector of
the Flanders front the British were also successful in carrying their
line forward between the Bourre and the Lawe Rivers to a maximum depth
of 2,000 yards and taking possession of Locon and four other villages.
It was evident everywhere in the battle areas that the Germans were
retiring in great haste, for as the Allies drove forward they found on
the battle ground abandoned guns, stores, and even artillery maps and
military documents. Allied observers reported streams of enemy
transports and men hurrying eastward in full retreat.
A joyous spirit pervaded the ranks of the Allies as they moved
victoriously forward, their cavalry rounding up villages, while tanks
and armored cars overran the country clearing a way for the advance of
the troops, or destroying the enemy transports. The performance of one
tank is especially worthy of record, since it shot up a German corps
headquarters.
Running into an enemy-held town, where the German corps headquarters
staff stationed there was having luncheon, the tank opened fire
through the windows, killing a number of Germans and wounding others,
while a few managed to make a hurried escape. Inside the German lines
a group of armored cars halted a German supply column and destroyed
it. At Framerville a train loaded with Germans was attacked by a group
of cars and finally set on fire.
All along the line enemy snipers were active, and isolated gun billets
were a source of trouble, but these were silenced one by one as the
Allies swept on. The Germans tried to destroy all their ammunition
dumps and stores in their hasty flight, but had not time to make a
complete job of it, and consequently were forced to abandon vast
quantities of military supplies, most of which the French and British
found immediate use for. The towns captured from the Germans were
inhospitable places for the most part.
The enemy had tried to destroy everything before the retirement, but
the Allies' advance was so rapid that all the houses could not be
dynamited. In and around most of the towns were found small holes
covered with curved iron slabs where the German gunners had lived
before they were killed or forced to run for their lives.
The result of the Allied advance had an important effect on the
strategical situation, for the Germans were now in an uncomfortable
salient with only one line of railway to supply them, and that was
under fire of the Allied guns. The advance had also freed for the use
of the Allies the main Paris-Amiens railway. Previous to the German
retirement this line was under easy range of their guns and the Allies
were unable to use it freely.
August 10, 1918, was a notable day for the French forces when Marshal
Foch threw his First Army against the apex of the German salient
southeast of Amiens. Montdidier was captured, and the salient was
smashed in to an average depth of six miles on a thirteen-mile front,
reaching a line extending from Andechy to the northeast of Montdidier
to Elincourt, ten miles to the southeast. From Albert to the southern
side of the Montdidier salient the whole Allied line was pushed
eastward, reaching a maximum distance in the direction of Chaulnes,
the principal railroad center of the Germans west of the Somme River.
The French launched their attack without any artillery preparation in
the sector east of Montdidier between Courcelles-Epayelles and the
Matz River. The Germans were on the alert, but the dash and suddenness
of the French attack overcame their most determined efforts. In one
hour after the French went forward their first objective,
Ressons-sur-Matz, was won, and in the succeeding two hours they had
captured Mortemer, Cuvilly, and Marqueglise. At some points the
advance was five miles. By noon on August 10, 1918, the Germans in
Montdidier found that they had been caught in the jaws of a trap.
Converging French attacks from the north and south had succeeded in
practically encircling the town. The French drive had also deprived
the Germans from using the Montdidier-Chaulnes railway, which was the
only line that supplied food and material to their fighting front at
the bottom of the Montdidier pocket.
By the capture of Faverolles, which was stormed by the French in the
morning of August 10, 1918, the Germans were hampered in their
withdrawal of troops from Montdidier. The day closed with Von Hutier's
forces in hurried retreat from the Montdidier-Noyon line.
The Allies had made their great advance with only moderate losses. The
casualties, including killed, wounded, and missing, numbered less than
6,000, or not more than a fourth of the number of prisoners taken. In
the course of the fighting eleven German divisions had been defeated
and so badly cut up that a long time must elapse before they would be
in a condition to be re-formed and ready for serious work.
North of the Ancre River the British had firmly established their
positions and were pushing out patrols in the direction of Bray. In
their advance south of the Somme they captured Warvillers, Vrely,
Folies, Rozières, and Vauvillers. To the north of the Somme, where
they were aided by the brilliant fighting of the Americans, Chipilly
Spur was the scene of a determined struggle. After winning the Spur
the Allies pressed on, driving the Germans before them. An interesting
feature of the day's advance was the capture at Lihons of a complete
German divisional headquarters and staff.
The Germans showed more than common ingenuity in devising traps to
hinder the advance of the Allies. In many instances a large number of
shells would be placed in pockets under the roads so arranged that the
weight of a passing wagon or motor lorry would explode them. They also
arranged barbed-wire entanglements so that attacking troops would
explode mines, but the Allies had learned through bitter experience
the gentle ways of the enemy, and took effective means to render the
German traps ineffective. Poisoned food and poisoned water marked the
enemy's backward trail, but the Allies had long before concerted
measures to protect the troops from such Teutonic pleasantries.
The Allies continued to fight their way forward during the night of
August 10, 1918, and on the following day the armies of Von Hutier and
Von der Marwitz were in full retreat in the direction of Péronne,
Nesle, and Ham. Important rear guards were sacrificed by the Germans
to secure the safety of their main armies, and it became increasingly
evident that they were running out of reserves.
The Allied line on the front from Albert south to the Oise was carried
forward, especially to the south, where the French were operating by
themselves. During the night Haig's troops advanced their line on the
high ground between Etinehem and Dernancourt. Farther south on the
other side of the Somme the Germans, having received reenforcements,
delivered powerful attacks against the British positions at Lihons and
succeeded in making a temporary breach in the British line. In a
fierce counterattack the British drove them back with heavy losses and
the line was completely restored.
The capture of the Massif of Lassigny by the French on August 12,
1918, was of first importance to the Allies, for the heights command a
broad sweep of difficult country and when in German hands were a
formidable obstacle to the Allied advance.
German positions at Roye were now threatened on three sides--north,
west, and south--as the Allies pushed their lines forward. The British
gained ground to the east of Fouquescourt, while the French captured
the village of Armancourt, and Tilleloy and the Bois des Loges.
The heavy guns of the Allies continued to shell the Somme bridges in
the Chaulnes region which the Germans would have to cross if they were
forced to evacuate this territory. South of the Somme Haig's troops
captured the village of Proyart and linked up their positions east of
Mericourt with those to the east of Etinehem, which is on the northern
bank.
While the Allies' advance had slowed down owing to the increasing
number of reserves which the Germans threw into the battle line the
enemy was gradually being thrust out of the strongest positions which
he had held so long.
Since the beginning of the Allied counteroffensive which began on July
18, 1918, they had captured over 70,000 prisoners, about 1,000 guns
and over 10,000 machine guns.
On August 12-18, 1918, French forces under General Humbert resumed the
offensive between the Matz and Oise Rivers and a drive forward was
made into the German lines. East and north of Gury good progress was
recorded, increasing the menace to Lassigny two miles to the
northeast. The French also advanced two kilometers north of Cambronne,
and eastward in the valley of the Oise, owing to continued pressure,
the Germans were forced out of their trenches to the west of Bailly.
The Allied artillery had now fall control of the converging roads in
and out of Noyon, near the southern end of the line, notably that
running northward to Ham. Under these conditions any attempt of the
enemy to carry out a retrograde movement was greatly hampered.
August 13-14, 1918, the Germans began the evacuation of a five-mile
front north of Albert, extending from Beaumont-Hamel northward through
the villages of Serre and Puisieux-au-Mont to Bucquoy. On the French
front the town of Ribécourt, six miles from Noyon and on the road to
that city, was wrested from the Germans as the result of a further
thrust between the Matz and Oise Rivers.
General Humbert's advance had made the French position on the southern
part of the Thiescourt plateau secure. The Germans now occupied
Plemont, which they captured early in the June fighting, and
reoccupied their old trenches, which were still organized with wire
entanglements. Here as elsewhere the Germans had the advantage that
they were falling back on their supplies while the French were forced
to bring theirs up through a very difficult country. General Humbert
and his men had been fighting now continuously for four days, a great
part of the time in gas-drenched sectors and against strongly held
positions which the Germans had deemed impregnable. The French now
held possession of two important crests, Claude Farm and Ecouvillon,
and were within a hundred yards of Le Monolithe, another high plateau
commanding a wide sweep of territory to the north and east.
All the German positions between the western outskirts of Bray and
Etineham were captured by the Australians, giving the British control
of the river banks southwest of Bray. The Australians after a hard and
brilliant fight drove the enemy from the Cateau Wood.
On the southern end of the Picardy battle line General Humbert's army
continued to press the advance toward Noyon. The desperate defense
maintained by the Germans on the Chaulnes-Roye road for a time delayed
French storming operations which were impending. General Rawlinson's
army, which held the line to the north of the French positions, was
subjected to fierce German attacks on the whole front. The enemy
seemed determined to maintain his hold on the Chaulnes heights
regardless of the cost. The French advance was made against a line
that was thinly held, but which bristled with machine guns so numerous
that there was one to every two men, it was reported. Moreover, the
battle area traversed by the French troops was deluged with mustard
gas, so that there were days in which they were forced to wear their
masks even when snatching a few hours of repose. Yet the French
continued to win dominating positions and forced the Germans back in
spite of all attempts to hinder their progress.
On August 15, 1918, Australian troops under Marshal Haig made a drive
against the German defenses on the center of the Somme battle front
between Chaulnes and Roye and captured the villages of Parvillers and
Demery. Progress was also made south of the Somme, southeast of
Proyart, and to the northwest of Chaulnes. North of Albert, in the
sector where the Germans were forced to evacuate their positions
which projected into the British line between Beaumont-Hamel and
Bucquoy, Haig's troops continued to push forward. On General Humbert's
front east of Montdidier his tireless fighters conquered two strongly
fortified farms to the northwest of Ribécourt.
Albert was still strongly held by the Germans, and British patrols
entering the town were fired upon from the cathedral. The steady
advance of the Allies, however, so seriously menaced the German
positions in and around the town that it was only a question of time
when they would be forced to retire from every point of defense.
On August 16, 1918, British and French troops, operating together,
made a drive against the strongly held German positions between
Chaulnes and Roye. Advancing on an eight-mile front from a point west
of Fransart to the neighborhood of Laucourt, they made substantial
progress and reduced a number of important German strongholds. Forward
movements were also made by the British in the Ancre sector in which
the Germans were forced to withdraw their first-line positions, and
Haig's men pushed ahead on the three-mile front between Beaucourt on
the Ancre and Puisieux-au-Mont.
The capture of Ecouvillon, which made easy the capture of Ribécourt,
by General Humbert's indefatigable troops, was followed by the
occupation of Monolithe Farm. This gave the Third French Army a strong
position from which to threaten the German line of retreat along the
road to Noyon. Hardly less important was the capture by the French of
"Z" Wood and Demery Wood, two heavily timbered tracts where the
Germans had been holding out for days with grim determination, because
of the great value of these strong positions. They commanded a wide
stretch of ground, and the Allied positions for some miles on either
side of the two woods were considerably strengthened by their capture.
They were indeed the last of the more important positions on the new
front held by the enemy. The Germans made an ineffectual attempt to
recover Demery, but were driven back in disorder with heavy losses.
The Allies' plans had now made such favorable progress that a German
retreat on a large scale was anticipated. The appointment of General
Von Boehm to the command of the German army group in the center of the
present battle front strengthened this belief. For this officer was
known as a "retreat specialist" who had won a deserved reputation in
the art of concealing the movements of great masses of troops. It was
he who had concentrated a great army and in absolute secrecy in the
forests of the Laon region where he launched the surprise attack over
the Chemin-des-Dames. To Von Boehm also belonged the credit of
extricating the battered armies of the Crown Prince from the
Aisne-Marne salient after Foch's mighty blow of July 18, 1918. Von
Boehm's appearance on the Somme-Oise front was almost proof that a
great German retirement was soon to begin.
CHAPTER II
THE GERMAN RETREAT CONTINUES--THE FRENCH VICTORIOUS BETWEEN THE OISE
AND THE AISNE--THE BRITISH WIN MILES OF TERRITORY DAILY
With almost monotonous regularity the daily record was now of
continued Allied advancements and enemy defeats. The Germans at times
offered stout resistance and launched desperate counterattacks, but
they were unable to delay more than temporarily the mighty forward
sweep of the Allies, while their losses in men and material reached
enormous figures.
The French forces continued to fight with a dash and ardor that
carried everything before them. Day and night with few chances for
repose they fought on over the most difficult ground that was
constantly flooded with poisonous gases.
On April 16-17, 1918, Foch's men carried out a successful attack
northwest of Soissons in the Autrèches region, and operating on a
three-mile front smashed through enemy positions to the depth of a
mile. They won in this advance the important plateau to the north of
the village of Autrèches, which gave them command of the country
extending northward, south of the Oise River. Further local actions at
other points on the front greatly strengthened the grip of the Allies
on the approaches to Roye to the west, north, and south. The Germans
in that region maintained an incessant artillery fire, but the only
effect it had was to delay for a time the Allies' advance. The French
were now within a mile of Roye on two sides. British troops under
Marshal Haig meanwhile were not idle. Good progress was made on the
17th to the north of Proyart, just south of the Somme. Farther to the
south, troops operating north of Lihons, which lies about two miles to
the west of Chaulnes, pushed their line forward to the depth of a
mile. More progress was also made in the Amiens-Roye road region and
to the north of the Ancre River.
West of Armentières British troops drove the Germans back on a front
of four miles between Bailleul and Vieux Berquin in the Lys sector.
They also captured the village of Outersteene, a mile east of Merris
and took 400 prisoners. The German positions around Roye continued to
be threatened by the British pressure, and on August 18, 1918, Marshal
Haig's men pushed their line forward to the north of that place
between Chilly and Fransart.
To the south of the Avre River the French, as they fought their way
forward, captured over 400 Germans, overcoming some important enemy
strongholds.
From the positions captured by the French north of the Aisne River the
Allies could now dominate the German batteries of big guns at Chavigny
and Juvigny, north of Soissons. These batteries were formidable,
commanding not only the city of Soissons, but a wide region around.
The Allies were now able to exert such pressure on the Germans here
that they must soon be forced to retire and the city of Soissons would
be relieved of the danger of bombardment.
Allied operations on two widely separated fronts--the British on the
north of the Lys salient, and the French between the Aisne and the
Oise--had increased the difficulties of the Germans in these areas.
Lassigny was seriously threatened by the capture of Fresmières (on the
Roye highroad two and a half miles to the north) by the advance of
Foch's troops to the western outskirts of the town, and the occupation
of the Thiescourt Wood.
On the night of August 18, 1918, the French launched an attack on a
front of about fifteen miles east of Ribécourt and across the Oise to
Fontenoy, six miles west of Soissons. The fighting, vigorously pushed
on the following day, resulted in notable gains for the Allied arms.
The capture of the village of Rimprez, on the west bank of the Oise on
the Noyon-Compiègne road, was followed by an advance of two miles
northward to the southern edge of Dressincourt. Equally important
gains were made at other points in the line of attack. The plateau
west of Nampcel and Morsain and several other villages were carried by
storm. In the course of the fighting the French captured over 2,000
prisoners, including several battalion commanders.
In the Lys salient the British continued the irresistible drive
forward. Marshal Haig's advance was on a front of nearly six miles.
His line was carried up to the town of Merville and to the
north-and-south road through the town from Les Purebecques on the
north to Paradis to the south.
The victories of the French troops between the Oise and the Aisne gave
them possession of the Oise Valley as far as Mont Renaud. General
Mangin, who carried out these successful operations, was now in a
position to force the enemy to resort to desperate measures to escape
a serious defeat. His artillery now commanded all roads of importance,
and the only exit available for the Germans from the region of Noyon
and Lassigny was a narrow-gauge line running north to Ham by way of
Guiscard and the highroad running in the same direction. Von Hutier
had either to check Mangin's advance, or choose this narrow outlet for
extricating his troops and material. Rather than face this
alternative, the Germans were offering a desperate resistance in an
endeavor to hold on to their present lines, hoping against hope that
something might occur that would enable them to shake off the Allies'
strangle hold.
General Debeney's advance on Lassigny and Roye had slackened up owing
to the stout opposition offered by the enemy, but he continued to make
steady progress.
In the early morning of August 20, 1918, General Mangin began an
operation between the Aisne and the Oise southeast of Noyon and
northwest of Soissons that achieved a splendid success. Striking on a
fifteen-and-a-half-mile front he smashed into the German line to an
average depth of two and a half miles, capturing seven towns and over
8,000 prisoners.
By these operations General Mangin wrested from the Germans at Cuts
and Mont de Choissy all the heights remaining south of the Oise in
that region. The French batteries now commanded a wide sweep of
territory and most of the important roads. General Mangin's right,
firmly established on the heights around Fontenoy, now began to drive
the enemy from the elevated ground south of the Oise, leaving them no
option but to cross the river, or retreat toward the east. The Germans
fought desperately to hold their ground, relying principally on their
vast number of machine guns. During the night, in anticipation of
General Mangin's attacks, they had received reenforcements brought up
from the Soissons front in motor lorries to help meet the shock of the
French troops. They fought with dogged determination, but from the
start their position was hopeless. Their artillery fire was of the
feeblest and they had practically no help from airplanes.
Continuing their attacks in the region northwest of Soissons, General
Mangin's troops captured Lassigny. The advance, made over a front of
fifteen miles, smashed the German lines at some points to the depth of
five miles. To the southeast of Lassigny, by winning a foothold in
Plemont, the French menaced the Germans' grip on the valley of
Divette. Across the Oise and farther east, Mangin's men had reached
the river from the south between Sempigny and Pontoise. In the
conquered territory, won in less than twenty-four hours, the Germans
were driven from twenty villages.
While the French were driving the Germans before them and winning
wide stretches of territory, the Third British Army under General Sir
Julian Byng was adding to the glory of British arms. Under cover of a
heavy fog, General Byng attacked on a ten-mile front from the Ancre
River to the neighborhood of Moyenville, driving back the enemy along
the whole line and gaining at some points ground to the depth of two
miles. General von Below's Seventeenth Army, which the British fought
against, was badly cut up; their losses in guns and men were so heavy
as to suggest that the German morale was crumbling, and that their
fighting power was rapidly disintegrating.
It was just at daybreak that the British big guns began the overture
that preceded the attack. The fog was so dense that the men in the
tanks could not see more than a hundred feet ahead, but it was
favorable to the assaulting formations as it served to shield their
movements from the enemy observers. The German guns replied only
feebly, showing that they were short of heavy cannon, a fact that had
been noted before in recent fighting in this region. Their chief
dependence on this occasion was in machine guns, with which they
seemed to be exceedingly supplied. Situated in isolated posts, these
did effective work, and there was sharp fighting at various points.
The German garrison occupying the shell-shattered ruins of what had
been the village of Courcelles, near the center of the battle front,
made a stubborn resistance, and for a time the advance of the British
infantry was held up at this point. With the arrival on the scene of a
drove of tanks, German resistance broke down. The machine-gun nests
were quickly smashed, and the gunners killed or made prisoners; and
wherever there was resistance the tanks quickly crushed out all desire
of the enemy to continue the fight.
Engaged in this advance were tanks of various types, and all found
their work cut out for them. The big tanks smashed in the enemy
defenses, dipped in and out of shell holes and performed all the heavy
work, while the small whippet tanks and armored cars dashed around at
high speed attacking gun nests from the rear and clearing the way for
the advance of the infantry. Despite the vigorous resistance offered
by the Germans at some points, the British losses in casualties were
comparatively small, and some formations met with none at all. The
village of Beaucourt was won with only three casualties.
When the fog lifted about noon, and the sun shone out, the Germans
attempted several counterattacks, but were unable to force the British
to relinquish a foot of the territory they had gained.
In the morning of August 22, 1918, the British delivered a new attack
on a six-mile front between Albert and Bray on the Somme, which was
entirely successful, all objectives being won and an advance made of
two miles. The important town of Albert was captured and 1,400
prisoners and a large number of cannon. North of the Ancre the battle
raged throughout the day, and the Germans were forced to fall back all
along the line. Isolated counterattacks were attempted, but they
crumbled beneath the hammer blows of the British armies. There was
hard fighting along the Arras-Albert railway embankment for the
valuable positions that overlook the flat country around. To the south
from Achiet-le-Grand to the Ancre the opposing armies swept back and
forth in attacks and counterattacks again and again renewed. At
Achiet-le-Grand and Miraumont, where the Germans launched their most
ambitious counterattacks, they employed fresh troops that had been
rushed forward from other sectors to relieve Von Below's hard-pressed
Seventeenth Army.
During August 21-22, 1918, the French Third and Fourth Armies under
General Mangin continued to press their advance night and day along
the front from Lassigny to the north of Soissons. At some points an
advance of seven miles was made, and there was evidence that the
Germans were so badly mauled that their retreat amounted practically
to a rout.
The French push toward the roads leading to Chauny menaced the enemy's
line of retirement and explained his hurried retreat. By the capture
of Bouguignon, St. Paul-aux-Bois, and Quincy the French had won
command of the valley of the Ailette from the region of
Coucy-le-Château to the Oise. General Humbert's troops also made
notable gains and wrested important positions from the enemy. By the
occupation of the height of Plemont and the capture of Thiescourt the
French now held all the hills known as the Thiescourt Massif, thus
giving them the strongest points overlooking the region around.
It was evident in different parts of the fighting area that the
Germans were in a confused and even panic-stricken state of mind. The
French advance guard was so close to them when they crossed the Oise
that they had not time to destroy the bridges over the river. Allied
observers noted streams of enemy transports in wild confusion back of
the fighting front, and all discipline and order seemed to have been
lost. Upon the Ailette front the sudden attack of the French caused
the hasty retreat of a division of German reserves which had been
brought forward to launch a counterattack. Falling back, this division
precipitated a panic in the ranks of another division which had
intended to support the first division's attack, and the result was a
confused and disorderly retreat.
Marshal Foch's plan to give the enemy no rest day or night, and to
follow up each blow by another, a plan which had resulted in great
victories for the Allies and constant demoralization of the forces of
the enemy, continued to be the order of the day. The British,
operating on a thirty-mile front, unceasingly hammered Crown Prince
Rupprecht's armies, striking suddenly at different points, and always
advancing in spite of the most determined opposition. The Third and
Fourth British Armies under Generals Byng and Rawlinson made important
gains on August 22-23, 1918. It was a day of disaster for the Germans,
whose desperate attempts to check the British advance resulted only in
frightful losses of men and accomplished nothing. Prince Rupprecht
sacrificed his troops recklessly in an effort to stave off the
inevitable. The British guns swept the Germans from the field, or
crushed them as they tried to force their way forward. One entire
German battalion was annihilated during the fighting. General Byng
made an advance of two miles to the neighborhood of Grandcourt, east
of the Ancre. Gomiecourt and four other villages were carried by
storm. To the north the British captured Achiet-le-Grand, which is on
the Arras-Albert railroad, and for the possession of which Germans and
British had been fighting for some days past.
Field Marshal Haig's armies continued to deal the German forces
staggering blows as they drove forward. Bray, on the northern bank of
the Somme, was captured on August 23, 1918. Thiepval, a strong
position on high ground and which dominated miles of territory, was
occupied by British forces after a hard struggle and against the
concentrated fire of countless machine guns. Miraumont, in the center
of the battle front and to which the Germans clung with desperate
energy, was now surrounded on all sides and its fall was only a
question of a few hours. The British were now driving ahead in the
direction of Bapaume, and on the 23d occupied a small town on the
outskirts. Croisilles, north of Mory, some miles east of the
Arras-Bapaume road, was also won, marking the extreme point of the
British advance for the day in the northern battle zone.
North of the river Scarpe the fighting was intense. The British,
despite stiff opposition, penetrated the old German line and made
important gains when they attacked Givenchy. The Germans fought
bravely, contesting every yard of ground, but it was a losing battle,
and the field was littered thickly with their dead. They had brought
up new divisions that were thrown into the fight, but the
reenforcements were unable to check, except temporarily, the Allies'
continuous push forward.
On the French front General Mangin's troops had crossed the Oise and
reached the outskirts of the village of Morlincourt, a mile and a
quarter from the railway station of Noyon. The fall of that place
within a short time was inevitable.
The French advance on the Soissons end of the battle front proceeded
more slowly, but the forward movement was not arrested. Their
operations in this region threatened the turning of both the
Chemin-des-Dames and the German positions on the Vesle. On August 23,
1918, General Mangin's troops had won the greater part of the Juvigny
Plateau, which brought them to the edge of the battle field of 1917.
To the north lay the Ailette Valley. Eight miles eastward was Laffaux
Mill and the beginning of the Chemin-des-Dames, familiar landmarks and
the scene of intense fighting in the previous year.
On the battle front north of the Somme the British armies continued to
advance in the face of heavy resistance from the Germans, who had been
strongly reenforced in the course of the past twenty-four hours
(August 24-25, 1918). Haig's troops had captured a dozen villages and
carried their new front within a thousand yards of the old Hindenburg
Line. From Albert to Bapaume, the whole length of the highroad was now
in British hands. East of Bray Australian troops carried important
heights in possession of the enemy. North of Bapaume the villages of
Sapignies and Behagnies, which formed part of the defenses of the
town, were taken by British troops. The Germans, as they retired, left
great quantities of stores, equipment and military supplies on the
field. They destroyed what they could, but a vast amount fell to the
victors.
Since August 21, 1918, the British had captured over 17,000 prisoners
and a great number of cannon and machine guns.
The British advance owed much of its success to the wonderful service
performed by the motor cars, which did scout work far in advance of
the infantry. They continued throughout the fighting to harass the
enemy and strike confusion in his ranks, falling upon transport
columns and inflicting terrible damage. They attacked retreating
bodies of Germans and mowed them down with machine guns, and were
everywhere active factors in the demoralization of the enemy. The
tanks cooperating with the armored cars were no less effective.
Breaking the way for the advancing troops they rolled into the towns
and cleaned out the strong points under floods of fire. The Germans
never lost their fear of the tanks and it was not unusual during the
British advance for large bodies to surrender as soon as one of the
grim-looking monsters lumbered into view.
An interesting incident in connection with the capture of Thiepval
Ridge is related, when a British detachment was saved by an aeroplane.
This detachment, pressing forward too fast, found itself out of touch
with the main body and was suddenly surrounded by Germans. An observer
in the air noted their predicament and dropped a message "Stick it
out." He then notified the British command and troops were rushed to
the rescue, and the Germans were driven off.
German prisoners captured when Miraumont fell said that they had been
three days without food. All seemed happy that they were out of the
war, especially the Alsatians who had been placed in German regiments.
"If any of us are caught deserting," said an Alsatian prisoner, "his
family is punished, and even his female relatives are sent to dig in
the front-line and other trenches."
In the course of this British drive forty-two German divisions had
suffered heavy losses; 40,000 soldiers and several hundred officers in
prisoners alone.
On August 25, 1918, the troops of the Third French Army, fighting in
water up to their waists in the marshes along the Avre, captured two
of the strongest defenses of Roye. The first attack was made on the
village of Fresnoy, two and a half miles to the north of Roye, where
the Germans had restored their old fortifications of 1914-17, and had
filled the neighborhood with machine-gun nests. After a brief
artillery preparation the French stormed the concrete blockhouses and
killed the gunners serving their pieces. Fresnoy was a notable
stronghold and one of the centers of German resistance around Roye
from which they had launched their counterattacks in attempts to check
the advance. The Germans had orders to hold the place at any cost, but
the French attacking from the north and south simultaneously bore down
all resistance. Four hundred prisoners, including sixteen officers,
were captured in the town. Another strong outpost of Roye, the village
of St. Mard in the marshes of the Avre, was won by General Debeney's
men in the afternoon after a violent struggle. The Germans had
surrounded their concrete blockhouses with water let in from the Avre
and through the floods in the face of intense machine-gun fire the
French had to force their way to capture the position.
Roye was now invested from the north, west and south, and the German
hold on the place was slowly weakened. North of Soissons, on the far
right of the French line, the Germans renewed their efforts against
the line from Pont-St. Mard to Juvigny. They were thrown back
everywhere, the French making new gains and occupying Domaine Wood.
On the same day, while the French were making progress against heavy
odds, British troops were in battle on a thirty-mile front, from the
river Scarpe at a point east of Arras to Lihons south of the Somme,
crossing the Hindenburg line on the northern sector of their attack.
Canadians captured the villages of Wancourt and Monchy-le-Preux which
formed part of the famous German defense, and they continued to make
progress in an easterly direction. Scottish troops, driving forward on
the north bank of the Scarpe, reached the outskirts of Roeux, north of
Monchy-le-Preux.
General Debeney's First Army, after crushing the Germans in their
battle positions around Roye, captured the town and continued pursuing
the enemy who were retreating on a line from Hallu to the region south
of Roye. The French advance was made on a twelve-mile front, and
territory was gained to a depth of two and a half miles, the Germans
being forced back on both sides of the Avre River.
By encircling tactics the French smashed the numerous machine-gun
nests that were the backbone of the defense. One after another heavily
fortified positions were turned and the Germans were forced to
surrender the first and then the second line of defenses of 1914, to
which they had retreated after being driven out of Montdidier.
The second German line was broken in the morning of August 26, 1918,
when the French infantry, after repulsing a counterattack at St. Mard,
encircled Roye and drove the enemy back some miles east of the town.
The British continued their attacks eastward along the southern bank
of the Scarpe, occupying a considerable portion of the Hindenburg line
and Chérisy, Vis-en-Artois, and the Bois du Sart, an advance of nearly
four miles. In the night Canadians and Scottish troops carried Roeux
and Fontaine-les-Croisilles, and the slopes around. North of the
Scarpe, Gavrelle was occupied, and farther south between Croisilles
and Bapaume New Zealanders and English, crushing heavy attacks by
German reenforcements, continued to make good progress.
Bapaume was now farther threatened by this extension of the British
attack to the north. The Germans had been forced back to the north of
the city and their counterattacks on the south had utterly broken
down. The capture of Montauban by the British marked an advance of two
miles in twenty-four hours. Bazentin-le-Grand, southwest of Bapaume,
was also occupied by Marshal Haig's men. This place lies a little to
the west of the highroad from Bapaume to the Somme and its capture
made the German hold in the region increasingly difficult. Bapaume was
now being gradually surrounded by the Allies, and its fall was only a
question of time.
During August 27-28, 1918, the French continued to drive the Germans
before them on the whole front from Chaulnes to the Oise. In less than
twenty-four hours General Humbert's troops made an advance of eight
miles through a difficult country of woods, hills, and ravines west of
Noyon. Mont Renaud, a famous stronghold commanding the Oise Valley,
was carried by storm. Pushing on to the gates of Noyon the French
surrounded the last bastion, Poqueri-Court Hill.
The capture of Chaulnes further precipitated the German retreat north
of the Avre River. The French engaged in close pursuit of the foe,
whom they continued to harass with mustard-gas shells the Germans left
behind, and which were being fired from German guns by French gunners.
In the course of the night General Debeney's troops advanced four and
a half miles, and by morning were on the outskirts of Nesle, close on
the heels of the retreating foe.
After the fall of Chaulnes, Gomiecourt to the north and Sept Fours and
a score of other villages were captured.
The territory abandoned by the Germans in the retreat presented scenes
of desolation and ruin unsurpassed since the war began. The names of
towns had no longer any significance but as geographical
designations. As places of habitation they had ceased to exist, and
even their sites were difficult to recognize. The cemeteries were
blown up and ruined and the contents of the graves scattered. At Roye
and other towns the Germans had carefully filled the ruins with
mustard gas which for a time prevented the Allies from occupying these
places.
Croisilles, the strong German position to the north of Bapaume, which
had long held out against British attacks, was captured by a flanking
movement by Haig's men on August 27, 1918. Further gains were made at
all points on the battle line between Bapaume and the river Scarpe.
North of the Arras-Cambrai road the Canadians captured the villages of
Boiry and Pelves. On the north bank of the Somme British troops
occupied Curly and Hardecourt, and drove forward in the direction of
Maurepas. South of the river, Australians in an advance of between
four and five miles were on their way to the crossings of the Somme at
Péronne and Brie, encountering hard resistance from the Germans as
they pushed on.
A large German force was brought up to attack the British positions
east of Monchy. According to the statements of prisoners, some of the
German companies at the last moment refused to fight, and the others
were forced to go ahead without them. For tactical reasons the British
withdrew a few hundred yards and then organized an attack that drove
the Germans from the field, and they were seen no more that day.
According to an eyewitness the ground in this region was in parts
literally carpeted with bodies in field gray.
The total captures of the Allies on the western front since July 18,
1918, were now over 120,000 prisoners and over 2,000 guns. The British
captured between August 21, 1918, and August 26, 1918, more than
21,000 prisoners of all ranks, and their own losses in killed,
wounded, and missing during this period was only slightly in excess of
this number. Since August 8, 1918, the British captures exceeded
47,000 officers and men, and over 600 guns.
It was evidently the purpose of the Germans at this stage to retire to
a shorter line on the western front where they could obtain better
defensive positions against the Allies' blows, and so economize their
forces. The rapid advance of the British on both sides of the Scarpe,
which threatened to flank the entire Hindenburg position, was a
serious obstacle in the way of the Germans carrying out their plan.
CHAPTER III
THE FRENCH TAKE NOYON--THE BRITISH BAPAUME AND PÉRONNE--THE ALLIES
CONQUER ON EVERY FRONT
Noyon, the important German stronghold at the peak of the Oise Canal
du Nord salient, was captured by General Humbert's troops after heavy
fighting on August 29, 1918. Continuing to drive forward, French
forces obtained a grip on the southern slopes of Mont St. Simeon to
the east, the strongest German position remaining in that sector.
About the same time another French army under General Mangin had
forced a crossing of the Oise at Morlincourt and captured Landrimont.
North of Noyon a third French army under General Debeney took Quesnoy
Wood, which narrowed the pocket from the western side and brought the
French within shelling distance of the main road leading out of it in
the direction of Ham.
The attempt of the Germans to stem the French pursuit by fighting
rear-guard actions with machine-gun sections was only locally
successful. On favorable ground it succeeded in delaying the advance,
but the fast drive of the French advance guard forced the enemy to
risk an engagement with strong forces, or hasten his retreat. The
Germans chose the latter alternative and fled along the road leading
to St. Quentin, La Fère, and the Hindenburg line.
The continued pressure of Humbert's army from the west, and Mangin's
troops which crossed the Oise from the south and took Morlincourt
while another French contingent was entering Noyon, further added to
the difficulties of the enemy, and threatened General von Hutier's
army with disaster.
Bapaume, which for several days had been surrounded by British forces,
was occupied on August 29, 1918, and the Germans were in full retreat,
trying to get away behind their rear guards before they were caught
and annihilated. North of the Scarpe River, beyond Arras, and across
the old Somme battle fields by Ginchy, Guillemont, and Morval, British
troops were pushing on, and in the Australian fighting zone by
Feuillières and Belloy above the Somme the enemy was fleeing in wild
haste, leaving vast stores of guns and ammunition behind. The German
rear guards maintained at times a fierce resistance to gain time for
an orderly retreat and delay the capture of Péronne until the enormous
stores there could be removed. From Bapaume and Bullecourt to the
north of the Arras-Cambrai road the German army was swiftly
disappearing from all the country west of the Somme and from the
battle fields beyond Delville Wood. The same British soldiers now
driving forward on the heels of the retreating foe were in March
falling back over the same ground when the Germans had overwhelming
numbers in their favor.
The French armies during August 29-30, 1918, continued to make
important strategic gains. Among the most notable was the occupation
of Mont St. Simeon, a height which protected the German flank, a great
natural rampart on which the enemy relied for protection during his
retreat before the attacks of Generals Debeney and Rawlinson.
East, and northeast of Bapaume, the British forces continued to go
forward and gain ground. At Bullecourt on the Hindenburg Line and at
Hendecourt to the east of the line the advance was held up by the
strong German counterattacks. These places, which had been captured by
the British on August 29, 1918, became untenable under the enemy
assaults and Marshal Haig's troops were forced to withdraw to the west
of them.
At other points good progress was made, the British capturing several
villages on the Arras-Bapaume front while they advanced their line
both on the Arras-Cambrai and the Bapaume-Cambrai roads. Farther to
the south the British to the north of the Somme went forward in the
direction of Péronne, taking Combles and Cléry. By these operations
they had completely freed the country south and west of the Somme of
the Germans. The last of the enemy were driven behind the river in the
morning of August 30, 1918.
On the last day of the month Australian troops in a valorous charge
stormed Mont St. Quentin and Feuilleucourt to the north of Péronne,
capturing 1,500 Germans by the operation. The seizure of an important
height near St. Quentin village gave the British a commanding position
to threaten Péronne, and it was inevitable that the fall of that place
could not be long delayed.
While the Australians were closely engaged near Péronne a contingent
of English troops on the left captured Marrières Wood and high ground
farther north of the Péronne-Bapaume road. At various points between
Kemmel and Béthune the Germans were in retreat, and the British gained
considerable ground. Bailleul was now in British hands, and their
patrols had gained a foothold on Mont de Lille. Advances were also
made to the east of La Couture and Vieille Chapelle, and on the
Scherpenberg from southwest of Ypres the British crossed old enemy
trenches without meeting any opposition.
Péronne, the German stronghold on the great bend of the Somme River,
was captured in a brilliant attack made by the Australians on
September 1, 1918. It was inevitable after the occupation of Mont St.
Quentin on the day before by these same valorous troops that the town
must soon be abandoned by the Germans, but it was owing to the quick
action of the Australians that they were forced out so soon. Owing to
the admirable work performed by English engineers at the river
crossings the Australians were able to move their guns forward over
the Somme and fire at close range on the enemy. Cooperating with the
Australians, London troops captured Bouchavesnes, four miles to the
north of Péronne, and Rancourt, both villages on the road to Bapaume.
Over 2,000 prisoners were taken in these operations. Farther to the
north the Germans fled before the British approach, evacuating several
villages to the south of Bapaume.
To the northeast of this place, astride the Hindenburg line, the enemy
offered strong opposition, but the British crushed every attack and
won the much-fought-over ruins of Bullecourt and Hendecourt.
In the Lys salient it was much the same story, the Germans continuing
to retreat and the British to pursue. In the course of twenty-four
hours' fighting Haig's troops gained about two miles on a front of
twenty miles. The British had now reached the outskirts of Lens, where
large fires were seen burning, an indication of further German
retirement.
The British had every reason to feel proud of their achievements in
August, 1918, for in addition to the large territory won from the
enemy they captured in that month 57,318 prisoners, 657 guns, more
than 5,790 machine guns, and over 1,000 trench mortars, besides a vast
quantity of stores and war material of every description.
North and south of the Aillette River, General Mangin's troops made
further advances, on the first day of the month capturing
Crécy-au-Mont on the southern bank, and gaining a firm hold west of
Coucy-le-Château. A few miles to the south the French stormed the town
of Leury and took more than 1,000 prisoners. Two miles northeast of
Nesle, Rouy-le-Petit was occupied, and other French forces crossed the
Somme Canal at Epénancourt seven miles south of Péronne.
One of the most notable achievements of the British advance was
carrying the famous Queant-Drocourt "switch line" on September 1-2,
1918. This strongly fortified stretch of trenches was won by English,
Scottish, and Canadian troops on a front of about six miles. The
Germans considered this one of their strongest positions and made
desperate efforts to hold it, but were unable to hold back the
impetuous drive of the British forces, which were in high spirits over
their almost continuous victories. The fighting became fast and
furious, and the Germans rushed forward reenforcements, but it was a
losing game for them from the first and their losses were appalling.
The British captured thousands of prisoners; the roads to the rear of
the fighting front were jammed with them. In parts of the battle field
bodies in field-gray lay in piles.
The Canadians, whose attack was made astride the road from Arras to
Cambrai, captured the villages of Dury, Cagnicourt, and
Villers-les-Cagnicourt, the last place being four miles beyond the
point from which the attack was launched.
The left wing of the attacking forces, composed of English troops,
drove a wedge in the German defenses northeast of Eterpigny, while the
right composed of English and Scottish troops driving forward in the
direction of Quéant captured a string of strongly fortified positions
including the village of Noreuil. Southward to a point beyond Péronne
the tide of battle swept, the British capturing towns and villages and
always advancing. On the Lys front it was the same story, the Germans
in retreat, the British in close pursuit. They took Neuve Eglise, a
place not forgotten in former fights, and pushed their line forward to
the east of Estaires.
American troops after the capture of Voormezeele in Flanders advanced
from that village and linked up with the British in close pursuit of
the German rear guards. The French, pushing forward north of Soissons,
noted great fires in the direction of Vauxaillon, indicating that the
enemy was burning his supplies previous to retirement. They had now
completed the conquest of the Soissons Plateau and the Germans were
forced to retire to the Chemin-des-Dames, which was already threatened
by the French advance toward Vauxaillon.
Field Marshal Haig's troops continued their victorious advance on
September 3, 1918, gaining Baralle, eight miles from Cambrai, crossing
the Drocourt-Queant line and forcing the Germans to retire in haste to
the Canal du Nord. They carried by storm Quéant, and thirteen other
villages were taken on a twenty-mile front, which attained a maximum
depth of six miles. In the course of these operations the British took
over 10,000 prisoners. Their outposts had now been pushed forward to
the outskirts of Lens.
On the following day the eastward sweep of British troops north of
Péronne continued. On a front of about fifteen miles northward from
Moislains they forced a crossing of the Canal du Nord and made
substantial progress eastward.
Meanwhile north of the Vesle on a front of nearly twenty miles the
German armies were in full retreat before the advance of
Franco-American armies.
Simultaneously the French were making important gains northeast of
Noyon, and were driving the Germans before them in the territory
between the Canal du Nord and the Oise.
French armies continued to drive the Germans before them in southern
Picardy, cooperating with the Americans in the territory between the
Vesle and Aisne Rivers. At some points the French advanced their line
seven miles and captured on the way some thirty villages. They crossed
the Somme Canal and pressed forward in the direction of Ham with its
roads leading to St. Quentin and La Fère. By the capture of
Coucy-le-Château to the south and neighboring towns they threatened
the German defenses of the Chemin-des-Dames. North of the Vesle, where
the Americans were taking part in the advance, the Allied line was
pushed to the southern bank of the Aisne on a front of more than eight
miles.
On September 5-6, 1918, the French, with the Americans cooperating,
continued to press on at the heels of the retreating Germans. From the
posts of the Americans on the Aisne to the breaches in the Hindenburg
line north of Cambrai, on a front of more than ninety miles, the
Allies pushed the advance. The drive southeast from the Somme resulted
in the capture of the important juncture point of Ham and Chauny.
North of the Aisne they occupied all the old trenches along the front
and threatened the German hold on the Chemin-des-Dames.
The British armies, linking up with the French advancing on Ham, and
into the territory to the south, continued their forward movement
eastward from the Somme. From this river, south of Péronne, the troops
of Field Marshal Haig had penetrated German positions about seven
miles on a twelve-mile front and occupied six important villages.
Vast supplies of coal and road-building material were captured during
this advance, which offered conclusive proof that the Germans had
planned to hold all winter the line from which they had been driven.
Sporadic attempts were made by the enemy to hold up the British drive,
but their troops developed no staying power and their attacks
generally broke down after the failure of the first fierce onslaught.
Haig's warriors had now entered the old defense system which they had
held before the beginning of the great German offensive in March,
1918.
The French continued to make good progress in their advance along the
banks of the St. Quentin Canal north of the Somme, capturing Hamel and
three other villages to the west of it. South of the Somme they
encountered heavy resistance. The village of Avesnes which they had
won was retaken by the Germans, but after a hard struggle it remained
in French hands.
Progress was also made on both sides of the Oise, the French advancing
within two miles of La Fère to the northern edge of the forest of St.
Gobain, which forms the western defense of the Laon region. The Massif
of St. Gobain formed the pivot of the German system, whose importance
was only comparable to that of Cambrai for British operations.
One great factor which aided materially in the advance of the Allies
was the great increase in their engines of offense, whether in armored
cars, tanks, Stokes guns, or great cannon, that could smash whole
blocks of defense at one shot. The French were now supplied with
howitzers of twenty-one inch caliber whose shell, over six feet long,
could wreck a dozen batteries in a protected ravine, or wipe out an
entire regiment hidden in an apparently impenetrable cave.
So far the first part of Marshal Foch's program had been accomplished.
The Germans had been driven back along the whole line from Arras to
Rheims, and had practically lost all ground won in their four great
drives which began on March 21, 1918, and ended on July 18, 1918, when
Foch dealt a smashing blow on their flank between the Marne and the
Aisne.
During September 9-10, 1918, in spite of heavy rainstorms which halted
Haig's men to provide shelters on recovered ground, the British
advanced their line nearer Cambrai, fighting off strong German attacks
in that region. Meanwhile the French gained three and a half miles,
and occupied positions near St. Quentin on three sides. This new dash
brought them nearer the flanking of La Fère on the north and south.
September 12, 1918, was a memorable day in the history of the American
Army in France when under command of General Pershing they launched an
attack from all sides of the St. Mihiel salient that resulted in the
capture of the town of that name and over 13,000 prisoners. The
American army was now operating under its own command instead of
fighting as part of a British or French army. All day and far into the
night the fight was continuous on the British front, when the heights
of Avrincourt were stormed and positions won that overlooked the
German defenses for many miles. Further progress was made in the
Havrincourt region during September 13-14, 1918, where to the
southeast of Cambrai the British established posts east and north of
the village of Havrincourt. General Pétain meanwhile had launched an
attack on an eleven-mile front on both sides of the Ailette River
between the Aisne and the Vesle, advancing his line to a distance of
two miles at the farthest point and capturing over 1,000 prisoners.
This French drive was of special importance, for it threatened to turn
the flank of the German defensive positions on the Chemin-des-Dames,
and weakened the enemy's hold on Laon. South of the Ailette the French
won the famous Mont des Singes, and the villages of Allemant and
Sanoy.
In the morning of September 14, 1918, General Mangin's troops struck a
new blow at the German salient north of Soissons. The French advance
was so rapid that at one point a German colonel and his entire staff
were captured. The taking of Laffaux Mill, a point of vital importance
to the enemy, meant the gain of a valuable portion of the Hindenburg
line. The Germans made a desperate effort to maintain their hold on
this position, but in spite of their employment of strong reserves
they were unable to delay more than a short time the French advance.
On General Mangin's right, the Mennejean Farm was the scene of the
most stubborn fighting during the day. The Germans had transformed
every shell crater into miniature forts and machine-gun nests which
had to be overcome one by one by grenade fighting of the fiercest
description. But the Germans failed everywhere to check the French,
who by noon had carried the entire position and bagged over 2,500
prisoners.
After the capture of Havrincourt and neighboring towns by the British,
followed by counterattacks which were everywhere repulsed, there was
no important infantry action attempted and the Germans settled down to
shelling the line.
British and French troops in coordinated operations on a
twenty-two-mile front advanced their lines on the outlying defenses of
St. Quentin on September 18, 1918. The British attack was made by
English, Irish, Scottish, and Australian troops on a sixteen-mile
front to the northwest of the city and resulted in the capture of over
6,000 prisoners and the occupation of ten villages and outer defenses
of the Hindenburg line in wide sectors. The push was made in the midst
of a pouring rain and the Germans offered strong resistance, but the
British, elated with victory, drove forward and crushed all
opposition.
While the British were driving ahead, the French on their immediate
right attacked and advanced their lines a mile and a quarter on a
six-mile front, reaching the western outskirts of Francilly-Silency,
three miles west of St. Quentin, and the southern edge of Contescourt,
four miles southwest of that city, marking their nearest approaches to
the German base. During the night of September 18, 1918, the British
continued to drive forward into the Hindenburg outposts northwest of
St. Quentin, capturing the village of Lempire and Gauche Wood. In the
course of two days' fighting in this region the British captured
10,000 prisoners and over sixty guns.
Late in the day of September 18, 1918, the Germans counterattacked on
a wide front west of Cambrai between Gouzeaucourt and the
Arras-Cambrai road. Starting off with a bombardment of great
intensity they launched an infantry attack northward from Trescault,
but were repulsed at all points with heavy losses. North of Moeuvres,
the Sixth German Division, under cover of a heavy barrage, and while
forty German batteries were at work, made a determined attack on the
British positions. Though their lines were torn and formations
shattered by the British field batteries and the steady machine-gun
and rifle fire, they still pressed forward, climbing over the bodies
of their dead. At a tragic cost of life a few of the advanced British
positions were penetrated, but before the end of the day after a
stubborn struggle they were expelled and the British reoccupied the
positions.
The fighting here had been costly for the British as well as for the
foe. The Germans displayed complete disregard for life and
demonstrated a spirit of initiative that was quite unusual. German
machine gunners established themselves in some derelict British tanks
which they transformed into forts, sweeping the area around with
machine-gun bullets that wrought considerable destruction. Groups of
German machine gunners in other parts of the field, and aided by some
infantry, established themselves in wrecked villages, in woods, and
earth-works, and in old trench systems, where the British line of
advance passed just beyond them. Other British troops following the
first waves suffered considerably from the attacks of these
independent fighters. It was necessary to mop up each isolated post
before the advance could be continued.
The French meanwhile had been pushing their lines closer to St.
Quentin from the south and the southwest. During the night of
September 18-19, 1918, they fought their way into Contescourt, which
lies four miles to the southwest of St. Quentin, and in the morning
occupied Castres, about half a mile to the northeast. Farther east and
south they advanced to the outskirts of Benay, a town six miles south
of the city.
The strongly fortified village of Moeuvres, seven miles west of
Cambrai, which had been the scene of intense fighting for some days,
was captured by the British in the morning of September 20, 1918. The
Germans fought stubbornly to hold the village, which with its
covering positions consisted of a solid mass of trenches and dugouts
covering a square mile of ground. It was the junction of the main and
support Hindenburg line and the most formidable obstacle that the
British encountered anywhere in that defensive system.
The occupation by the British of a series of redoubts around the
Malassise Farm brought their line nearer to the St. Quentin Canal at
Vendhuile. Only three fortified villages now remained in German hands
on the battle front between Villers-Guislain and the defenses of St.
Quentin. With the capture of Ronssoy by English County troops,
Lempire, a village one mile to the north, was completely cleared of
the enemy. The Germans were now clinging to strong positions in
ravines, quarries, and ditches between Lempire and Villers-Guislain,
but they had suffered so severely in recent counterattacks that they
attempted no more.
In the course of operations on September 21 and 22, 1918, advances
were made by English troops east of Epihy, and the Australians near
Hargicourt made new inroads into the outer defenses of the Hindenburg
line northwest of St. Quentin. The most extensive gain was made north
of the Scarpe River, where the Germans were thrown back on a two-mile
front.
South of Villers-Guislain, and to the right of this sector, the
Germans launched a powerful counterattack which was crushed by the
British, who flung the enemy back and took advantage of the
opportunity to carry forward their line.
On the French front in spite of increased enemy resistance substantial
gains were made daily. By the capture of the woods north of
Lys-Fontaine the Germans were forced to evacuate Vendhuile to escape
being cornered there with their backs to the river Oise. General
Debeney's troops now held all the west bank of the Oise for more than
half the distance from La Fère to Moy. The French had now reached the
heavy, marshy country south of the valley of the Oise, which offered
great difficulties to any troops that might attempt a crossing north
of La Fère.
Debeney's men continued to advance all day September 22, 1918, toward
the La Fère road south of St. Quentin, and as they approached nearer
the Hindenburg line around that place the Germans made determined
efforts to keep them from it. North of the Somme they were hurriedly
organizing a defensive system on a line of heights running parallel to
the Hindenburg positions from east of Holnon to Hill 23, and thence
through Hill 138 east of Savy Wood to Dallon Height on the road from
Ham to St. Quentin.
South of the Somme the French advanced into a defense line parallel to
the Hindenburg positions, by winning a height northeast of Castres,
the line of ridges connecting Urvillers and Cerizy and the spur that
dominates Mayot from the west.
British and French troops on September 24, 1918, attacking on adjacent
fronts totaling about seven miles, made advances that tightened their
grip on St. Quentin from the northwest, west, and southwest.
By the capture of Pontruet, Marshal Haig's troops had now advanced
within three-quarters of a mile of important defenses of the
Hindenburg line at the bend of St. Quentin Canal. On the right wing of
the British, the French took Francilly-Silency, Dallon, and other
villages which, with the British occupation of the high ground west of
Fayot, gave the Allies a line of positions lying in a five-mile arc of
a circle with a radius of less than three miles from the center at St.
Quentin.
General Gouraud's troops attacking the German positions in the
Champagne on September 26, 1918, won their first objectives within a
few hours, and took Serven which had been in the hands of the enemy
since 1914. Gouraud's troops also occupied the high ground positions
of the Butte de Mesnil and the Navarin Farm. The abandonment by the
Germans of strong positions which they had held for a long time, and
had made as impregnable as human ingenuity could devise, demonstrated
that they were in a panicky and nervous state of mind.
The Third and Fourth British Armies under General Sir Henry Horne and
Sir Julian Byng made an attack before daybreak on September 27, 1918,
on a wide front toward Cambrai, and were successful in carrying all
their objectives. The principal attack was on a front of fourteen
miles, and resulted in the winning of German positions of great
strength. On the north of the main attack the British captured
Beaucamp, and drove the enemy from the ridge toward Marcoing.
Arleux-en-Gohelle on the extreme left was occupied, and in operations
north and south of the Sensee and Scarpe Rivers the towns of
Sauchy-Lestrées and Sauchy-Cauchy were captured.
The troops of General Haldane on the right center carried out a
successful operation, breaking through the German defenses east of
Havrincourt, capturing Flesquières and a long spur running eastward
from that village toward Marcoing. In the direction of Fontaine Notre
Dame the British in this region had pushed forward to within three
miles of Cambrai. In the course of these operations over 6,000
prisoners were captured. The Germans had engaged on this battle front
nine divisions, or about 122,000 men.
The British were now in a good position to capture Cambrai. Even at
this stage of the struggle the Germans could not use the town, for the
roads, railway, and junction were all under the fire of the British
guns.
French troops on the battle line east of Rheims continued their
advance on September 27, 1918. In the two days' fighting on this front
they took over 10,000 prisoners, enormous quantities of war material,
and had moved their line ahead at some points a distance of five
miles.
On the first day of the battle Gouraud's men recaptured all the
positions abandoned July 15, 1918, and then stormed the Hindenburg
line on a length of nineteen miles. They were now on the front of the
second Hindenburg line along the Py River, marking the successful
termination of the first phase of the attack which the French
continued to press with irresistible valor despite the frantic efforts
of the enemy to check their advance.
CHAPTER IV
THE BRITISH CLOSE IN ON CAMBRAI--FRENCH OCCUPY ST. QUENTIN--THE
GERMANS FIRE CAMBRAI AND RETIRE--THE ALLIES' GREAT VICTORY IN FLANDERS
The Allies continued to strike on every front on September 27-28,
1918. Between the sea and St. Quentin, Champagne, and Verdun the whole
German military machine was tottering and nearing the breaking point.
Belgian and British troops attacking on a front of about ten miles
between Dixmude to a point north of Ypres made an advance of three and
a half miles, the Belgians alone capturing over 4,000 prisoners. The
occupied territory included the first and the second line of the
German defenses.
Field Marshal Haig's troops operating in the Cambrai region continued
their advance on the town whose fall was imminent. With the capture of
Sailly the British were now within two miles of Cambrai, and still
forging forward. To the northwest a number of villages including
Epinoy and Oisy-le-Verger were occupied and to the north of the Sensee
Canal the village of Arleux.
During the night of September 27, 1918, the Germans made a desperate
counterattack southwest of Marcoing, and near Beaucamp, but they were
thrown back with heavy losses and the British pressed on two miles
beyond Beaucamp Ridge, where they occupied high ground known as the
Highland and Welsh Ridges.
Between the Ailette and the Aisne General Mangin's troops continued
their irresistible advance, penetrating the ravine between Jouy and
Aizy and capturing these villages. The principal victory of the day
was the winning of Fort Malmaison, one of the strongholds southeast of
Laon. Here the Germans had prepared a deadly trap for the French
troops, but owing to the precautions taken the explosion did no
damage.
In the Champagne General Gouraud's forces continued to operate with
the accuracy of a finely adjusted piece of mechanism. At Somme-Py,
where the German defensive works were of the most elaborate
description and included a system of trenches and underground works to
an extent of five miles, after hot fighting in the streets with
grenade and bayonet the French took the entire system and advanced
their line to the north of the town.
There was no harder struggle on any Allied front at this time than the
French were engaged in north of Grateuil and Fontaine-en-Dormois. The
Germans in this region displayed intense energy in the defense of the
valleys, bringing up reserves and employing countless machine guns in
their determination to stem the tide of the French advance which was
constantly hurling them backward. Again and again the Germans
counterattacked, only to be crushed by Gouraud's troops, who
immediately proceeded to press onward. The German infantry fought well
at times, but there was something lacking; they displayed nervousness
and had no staying powers. And their gunners too showed that their
nerves were shaken, wasting ammunition without reason and laying down
barrages where they could serve no possible purpose.
September 29, 1918, was a big day for the British and American troops
when Field Marshal Haig launched a new offensive movement on the
thirty-mile front from St. Quentin to the Sensee River. The Americans
attacking the Hindenburg line on a front of nearly three miles
captured Bellicourt and Nauroy.
On the extreme British right the Twentieth Corps struck across the
Scheldt Canal from Bellenglise northward. The Forty-sixth Midland
Division, equipped with mats, life belts, rafts, and bridging
material, stormed the main Hindenburg defenses running along the
eastern bank of the canal. In spite of the depth of the water, and the
width of the canal, and the strong German defenses, consisting of
numerous tunnels and concrete works, this division captured the entire
enemy position opposed to them. After this master stroke the division
with great bravery drove ahead up the slopes beyond the canal,
capturing many prisoners on the way. Bellenglise, Lehaucourt, and
Magny-la-Fosse were now in British hands.
In the center of the attack English troops captured Villers-Guislain
while New Zealand troops broke up a hostile attack, and pressing on
took La Vacquerie and high ground in the neighborhood.
Meanwhile the Sixty-ninth Division, having forced the crossing of the
Scheldt at several points, continued to advance. After stiff fighting
in the western outskirts of Masnières and Les Rues Vertes they took
both of these villages and carried the defensive system covering
Rumilly, driving on to the western outskirts of the village. North of
the Bapaume-Cambrai road Canadian troops gained possession of the
defense system known as the Marcoing-Masnières line as far north as
Sailly.
On the French front as the result of General Mangin's advance on this
date the entire Malmaison Plateau and the western end of the
Chemin-des-Dames were won. For weeks the Germans had been fighting to
hold the approaches to the massif of St. Gobain and Laon which they
were now forced to abandon. For four years this group of heights
formed the central pillar of the German line in France. Marshal Foch's
strategy forced the enemy, as on the Marne, to withdraw his center
before the Allied attack to the north and the east and compelled him
to move back on the wings. This retreat was one of the first direct
results of the French, American, and British offensive of the past
three days.
On the last day of September, 1918, the British continued to drive
forward into the outskirts of Cambrai, capturing the suburbs on three
sides of the city. Toward St. Quentin the villages of Thorigny and Le
Tronquoy to the north and east of that town were won. In the course of
the fighting north of St. Quentin the British captured over 4,000
prisoners and forty guns.
In Flanders the Belgian and British advance was pushed to an average
depth of five and a maximum depth of eight miles. The British had won
the famous Messines Ridge and Cheluwe, while the Belgians had advanced
beyond Dixmude and taken Roulers.
Fighting of the fiercest description continued throughout October 1,
1918, all along the Cambrai-St. Quentin front, the British winning
positions on the greater part of the line. The Germans, anticipating
the speedy capture of Cambrai, had fired the city at different points.
The British, continuing to close in, stormed in the night Proville to
the west and Tilloy on the north. Farther south toward St. Quentin
they captured the villages of Vendhuile and Lavergies. To the north of
Cambrai they made notable progress in spite of the presence in the
enemy fighting line of fresh German reserves thrown in between the
city and the Sensee River.
During the month of September, 1918, the British had captured on the
western front 66,000 prisoners and 700 guns. In four days' fighting up
to October 1, 1918, General Haig's troops had engaged and defeated
thirty-six German divisions, or approximately 432,000 men.
French troops entered St. Quentin in the afternoon of October 1, 1918.
Heavy fighting continued along the whole Franco-American front from
St. Quentin to the Meuse. The British on the north and the French on
the south drew an arc around St. Quentin well to the rear of the city.
Toward the Aisne the French had pushed on beyond Revillon. In the
center the Germans continued to cling stubbornly to the wooded height
of St. Thierry, where they had established a line of positions
stretching from Cormicy to the Vesle, flanking Rheims on the northwest
and enabling them to maintain their hold on a semicircle of strong
points around Rheims.
Cambrai having been mined by the Germans, the occupation of the city
was delayed by the British, but their patrols penetrated the burning
city. Canadian troops held the suburbs of Neuville St. Remy on the
north and Crèvecoeur and Rumilly on the south.
The rapid advance of the Allies in Belgium on the north and the
British thrust past Cambrai on the south forced the Germans to begin a
retreat on a wide front on both sides of the La Bassée Canal.
In the night of October 1-2, 1918, General Berthelot's forces on the
French front completed their conquest of the St. Thierry Massif, the
important height west of Rheims, occupying Pouillon and the fort of
St. Thierry.
These great gains enabled the French to dominate the plain from the
east and threaten all the German positions along the Aisne-Marne Canal
from Bethany to the north, including the fort of Brimont, where the
guns were posted that wrought most of the destruction to Rheims.
General Gouraud and Berthelot by their advances threatened to make of
the Rheims salient another pocket from which the Germans would have
great difficulty in extricating themselves.
In the Champagne desperate efforts were made by the enemy to hold back
Gouraud's forces on the line of Monthers-Orfeuil-Liry. Steep cliffs
and deep ravines furnished the Germans with excellent positions for
defense, but the French crushed every counterattack and drove ahead.
South of Orfeuil and Liry General Gouraud broke through heavy wire
defenses, and won a powerful position by assault.
East of Liry in the wooded valley of the Aisne there was hard fighting
which ended in the occupation of the most important positions by
General Gouraud's men. Farther east where the Germans had flooded the
region of Challerange the French displayed the same intrepidity as at
other points on the battle front, gaining ground and occupying the
railroad at Autry.
On October 3, 1918, Field Marshal Haig's forces shattered vital German
defenses between St. Quentin and Cambrai. Attacking with infantry and
tanks on the eight-mile front from Sequehart to the Scheldt Canal the
British broke through the strong Beaurevoir-Fonsomme line west and
southwest of Beaurevoir.
On the left of the attack English and Irish troops forced the passage
of the Scheldt Canal at Gouy and Le Catelet and captured both
villages. At the farthest point of this advance the British penetrated
German positions to a depth of about five miles. Over 5,000 prisoners
were taken by the British during the drive.
In Flanders the Germans were in retreat on the twenty-mile front
between Armentières and Lens, which the British now occupied. Between
these strongholds the British had advanced their line three miles
eastward through Avion, Vendin, Wieres, and Herlies.
St. Quentin was completely cleared of German troops by October 2,
1918. Not one of its original 56,000 inhabitants remained. All were
carried away by the Germans. As it was believed the enemy had mined
the town with time fuses the French did not occupy the town, but
remained outside waiting for developments.
From St. Quentin to the Argonne the French armies continued to gain
ground all along the line. They were closing the only avenue of escape
for the Germans on the west side of the Argonne Forest, and clearing
the region north and west of Rheims.
General Gouraud on the eastern side of the line by the occupation of
the important railway town of Challerange now controlled the western
exit from the Grand Pré Gap through the forest. Southeast of Orfeuil
the French held a wooded area, their guns dominating the only railway
which was available to the Germans north of that position. The French
also enlarged their gains north of Somme-Py in the Champagne,
capturing Mont Blanc with the Americans and the Medeah Farm.
Around Rheims the Germans had been forced back so far that the city
must soon be freed from the menace of bombardment. Cormicy, northwest
of the city, was captured by the French and Loivre to the north, while
the Aisne Canal was reached between Concevreux and La Neuvillette.
Debeney's indomitable troops north and east of St. Quentin continued
to drive forward. He broke the Hindenburg line from Le Tronquoy to
Lesdins and gained a hold on the railway east of St. Quentin. Progress
was also made at Neuville St. Armand and Itancourt. Continuing their
pressure on the Germans seeking to repair the gap torn in the
Hindenburg defenses northeast of St. Quentin, British troops on
October 4-5, 1918, pushed on toward Fresnoy-le-Grand in the face of
determined and powerful enemy counterattacks.
The Germans continued to retreat on the Lens-Armentières front. The
British lines were advanced over two miles to Erquinghem and Wavrin
west and southwest of Lille.
In the Champagne the entire enemy front was crumbling before the
hammer blows of the French army under Berthelot and the
Franco-American legions under Gouraud. North of Rheims the capture of
Fort Brimont and strong mountain positions to the east gave the French
enormous advantage over the enemy, of which they were not slow to
avail themselves. The entire massif of Moronvilliers was conquered; by
the afternoon of October 5, 1918, the French had reached Bethenville,
three miles to the north. In the course of the advance the Germans
were forced to evacuate many positions which they had held since 1914.
Threatened by the British thrust toward Lille the enemy began the
evacuation of the city. Farther south, in the crucial area north of
St. Quentin, British forces again broke through the Hindenburg system
of defenses. They crossed the Scheldt Canal on the eight-mile front
between Crèvecoeur and Le Catelet and won a section of the famous line
on the plateau of La Terrière in this sector, the Germans hurriedly
retiring from the high ground east of the canal.
French victories in the Champagne continued with clockwork regularity
every day, and it might be said with truth every few hours of the day.
German resistance was broken on a front of about twenty-eight miles in
the Rheims salient, where as the result of pressure east and west the
enemy was compelled to surrender his strongest positions.
The French continued in pursuit through the night of October 5-6,
1918, the whole front along the river Suippe. Other French troops
having crossed the Aisne Canal had advanced to the outskirts of
Aiguilcourt and pressing on north of Rheims captured a number of
villages to the northeast of the city, reaching the Suippe River at
Pont Faverger, which was conquered and occupied.
In the fighting on the British front on October 6, 1918, the village
of Fresnoy, ten miles west of Douai, was won. Between Cambrai and St.
Quentin after the capture of Abencheul-au-Bois the British established
themselves in strong positions on the high ground toward Lesdain.
Montbregain and Beaurevoir, villages to the northeast of St. Quentin
which had changed hands several times in the recent fighting, were won
by the British at a late hour in the day.
During the night Marshal Haig's troops established a post at the
crossing of the Scheldt Canal, five miles northwest of Cambrai, and
advanced their lines south on the west and southwest. By the advance
north of Wez Maquart the British were now within about five miles west
of the city.
At times during the British pursuit the enemy's rear guards attempted
to make a stand, but in every instance they were annihilated. The
Germans seemed to have become panic-stricken, for, while they could
maintain a stubborn defense, there was no method in their fighting; it
was the desperate struggle of men who know they are playing a losing
game.
The continued French pressure in the Champagne yielded daily results.
On October 7, 1918, Berry-au-Bac at the junction of the river Aisne
and the Aisne Canal on the left wing of the offensive was captured. On
the rest of the Champagne front the French held their gains, and
pushed on to the north and east of the Arnes River.
Early in the morning of October 8, 1918, British and American troops
with the French cooperating on the right launched an attack on a
twenty-mile front from Cambrai southward, shattering the remains of
the Hindenburg system to a large extent, and advancing along the whole
fighting line a distance of three miles.
The British artillery fire, which began to shell the enemy through the
night and in the morning, was of the most unprecedented violence, the
guns being massed wheel to wheel. Such a destructive fire was poured
into the enemy lines that when the attack was made the Germans were
generally too panic-stricken to fight with either courage or method.
Americans on the British front were concerned at this time in the
brilliant operations northeast of St. Quentin.
South of the American fighting line the French, starting from Rouvroy,
captured the hills to the eastward and the villages of Essigny and
Fontaine. South of Cambrai, where the Germans counterattacked heavily
with reserves, they made temporary gains of ground from which they
were afterward driven out. Large numbers of German gunners who
attempted to check the Allied onslaught were killed.
On the following day the Allies struck again on a front of more than
thirty miles from north of Cambrai to the south of St. Quentin and
completed the breaking through of the entire Hindenburg defensive
system from Arras to St. Quentin. The German retreat now became almost
a rout, involving thirty divisions.
At 4 o'clock in the morning with only the light of the stars and
flares to guide them Canadian and English troops pressing forward from
the north and south joined up in the chief square of Cambrai. The
Germans were in retreat behind their rear guards, and the whole city
was in Allied hands, but the enemy had mined it, and there were
constant explosions that reduced many fine buildings to ruins. It was
a great day for the Allies, and especially for the British, for in
exactly two months they had fought their way back to their old front
lines and were now far into the country beyond, which they had never
penetrated before. Cambrai, a prize, was won, and the Germans,
defeated and broken, were scuttling away with all the speed they could
muster.
During October 8-9, 1918, the battle in Champagne continued with
increasing violence from the Aisne in the region of Vaux-le-Mouron,
which the French captured, to the Suippe River at Bazancourt, which
was also won. North of St. Etienne on the Arnes River the Germans made
powerful attacks on the positions won by General Gouraud's men, but
were unable to regain a foot of ground, while their casualties were
enormous. The determined fighting here and on the Suippe River by the
Germans was evidently for the purpose of gaining time for a wide
retreat. For the persistence and vigor of the Allied pressure had
evidently disarranged all their plans, as up to this time they had
been unable to prepare a stable position to which their shattered
formations could retire in security.
In the Cambrai-St. Quentin sector the Anglo-American forces continued
to advance during October 9-10, 1918, the greatest progress being made
east and southeast of Cambrai, where Marshal Haig had pushed his lines
to the banks of the Selle River, capturing the important German base
of Le Cateau. This marked an advance of about ten miles east and
fifteen miles southeast of Cambrai in the face of determined
resistance by the enemy's rear guards. During this forward sweep many
French civilians were found in the captured villages, 2,500 being
liberated in Caudry alone.
Farther to the north several villages southeast of Lens were occupied.
The French, on the south of the British and Americans, continued to
carry out dashing attacks and wrested from the enemy a number of
villages northeast of St. Quentin. North of the Aisne they gained
possession of the Croix-sans-Tête plateau. In Champagne Liry was
occupied.
The Germans began on October 10-11, 1918, the withdrawal from their
strong positions north of the Sensee River before the far-reaching
advance of the British south of that stream. North of the Scarpe the
British pressed on in the direction of Douai, which the Germans were
preparing to abandon. From every front came the same story of German
retirement, though here and there they continued to hold on to a
strong position to hinder the advance of the Allies and secure the
safety of their fleeing forces. On the whole front from the
Soissons-Laon road to Grand Pré north of the Argonne Forest their
hosts were on the backward move. In Champagne, where General Gouraud's
army captured Machault after a four-mile advance, they were retreating
toward Vouziers, and under pressure of the converging attack west and
south of the Chemin-des-Dames were gradually forced off of that
famous height, relinquishing some of their strongest positions. In the
Laon area the Germans were facing the utmost difficulties, where the
Hunding line between the rivers Serre and Sissonne had been turned by
the French.
In the night of October 11, 1918, French advance guards occupied
Vouziers, which the Germans had burned and looted before retiring. The
highroad running west from Vouziers to Pauvres was now entirely in
French hands, and German resistance seemed weakening through this
sector. West of Pauvres the French held the slopes above the marshy
wooded valley of the Retourne.
On the left, General Berthelot's army captured the dominating height
of Cæsar's Camp and advanced beyond Mauchamp Farm to the north. Still
more important progress was made in the loop of the Aisne River, where
French cavalry aided by armored cars took Asfeld-La-Ville, thus
creating a new salient between them and the advance to the westward
which occupied the greater part of the Chemin-des-Dames.
General Mangin's troops meanwhile were encountering strong opposition
as they forced their way forward into the wooded heights that
constituted the outer bastion of the St. Gobain Forest. This
operation, taken in conjunction with the advance of Generals Debeney
and Gouraud on the flanks, rendered the position of the German forces
holding the Laon salient increasingly dangerous.
On October 12, 1918, General Mangin seized the greater part of the St.
Gobain Massif. La Fère, the outpost to the north on the Oise, was also
won. Laon, the last of the great natural obstacles forming the
keystone of the German defenses in France, yielded without a fight.
The British had now invested Douai, and the fall of that place was
only a question of hours.
All these important achievements were less spectacular than the great
battle in Flanders which began on October 14, 1918, and was fought by
the combined Belgian, French, and British troops under the command of
King Albert. The whole Allied line advanced on an irregular front of
about twenty-five miles from the region of Courtemarck to that of
Courtrai, penetrating enemy positions six and seven miles.
The British Second Army under General Sir Herbert Plumer captured the
villages of Gulleghem and Heule and advanced as far as the outskirts
of Courtrai, having taken nearly 4,000 prisoners and fifty guns. The
Belgians and French bagged over 7,000 and eighty guns.
In French Flanders the British carried their lines forward in the
neighborhood of Haubourdin about three miles west of Lille, and
farther south crossed the Haute Deule Canal and took a number of
villages northeast of Lens.
So fast were the Germans retreating that the British, French, and
Belgian infantry in the center of the battle front had lost sight of
them. The victory was especially memorable because it was a triumph
for the gallant little Belgian army, which with the assistance of
French and British had driven the despoilers of their country from a
large territory which the Germans had occupied since the first days of
the war. Moreover, they had gained in this battle such strong
positions that the Germans must soon be forced to abandon the entire
coast of Belgium.
The sweeping advance of the Allied infantry, preceded by French
cavalry which performed wonderful work in carrying out charges, left
Lille and the mining and manufacturing districts of Tourcoing,
Roubaix, and Tournai in a salient that was growing deeper every hour
and which the Germans could not possibly hold for long. In the region
of Thourout the Allies encountered intense opposition. The struggle
was here from house to house and street to street, and the casualties
were heavy on both sides. The Germans had posted machine guns in the
windows of the dwellings and in the cellars, firing streams of bullets
into the advancing Belgians, but were unable to force them back. The
troops of King Albert fought with a fierce determination to wreak
revenge on the despoilers of their country, and nothing could
withstand the cold fury of their onslaught. To the northeast of
Courtrai they stormed and captured Bavichove and on the north Andoye
and Cachten.
[Illustration: Battle lines and operations on the Western Front in
1918, including German territory held by the Allied armies of
occupation.]
The capture by the British of Linselles along the Lys placed the
Germans in the salient in a highly precarious position as the Allies
pressed forward, and it was inevitable that they must soon retire to
save themselves.
Outside Courtrai the infantry made an advance of about three miles.
Here they were forced to crush stubborn enemy attacks, the Germans
having received orders to hold on to the last. Very few of their
machine gunners who tried to hold up the Allied advance managed to
escape.
From the Thielt positions, where the French cavalry, owing to the
hardness of the ground and roads, were able to operate freely and
consequently worry the Germans, the Holland border was less than
twenty miles. It was through this gap that the Germans throughout the
whole Belgian coast system must retire if they were to save
themselves, provided that the Allies continued to advance. Every yard
of ground gained by the Allies in this area lessened the Germans'
chances of escape by narrowing the gap through which they must go.
The Allied offensive in Flanders did not spend itself for nearly three
days, the German retreat becoming more and more disorderly so that at
some points it was a veritable rout. The entire Belgian front from the
south was in constant movement. From Ostend and that section of the
Belgian coast the Germans fled precipitately. British naval forces and
Belgian aviators entered Ostend on October 17, 1918, where they were
received with cheers and tears of joy by the inhabitants.
The Allied infantry made rapid progress on October 17-18, 1918, while
the Germans were hurrying eastward through the passage between Bruges
and the Holland border. There was only one good road that they could
take and consequently this was crowded with transports and by troops
in flight continually harassed by the Belgian guns. The whole of the
German army under General von Arnim, comprising seventeen divisions,
was in retreat from the north to the region of Lille. King Albert of
Belgium and Queen Elizabeth entered Ostend in the afternoon of
October 17, 1918.
[Illustration: The Prince of Wales with General Currie and General
Watson, on a street in Denain, France, shortly after its capture by
the Canadian troops. Denain is near the border of Belgium and the
Belgian town of Valenciennes, which was taken on November 4, 1918.]
CHAPTER V
THE GERMANS RETREAT ON ALL FRONTS--BRITISH CAPTURE VALENCIENNES--THE
ARMISTICE--THE WAR OVER
The Allies continued to be masters of the situation on the Flanders
front. October 17-18, 1918, Zeebrugge, the only submarine base on the
coast remaining to the Germans after they were driven out of Ostend,
and Blankenberghe, a port four miles to the southwest, were occupied.
The French gained possession of Thielt and advanced a mile east of the
town. Southeast of Douai the British occupied a number of villages.
Roubaix and Tourcoing were entered in the afternoon of October 18,
1918. Southeast of Cambrai, on the Bohain-Le Cateau front, where
Anglo-American forces were operating, over 4,000 prisoners were taken
in the space of twenty-four hours. From the Oise River eastward to the
Argonne Forest French troops made important advances and gained
fifteen villages, many of which had been heavily fortified by the
enemy.
All that remained now of the important German conquests in France was
the somewhat narrow frontier tract between Valenciennes and Metz. Here
were two small salients around which there was intense fighting that
continued almost without cessation October 17-18, 1918.
The Americans and General Gouraud's troops on the east were hammering
at the strong German positions on the Grand Pré heights, a northern
extension of the Argonne Forest. Here the Germans had some of their
best troops stationed, who held on with grim determination, for a
break through between the Aisne and the Meuse would cut off their
retreat into Luxemburg and force them back to the forest of the
Ardennes. The other salient between Le Cateau and Rethel was so
fraught with danger to the troops holding it that early in the morning
of October 18, 1918, the Germans began to abandon their positions
under pressure of the advancing French troops.
[Illustration: The "Hindenburg line," the line of farthest German
advance and the battle line when the armistice began, November 11,
1918.]
On the west of the Oise General von Hutier was fighting desperately to
hold back the advance of General Debeney toward Guise. The French
stormed Petit Verey and Marchavenne, and continuing to push on
captured Mennevret in the morning of October 18, 1918.
The Germans were favored by two important obstacles, the group of
hills east of Berneville and the mass of Andigny Forest lying before
Wassigny. They might attempt to make a stand on the Oise near Guise
and along the Oise-Sambre Canal, but their forces had been so badly
cut up by the French that their plight had become increasingly
desperate. In less than a day they had lost more than 5,500 men and a
vast amount of military supplies.
The British army, operating in conjunction with the Belgians, attacked
on October 20, 1918, to the north and advanced past Courtrai. The
recovery of Ghent had now become inevitable if the push could be
maintained. For the Allied guns were pounding the Germans on all
sides, while their cavalry patrols, leading the infantry, pressed on
closer and closer to the city.
Meanwhile the British Third Army pushed its way eastward to the south
of Valenciennes, endangering all the German forces northward to
Flanders and southward to the Oise Canal behind which the enemy had
begun to retreat before British and Americans. This thrust upset the
German plan of trying to hold the line east of the Scheldt.
The British Third Army encountered the heaviest fighting in carrying
out this operation, for the Germans realized the importance of
delaying here their advance. Smashing all resistance the British
gained the high ground to the east of the line from which they were
advancing in the face of a torrential hail of machine-gun bullets. The
destructive gun nests were rapidly cleaned up, and the German losses
were very heavy. Fighting was especially bloody in the region of St.
Python, where the enemy fought behind barricades. South of Le Cateau
the British and Americans continued to make steady progress. American
patrols pushing out from the Mazinghien area had now reached the
banks of the Oise Canal. In this region German guns were constantly
active and all villages around were heavily shelled. It was necessary
to remove the civilians from some of these towns to places of safety.
The Germans entirely disregarded their presence.
Every hour now France and Belgium were recovering precious soil and
cities, and thousands of their people were being liberated from German
bondage. Especially grateful to the Belgians was the recovery of the
ancient city of Bruges which Belgians and British won on October 20,
1918, though German rear guards were in the neighborhood. War had not
changed greatly the grand old city built in the middle ages, or
injured the beauty of its quaint architecture. The inhabitants massed
before the Hôtel de Ville were celebrating their liberation from the
Germans' yoke. Everyone had a flag or banner--British, Belgian, or
French--and the British troops were received with the wildest
enthusiasm and hailed as saviors.
Throughout the night of October 20-21, 1918, and during the day the
Allied troops were everywhere driving the Germans eastward. In Belgium
they were now within three miles of Eecloo and along the whole
forty-mile stretch between Courtrai and the Dutch border British,
French, and Belgians were hustling the enemy backward and closing in
around Ghent. In the center the British were on the west bank of the
Scheldt, north of Tournai, before which the Germans were making a
determined stand with countless machine guns. Frontally the British
held positions near Valenciennes, and to the northwest had penetrated
the great Viccigne-Raismes Forest. Northwest of Lille they were
driving on toward Le Quesnoy and fighting every foot of the way.
The great battle had now entered into the second phase. The first was
the wiping out of the Lille salient, when the Germans were driven out
of western Belgium. This accomplished, the Allies on the north started
a sweeping movement on October 20-21, 1918, pivoting on a point east
of Courtrai, the purpose of which was to clear the Germans from their
front in northern Belgium and at the same time threaten their right
flank.
In the center of the fighting area the British were pushing forward
toward the west bank of the Scheldt. The Germans took advantage of the
width of the stream and its marshy borders, where they found some
protection from the Allied pressure. They were hiding in shallow
trenches; their artillery in the rear, sadly depleted in numbers,
afforded them very little help. In their hurried flight the Germans
had little time in which to remove their artillery and vast stores of
ammunition. They destroyed some material, but a great deal fell into
the hands of the Allies, especially guns. These were promptly turned
toward the east, and shells made in Germany were hurled at their
former owners as they fled in panicky retreat.
October 21-22, 1918, on the twenty-five-mile front from Pont-à-Chin
northwest of Tournai to Thiant, southwest of Valenciennes, British
troops engaged along the western bank of the Scheldt won ground at
many points. South of Tournai they captured the villages of Hollain
and Bruyelle and drove into the western suburbs of Valenciennes.
In northern Belgium troops under King Albert gained the Lys Canal on
the whole of their front and had pushed across the stream. The Second
British Army, advancing on a front of about a mile between the Lys and
the Scheldt under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire established a
bridgehead on the river to the east of Pecq.
The Third and Fourth British Armies began a new drive on October 23,
1918, to the south of Valenciennes, smashing through strong German
defenses to a depth of three miles and capturing many important
villages, several thousand prisoners and numerous guns. This attack
resulted in the driving of a wedge into German positions at a point
considered the most vital of the lines which the Germans were holding.
The enemy fought courageously, the gunners holding out to the last.
The British First Army to the north continued to harass the foe by
continued attacks, and gained positions well to the northeast of
Valenciennes whose fall was imminent. The British were now only three
miles from Le Quesnoy and still forging ahead toward the town.
Catillon was carried early in the fighting, and later the British
occupied Ors. Before retreating, the Germans destroyed all the bridges
over the canal between these places.
The heaviest fighting in this battle was in Leveque Wood, where the
Germans had cunningly hidden machine-gun nests that were difficult to
overcome. But the wood was cleared after a time and the British
pressed on to the great Mormal Forest on the edge of which the Germans
were concentrating troops to make a stand.
The British continued to make gains on the following day south of
Valenciennes, capturing several villages and strong points. On the
north the Germans were cleared from the Raismes Forest. Advances were
made along the whole front between the Sambre Canal and the Scheldt
(about seventeen miles), and the forward pressure continued without
relaxation, though the Germans attempted by counterattacks to gain
time. Since the fighting began on the previous day over 7,000
prisoners and 100 guns were captured by the British.
In order to check the advance on Valenciennes the Germans broke down
the banks and opened the sluice gates northeast and southwest of the
city and flooded vast stretches of country. The British, however,
continued to drive ahead, and fighting their way into the city from
the west, there were spirited fights in the streets between patrols.
During the night of October 23-24, 1918, artillery duels increased on
the battle front south of the city.
The British gunners wrought fearful damage in the traffic-crowded
roads to the rear of the German line. The advance of the British in
the moonlight, protected by flocks of night bombing airplanes, offered
a strange and moving dramatic spectacle. At Pomereuil they were held
up for a time by a heavy concentration of machine guns. Waiting until
the advance had made progress north and south of them, they swept
around on both sides of the gun nests. They found the German machine
gunners occupying positions around a triangular space that had been
cleared. The British, ignoring the invitation to enter the clearing,
passed the gunners and captured Pomereuil Wood behind the triangle,
and thus surrounded the enemy. Then they stormed and carried the
position.
Continuing their attacks upon the German lines south of Valenciennes,
the British on October 25, 1918, advancing on a front of between six
and seven miles, reached the Le Quesnoy-Valenciennes railway,
capturing several villages on the way. Simultaneously with this
operation the French armies, striking on the Serre and Aisne Rivers
over a front of about forty miles, advanced their lines at all points,
capturing villages and positions and taking over 3,000 prisoners. East
of Courtrai, in the direction of the Scheldt, the British and French
troops made further progress, wresting a number of villages and
positions from the enemy.
The climax of the French attack was General Guillemat's drive east of
Laon against the Hunding position, the elaborately prepared line
protecting the German center. Here was a quadruple trench system
backed by concrete shelters, five lines of barbed wire each twenty
feet deep, and the ground between planted with antitank mines, yet the
indomitable French soldiers broke through it on a ten-mile front
between St. Quentin-le-Petit and Herpy, and held their ground against
deluges of gas and high-explosive shells.
On the center of the great offensive General Mangin's army took
Mortiers, on the south bank of the Serre, and gained a bridgehead
north of the river.
Farther north the British continued to press forward toward
Valenciennes, and on their right General Plumer's troops under command
of King Albert continued to cooperate in the drive against the German
line on the Scheldt.
On the whole forty-mile front of the offensive which the French began
on October 25, 1918, great gains of territory were made. The Germans
lost Crecy-sur-Serre in the center, and were forced to abandon a good
part of the Hunding position. In two days Generals Debeney and
Guillemat captured more than 6,000 prisoners, twenty cannon, and
hundreds of machine guns. On October 27, 1918, General Debeney had
pushed on to the outskirts of Guise. The Germans on this date
launched three fierce attacks against three different points on the
British front southeast of Valenciennes, all of which ended for them
in disaster and heavy losses.
The British forward movement south of Valenciennes slowed down on
October 28, 1918, but the French between the Oise and the Serre drove
the Germans back two miles at the apex of their attack in the region
of Bois-les-Pargny. On the Aisne front west of Château Porcien they
drove forward to the north of Herpy.
In Belgium the Allies' positions became daily more favorable, while
the difficulties of the Germans increased proportionately. The Allies
were now within five miles of Ghent, and it was only owing to the
delay in bringing up artillery that the city had not already fallen.
In the hope of destroying the Allies' lines of communication with
Bruges the Germans kept Stroobrigge under continuous fire. Maideghem
and Aldeghem were also subjected to incessant artillery attacks.
The retirement of General Ludendorff, formerly chief of staff and
really generalissimo of the German armies at this time, was an event
of the highest importance. As the persistent advocate of war to the
bitter end, and which he had never failed to assert would result in
the defeat of Germany's enemies, his throwing up the sponge at a time
of crisis in his country's destiny could only mean one of two things:
he had all the effective power of the empire against him, or he
foresaw the triumph of the Allies and was eager to seek cover before
the German armies were forced to surrender.
On the last day of the month the Allies wrested from the Germans a big
slice of territory in Belgium between Deynze on the north and Avelghem
on the south on a battle front of about fifteen miles. The attack in
which Belgian, French, British, and American troops were engaged, was
launched before 6 o'clock in the morning, and by noon the British had
broken their way through to a depth of 400 yards while on their left
their allies were encountering strong opposition, but winning high
ground between the Lys and Scheldt Rivers. Many towns and hamlets
were liberated during this drive, including Pergwyk, Tierghein,
Anseghem and Winterken. The front of this attack was about twelve
miles, and German positions were penetrated to a depth of three and
four miles.
The Allies resumed the offensive on this battle front on the following
day and won an advance of more than five miles, which brought them to
the Scheldt from Berchem to Gavere, ten miles south of Ghent. South of
Valenciennes an advance of two miles resulted in the capture of Alnoy
and Preseau. This forward drive carried the British to the southern
edge of the flooded territory around Valenciennes. They captured
during the advance between 3,000 and 4,000 prisoners.
The city of Valenciennes which the Germans had held so long and so
tenaciously was captured by the British in the morning of November 2,
1918. The Canadian troops under General Currie encountered strong
resistance from the enemy in the outskirts, and after a hard struggle
crushed all resistance and entered the city. Other British contingents
pressing on beyond Valenciennes occupied St. Saulve to the northeast
on the road to Mons. West of Landrécies in the Mormal Forest region
the British advanced their lines and took a number of prisoners.
The Germans by opening the Scheldt sluice gates had flooded the
northern side of the city, and their only way of escape was to the
southeast, where they had concentrated all their available forces.
These fought with stubborn energy, but they failed to more than delay
for a time the advance of the Canadians and English, who were
supported by an immense concentration of artillery. The enemy's
counterattacks were made with the help of tanks, but they all broke
down, and the British captured the tanks and thousands of prisoners.
Valenciennes, though in British hands on November 2, 1918, was still
an uncomfortable place for the inhabitants, who were in a confused
state of mind twixt joy and fear. There was joy that they had been
liberated and fear because of the shells that were falling around them
and passing over the houses. The way from Douai to Valenciennes was a
scene of ruin and desolation as the British and Canadians had fought
their way through the villages along these roads, and most of the
houses were smashed by German shells.
An interesting souvenir left by the Germans in Valenciennes was a
poster on the walls which the inhabitants of the city could now afford
to laugh at. This was an order for the mobilization of all the men
between the ages of 15 and 35, who must present themselves to the
German commandant in order to be evacuated through the German lines.
In case any disregarded this order severe penalties were to be
exacted. This order was dated October 31, 1918, and the day of
mobilization was to take place on November 1, 1918, the day before the
British entered the city. Twenty thousand people were expelled by
force on October 3, 1918, and driven in the direction of Mons. Only
about 5,000 remained in the city and these were employed by the
Germans in city work, such as maintaining the fire and water supplies,
cleaning the streets, washing, and in various menial offices. Among
those in the city when the British took possession were many who after
the expulsion on October 3, 1918, were too feeble to continue the
march and had dropped out, encumbering the German line of retreat.
There were others who had escaped from their German captors, and also
a number of young men who had hidden themselves and lived in cellars
for days.
During the last week of the German occupation only one regiment was
allowed in the city and this was chiefly to pillage, as the troops
defending the place were holding positions outside. Many houses were
looted, especially on the night before the British stormed the
outskirts.
The German officers were especially eager for souvenirs which took the
form of valuable paintings cut from the frames, and which they found
in houses of the better class. The German Government had been hard,
and there were fines for the slightest infraction of rules, which
increased in severity as the enemy needed money. Trivial offenses at
first were punished by a hundred marks fine, but in the last days of
German occupation it was raised to two thousand marks.
While the British were driving forward on the Valenciennes front the
American army was winning laurels north of Verdun, where they smashed
the Freya Line and put the Germans to rout. The advance on this
difficult front was intended to cut the German line of communications.
This was achieved.
On the left of the Americans the French Fourth Army was in hot pursuit
of the Germans who were fleeing across the Argonne Forest. The French
smashed the enemy's rear guards, who attempted to delay the advance,
and made important progress along the whole line of attack. On the
left Semuy was taken and the French lines were carried as far as the
southern bank of the Ardennes Canal. To the south Bois Vandy and the
village of Balay were cleared of Germans, who fought desperately but
were unable to delay for more than a few hours the irresistible
advance of the French troops. On the right Longwe and Primat were
occupied. North of the last-named place the French pushed on past
Chêne Pâté and despite that formidable obstacle, the Argonne Forest,
continued to pursue the Germans, whose retreat was so hurried that
they left large quantities of material on the field which they had not
found time to destroy. In the course of this advance the French
captured over 1,400 prisoners.
South and east of Valenciennes, where the Germans had established
positions, the British on November 2-3, 1918, were fighting their way
forward, driving back the enemy rear guards and taking prisoners.
Field Marshal Haig's troops won another notable victory on November 4,
1918, when attacking on a thirty-mile front between the Scheldt and
the Oise-Sambre Canal, with the French cooperating on the right, a
drive was made into enemy positions and over 10,000 Germans and 200
guns were captured. The British drive, in which troops of the First,
Third, and Fourth Armies participated, resulted in the capture of
Landrécies south of the Mormal Forest, Catillon, and a considerable
number of smaller towns, and advanced the British lines more than
three miles to the east of the Oise-Sambre Canal. North of this
stream, in the great Mormal Forest, the British won strongly fortified
positions and advanced to the center of the wood.
To the south the Fifth French Army under General Debeney, linking up
with the British, forced the passage of the canal and made an advance
to a depth of two miles beyond it, driving the Germans from a number
of villages of great strategic importance. In this advance the French
bagged 30,000 prisoners and a large number of cannon.
King Albert's army in Belgium continued to gain victories and to press
the German retreat. He had completed the work of forcing the enemy
across the Terneuzen Canal, which runs northward from Ghent and is
close to the suburbs of the city on two sides. South of Ghent the west
bank of the Scheldt was now in the hands of the Allies.
British and French armies in Belgium continued to crush and overrun
the German positions. In the morning of November 5, 1918, the British
forced their way through the greater part of the Mormal Forest, the
infantry being east of a line through Locquignol and Les Grandes
Pâtures. They had overcome the formidable defenses on the western
fringe of the forest and had now confronting them only hastily
improvised machine-gun posts. The French continued to drive the
Germans before them between the Sambre Canal and the Argonne Forest,
clearing the enemy out of wide stretches of territory and carrying
their line forward more than six miles. The towns of Guise and Marie
were captured during this advance and 4,000 Germans and 60 guns.
On November 6, 1918, a German delegation left Berlin for the western
front to conclude an armistice with Marshal Foch, representing the
Allied armies. The negotiations led to a cessation of hostilities on
November 11, 1918.
The victorious sweep of the Allies continued undiminished from the
Scheldt to the Meuse, where the Germans were being driven back along
the whole front. On November 6, 1918, the British, advancing east of
the Mormal Forest, occupied a number of villages and the important
railway junction at Aulnoye. The French armies made a bound of from
five to seven miles along the whole front. Vervins, Rethel, and
Montcornet, all important places, were occupied and the advance
continued.
Crossing the Belgian border north and east of Hirson, French cavalry
occupied a number of villages and the important fortress of Hirson,
advancing their line nine miles at some points. Along the entire
thirty-mile front from the junction of the French and British armies
to the Meuse east of Mézières, now strongly invested, the French
pushed on with irresistible ardor. The water barriers of the Thon and
the Aure were forced, and the plateaus to the north occupied. On the
British front the same story of victory was repeated. Field Marshal
Haig's troops completed the capture of Tournai, and Antoing, to the
south of that Belgian city, was occupied. On November 9, 1918, the
British had driven forward to the outskirts of Renaix, twelve miles
northeast of Tournai. The Second and Fifth Armies meanwhile had gained
the east bank of the Scheldt throughout their entire front. These
operations took place north of the Mons-Condé Canal, along the line of
which the British were advancing on Mons. South of the Belgian
frontier they took the important town of Maubeuge, and pressed on
toward the Belgian frontier on both sides of the Sambre, meeting with
only feeble resistance from the disorganized enemy.
The remaining inhabitants of Tournai, which the British entered on
November 8, 1918, received their liberators with wild demonstrations
of joy such as only a people were capable of who had lived for years
under the tyrannic rule of the Germans. For three weeks before the
British captured the town the inhabitants had been living in cellars
in hourly fear that the furious gunfire would smash the buildings
above their heads and that they would be buried in the ruins. There
was also the dread that asphyxiating gas would creep into their hiding
places and destroy them with its fumes. A month before British
occupation the Germans had carried away all the able-bodied men in the
place, numbering more than 10,000, leaving their women-folk to weep
for them. For a week previous to the British entry Tournai was under
bombardment day and night. Then forty-eight hours before the Germans
were driven out more terrible sounds were heard by the frightened
people hiding in the cellars, explosions that shook every building as
by an earthquake. The Germans were blowing up the bridges over the
Scheldt Canal, and their retreat from Tournai had begun.
Though German delegates were on their way to the French front to
arrange for an armistice, the Allies continued to fight and advance
with the same irresistible ardor as if there had been no question of a
cessation of hostilities. In southern Belgium the British continued to
carry their lines forward, reaching on November 10, 1918, the
Franco-Belgian frontier south of the Sambre. North of the Mons-Condé
Canal they pressed on beyond the Scheldt, capturing Leuze, while
British cavalry advanced to Ath, which lies sixteen miles east of
Tournai.
Farther to the north the British captured Renaix and carried their
line to a point four miles to the east of that place.
While the British were sweeping on in southern Belgium the French were
engaged in repulsing strong attacks launched against them as they
crossed the Meuse. Numerous villages along the whole line were freed
from the enemy. Here, as at other places, the haste of the German
retreat was emphasized by the abandonment of vast stores of war
material, cannon, and even railroad trains, which fell into the hands
of the French.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon of November 10, 1918, General Gouraud
made his official entry into Sedan; a thrilling hour for the French as
they recalled the German triumph here in the war of 1870.
Slowly, but surely, French territory occupied by the enemy along the
Belgian frontier was diminishing in size. The French troops everywhere
were now within a short day's march of the border line, and but for
the congested roads encumbered with traffic, and by the booty which
the Germans left behind, the liberation of French soil could have been
completed in less than a day's advance.
[Illustration: The German territory occupied under the armistice
terms.]
Though it was known among the troops of the Allies as well as by the
Germans that an armistice might be declared at any moment, there were
no changes in the attitude of the combatants. The Germans fought when
they had to, sullenly and determinedly, but most of their efforts were
concentrated in making all haste they could to reach the border. To
the last they showed a savage spirit, and nowhere more so than at
Mézières, where throughout the morning of November 10, 1918, their
batteries deluged the city with high explosives and poison gas. There
20,000 civilians--men, women, and children--were shut in, with no hope
of escape. Incendiary shells fired a hospital, and it was necessary to
evacuate the wounded to the cellars near by, where the panic-stricken
inhabitants were crouching. There was some protection from shells in
the cellars, but none against the heavy fumes of poison gas with which
the Germans proceeded to flood the city. There were no gas masks and
no chemicals that would enable the people to improvise protective head
coverings.
The British captured Mons during the night of November 10-11, 1918,
after a stiff fight outside the town. For the British the war ended at
Mons as it had begun there. Since early morning their troops knew that
the armistice had been signed, and that hostilities would cease at 11
o'clock. All the way to Mons British forces were on the march with
bands playing, and nearly every man carried on his rifle a little flag
of France or Belgium.
Ghent was the last Belgian town which was rescued from the Germans
before the armistice. They held the canal in front of it by
machine-gun fire until 2 o'clock in the morning of November 11, 1918,
when they made a hurried retreat.
A dozen Belgian soldiers, led by a young lieutenant, were the first to
enter the city, and a few minutes later the streets were thronged with
people wild with joy, who embraced the troops and each other, shouting
and cheering. After four years of oppressive German rule Ghent of
historic memories was free.
[Illustration: A Canadian brigade, serving as Guard of Honor, in the
occupation of Mons, Belgium, taken by Canadian forces on November 11,
1918. The fighting of British troops thus ended with a victorious
entry into the town where their first terrible battle was fought in
1914.]
Hostilities ceased on all the battle fronts at 11 a. m. on November
11, 1918. The machine guns and great cannon that had rattled and
thundered for fifty months were silent. On the front lines, when the
last shot was fired, the British, Americans, and Belgians gave free
vent to their feelings of joy that the war was over, the victory won.
The soldiers of France were less demonstrative and seemed unable at
first to realize that the long-drawn agony was ended; but though they
did not express themselves in wild cheering, every face was aglow with
pride and happiness. Back of the lines, among the ruined villages,
there were more evidences of the gladness that filled every
war-weary heart, and while church bells rung out a joyous peal the
songs of victory, which had cheered the poilus through the long
conflict, resounded again with a deeper feeling and more triumphant
note.
According to the terms of the armistice the Germans yielded over to
Allied occupation "the countries on the left bank of the Rhine,"
together with surrender to Allied control of the crossings of the
Rhine at Mayence, Coblenz, and Cologne, including bridgeheads of
thirty-kilometer radius on the eastern bank of the river and the
establishment of a neutral zone on that bank from thirty to forty
kilometers in breadth and running from the frontier of Holland to the
Swiss frontier.
On November 17, 1918, the Allied armies of occupation began the march
to the Rhine. The American army, consisting of six divisions under
General Dickman, was the first to start, moving in a northeasterly
direction on a front of fifty miles from Mouzon on the Meuse to beyond
Fresnes. At Montmédy, the first important place reached by the
Americans, they were received with wild acclamation by the inhabitants
and the Stars and Stripes waved from the Hôtel de Ville. At Longwy and
Briey, the great industrial centers, it was the same story. Lorraine
and Luxemburg were crossed and Coblenz was reached on December 12,
1918, where headquarters of the army of occupation were established.
On the same date the British Second and Fourth Army under Generals
Plumer and Rawlinson began their advance to Cologne. In conjunction
with their allies, a French army under General Mangin set out for
Mayence, while General Pétain, now a marshal of France, entered Metz.
Throughout Belgium and France the armies of the Allies received the
most enthusiastic reception in which there was no discordant note. It
was only when they crossed the border and entered Germany that they
met with veiled hostility. There were crowds and bands, but no
enthusiasm. But, if this was lacking, there were no aggressive
manifestations of hatred toward the invaders of the Fatherland. A
sense of joy and relief that the war was over vanquished for the time
at least every other feeling.
PART II--RUSSIA
[Illustration: Map of the Western front.
MAP OF WESTERN FRONT
Although many important campaigns, some of them of dazzling
brilliancy, were carried on during the World War in various parts of
Europe and Asia in Russia, Palestine, Bulgaria, and on the Italo
Austrian frontier, the result of the struggle was decided on the
western front. Here the great armies of Germany and the Entente were
locked for four years in death grapple. The map shows the theater of
operations. The white line marks the farthest limit of the German
advance, when in September, 1914, their armies were turned back when
Von Kluck was within twenty two miles of Paris. Within that line and
the black line with white dots which marks the position of the
contending armies when the armistice was signed, November 11, 1918,
the heaviest fighting of the war took place. In this area are shown
the Marne River, which the Germans reached in 1914 and 1918, the
Aisne, to which they retreated after their first repulse before Paris,
and the Somme, where the Allies were victorious in the campaign of
1918. The heavy red lines include the territory of Germany occupied by
the victorious Allies after the armistice. Of this, Alsace and
Lorraine have been definitely ceded to France by the Peace Treaty. At
three great crossings of the Rhine--Cologne, Coblenz and
Mayence--bridgeheads were established, each with a radius of eighteen
miles to be occupied respectively by British, American, and French
armies. The oblique red lines on the right bank of the Rhine mark a
strip six miles wide and parallel with the river that constitutes a
neutral zone. The occupied territory is to be held for fifteen years,
the period in which it is estimated Germany will have paid the
indemnity demanded by the Treaty.
ST. MIHIEL BATTLE GROUND
The battle of St. Mihiel was fought September 12th, 1918. It was
notable not only for the completeness of the victory, but also because
it was the first great battle planned and fought wholly under American
direction. The St. Mihiel salient had been formed during the first
invasion by the Germans in 1914 and had been held by them for four
years. In two days the American First Army wiped it out of existence.
The red dots indicate the line of the contending armies when the
battle was joined. The broad red line shows the position three days
later. The salient was crushed by the irristible onset of the
Americans, and 152 square miles of territory, including seventy-two
villages, were taken. In twenty-seven hours after the attack was
launched 15,000 prisoners and hundreds of guns were captured, together
with vast stores of munitions and supplies, while a force of Germans,
estimated from 90,000 to 100,000 men, was in headlong retreat. The
battle was of immense strategic importance, as it freed Verdun from
menace on its right flank and placed the dominating heights of the
Meuse in Allied hands.
MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE
The battle of the Argonne Forest has been described as the greatest of
the war. It was certainly the most difficult. The story of its taking
is an epic and reflects imperishable glory on American arms. The
forest had been held by the Germans for four years. Its natural
difficulties were so great that Napoleon himself had refused to attack
it, believing it impregnable. To these natural obstacles the Germans
had brought all the aids of military science. Every foot of it had
been ranged for their artillery. Thousands of miles of barbed wire had
been wound from bush to bush and tree to tree. Myriads of machine-gun
nests commanded all strategic points. The ground had to be won foot by
foot. It was believed even by many of the Allied commanders that
success was impossible. The Germans realized the tremendous importance
of the position, and had brought up their best divisions for its
defense. But the power and fury of the American attack could not be
denied. The American First Army began the battle September 26, 1918,
between the Meuse and Aisne Rivers, directly east of Rheims, on a
front of twenty miles. They took 5,000 prisoners on the first day, and
3,000 more on the second, besides obtaining all their objectives. Day
by day the struggle continued, the Americans always advancing, until
by October 16 Grand Pré was taken and the forest was practically
cleared. From that point the First Army under General Liggett, and the
Second under General Bullard fought their way to the Meuse. The red
dotted line shows where the offensive began, and the broad red line
indicates the position when the armistice was signed, November 11,
1918.]
[Illustration: New Map of Europe.
NEW MAP OF EUROPE
The arbitrament of war has changed the face of Europe. In the central
and eastern portions of the Continent all national boundary lines have
been recast. Some of the changes made are definite and final. Others
are tentative and still await final definition. A multitude of
conflicting claims have had to be adjusted, and the task is so
colossal that months or years may elapse before the work of the
various boundary commissions is completed. In cases where doubt
existed as to the propriety of certain proposed changes, arrangements
were made for a plebiscite whereby the people of the territory in
question could determine by vote to what nation they wished to belong.
In still other cases, cities, districts, and waterways were
internationalized and placed under the control of the League of
Nations. The general principle sought to be followed was that of
self-determination of peoples and an opportunity for every nation to
develop economic prosperity. The principle was of necessity modified
in judging the Central Powers, where the question of reparation was a
factor. Territorially, France and Poland have gained most heavily,
while Germany and Austria-Hungary have been the greatest losers.
The one decision concerning which there was no question in the Peace
Conference was the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine (1) to France, from
whom it had been wrested by Germany forty-eight years before. The coal
mines of the Saar Valley (2) region were given to France outright in
compensation for the wrecking of French coal mines at Lens, and
whether the region itself should be restored to Germany or remain
attached to France was to be determined by vote of the inhabitants
after fifteen years. The district covers 738 square miles. The
sovereignty of Germany over Moresnet and the circles of Eupen and
Malmedy (3) was relinquished to Belgium. The people of these circles
could, if they chose, protest within six months this change of
nationality. The territory in question covers 382 square miles. Parts
of Schleswig (4) representing 2,787 square miles, formerly taken from
Denmark by Prussia, are to determine their nationality by popular
vote. The district is divided into three zones for this purpose.
Poland (5) receives outright parts of Silesia, Posen, and West
Prussia, with a total of 27,683 square miles. The city of Danzig (6)
on the Baltic is made a free port under the supervision of the League
of Nations. An area about the city aggregating 729 square miles is
internationalized. Parts of East Prussia (7) and Upper Silesia (8)
will have their destiny determined by vote of the inhabitants. By far
the greatest sufferer in the new territorial adjustment is the former
empire of Austria-Hungary (9), which from an area of 240,000 square
miles was reduced to about 25,000 square miles. Part of this had been
lost when Hungary (10) seceded from the Dual Empire shortly after the
armistice was declared. Apart from the cessions to Italy, the new
state of Czecho-Slovakia (11), four times as large as Belgium, and
covering 48,000 square miles, has been carved out of the former
territory of the Hapsburg Monarchy. The greater part of Jugoslavia
(12), officially known as the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and
Slovenes, has also been formed from former Austro-Hungarian territory.
The fate of the city of Fiume (13) is still undetermined, as is the
final disposition of the Dalmation coast (14), the greater part of
which, however, is certain to be assigned to Italy. The Trentino (15)
and Istria (16), formerly part of the "Italian Irredenta," have been
made definitely Italian. Thrace (17) has been taken from Bulgarian
control and placed at the disposition of the Allies, and Bulgaria (18)
has been compelled to rectify her frontiers at several points in favor
of Serbia. Rumania receives Transylvania (19) and the richest part of
the Banat of Temesvar (20). Bessarabia (21) was united with Rumania
before the conclusion of the war. The Ukraine (22), one of the richest
sections of the old Russian Empire, has seceded from the parent state.
Finland's independence (23) has been recognized by the Powers. The
group of what was known as the Russian Baltic Provinces, and whose
problems are largely identical, Esthonia (24), Latvia (25), and
Lithuania (26), have declared themselves independent republics. The
truncated territory of the former Russian Empire is now under Soviet
government with Moscow as capital. In the Near East, Georgia (28) and
Armenia have set up a republican form of government, but their
boundaries are as yet ill-defined.
[Transcriber's note: the numbering in the text skips from (26) to
(28)--there is no (27)! Also, there are no footnotes on the page to
match the numbers.]]
CHAPTER VI
COUNTERING THE GERMANS IN FALLEN RUSSIA
With the complete surrender of Bolshevist Russia to the Germans,
through the notorious Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, there was presented to
the Allies the problem of supporting those elements in the country
still disposed to resist the Teutonic invasion. Military intervention,
by way of Siberia, with the active assistance of the Japanese, was
proposed, but met with the determined opposition of President Wilson,
whose strong democratic principles deterred him from interfering with
the internal affairs of Russia under any pretext whatever.
Subsequently he modified his views on this point, being largely
influenced by the Czecho-Slovak movement, one of the most remarkable
and picturesque features of the entire war.
As already stated in previous installments of this work, the
Czecho-Slovaks were Slavic soldiers of the Austrian armies who had
been taken prisoners by the Russians, and who, after the fall of the
Czar, volunteered to fight against the Central Powers with the Allies
because of their desire to obtain independence for Bohemia and
Slovakia, parts of the dominions of the Austrian empire. They look a
leading part in the offensive which Kerensky attempted against the
Teutons, and which failed so disastrously on account of the broken
morale of the Russians. When the Bolsheviki seized the reins of
government, the Czecho-Slovaks refused to lay down their arms and
asked that they might be permitted to retire from Russia by way of
Vladivostok, whence they hoped to be transported to France and allowed
to take their place with the Allies on the western front. To this
arrangement the Bolsheviki agreed, and the Czecho-Slovaks began at
once embarking on trains over the Trans-Siberian Railroad. But before
even the first contingents had safely reached Vladivostok, friction
broke out between them and the Bolsheviki, which presently took on the
aspect of an armed conflict, with remarkably successful results for
the Czecho-Slovaks, who gained almost complete possession of the
railroad and large areas of Siberia.
The Bolsheviki maintained that Allied intrigues had caused the
Czecho-Slovaks to turn on them, while the Allied representatives laid
the blame to German pressure applied to the Soviet Government. Captain
Vladimir Hurban, an officer of the Czecho-Slovak Army, who came to
Washington to report to Prof. Masaryk, President of the National
Council of the Czecho-Slovaks, supplies details which are not only of
vivid interest in themselves, but assist in fixing the responsibility
for the bloodshed which resulted in such advantages to the Allied
cause.
"When the Bolshevist Soviet Government signed the peace treaty in the
beginning of March, 1918," says Captain Hurban, in his personal
narrative, "our army of about 50,000 was in Ukrainia, near Kiev....
The Germans advanced against us in overwhelming numbers and there was
danger that we would be surrounded.... The Bolshevist Red Guards had
seized the locomotives and were fleeing east in panic. Under these
circumstances Emperor Charles sent us a special envoy with the promise
that if we would disarm we should be amnestied and our land should
receive autonomy. We refused to negotiate with the Austrian emperor.
"As we could not hold a front, we began to retreat to the eastward....
When we arrived at Bachmac the Germans were there waiting for us.
There began a battle lasting four days, in which they were badly
defeated and which enabled us to get our trains through. The commander
of the German detachment offered us a forty-eight hour truce, which
we accepted, for our duty was to leave Ukrainia. The truce was
canceled by the German chief commander, Linsingen, but too late; our
trains had already got away. We lost altogether about 600 men in dead,
wounded, and missing, while we buried 2,000 Germans in one day.
"In this manner we escaped from Ukrainia. Our relations with the
Bolsheviki were still good. We refrained from meddling in Russian
internal affairs, and we tried to come to an agreement with the
Bolshevist Government with respect to our departure, or passage
through Russia. But already signs were visible that the Bolsheviki,
either under German influence or because we then represented the only
real power in Russia, would try to put obstacles in our way. It would
have sufficed to order one of our regiments--our army was then, in
March, near Moscow--to take Moscow, and in half a day there would have
been no Bolshevist Government; for then we were well armed, having
taken from the front everything we could carry, to prevent it from
falling into the hands of the Germans.... To prove indisputably our
loyalty we turned over to the Bolsheviki everything, all our arms,
with the exception of a few rifles (ten rifles to each 100 men). The
equipment we turned over to the Bolsheviki, including arms, horses,
automobiles, aeroplanes, etc., was worth more than a million rubles,
and it was legally in our possession, for we took it away from the
Germans, to whom it had been abandoned by the fleeing Bolsheviki. This
transfer of the equipment was, of course, preceded by an agreement
made between us and the Moscow Government by which we were guaranteed
unmolested passage through Siberia, to which the Government pledged to
give its unconditional support....
"Under such circumstances we began our pilgrimage east. I was in the
first train--there were then eighty trains of us--which was to prepare
the way. We were determined to leave Russia without a conflict.
Notwithstanding that we kept our word, that we surrendered all arms
except the few necessary, our progress was hindered, and unending
negotiations had to be repeated in every seat of a local soviet. We
were threatened by machine guns, cannon, but we patiently stood it
all, though the Bolsheviki Red Guard could have been disbanded by a
few of our volunteers. After fifty-seven days of such tiresome travel
our first train arrived at Vladivostok, where we were enthusiastically
received by the Allied units stationed there.
"When the Germans saw that we, notwithstanding all their intrigues,
were nearing Vladivostok, they exercised a direct pressure on Lenine
and Trotzky; for the things that were committed by the Soviets cannot
any further be explained away on the grounds of ignorance. The trains
were stopped at different stations, so that they were finally stopped
at a distance of fifty miles from each other. Provoking incidents of
all kinds were the order of the day. The arming of the German and
Magyar prisoners was begun on a large scale. One of the orders of
Tchitcherin, Bolshevist foreign minister, reads: 'Dispatch all German
and Magyar prisoners out of Siberia; stop the Czecho-Slovaks.' Three
members of our National Council, who were sent to Moscow for an
explanation of the stopping of our trains, were arrested. At the same
time our trains were attacked at different stations by Soviet troops,
formed mostly of German and Magyar prisoners.
"I will recall the Irkutsk incident. Our train, with about 400 men,
armed with ten rifles and twenty hand grenades, was surrounded by a
few thousand Red Guards, armed with machine guns and cannon. Their
commander gave our men ten minutes in which to surrender their arms,
or be shot. According to their habit, our leaders began negotiations:
Suddenly there was heard the German command, 'schiessen!' and the Red
Guards began firing at the train. Our men jumped off the train, and in
five minutes all the machine guns were in their possession, the
Russian Bolsheviki disarmed, and all the Magyars and Germans done away
with. The Siberian Government, which resides in Irkutsk and which, as
it appeared later, ordered this attack, can thank only the
intervention of the American and French consuls that it was not
destroyed by our embittered volunteers.
"To what extreme our loyalty was carried is shown by the fact that,
although perfidiously attacked, and although we disarmed the Red
Guard in Irkutsk, we still began new negotiations, with the result
that we surrendered all our arms, on the condition that all German and
Magyar prisoners would be disarmed and disbanded, and that we would be
allowed to proceed unmolested."
As narrated in a previous volume of this work, the Czecho-Slovaks were
thus compelled to engage in military operations against the
Bolsheviki, and in doing so obtained possession of large areas in
Siberia, including large cities, where they were welcomed by the
populations and dissolved the Soviets. On the other hand, however,
many large units of them found themselves isolated and unable to
proceed on their way to Vladivostok. It was to assist them to
extricate themselves from these positions that the United States
finally agreed to dispatch a limited military force to Russian
territory. Late in July, 1918, an arrangement to this effect was made
with Japan. And on August 3, 1918, an official announcement was issued
at Washington, in part as follows:
"In the judgment of the Government of the United States--a judgment
arrived at after repeated and very searching consideration of the
whole situation--military intervention in Russia would be more likely
to add to the present sad confusion there than to cure it, and would
injure Russia, rather than help her out of her distress. Such military
intervention as has been most frequently proposed, even supposing it
to be efficacious in its immediate object of delivering an attack upon
Germany from the east, would, in its judgment, be more likely to turn
out to be merely a method of making use of Russia than to be a method
of saving her. Her people, if they profited by it at all, would not
profit by it in time to deliver them from their present desperate
difficulties, and their substance would meantime be used to maintain
foreign armies, not to reconstitute their own, or to feed their own
men, women, and children. We are bending all our energies now to the
purpose of winning on the western front, and it would, in the judgment
of the Government of the United States, be most unwise to divide or
dissipate our forces.
"As the Government of the United States sees the present
circumstances, therefore, military action is admissible in Russia now
only to render such protection and help as is possible to the
Czecho-Slovaks against the armed Austrian and German prisoners who are
attacking them, and to steady any efforts at self-government or
self-defense in which the Russians themselves may be willing to accept
assistance. Whether from Vladivostok or from Murmansk and Archangel,
the only present object for which American troops will be employed
will be to guard military stores which may subsequently be needed by
Russian forces and to render such aid as may be acceptable to the
Russians in the organization of their own self-defense.
"With such objects in view, the Government of the United States is now
cooperating with the Governments of France and Great Britain in the
neighborhood of Murmansk and Archangel. The United States and Japan
are the only powers which are just now in a position to act in Siberia
in sufficient force to accomplish even such modest objects as those
that have been outlined. The Government of the United States has,
therefore, proposed to the Government of Japan that each of the two
governments send a force of a few thousand men to Vladivostok, with
the purpose of cooperating as a single force in the occupation of
Vladivostok and in safeguarding, as far as it may be, the country to
the rear of the westward-moving Czecho-Slovaks, and the Japanese
Government has consented.
"In taking this action the Government of the United States wishes to
announce to the people of Russia, in the most public and solemn
manner, that it contemplates no interference with the political
sovereignty of Russia, no intervention in her internal affairs--not
even in the local affairs of the limited areas which her military
force may be obliged to occupy--and no impairment of her territorial
integrity, either now or hereafter, but that what we are about to do
has as its single and only object the rendering of such aid as shall
be acceptable to the Russian people themselves in their endeavors to
regain control of their own affairs, their own territory, and their
own destiny."
The Japanese issued a similar declaration a few days later, also
disclaiming any desire for territorial aggrandizement at the cost of
Russia.
During the first week of August, 1918, about 7,000 American soldiers,
most of them regulars from the Philippines, were landed at
Vladivostok, the United States Government announcing, on August 7,
1918, that Major General William S. Graves, former assistant chief of
the Army General Staff, would have command of the American expedition.
The Japanese landed a similar force, under General Kikuzo Otani,
president of the famous military technical school of Toyama Gakko, and
who, on account of his senior rank, would assume command of the entire
Allied force. The French and British landed smaller forces each, the
former being native troops from Tonkin and the British being local
garrisons from India.
Meanwhile the Czecho-Slovak Army in the interior of Russia continued
its operations. On July 26, 1918, they reported the capture of
Simbirsk, 600 miles east of Moscow; on the last day of the month they
gained possession of a large railroad bridge at Syzram, in the Volga
region, and on the following day they took the city of Ekaterinburg,
where the czar had been executed by order of the Ural regional soviet.
In western Siberia they ordered the mobilization of the classes from
1912 to 1920, at Omsk. It was also reported that they were being
joined by thousands of Rumanians and Italians who had formerly been
soldiers in the Austrian armies and had later been taken prisoners by
the imperial Russian armies. By this time it was generally recognized
that the original plan of the Czecho-Slovaks, to withdraw from Russia
by way of Vladivostok, had been changed to one whereby they were to
remain and form the nucleus about which the anti-Bolshevist elements
in Russia and the Allies might reconstruct an eastern front against
the German forces.
The Japanese, being the first to land at Vladivostok, were the first
to advance into the interior, and they immediately took up their
position along the Ussuri River, which forms the eastern boundary of
Manchuria with Siberia. The Americans, as soon as they arrived,
occupied the railway toward Nikolsk.
At this time, in the middle of August, 1918, the main forces of the
enemy, Russian Bolsheviki and German and Magyar ex-prisoners, were
located near Chita, in Transbaikalia, numbering about 50,000. Others
occupied positions along the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, north of
Vladivostok.
On August 24, 1918, the first serious fighting took place, when the
Japanese, supported by their allies, drove the Red Guards fifteen
miles north from the Ussuri. Here the enemy numbered about 8,000,
consisting of infantry and some artillery. Four days later the
Japanese occupied Krasnoyarsk and Blagovyeshchensk. On September 7,
1918, the Bolshevist naval base at Khabarovsk was taken by Japanese
cavalry, the booty including seventeen gunboats, four other vessels,
and 120 guns.
One of the objects of the expedition was to establish communications
with the Czecho-Slovaks far in the interior of the country, and this
was quickly accomplished by an unexpected success on the part of the
Allied forces. The isolated Czecho-Slovak army near Lake Baikal, under
Colonel Gaida, had been endeavoring to advance toward Chita. General
Semenov, the Russian anti-Bolshevist leader, with a force of Cossacks
supported by Japanese, had been coming out of China and was also
advancing toward Chita. A delayed dispatch from the American Consul at
Irkutsk, dated August 13, 1918, brought word that the Bolsheviki army
east of Lake Baikal had been destroyed and on September 4, 1918,
telegraphic communication between Irkutsk and Vladivostok was
reopened. On the same day it was announced that the Czecho-Slovaks and
the Cossacks and Japanese under Semenov had joined hands at Chita and
that that main stronghold was taken. This gave the Allied forces
entire control of the railways in Siberia as far west as Samara, on
the Volga River, a few hundred miles from Moscow.
During this period the anti-Bolshevist elements in Russia were
cooperating with these efforts in their behalf. On August 5, 1918, the
Russian embassy in Washington announced the formation of a new
government in Siberia, whose chief purpose was to oust the Soviets and
bring Russia back in line with the Allies against Germany.
"The United Siberian Government," said the statement in part, "states
that it was elected on January 26, 1916, by the members of a regional
Siberian Duma--representative assembly. The point where this
government has temporarily transferred its center is Vladivostok, the
other members of it remaining at Omsk. A message from those at Omsk
has just been received, stating that, owing to the combined efforts of
the Czecho-Slovaks and the military organizations of the Siberian
Government itself, the following cities have been liberated from the
Bolsheviki: Mariinsk, Novo Nicolayevsk, Tomsk, Narim, Tobolsk,
Barnaul, Semipalatinsk, Karkarlinski, Atchinsk, and Krasnoyarsk....
The 'Temporary Government of Siberia' adds a public statement of its
political aims, which are: the creation of a Russian army, well
disciplined, in order to reestablish, in cooperation with the Allies,
a battle front against Germany. Siberia, being an inseparable part of
United Russia, the Temporary Government of Siberia believes it to be
its first duty to safeguard, in the territory of Siberia, the
interests of the whole of Russia, to recognize all the international
treaties and agreements of Russia with friendly nations which were in
force until October 25, 1917, the moment of the Bolshevist
uprising...."
CHAPTER VII
ALLIED INTERVENTION IN THE NORTH OF RUSSIA
As recounted in the previous installment of this work, the Allies and
the United States had already, in July, 1918, landed troops in the
Murmansk Peninsula, in northern Russia, primarily to ward off a German
invasion through Finland, secondly to guard those military supplies
and stores which the imperialist Government had purchased in Great
Britain and America, though they were still not paid for. These
supplies were largely stored in Kola, and there was fear that the
Germans, either directly, or through pressure applied to the Soviet
Government in Moscow, might obtain possession of them.
The first Allied forces had been landed on July 15, 1918, and included
some American marines. On the following day, in declaring the object
of this act of intervention, Rear Admiral Kemp, of the British Navy,
had announced that the Allied forces would advance southward "in
accord with the local soviet authorities, and at the request of the
local population for help."
On August 4, 1918, another force was landed at Archangel, on the south
shore of the White Sea, and had taken control of the coast northward
to Murmansk. Included in this force were some American troops and
members of the Russian Officers League. An anti-Bolshevist revolution
had already taken place in Archangel, and when the Allies landed they
were greeted with much enthusiasm by the population.
Under the protection of the Allied forces in this region a Provisional
Government of the Country of the North was at once organized, largely
made up of Socialistic elements: Social Revolutionists and the
Mensheviki, the minority party of the Social Democrats. The leaders
were members of the Constituent Assembly which the Bolsheviki had
dispersed in Petrograd on its attempt to hold its first session. The
president of the new republic was Nicholas Tchaikovsky, the noted
Russian revolutionist of early days and colleague of "Grandmother"
Breshkovskaya. On August 7, 1918, Tchaikovsky's Government issued a
proclamation of its purposes, in which, after denouncing the
Bolsheviki as traitors to Russia, it was declared that the Government
of the North Country desired to defend the country against German
invasion, to reestablish the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, and to
maintain law and order in the interests of all the people.
"The Government," continued the manifesto, "counts on the Russian,
American, and British peoples, as well as those of other nations, for
aid in combating famine and relieving the financial situation. It
recognizes that intervention by the Allies in Russia's internal
affairs is not directed against the interests of the people, and that
the people will welcome the Allied troops who have come to fight
against the common enemy...."
The Allied forces landed in Archangel, in cooperation with those
already established on the Murmansk coast, and Russian White Guards
and volunteers began to advance toward the south, in the direction of
Vologda, with the purpose of joining hands with the extreme western
wing of the Czecho-Slovaks, and thus establish a complete chain
through Russia from the White Sea to the Pacific. On August 31, 1918,
an attack was made on Obozerskaya, seventy-five miles south of
Archangel, and taken.
On September 8, 1918, Tchaikovsky's Government was overthrown by
elements opposed to it, though still in favor of Allied intervention,
but four days later these counter-revolutionary forces were persuaded
to retire from the field and permit Tchaikovsky to reestablish
himself. On September 11, 1918, more American troops were landed to
augment the Allied forces, these Americans being men picked for their
special fitness for standing the rigors of a northern Russian winter.
In the middle of September, 1918, the first really serious contact
with the enemy took place and, as admitted by Pravda, the official
organ of the Bolsheviki in Moscow, the Soviet forces were seriously
defeated and driven southward. Many Bolshevist officers, said Pravda,
had deserted to the enemy.
CHAPTER VIII
THE BOLSHEVIKI RESENT ALLIED INTERVENTION
The first landing of Allied soldiers, on the Murmansk Coast, had
brought forth a strong protest from the Soviet Government in Moscow,
and though the Allied Governments, and especially the United States,
were still inclined to hold friendly relations with the Bolshevist
Government, these relations now began undergoing a decided change. On
July 29, 1918, Lenine, at a closed meeting of the executive committee
of his Government, had declared that Russia was in a state of war with
the Entente nations, but when the Entente diplomats sought further
details regarding this statement, the Foreign Minister, Tchitcherin,
replied that this was merely a private utterance on the part of the
Bolshevist premier and had not been made in his official capacity;
that, at any rate, it was meant only to imply that Russia was
defending herself against foreign invasion. At the time he urged the
American ambassador and the other Allied representatives, who were
then in Vologda, to return to Moscow. But instead of complying with
this request Mr. Francis and his colleagues removed to Archangel,
where they would be under the protection of the Allied forces of
occupation. In a final message to the Russian foreign minister, Mr.
Francis stated that he had no intention of quitting Russia, and that
at any rate he would only be absent temporarily. The Allied consuls,
he added, would remain. Tchitcherin, on the other hand, said that,
even if they did depart, the absence of the Allied diplomats would not
affect the situation, and that there was no reason why the consuls and
citizens of the Allied nations should not remain in Russia.
On August 10, 1918, the Bolshevist authorities arrested the British
acting consul general in Moscow, together with six of his staff and
several French diplomatic agents. The reason given was that the
Bolshevist forces had been fired upon by the Allies on landing in
Archangel. Great Britain immediately responded by arresting the
Bolshevist representative in London, M. Litvinov. A few days later the
Britishers arrested in Moscow were released. Nevertheless, De Witt C.
Poole, American consul in Moscow, fearing that he might be arrested
next, destroyed his private codes, turned over the archives of the
consulate to the Swedish consul, then applied for a passport to leave
the country.
Hitherto the Soviet Government had shown some discrimination in favor
of the United States in dealing with foreign diplomats, its members
recognizing the disinterestedness of the United States Government and
showing appreciation of President Wilson's reluctance to interfere in
the internal affairs of Russia. But after Washington's announcement of
its decision to participate in the Siberian expedition together with
Japan, this attitude underwent a change. After that announcement had
been made, the Soviet Government at Moscow issued a reply to the
Japanese and American statements (of August 3, 1918), which was
published in the "Tageblatt" of Berlin on August 20, 1918. The
following is a translation of this German version:
"The American and Japanese Governments have addressed a message
to the Russian people in connection with the landing of their
forces on Russian territory. Both Governments declare their armed
intervention was dictated by the desire to come to the aid of the
Czecho-Slovaks who, it is alleged, are menaced by Germans and
Austrians.
"The Russian Federal Republic feels compelled to make this
declaration:
"'The statement made by the American and Japanese Governments is
not based on accurate information. The Czecho-Slovak detachments
are not menaced by either Germans or Austrians. On the soil of
the Soviet Republic the battle continues between the Red Soviet
Army, created by peasants and workers, on the one hand, and
Czecho-Slovak detachments, in concert with landowners, the
bourgeoisie, and counter-revolutionaries, on the other.
"'In this battle the workmen and peasants are defending the
revolution, which is endangered by the counter-revolution, aided
and abetted by the Czecho-Slovaks. The Soviet Government is
convinced that its enemies are only attempting to blind
proletarian elements of the population and they seek to deceive
them by fostering in them the belief that Germans and Austrians
are menacing the Czecho-Slovaks.
"'Should, however, the grounds of this attack on the Soviet
Republic be really those stated in the Japanese-American message,
the Soviet Government suggests that the Governments exactly
formulate their wishes in the matter.
"'TCHITCHERIN.'"
Of this and similar protests the Allied Governments took no notice
beyond a communication which Minister Francis addressed to Foreign
Minister Tchitcherin, in which he said that the pro-German activities
of the Soviet Government were the cause of the animosity shown to the
Bolsheviki by the Allies.
Toward the end of August, 1918, the British Government had released
Litvinov, the Bolshevist representative in London, and the Soviet
Government had freed the British subjects under arrest in Moscow, by
mutual agreement; relations seemed about to improve. But on August 31,
1918, occurred an incident in Moscow which rendered the situation
worse than ever, rousing very strong feeling against the Bolsheviki in
Great Britain.
On the evening of August 30, 1918, Premier Lenine, while returning
from a public meeting at which he had been a speaker, was shot by a
woman and severely wounded. Lenine's place was immediately taken by
Leo Kamenev, vice president of the Petrograd Soviet. The would-be
assassin, a girl student by the name of Dora Kaplan, was a member of
the Social Revolutionary Party, which had long since declared war
against the Bolsheviki, but the Soviet officials apparently believed
that the initiative for the attempt on Lenine's life came from outside
sources.
On the following day, August 31, 1918, a search was ordered of the
British embassy in Petrograd. One of the Bolshevist commissioners was
instructed to conduct the search, it being reported that the Socialist
Revolutionists, Savinkov and Filonenko, were hiding on the premises of
the embassy. Accompanied by a detachment of Red Guards, the
commissioner, Hillier, went to the embassy and, proceeding to the
first floor, was met by shots which killed one of his escort and
wounded another. A fight ensued in the corridor, in which Captain
Francis Cromie, the British military attaché, was killed. The police
then entered the embassy and arrested forty persons. As soon as the
news of the attack reached London the British Government sent the
following protest to the Soviet Government:
"An outrageous attack has been made on the British embassy in
Petrograd, its contents have been sacked and destroyed, Captain
Cromie, who tried to defend it, was murdered, and his body barbarously
mutilated. We demand immediate reparation and the prompt punishment of
anyone responsible for or concerned in this abominable outrage.
"Should the Russian Soviet Government fail to give complete
satisfaction, or should any further acts of violence be committed
against a British subject, His Majesty's Government will hold the
members of the Soviet Government individually responsible and will
make every endeavor to secure that they shall be treated as outlaws by
the governments of all civilized nations, and that no place of refuge
shall be left them. You have already been informed through M. Litvinov
that His Majesty's Government was prepared to do everything possible
to secure the immediate return of the official representatives of
Great Britain and of the Russian Soviet Government to their respective
countries. A guarantee was given by His Majesty's Government that as
soon as the British officials were allowed to pass the Russo-Finnish
frontier, M. Litvinov and all the members of his staff would have
permission to proceed immediately to Russia.
"We have now learned that a decree was published on August 29, 1918,
ordering the arrest of all British and French subjects between the
ages of eighteen and forty, and that British officials have been
arrested on trumped-up charges of conspiring against the Soviet
Government.
"His Majesty's Government has therefore found it necessary to place M.
Litvinov and the members of his staff under preventive arrest until
such time as all British representatives are set at liberty and
allowed to proceed to the Finnish frontier, free from molestation."
The protest had its effect, in so far that the subjects of the Allied
Governments were gradually released and allowed to leave Russia, and
late in September, 1918, the British Government allowed the
Bolshevist representative, held under arrest in London, to proceed to
Russia.
CHAPTER IX
THE BALTIC PROVINCES
On September 10, 1918, a consular report received in Washington stated
that the German Government had finally completed a plan for dividing
the Baltic provinces of the former Russian empire into administrative
districts, all to constitute a single military administration of the
Baltic provinces, with headquarters in Riga. They were to be placed
under the authority of the commanding officer of the town and of Von
Goesler, the administration chief, who had been at the head of the
German administration in Courland. The administration of the provinces
included a provincial administration for Courland, with its seat at
Mitau; an administration for Livonia, with a seat at Riga; and another
for Esthonia, with a seat at Reval. The town of Riga constituted in
itself a special administration district, placed under the authority
of the captain of the town. Lithuania constituted the military
administration of Lithuania, the seat being at Vilna.
Since the defeat of the German armies the peoples of all these
provinces have been looking anxiously toward the Allies for some
indication of the policy to be pursued regarding disposition of their
territories. Early in November, 1918, Esthonia declared itself an
independent republic. The Government consists of President Constantine
Paets, former mayor of Reval, and a cabinet of eight ministers, the
capital being at Reval. The proclamation declared that Esthonia wished
to preserve absolute neutrality, and that the Esthonian soldiers in
the Russian Army would be recalled and demobilized.
In the middle of October, 1918, the Lithuanians addressed to Prince
Maximilian, German chancellor, a note demanding the immediate
evacuation of Lithuanian territory. The National Assembly decided to
set up a national government and to create an army and a police
force. Plans were also announced for the convocation of a permanent
national assembly.
PART III--THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN
CHAPTER X
THE AUSTRO-ITALIAN FRONT
The disastrous, abortive attempt of the Austro-Hungarian armies, made
at the behest of the German high command as a blind to cover the
operations planned for midsummer 1918 on the western front, has been
described in detail in the last volume. It will be recalled that it
consisted of two distinct phases: The Austrian offensive, begun on
June 15, 1918, and resulting during the week following in considerable
gains along the Piave; and the Italian counteroffensive, setting in on
June 22, 1918, and resulting in the loss to the Austrians of all the
newly gained ground, as well as of positions which they had held for
quite some time. This counteroffensive had reached its end practically
on July 6, 1918. From then on, for some three and one-half months,
General Diaz employed his Italian armies, ably supported by various
Allied detachments, carefully but continuously for the purpose of
securing certain well-defined positions from which to land a powerful
offensive movement against the Austro-Hungarians, a movement that had
been planned months earlier by the now combined Supreme Command of the
Allies at the head of which had been placed General Foch.
How far the new pooling of all Allied military resources had
progressed by August, 1918, is, perhaps, most typically illustrated by
the appearance on the Italian front of a regiment of United States
infantry. Its reception and its review by King Victor Emmanuel of
Italy on August 1, 1918, is graphically described by the London
"Times" correspondent attached to Italian Headquarters.
"The American infantry," he says, "that have arrived on the Italian
front marched past King Victor Emmanuel to-day. Signor Orlando, the
prime minister, and Mr. Nelson Page, the American ambassador to Italy,
were with the king. A cardinal-archbishop in his scarlet robes was a
brilliant figure among the group of gray-clad generals and drab
civilians who were waiting to pay their respects to the king.
"The unusual height and bigness of frame of the individual man was
what struck one most as the long khaki column moved by. These
Americans are comparatively young soldiers, but their review
discipline was thoroughly steady. Looking them over, one had the
feeling that in the American army the individual as such counts for
more than in most European armies. The highly trained amateur, brought
to the climax of personal perfection--that is the aim of American
training, rather than the production of the machine-made professional
soldier.
"The Italian peasants watched the Americans with admiration and
delight. 'What a life I have had!' said an old dame, who served me
with coffee in a wayside inn. 'I was here as a girl when the French
and Piedmontese defeated the Austrians at Solferino. I remember the
battle in 1866, when the Italians beat the Austrians again. Then in
this war I have seen Italian, British, and French troops pass by, and
at last here I am watching the Americans.'"
A stirring manifesto was issued to the Italian army recalling the
close relations existing between the United States and Italy before
the war and the important part Italians in recent years had been
playing in the development of the New World.
Military operations on the Italian front on August 1, 1918, were of
minor importance and, in this respect, were quite typical of what was
to take place during August, September, and the first three weeks of
October, 1918. There was moderate artillery activity along the whole
front. At Alano Italian patrols forced advanced Austrian posts to
withdraw, inflicting losses and taking some prisoners. A captive
balloon and six hostile aeroplanes were brought down.
The Austrian activity moderated somewhat on August 2, 1918. Italian
and Allied artillery effectively bombarded Austrian lines of
communication at Asiago. Along the whole front Italian patrols were
extremely active.
South of Nago, on August 3, 1918, an Italian assault detachment
captured by a surprise attack Hill 173 on Dosso Alto, which the
Austrians had taken on June 15, 1918. In spite of determined
resistance four officers and 172 men were taken prisoners after many
had been killed or wounded. During the preceding night French
detachments in a series of brilliant surprise attacks had penetrated
deeply into the Austrian lines at Zocchi, east of Asiago, capturing
some 125 men and considerable material. West of Asiago British troops
broke into Gaiga, making some prisoners. In the Tasson region and in
the Alano Basin Italian reconnoitering patrols gathered in
considerable booty and took some prisoners.
Between Asiago and the Brenta Italian patrols on August 6, 1918,
effectively harassed the enemy's advanced lines, inflicting losses and
capturing prisoners.
The largest operation that the British, fighting in Italy, had yet
carried out was put through between midnight and 4 a. m., August 8,
1918. It was not an attack so much as a simultaneous series of about a
dozen raids along the whole of our front. To blow up dugouts, destroy
machine-gun emplacements, and take prisoners were the objectives and
in realizing them the British troops reached the southern fringe of
Asiago town, the first Allied troops to touch its outskirts since
1916.
Like a stroke of noisy magic the British barrage burst out in the
silence of the mountain night exactly at 12 o'clock. The Asiago
Plateau, a natural stage for warfare, five miles or so across, with
barriers of black pine-grown hills to north and south, was for the
next three hours ablaze with red, bursting shells, dazzling Verey
flares of different colors, solo searchlights, and the dull glow of
fires. One could imagine the commotion in the Austrian lines at that
sudden interruption of the peace of the summer night. Hungarians,
Croats, Bosniaks, tumbling pell-mell from their dugouts; staff
officers behind the front, two hours abed, rushing half-dressed to the
telephones. For three hours, while the British were about their work,
the din went on, until at 3 o'clock they came back, bringing at a
small cost 360 prisoners with them, and leaving many enemy dead in
their ruined works.
On the same day in the Giudicaris region Italian parties forced the
Chiese River. In the Daone Valley other Italian troops surprised a
party of the enemy on the southern slope of Dosso del Morti and took
twenty-one prisoners. This was a period of raids on a large scale. For
several nights Italian or Allied guns spread their fire over the plain
of northern Italy. Following on the successful British invasion of the
enemy's front line, the French during the night of August 9, 1918,
took five officers and 238 men in a surprise attack. On the Sisemol
sector, and between there and the Brenta, the Italians brought in
sixty prisoners from the enemy front lines.
Again on August 10, 1918, French troops penetrated deeply into the
enemy's strong points in Monte Sisemol, destroying part of the
garrison and forcing the remainder to surrender. Two hundred and fifty
prisoners and eight machine guns were taken.
From their positions on Monte di Valbella, Col del Rosso, and Col di
Chele Italian troops succeeded at various points in passing the enemy
lines and inflicting heavy losses. They took fifty-nine prisoners,
suffering only slight losses themselves.
During August 10 and 11, 1918, the fighting activity along the whole
front was very moderate. North of Col del Rosso Italian patrols forced
back an advanced Austrian outpost. Five hostile aeroplanes were
brought down.
Fighting occurred during the next few days in the Tonale region and in
the Lagarina Valley. On the Piave an Italian detachment crossed the
western branch of the river, made a surprise landing on an islet west
of Grave di Papadopoli and occupied it. Thirty-six prisoners and four
machine guns were captured.
In the Tonale region Austrian reactions against advanced Italian
positions were repulsed on August 15, 1918. On the Piave, southwest of
Grave di Papadopoli, three hostile attacks against the Italian
garrison were driven back with heavy losses. Four hostile aeroplanes
and a captive balloon were brought down.
There was lively activity by both artilleries during August 16, 1918,
on the Asiago Plateau, northwest of the region of Monte Grappa, and on
the middle Piave. In the upper Zebru Valley one of the Italian patrols
attacked an enemy advance post at an altitude of over 11,000 feet and
drove it back. Two hostile aeroplanes were downed.
On August 17, 1918, there were isolated artillery actions from Stalvio
to Asiago, in the Grappa region, and on the lower Piave. After violent
artillery preparation the enemy attempted, by strong encircling
attacks, to retake the Piave Islet, captured by the Italians a few
days earlier. After suffering heavy losses, abandoning machine guns
and material, and leaving twenty-nine prisoners in Italian hands, the
Austrians were forced to retire.
Still another Austrian attack, made the next day, August 18, 1918,
against the same position broke down under Italian fire. On the whole
front there were artillery duels and considerable activity by
reconnoitering patrols.
Early in the morning of August 19, 1918, after violent artillery
bombardments, numerous enemy troops attacked from west and from north
the Italian lines on the Cornone, forming southern slopes of the Sasso
Rosso, on the Asiago front. The Italian garrison stopped the enemy
after a brisk hand-to-hand struggle. Reenforcements quickly arrived,
counterattacked the enemy, repulsed him with heavy losses, and
captured prisoners. Austrian attempts to attack Italian advanced lines
north of the Ledro Lake and to surprise protection patrols north of
the Col del Rosso were hindered by Italian fire. British
reconnoitering parties captured a few prisoners on the Asiago Plateau.
Allied batteries had been very active from the Lagarina Valley to
Astico Valley. An unusual enemy artillery activity in the Asalone
area provoked effective concentrations of fire on the part of the
Italian batteries.
[Illustration: Italy's successful offensive, October, 1918.]
These local minor engagements and artillery actions were typical of
the fighting on the Austro-Italian front during the next ten days,
indeed, with few exceptions one might say, almost during the next two
months. Day by day fights between advanced posts were reported. Thus
Italian reconnoitering patrols captured prisoners on August 27, 1918,
as they did, indeed, on almost every day, in the Posina Valley, in the
Val di Assa, and in the Grappa region. An Austrian motor boat,
maneuvering on Lake Garda in the Grentino sector, was sunk by Italian
artillery.
In the Concei Valley enemy attacks were averted on August 28, 1918, by
Italian fire. Advanced posts were driven back with losses. Prisoners
were taken on the northern slopes of Altissimo, and north of Col del
Rosso hostile reconnoitering parties were dispersed.
On the following day, August 29, 1918, in the Brenta Valley, Italian
infantry parties, in a successful surprise operation, captured the
village of Rivalta. Successively other detachments, with the
cooperation of the artillery, occupied the village of Sasso Stefani,
after having overcome in a lively fight the stubborn resistance of the
enemy. Thirty-eight prisoners, including one officer, were captured.
In the region to the north of Col del Rosso, on the Asiago Plateau,
two enemy thrusts were again completely arrested by Italian fire.
Italian artillery carried out concentrations in the mountain area on
September 1, 1918. On the Piave some boats, containing Austrian troops
attempting a surprise attack, were upset. At Stelvio and on the Asiago
Plateau Austrian patrols were repulsed with heavy losses to them.
Along the mountainous front Italian artillery on September 6, 1918,
effectively shelled the enemy's front lines and rear areas. In the
Concalaghi, Pesina, and the Assa Valley Italian patrols engaged enemy
exploring and drove them back. North of Monfenera an attempt to raid
the advanced lines was arrested by the garrison, which afterward, by a
counterattack, put the Austrians to flight with losses. On the lower
Piave Austrian scouts attempting to cross the river in small boats
were driven back by rifle fire.
During the night following the French carried out a raid which was
typical of the work the Allied troops accomplished on the plateau of
Asiago. The two companies that made the attack had a mile and a half
of no-man's-land to cross. The ground was most difficult--cut up into
ravines, pitted with flooded shell holes, densely overgrown with tall
grass, and littered not only with old trenches, ruined dugouts and
tangles of torn barbed wire, but also with Austrian dead, who still
lay there unburied since the big attack in June.
It was at night and in a dense fog that the French started out. It
took three hours for the half battalion to grope its way toward the
Austrian line, but shortly before 5 o'clock they were ready to attack,
and at 9 minutes to 5 a fierce French box barrage--in front and behind
the enemy trenches and from the flanks--was opened on the enemy
trenches, and the Italian and British artillery on either side started
a distracting bombardment. At 5 o'clock precisely the barrage lifted
and the French infantry rushed forward to find a smashed trench in
front of them, fuming with smoke and dust and strewn with dead and
wounded men. Some of the stouter redoubts and machine-gun posts held
out for a little while, but with bombs and fire boxes their garrisons
were smoked or blasted into silence, and then with fifty prisoners the
two French companies came back, having to pass, indeed, through the
Austrian barrage, but losing only a few men on the way.
Austro-Hungarian patrols which attempted on September 13, 1918, to
approach the Italian lines on Monte Corno, in the Grappa region of the
mountain front, were repulsed by the Italian fire.
Italian infantry and ardoti parties after a short but effective
artillery bombardment, and assisted by low-flying aeroplanes, in the
morning of September 14, 1918, attacked and captured the whole of an
Austrian defensive system on the Grovella, south of Corte. Three
hundred and fifty prisoners, a number of machine guns, some hundreds
of rifles, and much other war material fell into Italian hands.
In the region north and northwest of Grappa, on the northern Italian
front, Italian detachments in the morning of September 15, 1918,
raided the enemy lines and improved at some points the positions
already occupied. The Italians took 321 prisoners and captured
numerous machine guns. On the remainder of the front there were
artillery duels and patrol activity.
On either side of the narrow and precipitous gorge of the Brenta
River, at the point where it leaves the Austrian lines and enters the
Vallian, an eyewitness of some of these attacks says, there has
existed since last winter a formidable barricade of wire and a complex
system of enemy trenches. Wire fills the whole valley with an
impassable tangle. It lies half under water in the rushing stream
itself and writhes up each wall of the steeply sloping rock on either
side. Moreover, on the ledges and in the caves and crannies of those
high cliffs were hidden Austrian machine guns to sweep the narrow
gorge below.
Yet with a sudden attack at dawn of September 16, 1918, Italian
infantry rushed the whole of this barrier system and captured nearly
350 prisoners. The fighting was severe, but short, in the dark ravine,
and the Italians' victory was aided by their aeroplanes, which dived
one after another into that gap between the high mountains, dropping
bombs and emptying drums of machine-gun bullets upon the Austrian
garrison below. Shortly afterward another sector close at hand, to the
north of Mount Grappa broke into activity. A series of little raids
and rushes were carried out there to improve the line in several
places. At once, here too, the Italians made good their intentions,
and took over 300 prisoners and a number of machine guns.
Along the whole front there were artillery actions of a harassing
nature during September 10, 1918. Italian batteries caused fires at
Melette, in the Asiago Plateau region and blew up an ammunition dump
near Grisolera, on the lower Piave River. Attempts of hostile assault
parties failed in front of the Italian lines south of Mori, at Mont
Corno, and Val Arsa, to the north of Grappa and east of Salettuol.
On the other hand, Italian reconnoitering parties attacked and drove
back in the Ledro Valley a small observation post of the enemy, who
left dead and prisoners. Ammunition and various material were brought
back from reconnoissances at Tonaleselle and on the islets in the
Piave in the Montello region. One hostile aeroplane was brought down.
West of Feeri, and in the valley of Jenioa, there were patrol
encounters with the capture of some prisoners by the Italians.
Among the Allied troops fighting with the Italians was a Czecho-Slovak
unit. On September 21, 1918, an action occurred between these troops
and German and Hungarian forces on the Trentino front. It was the
first in Italy in which the Czecho-Slovaks operated as a unit in their
regular formation. The enemy launched the attack, prepared with
greatest secrecy, east of Lake Garda. It appeared from the dispatches
that the Germans and Magyars had no definite territorial objective,
but planned the stroke in the hope of gaining support for the Austrian
claim that the Czecho-Slovaks would give way voluntarily when faced by
the army of the country that so long had held them in subjugation.
It was believed in Rome and by officials of the Czecho-Slovak
Headquarters in Washington that if the Austrians had achieved even a
local success they would, after executing as traitors any
Czecho-Slovaks taken prisoners, have again affirmed that the
Czecho-Slovaks did not wish to fight against Austria.
The assault was begun at daybreak by picked detachments composed
exclusively of Magyars and Germans under General Schiesser. It
followed a destructive artillery fire in which thousands of gas shells
were used. The Czecho-Slovaks went over the top to meet the foe, and
the first column was forced to retire. The second column, after
desperate hand-to-hand fighting, succeeded in occupying a part of the
Czecho-Slovak position, but was driven out after a bloody battle. No
prisoners were taken by either side.
Premier Orlando of Italy paid homage to the valor of the
Czecho-Slovaks by a telegram of congratulation to the Czecho-Slovak
National Council in Paris.
For the next few weeks this continuous struggle on the part of the
Italians to secure the positions necessary for their men was
maintained without change.
PART IV--THE GREAT WAR'S END
CHAPTER XI
THE INTERNAL COLLAPSE OF GERMANY
In spite of the decisive and continuous defeats which the Allies
administered to the German armies on the western front in midsummer
1918, the German Government maintained in its public utterances its
usual confidence in a victorious outcome of the war. Apropos of the
fourth anniversary of the war the German emperor issued one of his
typical, high-sounding addresses to the army and navy in which he
said:
"Serious years of war lie behind you. The German people, convinced of
its just cause, resting on its hard sword, and trusting in God's
gracious help, has, with its faithful allies, confronted a world of
enemies. Your vigorous fighting spirit carried war in the first year
into the enemy's country and preserved the homeland from the horrors
and devastations of war. In the second and third years of war you, by
destructive blows, broke the strength of the enemy in the east.
Meanwhile your comrades in the west offered a brave and victorious
front to enormously superior forces.
"As the fruit of these victories the fourth year of war brought us
peace in the east. In the west the enemy was heavily hit by the force
of your assault. The battles won in recent months count among the
highest deeds of fame of German history. You are in the midst of the
hardest struggle. Desperate efforts of the enemy will, as hitherto, be
foiled by your bravery. Of that I am certain, and with me the entire
Fatherland.
"American armies and numerical superiority do not frighten us. It is
spirit which brings a decision. Prussian and German history teaches
that, as well as the course which the campaign has hitherto taken.
"In comradeship with the army stands my navy. In the unshakable will
to victory, in the struggle with opponents who are often superior, and
despite the united efforts of the greatest naval powers of the world,
my submarines, sure of success, are tenaciously attacking and fighting
the vital forces which are streaming across the sea to the enemy. Ever
ready for battle, the high-sea forces in untiring work guard the road
for the submarines to the open sea and, in union with the defenders of
the coast, safeguard for them the sources of their strength.
"Far from home, a small heroic band of our colonial troops is offering
a brave resistance to a crushingly superior force.
"We remember with reverence all who have given their lives for the
Fatherland. Filled with care for its brothers in the field, the people
at home is in its self-sacrificing devotion placing its entire
strength at the service of our great cause. We must and we shall
continue the fight until the enemy's will to destruction is broken. We
will make every sacrifice and put forth every effort to that end. In
this spirit the army and the homeland are inseparably bound together.
Their united stand and their unbending will will bring victory in the
struggle for Germany's right and Germany's freedom. God grant it!"
It was not long, however, before signs appeared that this spirit of
confidence was gradually, but surely waning. During the latter part of
August and the early part of September, 1918, no opportunity was
permitted to pass by the leading men of the German Government that
they did not use to indicate to the Allies that German demands had
been extensively pared down. The emperor, the crown prince, Von
Hindenburg, the chancellor (Von Hertling), Dr. Solf, the foreign
minister, and a large number of minor lights continuously expressed in
their speeches at every possible occasion how eager they were for
peace and how willing they were to come to an understanding.
Early in September, 1918, it became known that General von Linsingen
had placed the city of Berlin and the province of Brandenburg in a
state of siege and had announced that heavy penalties would be imposed
on persons inventing or circulating untrue rumors calculated to
disquiet the populace. About the same time a proclamation of
considerable length was issued by Field Marshal von Hindenburg warning
the German people to resist the "poisonous" propaganda by which the
Allies were attempting to undermine their morale. A few days later the
emperor made a remarkable speech to the workers of the Krupp works at
Essen, remarkable for its unusual moderation as well as for the plea
it contained to support the army. Never before in the history of the
German emperor had he addressed an assembly of workers in a similar
tone of appeal and with as little of the spirit of command.
Momentous events now began to happen in Germany in quick succession.
On September 29, 1918, Chancellor von Hertling, Vice Chancellor von
Payer, and Foreign Minister von Hintze tendered their resignations,
which the emperor accepted. They were succeeded respectively by Prince
Max of Baden, Mathias Erzberger, and Dr. W. S. Solf. The first of
these was the heir presumptive to the grand ducal throne of Baden, a
man about fifty years old and with comparatively moderate and
progressive views. The second was a leader of the Centrist (Catholic)
party and had frequently expressed his opposition to indemnities and
annexations. The third, the former Colonial Secretary, also could be
considered as a man of moderate political views. At the same time a
number of Socialists entered the Cabinet. Dr. Eduard David became
Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Herr Bauer, Secretary of State of
the Labor Office, and Philipp Scheidemann, Majority Socialist leader,
Secretary of State without Portfolio.
No time was lost by the new chancellor in starting a new drive for a
peace by negotiation. On October 4, 1918, he sent through the Swiss
Government his famous note appealing to President Wilson for immediate
institution of peace negotiations, based on the President's message to
Congress on January 8, 1918, and on his speech of September 27, 1918,
involving the "Fourteen Points." This was followed by an exchange of
notes between the German Government and the President, in which Mr.
Wilson stated the views of the Allies with firmness. These notes may
be considered the beginning of the end.
The day after Prince Max had sent his first note he made a speech in
the Reichstag which perhaps was the most moderate utterance made by
any member of the German Government since the start of the war. In it
he declares his agreement with the program of the majority parties in
the Reichstag which, according to the "Berliner Tageblatt," involved:
"(1) Adherence to the Imperial Government's reply to the papal note of
August 1, 1917.
"(2) Declaration of readiness to join the League of Nations in
accordance with the following principles--namely, that the league
shall comprise all states, and be based on the idea of equality for
all peoples, its aim is to safeguard a lasting peace, independent
existence and free economic development for all peoples; the League of
Nations, with all its resources, protects the states which join it in
the rights guaranteed to them by the league, which recognizes their
possessions and excludes all special treaties opposed to the aims of
the league; the foundations of the league are comprehensive, and
comprise the extension of international law, reciprocal obligation of
states to submit to peaceful treatment every conflict which is not
solvable by diplomatic means, the carrying out of the principle of
freedom of the seas, the understanding regarding all-round
simultaneous disarmament on land and water, the guaranteeing of an
open door for economic, civil, and legal intercourse between nations,
and international extension of social legislation and protection for
workers.
"(3) An unequivocal declaration regarding the restoration of Belgium
and an agreement regarding indemnification.
"(4) The peace treaties hitherto concluded must form no hindrance to
the general conclusion of peace. In the Baltic provinces of Lithuania
and Poland, popular assemblies are to be created at the earliest
possible moment on a broad basis. These states, where civil
administration is to be introduced at the earliest possible moment,
are to settle their own constitutions and their relations to
neighboring peoples.
"(5) Provides for the establishment of an independent federal state of
Alsace-Lorraine, with full autonomy corresponding to the demand of
Alsace-Lorraine for a popular assembly.
"(6) The carrying out without delay of electoral reform in Prussia;
likewise the endeavor to bring about such reform in those federal
states which are still without it.
"(7) Aims at coordination of the Imperial Government and the summoning
of Government representatives from Parliament to carry out a uniform
Imperial policy. The strict observance of all constitutional
responsibility. The abolition of all military institutions that serve
for the exercise of political influence.
"(8) Says that with a view to the protection of personal liberty,
right of meeting, and the freedom of the press, prescriptions
regarding the state of siege shall immediately be amended and the
censorship restricted to questions of relations to foreign
governments, war, strategy, and tactics, troop movements, and the
manufacture of war material. The establishment of a political control
department for all measures taken on the ground of the state of siege
is also demanded."
During the next two weeks a number of constitutional reforms were
instituted. The Prussian Diet passed an equal franchise law. The
emperor's prerogative to make war and peace and to make treaties with
foreign nations was abridged and required the consent of the Federal
Council and the Reichstag.
Day by day now the signs of internal collapse became more evident. On
October 24, 1918, Dr. Karl Liebknecht was released from prison. Three
days later the emperor accepted the resignation of General von
Ludendorff, considered generally the head and leader of the
militarists and junkers. On the same day a meeting of the Crown
Council and of many dignitaries of the entire empire took place.
Abdication of the emperor and crown prince became one of the principal
topics of discussion, even though the emperor on November 3, 1918, in
a manifesto expressed his full support of all reforms.
On November 7, 1918, the German fleet revolted. Kiel was seized by
the Soldiers' Council. The emperor's brother, Prince Henry of Prussia,
was reported to have fled. On November 8, 1918, the chancellor
resigned, but his resignation was not accepted. On the same day
Bavaria was declared a republic. The revolution broke out in many
other parts of the empire. On November 9, 1918, the chancellor
published the following decree:
"The kaiser and king has decided to renounce the throne.
"The Imperial Chancellor will remain in office until the
questions connected with the abdication of the kaiser, the
renouncing by the crown prince of the throne of the German Empire
and of Prussia, and the setting up of a regency have been
settled.
"For the regency he intends to appoint Deputy Ebert as Imperial
Chancellor, and he proposes that a bill shall be brought in for
the establishment of a law providing for the immediate
promulgation of general suffrage and for a constitutional German
National Assembly, which will settle finally the future form of
government of the German nation and of those peoples which might
be desirous of coming within the empire.
THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLOR."
The new German chancellor, the Socialist Deputy Friedrich Ebert,
announced these momentous events in the following manifesto, dated
November 10, 1918:
"Citizens: The ex-Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, in agreement with
all the secretaries of state, has handed over to me the task of
liquidating his affairs as chancellor. I am on the point of forming a
new Government in accord with the various parties, and will keep
public opinion freely informed of the course of events.
"The new Government will be a Government of the people. It must make
every effort to secure in the quickest possible time peace for the
German people and consolidate the liberty which they have won.
"The new Government has taken charge of the administration, to
preserve the German people from civil war and famine and to accomplish
their legitimate claim to autonomy. The Government can solve this
problem only if all the officials in town and country will help.
"I know it will be difficult for some to work with the new men who
have taken charge of the empire, but I appeal to their love of the
people. Lack of organization would in this heavy time mean anarchy in
Germany and the surrender of the country to tremendous misery.
Therefore, help your native country with fearless, indefatigable work
for the future, everyone at his post.
"I demand everyone's support in the hard task awaiting us. You know
how seriously the war has menaced the provisioning of the people,
which is the first condition of the people's existence. The political
transformation should not trouble the people. The food supply is the
first duty of all, whether in town or country, and they should not
embarrass, but rather aid, the production of food supplies and their
transport to the towns.
"Food shortage signifies pillage and robbery, with great misery. The
poorest will suffer the most, and the industrial worker will be
affected hardest. All who illicitly lay hands on food supplies or
other supplies of prime necessity or the means of transport necessary
for their distribution will be guilty in the highest degree toward the
community.
"I ask you immediately to leave the streets and remain orderly and
calm."
On the same day the emperor and the crown prince fled to Holland,
where they were promptly interned. Not until some time later did the
actual text of their abdications become known; that of the emperor was
published on November 30, 1918, and that of his eldest son on December
6, 1918. The former read:
"I hereby for all the future renounce my rights to the Crown of
Prussia and my rights to the German Imperial Crown. At the same
time I release all officials of the German Empire and Prussia, as
well as all the noncommissioned officers and men of the Navy, of
the Prussian Army, and of the Federal contingents, from the oath
of fealty which they have made to me as their Kaiser, King, and
Supreme Commander. I expect of them that until the reorganization
of the German people they will assist those who have been
entrusted with the duty of protecting the nation against the
threatening danger of anarchy, famine, and foreign rule.
"Given under our own hand and our Imperial Seal, Amerongen,
November 28, 1918.
"(Signed) WILHELM."
One by one the kings, grand dukes, dukes, and princes of the various
German states abdicated and, finally, the last autocratic monarchies
of the western world had disappeared.
CHAPTER XII
THE LIBERATION OF THE HOLY LAND--MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN
Jerusalem surrendered, it will be recalled, to General Allenby,
commander in chief of the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force, on
December 9, 1917. Two days later he entered, at the head of his
victorious army, the Holy City, at last again in the hands of
Christendom. From then on the British advance continued steadily, even
if slowly, toward the north across the whole breadth of Palestine.
Jericho fell on February 21, 1918. There was much fighting during
March and April, 1918, but after that a period of comparative
inactivity set in which was utilized by the British to repair the
damages which war had wrought in the Holy Land and to carry through
sanitary and administrative reforms which laid a sound foundation for
bringing back some of the glory of past centuries. Not until
September, 1918, did any military operations of importance occur.
Then, however, a new British offensive set in, described in the
following pages, which was to drive the Turks forever out of
Palestine, Syria, and Arabia.
Much the same story is to be told about the British operations in
Mesopotamia, along the Tigris and Euphrates. There, it will be
remembered, General Maude had captured Bagdad, the ancient capital of
the Caliphs, on March 11, 1917, and had then followed up his success
by a steady advance in a northwesterly direction until he fell a
victim to cholera on November 19, 1917. He had been succeeded in the
command in chief of the Indian Expeditionary Force by General
Marshall, who, with the same tenacity as his lamented predecessor and
as his companion in arms in Palestine, continued to push the British
advance during the balance of 1917 and the first half of 1918. The
ancient city of Hit was captured in March, 1918, and from then on the
Turks were driven back without let-up.
A considerable share of the victory in Palestine was due to the Arabs
who had rebelled against the Turk and, under the king of the Hedjaz,
had allied themselves with the British. As early as February, 1918,
the Arab and British fronts had been joined at the Dead Sea, and from
then on had cooperated in the closest possible manner against the
common enemy whom even German support was to avail nothing.
During the early summer of 1918, comparative inactivity ruled along
the Palestine front. In August, 1918, only a few minor operations were
reported. Thus, on the morning of August 8, 1918, an extensive bombing
raid was carried out by Royal Air Force and Australian units against
the Turkish camps and establishments in the vicinity of Amman railway
station, on the Hedjaz Railway, twenty-five miles east of the Jericho
bridgehead.
On the same day Imperial Camel troops, cooperating with the Arab
forces of the king of the Hedjaz, seized Mudawara railway station on
the Hedjaz Railway, sixty-five miles south of Maan, killing
thirty-five and capturing 120 of the enemy, with two guns and three
machine guns.
During the night of August 12, 1918, British troops carried out a
series of successful raids at various points on a frontage of ten
miles astride the Jerusalem-Nablus (Shechem) road, killing some 200 of
the enemy and capturing seventeen Turkish officers and 230 of other
ranks, with fifteen machine guns.
[Illustration: The conquest of Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia by
the British armies.]
Then again there was a month of inactivity, ominous by its very
quietness. And, indeed, before long the storm broke. Soon after the
middle of September, 1918, a carefully planned offensive was started
by General Allenby, an offensive which was destined to free the Holy
Land from Turkish domination.
During the night of September 18, 1918, British troops commenced a
general attack on the front between the Jordan and the sea. To the
east of the Jerusalem-Shechem road British and Indian troops advanced
and successfully intercepted the Turkish road communications leading
southeast from Shechem.
Early in the morning of September 19, 1918, the main attack, in which
French troops participated, was launched, after a short bombardment,
between Rafat and the coast.
The Allied infantry made rapid progress, overrunning the entire
hostile defensive system on this frontage by 8 a. m., and penetrating
to a maximum depth of five miles before swinging eastward. Tul Keram
railway junction was occupied in the course of the afternoon, while a
brigade of Australian Light Horse had reached the main Tul
Keram-Messudieh railway and road in the vicinity of Anebta, cutting
off large bodies of the retreating enemy, with guns and transport.
Meantime a strong cavalry force of British, Indian, and Australian
troops, moving northward in the coastal plain, seized the road
junction of Hudeira, nineteen miles from the point of departure, and
twenty-eight miles north of Joppe, by midday.
East of the Jordan, a strong detachment of the Arab troops of the king
of the Hedjaz, descending on the Turkish railway junction of Deraa,
severed the rail communications leading north, south, and west from
that center. Naval units cooperated with the advance of the land
troops, clearing the coastal roads with gunfire.
By 8 p. m. on September 19, 1918, over 3,000 prisoners had passed
through corps cages, many more being reported, but not yet counted.
Large quantities of material had also been taken.
By 8 p. m. on September 20, 1918, the enemy resistance had collapsed
everywhere, save on the Turkish left in the Jordan Valley. The British
left wing, having swung round to the east, had reached the line
Bidieh-Baka-Messudieh Junction, astride the rail and roads converging
on Shechem from the west. The right wing, advancing through difficult
country against considerable resistance, had reached the line Khan
Jibeit-Es Sawieh, facing north astride the Jerusalem-Shechem road. On
the north, cavalry, traversing the Field of Armageddon, had occupied
Nazareth, Afuleh, and Beisan, and were collecting the disorganized
masses of enemy troops and transport as they arrived from the south.
All avenues of escape open to the enemy, except the fords across the
Jordan between Beisan and Jisr-ed-Damieh, a distance of twenty-seven
miles, were thus closed. East of the Jordan, the Arab forces of the
king of the Hedjaz had effected numerous demolitions on the railways
radiating from Deraa, several important bridges, including one in the
Yarmuk Valley, having been destroyed.
By 9 p. m. on September 21, 1918, the infantry of the British left
wing, pivoting on their left about Bir Asur, five miles east by north
from Tul Keram, had reached the line Beit Dejan-Semaria-Bir Asur,
shepherding the enemy on and west of the Jerusalem-Shechem road into
the arms of the cavalry operating southward from Jenin and Beisan.
Other enemy columns vainly attempted to escape into the Jordan Valley,
in the direction of Jisr-ed Damieh, southeast of Shechem, which was
still held by enemy troops. These columns suffered severely from
British aircraft, which constantly harassed them with bombs and
machine-gun fire from low altitudes.
In the vicinity of Lake Galilee British cavalry detachments held
Nazareth and the rail and road passages over the Jordan at Jisr el
Mujamia.
Having seized the passages off the Jordan at Jisr-ed Damieh,
twenty-three miles north of the Dead Sea, on the morning of September
22, 1918, the last avenue of escape open to the enemy west of the
river was closed. The Seventh and Eighth Turkish Armies virtually
ceased to exist. Their entire transport was in British hands.
By September 22, 1918, 25,000 prisoners and 260 guns had been counted,
but many prisoners and much material remained to be enumerated.
East of the Jordan the enemy was reported on September 24, 1918,
withdrawing toward Amman, on the Hedjaz Railway, twenty-four miles
east of the Jordan, pursued by Australian, New Zealand, East Indian,
and Jewish troops, which had reached Es Salt, eleven miles east of the
Jordan, capturing guns and prisoners. In the north cavalry had
occupied Jaifa and Acre, after slight opposition.
The Arab forces of King Hussein had occupied Maan, about seventy miles
south of the Dead Sea and were harassing the bodies of the enemy
retreating northward toward Amman along the Hedjaz Railway.
Operations against Amman were begun at dawn of September 26, 1918, by
the Anzacs. By 2 o'clock that afternoon this ancient stronghold of the
Turks, in the defense of which they were assisted by German forces,
had been rushed by New Zealand troops.
On the north affairs were progressing equally favorable to the British
forces. During the night of September 27, 1918, the cavalry of General
Allenby's Army swam and forded the Jordan north of Lake Tiberias, and
on the day following captured the high ground to the east. Early that
morning they were astride the Damascus road at Dar Ezaras and later
that day they had advanced to El Kuneitrah, forty miles southwest of
Damascus.
On the same day other cavalry detachments of General Allenby's Army
joined hands with the Arab Army at Deraa, in Gilead. From then on,
both from the Jordan crossing and from Deraa, British cavalry and
armored cars pushed forward to Damascus, either route being about
fifty miles in length. The Arabs were cooperating on the
Deraa-Damascus line, which is that of the Hedjaz Railway. In their
pursuit the advancing columns crossed both the Pharpar and the Albana,
"the rivers of Damascus." By the evening of September 30, 1918,
British cavalry had established themselves on the north, west, and
south of Damascus. From the enemy rear guards, which disputed the
advance throughout the day, 1,000 prisoners and five guns were taken.
Finally, troops of the Australian Mounted Division entered Damascus
during the night of September 30, 1918. At 6 a. m. on October 1, 1918,
the city was occupied by a British force and and by a portion of the
Arab Army of King Hussein. Over 7,000 prisoners were taken. After the
surrender, with the exception of necessary guards, all the Allied
troops were withdrawn from the city, and for the time being the local
authorities remained responsible for its administration.
Damascus has a population of from 230,000 to 300,000. It is the
starting point of the Hedjaz Railway, built by Abdul Hamid, nominally
for the benefit of pilgrims to Mecca and Medina, but in reality to
increase the Ottoman hold on western Arabia. This line connects
southward with the railways to Palestine, while westward a railway
runs to the important seaport of Beirut. Northward a railway runs to
Homs and Aleppo, fifty miles distant, where it connects with the
Bagdad Railway.
During the next few days there was no change in the general situation.
To the north and west of Damascus, on the Aleppo and Beirut roads
respectively, British cavalry were clearing the country, and took over
15,000 prisoners in that area.
Since the commencement of operations on the night of September 18,
1918, over 71,000 prisoners and 350 guns had been captured, besides
some 8,000 prisoners claimed by the Arab Army of King Hussein.
Included in these figures are the Turkish commanders of the Sixteenth,
Nineteenth, Twenty-fourth, Fifty-third, and composite divisions, the
commander of the Maan garrison, and German and Austrian troops
numbering over 200 officers and 3,000 of other ranks.
In the afternoon of October 6, 1918, Zahleh, at the foot of Mount
Lebanon, and Raysk, respectively thirty-three and thirty miles
northwest of Damascus, were occupied by British cavalry. Raysk is the
point at which the enemy broad-gauge railway from the north joins the
1.05-meter gauge system of Palestine. The latter system was now,
therefore, entirely in British hands. A considerable quantity of
rolling stock, ammunition, and engineer stores were captured. The
railway station and aerodrome had been burned by the retreating enemy
prior to evacuation.
In the coastal area the enemy evacuated Beirut and retired northward.
Saida (Sidon) was occupied by British troops on October 7, 1918,
without opposition. French and British warships entered the port of
Beirut on October 6, 1918, finding the town evacuated by the enemy.
On October 7, 1918, British armored cars, preceding cavalry and
infantry columns, arrived, and on October 8, 1918, advanced
detachments of British and Indian infantry occupied the place, being
received enthusiastically by the inhabitants.
The number of prisoners taken by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force,
exclusive of those taken by the Arab Armies, had risen to over 75,000,
and it was estimated that of the entire strength of the Turkish
Fourth, Seventh, and Eighth Armies not more than 17,000 in all had
escaped, this figure including about 4,000 effective rifles. Many of
the prisoners captured were in a lamentable state of exhaustion. The
prisoners taken by the Arab forces numbered 8,000, so that the total
captures by the Allies in Palestine and Syria since September 18,
1918, amounted to over 83,000. Of these over 3,200 were Germans or
Austrians.
In occupying Beirut the British captured sixty Turkish officers and
600 men. Baalbek was entered by armored car batteries on October 9,
1918, after a force of some 500 Turks had surrendered to the
inhabitants. Advanced British cavalry and armored cars occupied
Tripoli thirty-five miles north of Beirut, on October 13, 1918, and
Homs, on the Damascus-Aleppo Railroad, about eighty miles distant from
either of these two cities, on October 15, 1918.
In Mesopotamia British troops continued to pursue the Turks on both
banks of the Tigris. On October 25, 1918, British columns moving up
the eastern bank forced the passage of the Lesser Zab near its mouth
in conjunction with cavalry, which had crossed this river on the
previous evening seven miles farther upstream. The latter movement
turned the left flank of a Turkish force holding the angle formed by
the junction of the Lesser Zab with the Tigris, and assisted the main
body to drive the enemy across the Tigris to the western bank.
Meanwhile other British troops advancing up the right on western bank
of the Tigris over a difficult country, much cut up by ravines, forced
the Turks from a hill position which they were holding in prolongation
of their forces on the left bank. The enemy, after burning their
stores, retired about four miles farther up the river.
On the Kirkuk road, the main Bagdad-Mosul highway, lying east of the
Tigris, British patrols entered the southern outskirts of Kirkuk. The
Turks appear to be occupying in strength the high ground to the north
of the town, which is about 100 miles southeast of Mosul.
On October 26, 1918, the Turks still held a strong position on the
Jebel Hamrin, west of the mouth of the Lesser Zab. But on the previous
day British armored cars, moving by the desert track farther to the
west, had struck in on the Turkish line of communications in the
neighborhood of Kalet Shergat, where they attacked the enemy's
convoys.
At the same time British cavalry, moving up the left bank of the
Tigris, threatened the enemy's line of communication from the east.
The pressure of British troops in front, combined with attacks on
their communications, compelled the Turks to retreat twelve miles to
the north during the night of October 26, 1918, to a position three
miles south of Kalet Shergat.
By October 27, 1918, the British main body was in touch with Turkish
troops covering the crossing of the Lesser Zab.
All that day Turkish reserves tried to break through the Eleventh
Indian Cavalry Brigade, who barred the road to Mosul, but without
success, though the arrival of Turkish reenforcements from Mosul
forced that brigade to draw back its right in order to cover its rear.
On the night of October 27-28, 1918, the Seventh Indian Cavalry
Brigade joined the Eleventh, and the Fifty-third Indian Infantry
Brigade, moving up the east bank after a march of thirty-three miles,
was able to support the cavalry in preventing any Turks from breaking
through northward. On October 28, 1918, the Seventeenth Indian
Division successfully assaulted the Turkish Shergat position, and on
the 29th, though exhausted by their continuous fighting and marching
through the rugged hills, pushed forward and attacked till nightfall
the Turks who were now hemmed in.
On the morning of October 30, 1918, the Turkish commander surrendered
his entire force, consisting of the whole of the Fourteenth Division,
the bulk of the Second Division, and portions of two regiments of the
Fifth Division, with all their artillery trains and administrative
services, amounting to some 8,000 men.
In the meantime, British advanced cavalry and armored cars had
occupied Aleppo on the morning of October 26, 1918, after overcoming
slight opposition.
British cavalry immediately renewed their advance and by October 28,
1918, they were fifteen miles north of Aleppo, having occupied
Muslimie station, the junction of the Bagdad and Damascus-Aleppo
Railways.
That evening British cavalry, moving up the east bank of the Tigris,
forded the river north of Kalat Shergat, joined the armored cars which
approached from the west, and established themselves astride the
Turkish communications with Mosul.
There they were heavily attacked by the Turks on October 29, 1918,
and, though the right flank had to withdraw, they succeeded in
defeating all attempts to drive them off the road. In the evening they
were reenforced by troops from the eastern bank, which enabled them to
restore the situation completely.
The same day other British troops advanced up the western bank of the
Tigris after a long and difficult march, attacked and drove the Turks
from their positions three miles south of Kalat Shergat, and captured
the village.
On October 30, 1918, the pursuit continued. The Turks were heavily
engaged five miles north of Kalat Shergat, where they put up a
stubborn defense in broken ground and ravines. By nightfall the
British had penetrated deeply into the enemy positions, and a portion
of his force, which attempted to escape to the northwest, was cut off
by cavalry from the north, who captured 1,000 prisoners and much
material.
CHAPTER XIII
COLLAPSE OF AUSTRIA
On October 24, 1918, indications that a new Allied offensive was about
to be started on the Italian front were officially confirmed. An
intense artillery fire broke out that morning at dawn along the
Italian line. The fire was especially violent in the region of Monte
Grappa. Brisk infantry actions occurred on the highlands of the Seven
Communes, the Italian troops obtaining considerable success.
At the same time French sections attacked the enemy positions at Monte
Sisomel, forcing the defenders to give way and capturing three
officers and about 800 men. British troops attacked the Austrian
positions south of Asiago and captured six officers and about 300 men.
Violent actions were being carried on by the Italian troops south of
Assa and north of Monte Val Bella. A considerable number of enemy
troops were captured during this operation.
It soon became evident that this was to be an offensive, carefully
prepared and planned on a large scale, but no one then dreamed of the
final results it was destined to have, though military officials in
Washington apparently had high hopes from the very beginning. They
were quoted in newspapers as early as the second day of the offensive
as stating that the place selected for the attack indicated that the
present operations might be preliminary steps to a major offensive. If
the high ground between the Brenta and Piave Rivers were carried in
sufficient force, it was believed that it might be possible for the
Italian army, supported by French and British units and artillery, and
possibly by American troops, to reach the valley of the upper Piave
and outflank the whole Austrian position on the lower stretches of the
river, running from the Monte Grappa Plateau to the sea. Immediate
withdrawal of the Austrian forces on this line would appear to be the
certain result of any striking Italian success on the lines under
assault.
The Piave forms a great loop, flowing down toward the plateau from the
northeast, then swinging sharply southeast to reach the sea. West of
the Monte Grappa Heights, that deflect the river's course, the Brenta
flows down from the northwest and bends sharply south about the
eastern face of the rugged plateau. It was in the territory between
the two rivers that the new attack had been launched.
Aside from its military significance, the operation in Italy was being
watched closely by officials as a test of the spirit of the Austrian
army. Reports of disorders and disaffections in the Dual Monarchy had
been persistent for months, and it was regarded as quite within the
range of possibility that the war weariness at home would show itself
decisively at the front. In that case, it was felt, the early
capitulation of Germany's chief ally might be expected.
The second day's news, indeed, supported these high hopes.
Bitter fighting occurred during the morning of October 25, 1918, in
the Monte Grappa region. Parties of Italian troops resolutely attacked
some portions of the formidable enemy positions and succeeded in
wresting from him and maintaining possession of the important
supporting points in the western and southern area of the massif. They
established themselves on the northern bank of the Ornic Torrent in
the Alano Basin. The enemy, who offered stubborn resistance, suffered
considerable losses.
A few small islands were occupied at Grave di Papodopoli, in the Piave
River. The hostile garrisons were captured. In the Posina-Altico
sector and in the Assa Valley enemy advanced posts were destroyed. On
the Asiago Plateau, Italian and Allied patrols carried out a small
surprise attack with success. The total number of prisoners captured
from midnight of October 23 to midnight of October 24, 1918, was four
officers and 2,791 men of other ranks.
Again on October 26, 1918, in the region northwest of the Monte Grappa
massif, fighting began at dawn and continued the whole day on the
terrain carried by the Italians on the preceding day. The struggle was
fierce and with varying fortune, but finally the stubbornness of the
Fourth Italian Army overcame the desperate attacks of the enemy and
the Italian positions were maintained and extended at some points. The
Aosta Brigade, with remarkable élan, took Monte Valderoa, to the
northwest of Monte Spinoncia.
Aeroplanes bombed and dispersed columns of troops and transports in
the Augana Valley, the Cismon Valley, and the Arten Basin. During that
day forty-seven officers and 2,002 of other ranks were captured.
The Pesaro Brigade and the Eighteenth and Twenty-third Assault
Detachments carried out the difficult conquest of Monte Pertica, which
had been formidably fortified by the enemy.
The attack of the Tenth Italian Army across the Piave in the area of
the island of Grave di Papodopoli commenced at 6.40 a. m., October 7,
1918. The Italian troops on the right met with strong resistance.
After heavy fighting, this resistance was overcome and the advance
successfully commenced. On the right of the Eleventh Italian Corps,
commanded by General Paolino, British troops advanced east of the
river and reached the line from the neighborhood of Roncadelle to a
point halfway to Cimadolino and St. Pelo di Piave, where they came in
touch with the Fourteenth British Corps, under Lieutenant General Sir
U. Babington, who had captured Tezze and Borgo Malamotte. Later in the
day the Italians, in conjunction with Allied contingents, crossed the
Piave River by force of arms, engaging in bitter battles the enemy,
who strove desperately to bar the way.
Between the slopes and heights of Valdobbiadene and the mouth of the
Soligo Torrent Italian infantry assault troops had passed, during the
night, under violent fire to the left bank of the river, broken into
the enemy's front lines, and carried them. Supported by the fire of
the artillery on the right bank, they gained ground and repulsed enemy
counterattacks throughout the day.
To the south the Tenth Army, taking advantage of the successes of the
British at Grave di Papodopoli, compelled the enemy to retire, and
repulsed two counterattacks in the direction of Borgo Malanotte and
Roncadelle. The prisoners taken during the day aggregated more than
9,000. Fifty-one guns were captured. Allied aircraft, with extreme
daring, again attacked the enemy troops from low altitudes.
In local fighting on Monte Grappa 150 prisoners were taken. The enemy
heavily attacked on Monte Pertica and obtained a foothold in the
Italian positions, although at great sacrifices. Later the Italian
infantry, in severe fighting, drove out the enemy and regained the
lost positions. By the end of the day the line of the Tenth Army was
reported to run south of Stabinzzos, Polo di Piaveborgo, Zanettiborgo,
Malanotte, Lasegac, and Tonon.
The next day the battle was continued with equal success by the
Italians and their allies. The Twelfth Army took the heights of
Valdobbiadene. French infantry captured in assault Mont Pionar. The
plain of Sernaglia was occupied. Italian troops carried the heights of
Colfosco and had entered Susegana. Advance guards pushed to the left
of the Monticono. On the left bank of the Ornic River the Italians had
occupied the village of Alano di Piave, taking several hundred
prisoners. Aeroplanes daringly carried supplies to advanced troops on
the left bank of the Piave.
On the same day it also became officially known that Americans were
standing on reserve behind the British and Italian forces now driving
across the Piave.
The news, according to a Washington dispatch to the New York "Times,"
was considered significant not because of the size of the American
contingent in Italy or the direct effect it might have on the battle,
but because it indicated that the Italian drive was a definite part
of the great offensive that was rapidly bringing complete defeat to
the Central Powers.
So far as official announcements showed there were but two regiments
of infantry and necessary auxiliary troops in the American force in
Italy. These units and any others that may have been sent probably
were expected to operate as a part of one of the Italian or British
organizations when the time had come to throw them into the line. The
same practice was followed in France, where two Italian divisions had
been employed at various times on the front as units of a French army
corps.
The sending of American troops to Italy was not with the idea of
adding military strength but to demonstrate the unity of command and
purpose on all fronts. For that reason the force detached by General
Pershing for this purpose was believed not to have exceeded a brigade
of infantry at most. The artillery support contributed by the Allies
to the Italian front was largely British. Some American air units were
in Italy and had participated in the work at the front.
It became known on October 28, 1918, that American troops were
fighting in Italy. On that day the offensive extended southward from
the middle Piave. A third army had entered the struggle. On the front
from the Brenta to the sea three-quarters of the Italian army were
fighting in union with a French division and the 332d American
Infantry Regiment.
Between the Brenta and Piave Rivers the bitterness of the resistance
and the aggressiveness of the enemy, supported by fresh reserves had,
for six days, given the struggle particular fierceness. East of the
Piave the enemy was yielding to Italian troops' pressure and the
Italian troops were overcoming successive lines.
In the Grappa region the Italian Fourth Army gained advantages. In the
region of Pertice and Col del Orso, the Twelfth Army had reached the
outskirts of the village of Quero, taken Sequisine, and earned Monte
Cesen.
The Eighth Army occupied the defile of Follina and reached Vittorio.
There was fighting north of Conegliano. The Italian Tenth Army was
beyond the Conegliano-Oderzo road. The Third Army had crossed the
Piave to San Dona Piave and east of Zenson. The prisoners captured so
far numbered 802 officers and 32,198 men. Of guns several hundred had
been taken.
On October 30, 1918, the Italian and Allied armies were continuing to
rapidly advance after the retreating enemy, who attempted in vain to
retard them. Heads of columns had reached Serravalle, Orsago,
Gajarine, and Oderzo. Cavalry divisions were advancing in the plains
and some squadrons entered Sacile.
In overcoming strong resistance between the Piave and the Monticano,
the Third Army fought brilliantly. The river crossing at Ponti di
Piave was carried in a fierce action. The enemy was obliged to
evacuate Asiago, which was promptly occupied.
During the rush of the advance it had been impossible to keep count of
the thousands of prisoners and many guns. Besides the populations of
towns and villages, there had been liberated numbers of Italian
prisoners who had been in Austrian hands.
The success of the Italian forces was rapidly assuming great
proportions. The routed enemy was retreating east of the Piave, unable
to withstand the close pressure of Allied troops on the mountain
front. In the Venetian plains and the Alpine foothills the Italian
armies were irresistibly directed on the objectives assigned to them.
Hostile masses were thronging into the mountain valleys or attempting
to reach the crossings on the Tagliamento. Prisoners, guns, material,
stores, and depots almost intact, were being left in Italian hands.
The Twelfth Army had completed its possession of the massif of Cison
and was now fighting to carry the gorge of Quero. The Eighth Army had
captured the spur between the Follina Basin and the Piave Valley.
Other forces had occupied the defile of Serravalle and were advancing
toward the high plain of Cansiglio and toward Pordenone.
Czecho-Slovaks had been in the action throughout the entire week.
In the Grappa region the attack was renewed in the morning. Col
Caprile, Col Bonatto, Asolone, Monte Prassaolan, the Solarolo salient,
and Monte Spinocia had been carried. On the Asiago Plateau the
harassed enemy maintained an aggressive fire.
By then it had been ascertained that the prisoners taken exceeded
50,000. More than 300 guns had been counted.
The advance of the Tenth Army, with which British and American troops
were fighting, continued without check throughout the day. British
cavalry detachments, in close touch with Italian cavalry, had reached
the western outskirts of Sacile. Troops of the Fourteenth British
Corps had reached the Livenza River at Francenigo. Farther south the
Eleventh Italian Corps had occupied Oderzo. This advance had been
gained throughout practically the entire length of the objective
assigned to the Earl of Cavan, British Commander on the Piave, by
General Diaz when plans were first formed early in October, 1918. The
energy and determination of the infantry had been beyond all praise.
The difficulties of bridging the Piave led at first to an inevitable
shortness of supplies. In spite of lack of food and sleep and in the
face of constant fighting the Thirty-seventh Italian Division and the
Seventh and Twenty-third British Divisions had advanced without relief
to their final objective. British and Italian troops operating on the
Asiago Plateau entered Camporovere (northeast of Asiago) and captured
the heights of Mocatz. The number of prisoners taken by the Tenth Army
alone had increased to more than 12,000.
The battle continued to expand. The enemy maintained intact his
resistance from Stelvio to the Astico, but he was vacillating on the
Asiago Plateau and in full retreat along the remainder of the front.
He was protected more by interruptions in the roads than by his rear
guards, who were irresistibly overwhelmed. Italian batteries, brought
forward quickly with captured enemy artillery, were intensely shelling
the adversary, firing to the extreme extent of their range. Cavalry
divisions, having destroyed the enemy resistance on the Livenza and
reestablished crossings, were marching toward the Tagliamento.
The Sixth Army, on October 31, 1918, entered into action with a
brilliant advance by the Ancona Brigade at the end of the Brenta
Valley, and in the morning it attacked the adversary along the whole
front.
On the Grappa, under the impetus of the Fourth Army's thrust, the
enemy front had collapsed. It was impossible to estimate the prisoners
coming down the mountain in flocks. All the hostile artillery here was
captured. The Italians forced the gorge of Quero, passed beyond the
spur east of Monteresen, and were advancing in the Piave Valley.
Overcoming the enemy rear guards at the Passo di St. Buldo, Italian
troops were descending into the Piave Valley toward Belluno. Other
parties were engaged in fighting in the hollow of Fadalto, which was
still occupied by the enemy. Cavalry and cyclists, following the road
to the foothills, were opening the way to Aviano.
By the end of the day the Fourth Army was master of the Fonzaso
Valley. The Bologna Brigade entered Feltre that night.
The Twelfth Army, having gone through the Quero defile from the
mountains, was joining up on the Piave course with the Eighth Army.
The latter had descended the valley of the Piave to the south of
Belluno, and had detachments engaged in the Fadalto Valley, which
light columns were encircling by way of Farra d'Alpago.
The right wing of the front of the Third Army had been prolonged
toward the coast by a marine regiment, which had occupied all the
intricate coastal zone, which the enemy in part flooded. A patrol of
sailors had reached Caorile. The Third Army by nightfall had reached
the Livenza. Advanced guards entered Motta di Livenza and Torre di
Mosto. British infantry and mounted troops occupied Sacile. The troops
of the Tenth Army reached the line of the Livenza from that place as
far south as Brugnera. The number of prisoners was continually
increasing, and the various armies captured more than 700 guns. The
booty taken was immense, its value being estimated in billions of
lire.
As the Italian army prosecuted its victorious advance, most deplorable
evidence was coming to light of atrocities by the enemy during the
period of invasion. In Italy, as in France, the fury of the barbarians
was intense against things and persons. Such fury was witnessed not
only by Italian soldiers, but by representatives of the Italian and
Allied press accompanying advancing columns. Everywhere there were
tokens of willful, useless destruction and brutal robberies. Terrified
eyewitnesses narrated horrible scenes. The Italian Government, the
military authorities, and the Allies stated that they would not fail
to carry out rigorous inquiry regarding abominations committed, of
which the enemy must give an account. Italians found in freed zones
were in a terrible state. They lacked everything because the enemy
during a year of occupation had destroyed, burned, sacked, and carried
off everything.
The utter collapse of the Austrian forces and the fierceness of the
fighting are well illustrated by a special dispatch sent under date of
October 31, 1918, from Italian headquarters east of the Piave and
published in the New York "Times" the following day. It said:
"At many points east of the Piave there are so many Austrian prisoners
that they block the roads over which they are being marched to the
rear. The Venetian plain immediately east of the Piave is a scene of
desolation. Houses and villages have been ruined by shell fire. When
the advancing Italians reached Sacile they were received as saviors,
and the women and children of the town fell on their knees before
them. During a recent influenza epidemic in the town the Austrians are
said to have brutally rejected appeals from mothers for food for their
sick children.
"Every bridge in the path of the advancing Allies has been the scene
of fighting. One railroad bridge near Conegliano was lost and retaken
thirty times. In the storming of Monte Cismon, which gives to the
Allies command of the valleys of the Brenta and Cismon--and the
domination of the Brenta virtually means possession of the
Trentino--an Austrian battery of six guns which had been shelling the
city of Bassano was captured. The morning before it was taken fifty
persons were killed in Bassano."
By November 1, 1918, more than 1,000 square miles of Italy's invaded
provinces had been reconquered, but the greatest importance of the
daring movement conceived by General Diaz was his success in
separating the Austrian army occupying the Monte Grappa and Trentino
regions from that on the Venetian plains. At the same time he was
threatening the Austrian contingents holding the section southeast of
the Piave, which, it was expected, would be enveloped or cut off by
the Italians advancing toward Pordenone.
Allied troops had reached the Gringo, five miles north of Monte
Lisser. They had cut off the retreat of the Austrians in Trentino,
except over mule paths in the mountains. On the Asiago Plateau the
Sixth Army and two Allied divisions carried formidable positions which
the Austrians had held for many months. Monte Mosciavi, Monte Baldo,
Monte Longara, La Meletia di Gallio, Sasso Rosso, Monte Spitz, and
Lambara were taken. Three thousand prisoners and 232 guns were
captured on the Asiago Plateau alone.
Enemy resistance at Fidalto defile was overcome by Italian troops who
entered Belluno. The Third Cavalry Division reached the plains north
of Pordenone. The Second Cavalry was fighting hostile rear guards in
Meduna. The infantry of the Tenth and Third Armies passed the Livenza
River between Sacile and San Stino.
East of the Brenta the pursuit continued. On the Asiago Plateau the
enemy was resisting to gain time for the masses in the rear to retire,
but the troops of the Sixth Army crossed by force of arms the pass
between Rotzo and Roana, carrying in a bitter struggle Monte Cimone
and Monte Lisser, and were advancing in the valley of the Nos.
The Fourth Army occupied the heights north of the hollow of Fonzaso,
and pushed forward columns into the Sugana Valley. The old frontier
was passed in the evening. Alpine groups, having crossed the Piave
with improvised means in the neighborhood of Busche, spread out in the
area between Feltre and San Giustina. Italian troops who the day
before won in heavy fighting at the Passo di Boldo the hollow of
Fadalto were going up the Cordevole Valley. They had passed beyond
Ponte nelle Alpi and were marching toward Longarone.
On the plains an Italian cavalry division under the Count of Turin,
having overcome the resistance of the enemy at Castello d'Aviano,
Roveredo-in-Piano, San Martino, and San Quirino, occupied Pordenone
and passed the Cellima-Meduna. Italian and Allied aviators were
complete masters of the air and continued without pause their daring
activities. An Italian airship bombarded the railway stations in the
Sugana Valley at night.
It was not possible to calculate the number of guns abandoned on the
lines of battle, now distant from the fighting fronts, and on the
roads. More than 1,600 had been counted so far. More than 80,000
prisoners had been counted. Italian soldiers had liberated also
several thousand prisoners from captivity.
British troops of the Tenth Army crossed the Livenza River between
Motta and Sacile and established a bridgehead east of that stream. The
Northamptonshire Yeomanry Regiment captured twelve mountain guns and
fifteen machine guns. The Forty-eighth Division, operating on the
Asiago Plateau, was reported to have advanced its line two kilometers
northward, but was meeting with machine-gun resistance in the
neighborhood of Monte Interrotto.
The First Army on November 2, 1918, captured Monte Majo and attacked
Passo della Borcola. In the Posina sector Italian troops took Monte
Cimone, on the Tonezzo Plateau, and, after ascending the Assa Valley,
occupied Lastebasse.
On the Asiago Plateau the Allies captured a great number of prisoners
and guns. Still the advance continued. There were lively rear-guard
combats west of Castelnuovo, in the Sugana Valley, and at Ponte della
Serra, in the Cismon Valley. In the Cordevole Valley Italian advance
guards reached Mis. Italian cavalry occupied Spilimbergo and
Pordenone, and the fighting reached the east bank of the Tagliamento,
across which patrols had been thrown.
In the plains the heads of the Italian columns reached the line of
Azzanodecimo, Portogruaro, Concordia, and Sagittaria.
On the same day Allied troops broke through the enemy's
fortifications at Celadel. The Tonale Pass was forced and the Val
Arsa taken from Col Santa to the north of Pasubio.
The advance was continuing irresistibly on the Tonezza, the Asiago
Plateau, in the Sugana Valley, the valleys of Cismon and Cordevole,
and along the Piave and on the plains.
On the Tagliamento, cavalry, supported by mounted batteries,
Bersaglieri, and cyclists, was winning bitter combats against the
adversary, who, surprised on his side of the river, was fighting with
great stubbornness. The Second Brigade, with the regiments from Genoa
and Italian and Allied airmen, brilliantly maintained exceptional
activity. The total of prisoners had reached 100,000 and the guns
captured more than 2,000.
The bridging of the Livenza River was being rapidly carried out by
British troops, some of whom were well east of that river. The number
of prisoners captured by the Tenth Army alone could not at that time
be accurately given, but it was known to be considerably over 15,000,
with 150 guns. Of these more than 10,000 prisoners and more than 100
guns had been captured by the Fourteenth British Corps. The booty
taken at Sacile included among the vast amount of other material an
ordnance workshop complete and a pontoon park. In their operations on
the Asiago Plateau the Forty-eighth British Division captured nearly
200 prisoners. The British air force continued throughout the day to
bomb the dense masses of retiring Austrians with visibly good results.
In the meantime Austria-Hungary had appealed for an armistice on
October 29, 1918. After careful deliberations on the part of the
Allies, during the process of which the Italian forces had continued
their victorious advance without abatement, the terms on which the
Allies had agreed were submitted to the Austrians, who accepted them
on November 3, 1918, and hostilities were suspended on November 4,
1918, at 3 p. m. Germany had now lost her route to the East, and if
she continued the war must fight single-handed on the western front.
Before the armistice became operative the Italian columns, having
passed every obstacle and overcome every resistance, had advanced with
great impetus and had firmly established themselves behind the enemy
in the Adige Valley, closing the openings of all the roads convergent
to it. The Seventh Army, by rapidly taking the region to the west of
the Adige, became master of the Passo della Mendola, and had pushed
patrols on the river in the direction of Bolzani, The First Army,
which, with the advance made on November 3, 1918, by its Twenty-ninth
Corps, had crowned its brilliant maneuver for the taking of Trento,
occupied Monticelli, dominating the confluence of the Adige Noce.
Early in the afternoon of November 4, 1918, the headquarters of this
army were established at Trento.
The landing at Trieste began at 11 o'clock a. m., November 3, 1918.
The first to land was a battalion of the Royal Italian Marines, which
was received by the population assembled on the embankments with great
jubilation. The city was bedecked with Italian flags, and in a short
time Bersaglieri were marching through its streets, enthusiastically
acclaimed by the population.
From then on the Italians extended their successes toward the south
along the Dalmatian coast. Within a few days Austria-Hungary lost all
her ports and her end as a maritime power seemed assured.
Lissa was occupied by naval forces on the same day. On November 4,
1918, Italian vessels occupied Abbazia, Rovigno, and Parenzo on the
Istrian coast, the neighboring island of Lussin, and, in the middle
Adriatic, Lagosta, Meleda, and Curzola. Other ships entered the port
of Fiume. Small parties of sailors landed at Riva.
Thus the liberation of "Italia Irredenta" was practically completed.
CHAPTER XIV
THE SURRENDER OF TURKEY
After the overwhelming defeats which the Turkish armies had
suffered--as described in other chapters of this volume--in
Mesopotamia and Palestine in the fall of 1918, it became clear that
the hour for surrender had struck for Turkey.
As soon as the Turkish authorities had decided that their cause was
lost, they sent General Townshend, the hero of Kut-el-Amara, who since
the British debacle on the Tigris in 1916 had been their prisoner, to
inform the British Admiral in command in the Ægean Sea that they
desired to open immediately negotiations for an armistice. Vice
Admiral Calthorp, the British commander, replied that, if Turkey sent
fully accredited plenipotentiaries, they would be informed of the
conditions which the Allies had decided to impose upon Turkey before
hostilities could cease.
The Turkish plenipotentiaries arrived at Mudros, on the island of
Lemnos, in the Ægean Sea, on October 27, 1918. Three days were
consumed in parleys, at the end of which the armistice was signed in
the evening of October 30, 1918. It was to take effect at noon of the
next day, and involved, among others, the following terms: The opening
of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, with Allied occupation of the
Dardanelles and the Bosporus forts; immediate demobilization of the
Turkish army; surrender of war vessels in Turkish waters; right of the
Allies to occupy strategic points; withdrawal of Turkish troops from
Persia; surrender of garrisons in Hedjaz, Syria, Mesopotamia, etc., to
the nearest Allied commander; Turkey to cease all relations with the
Central Powers.
Hard on the heels of the surrender of Germany's second ally came the
total collapse of its principal supporter, Austria-Hungary.
CHAPTER XV
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY AND GERMANY SURRENDER--"THE WAR THUS COMES TO AN END,"
PRESIDENT WILSON TO CONGRESS--PRESIDENT SAILS FOR FRANCE
The sustained success of the Allied armies in France and Belgium in
August and September of 1918 strengthened the determination of the
Allies not to relax any efforts to prosecute the war to a victorious
conclusion. The Central Powers were no less impressed with the trend
of events, and throughout September and October repeated efforts were
made by Austria-Hungary and by Germany to induce President Wilson to
take the first steps toward an armistice and peace. The President made
it clear that the United States would urge no course upon the Allies
that might in any way sacrifice the military advantage their armies
had gained. It became more and more evident that the terms of
armistice and peace would be dictated by the Allies.
That Germany was quite as anxious to bring about a speedy armistice as
Austria-Hungary was expressed in a note which the Washington
Government received on October 30, 1918, and which the State
Department declined to make public because it was evident that the
document had been prepared mainly for propaganda purposes. The note
described the various steps that had been taken to democratize the
German Government with the view to impressing the United States that
they had complied with President Wilson's stand not to discuss an
armistice with a nation that was still dominated by an autocracy. The
note endeavored to prove that the German people were now in complete
control of the Government, but it failed to impress the
Administration, since it did not show any change in the situation
created by other German proposals to suspend hostilities. The evident
purpose of the appeal was to influence sentiment in foreign countries
and gain sympathy in the United States. It was well understood at
Washington and in the capitals of the Allies that the Central Powers
realized that they faced complete disaster and that their only hope of
saving anything from the wreck was to bring about a speedy cessation
of hostilities.
On October 31, 1918, the representatives of the Entente Powers
assembled at Versailles to consider the terms of the armistice after
an informal meeting at the home of Colonel E. M. House, President
Wilson's personal representative. On this date Turkey capitulated. The
United States had no part in arranging the Turkish armistice, which
was chiefly the work of the British and French representatives. The
principal terms of the armistice granted by the Allies to Turkey were:
The opening of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus and access to the
Black Sea, and occupation of all forts along these waters by the
Allies. All Allied prisoners of war and Armenian interned persons and
prisoners to be collected in Constantinople and handed over
unconditionally to the Allies. Immediate demobilization of the Turkish
army except such as were required to guard frontiers and maintain
internal order. The surrender of all war vessels in Turkish waters, or
waters occupied by Turkey. Free use by Allied ships of all ports and
anchorages now in Turkish occupation and denial of their use by the
enemy. Wireless, cable, and telegraph stations to be controlled by the
Allies. The surrender of all garrisons in Hedjaz, Yemen, Mesopotamia,
etc. All Germans and Austrians--naval, military, or civilians--to be
evacuated within one month from Turkish dominions.
The capitulation of Turkey, though anticipated for some days by the
Entente and the United States, was important inasmuch as it was
expected to hasten the collapse of the Central Powers. Austria, aflame
with anarchy, and with revolutionary mobs parading the capital, had no
choice but to submit to the Allies' terms. In Washington the complete
collapse and unconditional surrender of Germany was hourly expected.
All interest was now centered in the Supreme War Council in session at
Versailles, where the terms to be offered to the Central Powers were
under discussion. There were present during the deliberations General
Tasker H. Bliss, representing the United States, Premier Clemenceau,
Marshal Foch, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Colonel E. M. House,
President Wilson's personal representative, and David Lloyd-George,
the British prime minister. It was decided that the terms to be
submitted to Germany should be confined strictly to military
requirements conditioned generally upon President Wilson's principles.
During the discussion of Austrian questions Serbian and Greek
representatives were present because of their special interest in
Austrian affairs.
At Washington President Wilson kept in touch with the United States
representatives at the Versailles Council. Colonel House advised the
President of the progress of the deliberations, and there were
frequent exchanges of communications. It was known in Washington that
political and economic conditions in the Central Powers had reached
such a pass that Austria could not, and Germany would not, refuse to
sign any terms which the Entente was prepared to offer.
The complete destruction of the Austrian armies by the Italians, which
resulted in the capture of over 300,000 prisoners and 5,000 guns, left
the dual monarchy no alternative but complete surrender. On November
3, 1918, an armistice with Austria was signed by General Diaz, the
Italian commander in chief, which went into operation at 3 o'clock in
the afternoon of the following day. The principal terms in the
armistice may be briefly outlined:
Demobilization of the Austro-Hungarian army and withdrawal of all
forces operating on the front from the North Sea to Switzerland. Half
the divisional corps and army artillery and equipment to be collected
at points indicated by the Allies and the United States for delivery
to them. Evacuation of all territories invaded by Austria-Hungary
since the beginning of the war. The Allies to have the right of free
movement over all roads, railroads, and waterways in Austro-Hungarian
territory. The armies of the Allies to occupy such strategic points as
they deemed necessary to conduct military operations, or to maintain
order. Complete evacuation of all German troops within fifteen days
from Italian and Balkan fronts and all Austro-Hungarian territory.
Evacuated territories to be governed by local authorities under
control of the Allied armies of occupation. Immediate repatriation
without reciprocity of all Allied prisoners of war and civil
populations evacuated from their homes.
The naval conditions included surrender to the Allies and the United
States of fifteen submarines and all German submarines in Austrian
waters, three battleships, three light cruisers, nine destroyers, six
Danube monitors, etc. Freedom of navigation for the Allies in the
Adriatic and all waterways, with occupation of forts and defenses on
the Danube. The existing blockade conditions to remain unchanged, and
all naval aircraft to be concentrated and impactionized in
Austro-Hungarian bases to be designated by the Allies and the United
States of America.
The drastic character of the armistice terms were calculated to please
even the "Bitter Enders" in America and Europe. President Wilson's
diplomacy was now triumphantly vindicated, and those members of
Congress who had found fault with his note writing were ready to
concede that to him belonged a great deal of the credit of bringing
about a situation that must lead to the ending of the war on the
Allies' own terms.
On November 6, 1918, the German Government sent a wireless message to
Marshal Foch asking him to receive German plenipotentiaries who would
arrive at the French outposts on the following day (November 7) to
arrange for the armistice. The mission was headed by Mathias
Erzberger, secretary of state, and included General von Winterfeld,
Count Alfred von Oberndorf, General von Grunnel, and Naval Captain von
Sallow.
As previously noted in the last chapter devoted to military
operations, the armistice was signed by the German representatives and
all hostilities ceased on November 11, 1918, at 11 a. m. On the same
date President Wilson announced the terms of the armistice in his
address to Congress. Briefly summarized, Germany agreed to the
immediate evacuation of all invaded countries, including
Alsace-Lorraine, and yielded over to Allied occupation "the countries
on the left bank of the Rhine," including control of the crossings of
that river at Mayence, Coblenz, and Cologne; bridgeheads of thirty
kilometer radius on the eastern bank and the establishment of a
neutral zone from thirty to forty kilometers in breadth and running
from the frontier of Holland to the Swiss frontier. Germany
surrendered about half her navy, including 160 submarines, which
passed at once under control of the Allies to be disarmed and interned
in Allied or neutral ports. All other German warships were to be
disarmed and concentrated in German naval bases and held under control
of the Allies and the United States. All the railways of Belgium,
Luxemburg, and of Alsace-Lorraine with their equipment were to be
given up.
In the east Germany abandoned the treaties of Bucharest and
Brest-Litovsk. All German troops in Russia, Rumania, or Turkey were to
be withdrawn and the agents of German propaganda recalled. The Baltic
was opened to the warships of the Allies, and provision was made that
through Danzig or the Vistula supplies might be sent to the starving
peoples of Poland and Russia.
The Black Sea ports were also to be evacuated by Germany and she must
give up the Russian fleet. While the blockade was to be maintained as
respected Germany, all German restriction upon the trade of neutrals
was removed. Germany must give up all the prisoners she had taken, all
the ships she had seized, but this was not reciprocal. German
prisoners of war and German ships remained in the custody of the
Allies.
While President Wilson was reading to the assembled Congress the
drastic terms which Germany had been forced to accept in order to
obtain peace there was a tense silence on the part of the great
audience. It was only when they realized, as paragraph after paragraph
was read, how complete the victory of the Allies was that faint
handclapping was heard, then cheers and presently everyone in the
gallery and on the floor was on his feet cheering madly. After reading
the terms of the armistice President Wilson continued:
"The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of
armistice, it will be impossible for the German command to renew it."
PART V--VICTORY ON THE SEA
CHAPTER XVI
NAVAL EXPLOITS OF THE ALLIES--SUBMARINES
The fleets of the Allies, and the American fleet, had comparatively
few opportunities for direct action after August 1, 1918, yet they had
a great share in winning the war.
A British destroyer which had been seriously damaged by collision was
torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine in the Mediterranean on
August 6, 1918. Two officers and five men lost their lives as a result
of the collision.
On the next day, August 7, 1918, the old French cruiser _Dupetit
Thouars_, which was cooperating with the American navy in the
protection of shipping in the Atlantic, was torpedoed by a submarine.
American destroyers rescued the crew, of which, however, thirteen were
reported missing. The _Dupetit Thouars_, 9,367 tons, was launched in
1901. She carried two 6-inch and eight 6.4-inch guns.
Two British destroyers struck mines and sank on August 15, 1918.
Twenty-six men were reported missing--presumed killed by explosion or
drowned. One man died of wounds.
In the latter part of August, 1918, a notable feat was performed by an
Italian submarine. On August 20, 1918, it was officially reported
that, a few days before in the upper Adriatic, the Italian submarine
_F7_, after crossing certain mined areas, boldly entered the Gulf of
Quarnerolo, and seeing near the island of Pago a large Austrian
steamer going south, the _F7_ succeeded in hitting the vessel
amidships with a torpedo, which sank her. The submarine returned
unharmed to her base.
Although the Germans gave no opportunity to the British and Allied
fleets to enter into a real naval battle, the British were active in
the Helgoland Bight, and were carrying out operations with various
kinds of light forces in the North Sea, the average number of such
operations being no less than five daily. The number of German surface
crafts destroyed in the Bight during the year ran into three figures.
A British torpedo-boat destroyer was sunk on September 8, 1918, as the
result of a collision during a fog. There were no casualties.
Eight days later, on September 16, 1918, a British monitor was sunk as
she was lying in a harbor. One officer and nineteen men were killed
and fifty-seven men were missing and were presumed to have been
killed.
In the latter part of September, 1918, a part of the British fleet
again, as it had done many times before, bombarded successfully the
German defenses and points of communication on the Belgian coast. This
operation was carried out in cooperation with extensive military
operations on the part of the Allied forces on the Flanders front.
Still another British torpedo gunboat was sunk on September 30, 1918,
as the result of a collision with a merchant vessel. One officer and
fifty-two men were reported missing, presumed to have been drowned.
That the Swedish navy suffered the loss of one of its boats during the
month of September, 1918, became known when it was announced on
September 25, 1918, that the Swedish gunboat _Gunhild_ had been sunk
by striking a German mine in the Skagerrak, with the loss of the chief
officer and eighteen men.
On October 17, 1918, the British navy at last came into its own. It
will be recalled that by that time the Germans had been forced by the
unceasing attacks along the western front, described in another part
of this volume, to withdraw from the Belgian coast. Shortly after noon
of the 17th, Vice Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, commanding the British
Dover Patrol Force, landed at Ostend after Royal Air Force
contingents working with the navy had landed at Ostend and had
reported it clear of the enemy.
However, it was soon ascertained that the enemy at the time was not
clear of the town and a light battery at Le Coq opened fire on the
ships. Two shells, falling on the beach close to a crowd, excited the
inhabitants. A heavy battery of four guns in the direction of
Zeebrugge opened fire on the destroyers, and, as it seemed possible
the presence of the naval force might lead to the bombardment of
Ostend or to more shells falling in the town, where they would
endanger the lives of civilians, the British decided to withdraw the
naval force, and thus give the enemy no excuse for firing toward the
town. They, therefore, reembarked and the destroyers withdrew, being
heavily shelled, to just east of Middelkerke. Four motor launches were
left at Ostend as an inshore patrol, the inhabitants being nervous of
the Germans returning. The King and Queen of the Belgians expressed
the wish to visit Ostend, either from the sea or the air. In view of
the difficulty of landing and the uncertainty of the situation, they
proceeded in the destroyer _Termagant_, flying the Belgian flag at the
main, to the vicinity of Ostend. The senior officer of the British
motor-launch patrol off Ostend, which had been reenforced by French
motor launches, reported that all had been quiet for some hours. Their
majesties therefore landed and proceeded to the Hôtel de Ville. They
were received everywhere with indescribable enthusiasm. They returned
to Dunkirk about 10 o'clock at night. The British naval forces
suffered no damage and no casualties.
In the morning of November 1, 1918, after the Austrian fleet had been
surrendered to the Jugoslav National Committee, Commander Rossetti and
Lieutenant Paolucci of the Italian navy succeeded in entering the
inner harbor of Pola and sank the large battleship _Viribus Unitis_,
flagship of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. This daring enterprise was
accomplished by the use of a so-called "navy tank" which succeeded in
penetrating the mine field at the entrance to the harbor. This was
described by naval officials as a small vessel, similar to the "Eagle
boats" being built for the United States navy.
During this period the Italian navy also was active in the occupation
of Austro-Hungarian ports on the Adriatic. Thus Italian battleships
entered the ports of Zara and Lussinpiccolo and raised the Italian
flag there. Zara is a seaport of Austria-Hungary and is the capital of
Dalmatia. It is situated on a promontory on the eastern coast of the
Adriatic, 170 miles southeast of Venice. Lussinpiccolo is a town on an
island belonging to the Crownland of Istria. It is the principal
seaport of the Quarnero Islands, between Istria and the Croatian
Coast.
A few days before the cessation of hostilities the British battleship
_Britannia_ was torpedoed near the west entrance to the Strait of
Gibraltar on November 9, 1918, and sank three and a half hours later.
Thirty-nine officers and 673 men were saved. The _Britannia_, which
had a displacement of 16,350 tons, was launched at Portsmouth December
10, 1904. She was 453.7 feet in length, had a speed of approximately
nineteen knots, and carried a peace-time complement of 777 men. Her
main armament consisted of four 12-inch guns.
The end was rapidly approaching now, and on November 12, 1918, the
Allied fleets passed through the Dardanelles in fine weather. British
and Indian troops occupying the forts were paraded as the ships
passed. The fleet arrived off Constantinople at 8 a. m. on November
13, 1918. This was the fourth time in a century that British
battleships passed through the Dardanelles and arrived before
Constantinople on a mission of war.
It was 7.30 in the morning, according to the special correspondent of
the London "Times," that the flagship _Superb_ was sighted in the Sea
of Marmora, steaming slowly toward the entrance of the Bosporus,
Behind her came the _Temeraire_, bearing General Sir Henry Wilson, who
was to command the garrisons of Allied troops in the forts of the
Dardanelles and Bosporus. The _Lord Nelson_ and the _Agamemnon_ were
next, and then followed, in an imposing procession of line ahead, the
cruisers, destroyers, and other craft making up the British squadron.
Half an hour's steaming behind them, a distance that was diminished
toward the end, came the French squadron in similar formation. Then
followed the Italian and Greek warships.
At the entrance to the Bosporus the fleet divided into two parts. The
_Superb_ and _Temeraire_, followed by two French battleships, came on
as a silent line of great gray ships and anchored close to the
European shore of the Straits, within near view of the Sultan's palace
and the Turkish Chamber of Deputies. The two French battleships
dropped anchor astern of them, and then followed the battleships of
Italy and Greece. The rest of the Allied fleet was placed round the
corner of the Bosporus in the Sea of Marmora, and at noon the whole
fleet was to weigh anchor again and go to its prepared base in the
Gulf of Ismid.
General Sir Henry Wilson soon afterward landed on the quay. He was
received by Djevad Pasha, Turkish Chief of Staff, and on the quay were
drawn up a guard of honor of several hundred British and Indian
prisoners of war in their light-colored clothes of blanket cloth.
Massed everywhere, as near as the Turkish police would let them come,
were dense crowds of the population of Constantinople.
We now come to one of the most dramatic incidents of the war, as far
as it affected the naval forces. Early in November, 1918, the mighty
German fleet at Kiel had revolted. Soon after that came the cessation
of hostilities, following on the signing of the armistice. Included in
the terms of the latter were, it will be recalled, certain severe
provisions concerning the surrender of a large part of the German
naval forces. The time for carrying out these provisions had now been
reached.
At sunrise of November 20, 1918, twenty German submarines were
surrendered to Rear Admiral Reginald W. Tyrwhitt of the British navy
thirty miles off Harwich. These were the first U-boats to be turned
over to the Allies by Germany. Admiral Tyrwhitt received the surrender
of the German craft on board his flagship, the _Curaçao_. The
submarines proceeded to Harwich in charge of their own crews. They
were then boarded by British crews and interpreters, and proceeded to
Parkston Quay, near by. Twenty additional submarines were to be
surrendered on the following day. Other U-boats were handed over
later in accordance with the armistice terms.
CHAPTER XVII
SURRENDER OF THE GERMAN FLEET
A most dramatic event was the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet.
The British Grand Fleet, accompanied by an American battle squadron
and French cruisers, steamed out before dawn in the morning of
November 21, 1918, from its Scottish base to accept the surrender of
the German battleships, battle cruisers, and destroyers. The point of
rendezvous for the Allied and German sea forces was between thirty and
forty miles east of May Island, opposite the Firth of Forth. The fleet
which witnessed the surrender consisted of some 400 ships, including
sixty dreadnoughts, fifty light cruisers, and nearly 200 destroyers.
Admiral Sir David Beatty, commander of the Grand Fleet, was on the
_Queen Elizabeth_. The German warships, strung out in a single column
almost twenty miles long, were led into the Firth of Forth between
twin columns of Allied ships which overlapped the Germans at each end.
The main Allied fleet, extending over a line fourteen miles long in
the Firth of Forth, began to weigh anchor at 1 o'clock in the morning.
The Scotch mist which for days had obscured the harbor was swept away
by a stiff breeze, and the moon shone brilliantly out of a clear sky.
The ships quickly took their stations in the long double line they
held throughout the day. British battle cruisers led the way, followed
by dreadnoughts. Admiral Beatty's flagship, the _Queen Elizabeth_, led
the squadron in the northern column. Five American battleships, the
_New York_, _Texas_, _Arkansas_, _Wyoming_, and _Florida_, commanded
by Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman, fell into line behind Admiral Beatty's
craft, balancing a British squadron similar in power in the opposite
file. All the battleships of the Allies were ready for instant action
in case of treachery on the part of the Germans.
[Illustration: The surrender of the German fleet.]
The rendezvous was approximately fifty miles distant and the ships
gauged their speed to arrive at the appointed place at 8 o'clock. At 5
o'clock a signal summoned the men to battle stations, and, except the
officers on the bridges, the ships' companies were hidden behind
bulwarks of steel. When dawn broke, the sea was again covered with
mist, which reduced the visibility to less than 8,000 yards.
Eyes straining through the murky haze finally were rewarded. Off the
starboard bow, the _Cardiff_, trailing an observation kite balloon,
came steaming in. Close behind her came the first of the German ships,
the great battle cruiser _Seydlitz_, which was flying the flag of
Commodore Togert. After her came four others of the same type, the
_Derfflinger_, _Von der Tann_, _Hindenburg_, and _Moltke_. They moved
along three cable lengths apart.
Immediately following them were nine dreadnoughts, the _Friedrich der
Grosse_, flagship of Rear Admiral von Reuter; the _Koenig Albert_,
_Kaiser_, _Kronprinz Wilhelm_, _Kaiserin_, _Bayern_, _Markgraf_,
_Prinzregent Luitpold_, and the _Grosser Kurfürst_. Three miles astern
of the battleships came seven light cruisers, the _Karlsruhe_, bearing
the ensign of Commodore Harder; the _Frankfort_, _Emden_, _Nürnberg_,
_Brummer_, _Cöln_, and _Bremen_. Then came another gap of three miles
and German destroyers came steaming in, five columns abreast, with ten
destroyers to a column.
Every vessel steaming out to meet them flew battle ensigns and was
ready for instant action, with its men at battle stations and guns in
position.
Six miles separated the Allied columns, and squarely between them the
_Cardiff_ brought her charges, all steaming at the stipulated speed of
ten knots. As ordered, their guns were in regular fore-and-aft
positions, and, as far as powerful glasses could determine, there was
no sign to provoke suspicion. Until all the major ships had been
swallowed up in the enveloping Allied columns, the latter never for a
moment relaxed their alert watch. Over the Germans circled a British
dirigible, which acted as eyes for the Allied ships, which, although
the fog had lifted, were still too distant for accurate observation.
When the leading German ship had reached the western end of the
flanking columns the Allied ships put about in squadrons. Quickly
re-forming their lines, they proceeded to escort the enemy into the
Firth of Forth. By noon the last wisp of fog had dispersed and a
splendid view of the vast array of war craft could be obtained.
Holding steadily to its course, the great fleet reached May Island at
2 o'clock. The captive Germans were piloted to anchorages assigned to
them and British ships from the northern column steamed on to the
regular anchorages higher up the Firth.
Inspection parties from the Grand Fleet boarded the Germans to make
sure that all conditions of the armistice were observed. The enemy
vessels were to be interned in Scapa Flow. Part of the crews were to
remain for maintenance work and the remainder were to be returned to
Germany soon.
The total tonnage surrendered, exclusive of submarines, amounted to
approximately 420,000, divided as follows: Battle cruisers, 121,000
tons; dreadnoughts, 225,000 tons; light cruisers, 43,000 tons, and
destroyers, 30,000.
Even after the cessation of hostilities there was still plenty of work
to do for the naval forces of the Allies. After the occupation of
Constantinople, already described, Allied ships occupied Odessa on
November 26, 1918, and on the same day anchored off Sebastopol, the
Russian naval base in the Crimea. There they took over the Russian
ships, then in the hands of the Germans, as well as some German
submarines.
In the Baltic, too, British and other Allied ships made their
appearance. On December 3, 1918, a British squadron, consisting of
twenty-two ships and including destroyers, cruisers, mine sweepers,
and transport steamers, were reported to have arrived in the port of
Libau in Courland. At midnight on December 4, 1918, one of these
ships, the British light cruiser _Cassandra_, of 6,000 tons, struck a
mine and sank within an hour with a loss of eleven men. A few days
later, on December 6, 1918, it was announced that some of these ships
had successfully bombarded, from the Gulf of Finland, front and rear
positions held by the Bolsheviki forces in Esthonia, stopping their
advance.
PART VI--THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE
CHAPTER XVIII
AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE WESTERN FRONT
By FREDERICK PALMER (LATE LT. COLONEL U.S.R.)
The glory of our accomplishment in France lies in the titanic energy
and natural resourcefulness of our people which were applied with a
unity of purpose which surprised even ourselves. It is possible for us
to exaggerate our part in assisting the Allies to final victory, and
it is also possible for us to underestimate our part.
If England had not entered the war in 1914, and if Italy and Rumania
had not entered later, and if Canada and Australia and the British
dominions had not put forth all their strength, and if the United
States had not sent an army to France, the Germans would have won. The
balance of victory and failure at times hung by a thread. While
Americans must always realize that comparatively we suffered slightly
beside Britain and France and Italy, and that the Canadians were the
veterans of cruel and wicked fighting in holding the western front
against the enemy in the height of his confidence, numbers, and
efficiency, no one will gainsay that at the end of the conflict we
were giving our lives as freely as our neighbors and Allies.
Any consideration of our accomplishment must include the fact that we
were as unprepared in April, 1917, for any immense military effort as
we had been in August, 1914. While the world witnessed the British
making citizen armies out of raw material by slow and costly
processes, our governmental policy, to the regret of many of our
people, had not been to profit by the application of their experience
in view of the emergency which seemed inevitable to many observers,
but, as neutrals, to keep ourselves free from any imputation of
militaristic aims.
Once we were in the war, the policy of our Government was to put all
our preparations in the hands of the regular army and to assist the
Allies in every way that was in our power. Our people had learned from
observation of the European war that modern warfare required expert
direction, and with a unanimity that was startling in a democracy
which had always resisted any efforts to form a large army in our
country we welcomed the national draft and a centralization of
authority in the hands of the President and army chiefs which was out
of keeping with all our precedents.
Our training camps were to repeat under the draft the slow and
wearisome business of training not only men but officers to command
them at the same time that we were building new factories and plants
to supply the army with ordnance and with ships to transport men and
material to France. As the Allies had waited on England to become
prepared, they must now wait on the United States; and in the crisis
of their fortunes, when the Germans had had repeated successes, they
faced the question of whether or not the resources of the United
States in men and material could be transformed into a force that
could be exerted by sea against the submarine or on the western front
in time to prevent a German victory.
The sending of Major General John J. Pershing to France with a pioneer
staff in May, 1917, had for its military purpose the huge and
time-consuming task of preparing the way for the troops that were to
arrive as soon as we had them trained, and the immediate object of
assuring the people of the Allies that we meant to make active warfare
on the western front. Although we had relieved the financial stress of
the Allies by our loans, and with the removal of our interference with
the British blockade we had strengthened the wall around Germany, we
were incapable for the first eight months of striking any blow of
account against the enemy except through the flotilla of destroyers
which we had sent to cooperate with the British navy in combating the
submarine. Considering that the French and British had over three
million troops on the western front, the total of our regular army of
one hundred thousand men, if all had been immediately dispatched to
France, would hardly have been an important military factor. In a war
where such enormous numbers were engaged, though we might have ten
million able-bodied men in the United States, they were of no combat
service against the enemy until they were in France, armed and
trained.
The French offensive, in the early spring of 1917, had failed with the
result that France was depressed and that all observers agreed that it
was not in the power of the exhausted French army to undertake another
offensive. The Germans, after their retreat across the old Somme
battle fields, had stood firm on the Hindenburg line. Despite their
losses they had sufficient force on the western front to assure,
unless there was some unexpected break in their morale, their
retention of their positions in face of the determined attacks of the
British in their summer offensives, culminating in the bloody ridge of
Passchendaele, which were made not in the expectation of any decision,
but to hold German divisions off from the Italian front, from an
effort to crush Rumania, an effort against Saloniki and from
exploitation of their successes in Russia.
With Russia out of the war, Rumania crippled, the Servian army reduced
to a small body of veterans and the Italian offensive making no
decisive progress, it was evident that unless Germany could be starved
into submission by the blockade, which seemed out of the question from
the information in possession of Allied councils, we must have a
fighting force in France which should be as strong as either that of
the British or the French while its transport across the Atlantic
through the submarine zone was by no means assured. Trusting to no
adventitious event to make so large an army unnecessary, General
Pershing and his staff, after they had studied the situation and
conferred with the Allied command, decided that their duty as pioneers
was to prepare for the operations in France of an army of at least one
million men with the communications and plant for their support
capable of expansion for the care of two million men.
As the Allies throughout the war had depended very largely for war
material upon America and overseas countries, it was essential that we
should be capable of largely providing for our army from the resources
of our own country. With the French railway system strained to
capacity, and France suffering from a shortage of labor behind the
lines, owing to all her able-bodied males being in active service, we
must furnish transportation as well as labor from home. Despite the
strong influences brought to bear to have our soldiers introduced by
regiments and battalions into the French and British armies, it was
our duty, not only to our national spirit but to our conception of our
duty to the Allies, to form an integral American army which should
fight as a unit in the same manner that the British and French armies
were fighting.
A glance at the map of the whole western front, in reference to the
coast line and the harbors of France and its railway systems, will
readily indicate to any observer the strategic character of the
conception of General Pershing in 1917, which had its climax of
success in November, 1918. The British army was on the left of the
long battle line from Switzerland to Flanders, with its bases close to
the Channel and home bases. The French army was to hold the center of
the line, fighting for the heart of France, and on the right the
American army, drawing its supplies three thousand miles across the
sea and across southern and central France, was to face the Rhine.
For any great final Allied offensive, unless some unforeseen
circumstance favored, the Allies must wait upon the formation of an
army of American citizens who would be made approximately as capable
in all the complicated technique of modern warfare as the French and
British armies. That this achievement was possible we knew because of
the success of the British new army, and particularly that of the
Canadians, who had not even had as much military preparation as the
Australians, but had learned at the cannon's mouth the lessons of
experience which no amount of theory or practice can approximate.
As the early introduction of small American forces into the Allied
armies must be of relatively small effect in their relation to the
immense whole, ample time must be taken for the training and
preparation in order to assure the exertion of a maximum of pressure
when we should begin to fight in earnest. It was equally important
both for the effect upon Allied and German sentiment that when we did
begin active campaigning there should be no setbacks for our army.
According to the promise which we had made to the French Government we
were due to have by July 1, 1918, some five hundred thousand troops in
France. Even that number, when you include all the men who were
required along the lines of communication, seemed a small force on the
continent of Europe, and, at the time that this program was arranged,
the suggestion of a million men in France was probably considered
seriously only by the officers who were on the ground.
The first American troops to arrive in France was the 1st Division of
regulars (then under command of Sibert), including the brigade of
Marines. They were very largely raw recruits, in no sense a highly
trained regular division; they were to be followed by regular
divisions and National Guard divisions, which were to be established
in their drill grounds for periods of training before entering the
trenches.
Indeed the history of our operations may be divided into three phases:
The first was the period of preparation and training and of trench
experience of the earlier divisions and of the organization of our
general staff, the instruction of our reserve officers in the various
schools and in the actual work at the front, and inaugurating the
immense constructive work required for our lines of communication.
Through the winter of 1917-18, whether drilling in the muddy fields of
Lorraine or holding trenches, our men, in the penetrating, moist, and
cold climate, knew as great hardships as any veteran of the Civil War
or of the Revolution, Lorraine was aptly called our "Valley Forge" in
France. It was a winter of discouragement including the disaster to
the Italian army, the increasing submarine ravages, the want of
shipping to keep up the program of troop transport, the failure of
supplies to arrive, the final collapse of Russia and Rumania, the
depression among the French and Italian people, the severe food
restrictions in England, and the gathering of the German armies with
their superior numbers for the great offensives for the spring of
1918.
So serious did the Allies consider the situation that they were
willing to offer Germany a very favorable peace, but Germany,
confident that the Americans could not exert their pressure in time
and that Allied spirits were depressed to a point when at any moment
Allied disagreement might lead to an Allied collapse, refused to
consider the offers. History offers nothing in the record of great
wars in affording more contrast than the pessimism in the inner
councils of the Allies in the winter of 1917-18, and the spring of
1918, in comparison with the complete victory which was achieved in
the fall of 1918.
Our second phase came with the first of the German offensives on March
21, 1918, against the British army. The success of this offensive
startled the people of the Allied world to a full realization of the
perilous situation of their cause. It was an innovation in tactics in
that the Germans had swept through the front lines and support lines
of the trench system, capturing the guns whose answering artillery
fire had hitherto been the main reliance of the defense in stopping
the enemy's charges, and carrying the warfare into the open. We had
then only four divisions which had been in the trenches, Bullard's 1st
Regulars and Bundy's 2d Regulars and Marines and Edwards's 26th, or
New England, and Menoher's 42d, or Rainbow, National Guard Divisions.
The plan had been to put them into a permanent American sector in
Lorraine, but in face of this new emergency they were to be turned
over to the French for such use as Marshal Foch, the new commander in
chief of the Allied forces, might decide to make of them.
Up to this time the phrase "Too proud to fight" had haunted the minds
of the Allied peoples when they thought of American troops. They
considered that we had been very slow in beginning active warfare. Our
losses in the quiet trenches that we had occupied had been thus far
normally slight compared with those in an active battle sector. There
was a disposition to think that probably America was not sufficiently
in earnest to make any great sacrifice of lives. We were willing to
loan the Allies money, to supply them with materials of war and to
make some show of military force; but the contemplation of a nation
three thousand miles away from Europe fighting with all the heroic
disregard of life of the Allies on their own soil seemed a little out
of keeping with the accepted traditions of military history to
Europeans.
Never were soldiers watched with more critical interest or deeper
appreciation of the influence of the result than our divisions when
they were first engaged in violent action at Cantigny and in the
Château-Thierry operations in the course of the trying months of the
German offensives and the subsequent Allied counteroffensives. Not
only had the Europeans wondered if we would fight, but they had grave
doubts of our battle skill. The seriousness of the situation deepened
their concern. Anyone who really knew America had no doubt that we
would fight. At the same time thoughtful Americans, familiar with the
increasingly difficult technique which was the accumulation of more
than three years' experience, when they thought of how relatively
little experience our citizen soldiers had had, saw them go into
action beside veteran French and British divisions with misgivings
lest their skill might not be in keeping with their valor. Their
initiative and furious application led to more rapid learning than the
most optimistic of their teachers had imagined.
The American army had been trained for the offensive. We had, at the
start, the natural initiative which the Canadians had so abundantly
shown, and which in the introduction of the trench raid they applied
in the only innovation of tactics with the exception of the tanks
which the British army developed. The Canadians, coming from a more
sparsely settled country than ours, with a larger percentage of its
citizens of English-speaking origin than we have, if we except the
French Canadian population, had the advantage, in the views of many,
over American forces which must include a large number of draft men
unfamiliar with the English language who had had only a brief
residence in the United States.
If the American army was to be the decisive army owing to its youth
and its numbers, then there must never enter any thought into our
minds other than that once we were prepared for action that action
should be continuously one of attack. If the old German trench line
were to be broken and the war of movement were again to lead to an
Appomattox for the German army that could only be won by tactics
which, with unwavering determination, would eventually capitalize
German exhaustion after four years of war in the conviction on the
part of German soldiers that resistance against the immense forces of
American reserves that were coming was hopeless. In brief, America
must show the Germans that millions of Americans, who had the spirit
of the Canadians, were to follow the Canadians across the Atlantic.
The greatest difficulty that Allied commanders had had was keeping
soldiers from falling into the habit of trench defensive, which was
the result of the early days of murderous fighting, when all attempts
either by the Germans or the Allies to "break through" had failed. Our
hope was that our soldiers would have the good fortune to escape the
fearful attrition of trench fighting and that our offensive spirit
would suffer no setbacks in actual experience.
Where we had been in the trenches we had insistently kept the upper
hand over the enemy, meeting his trench raids with better than he
gave, answering his artillery fire with heavier artillery fire and
pressing him at every point. No feature of war is more underestimated
than psychology. The psychology of conviction that you are going to
win, confirmed by actual victory in the first shock of arms, is one of
the best guaranties of continued victory.
Happily, our divisions, which were transferred to the active battle
front in western France, were able to apply their offensive spirit
with immediate offensive results. At Cantigny, on the eve of the third
German offensive, in our first attack we took all of our objectives
skillfully, and when the 2d Division was thrown across the Paris road
to resist the advance of the Germans which was then slowing down, our
men, who were in the pink of youthful vigor, immediately attacked.
They were on a comparatively short front, but their conduct thrilled
all the Allied soldiers and people with the rallying conviction that
the Americans had brought to France a telling new energy into an old
war. The British who had stood out stubbornly against the mighty
German thrusts felt more than ever confidence due to the presence of
American divisions with their army. More important than generals or
staff, the American individual soldier stood in no awe of his enemy,
but, on the contrary, was confident of his personal superiority. It
needed no urging from his officers for him to attack. When in doubt
his idea was to charge. Again, the 3d Division in the defense of the
Marne bridgeheads at Château-Thierry, though it had had no trench
experience and had never been under fire before, simply confirmed the
quality which the old divisions had exemplified as something that was
a common trait.
Against the great fifth German offensive the 42d, or Rainbow Division,
which was represented with the National Guard of our twenty-six States
and was conscious of holding the honor of the National Guard and of
the honor of America in its keeping, showed that if stubborn
resistance was requisite as well as attack they could be depended
upon. Dickman's 3d Division, against that same offensive, broke the
German crossing of the Marne and then, when the front line battalions
had lost one-third to one-half of its men, counterattacked with a
dexterity and a viciousness that thrilled the most veteran and
phlegmatic of military critics.
For the Allied counteroffensive, which was the turning of the tide
against the German offensives, the French High Command chose that the
1st (now under command of Summerall) and 2d (now under command of
Harbord) Divisions, should cooperate with the best of French divisions
in the drive toward Soissons which was to force the gradual evacuation
of the Germans of the Marne salient.
This operation and the operations that preceded it in resisting the
German offensives were all known to the general public as
Château-Thierry, which is the name of the town lying in the lap of the
hills on the bank of the Marne. No American soldiers ever fought in
Château-Thierry with the exception of the machine-gun battalion of the
3d Division, which was in the town very briefly in a rear-guard action
before retiring with its French associates to the other side of the
Marne to prevent the Germans from crossing. In the counteroffensive it
was the French who retook the town without any fighting as it was no
longer defensible once the surrounding hills had been taken, and in
their taking we assisted. But for all the splendid work of our
divisions in the second battle of the Marne, as it is sometimes
called, Château-Thierry has become the accepted name. Any one of the
eight divisions engaged in the operations which began with the defense
of Paris and ended with driving the Germans back to their old line was
at Château-Thierry in the accepted sense of the term.
General Pershing had been convinced that the Marne salient, which
extended into the Allied line in an immense pocket, not only from its
configuration invited attack, but that the Germans had so far extended
themselves in their giant efforts that the tables could be easily
turned. If he had been slow to enter his divisions into active sectors
until they had been trained, he was now, in face of this opportunity,
not only prepared to send in his trained divisions, but to send in
divisions which had only recently arrived. By this time we were
beginning to feel the accumulated results of the work of our training
camps at home in forming our untrained citizens into battalions and
regiments and divisions, and we were having the actual results in
France of the full awakening of the American people and the Allies to
the danger of defeat which the German offensives had brought, and the
shipping which had been provided for at the Abbéville Conference of
the Allied statesmen and commanders was rushing the men from our
training camps to Europe with a speed that surpassed the transport
program by two to one by midsummer.
Instead of five hundred thousand in July, 1918, we had a million; and
the two million would soon follow.
The indefatigable industry of our workers, in preparation for the
reception of vast hosts which at the inception of the great plan
seemed visionary, now appeared as the most practical kind of
prevision, a prevision which was to play an important part in winning
the war. By results we had answered the fears of all skeptics. All the
way from the North Sea, over four hundred miles to Switzerland, the
traveler saw American soldiers behind the line; and they were
scattered through all the villages of France. We had ten divisions who
had been assigned to the British, we had soldiers in training in the
Ypres salient on the old Somme battle field, in Champagne, in the
Woevre, in Lorraine, and in the forests of the Vosges Mountains in
sight of the Alps. The transports were disembarking men by the
thousands every day and railroad trains were dispatching our divisions
here and there with a frequency that left it out of the question that
any man or woman in France should not now realize by their own
observation that America was in the war in earnest and she was
bringing her man power to bear on the battle front.
Our project for an army of our own had been abandoned for the time
being in order to meet the emergency due to the German offensives. The
American effort in France had been that of many scattered divisions
called to fill breaches and then sent into the attack in order to make
the most of the turn of the tide. We could not have an American army
in our own sector until these detached divisions had assisted in
making sure that Paris was forever out of danger, and that there was
not enough spirit or force left in the German armies to undertake an
offensive of any kind.
The situation of our forces meanwhile was unique and amazingly
difficult. The British had their line from thirty to seventy-five
miles from the coast which was only an hour's ride away from England
itself, and the French were in their own country wherever they went.
But the nearest homes of our soldiers were three thousand miles away
and the homes of some of them were five and six thousand miles. When
they received "leaves" they could not go to visit their families as
the British and French might. While the British were in their
permanent sector with all the system of supplies regularly
established, our soldiers might be one day serving with the British
army and the next day with the French; they knew the weariness of long
rides on railway trains, billets in barns and haylofts, and no home
associations except that of their own companionship and that supplied
by the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Knights of Columbus, and the
Salvation Army. They were under the strictest kind of censorship,
their mail took weeks to reach France and then followed them about
from place to place in trying to overtake them.
The rapidity with which they were being brought across the seas in
unexpected numbers into a land which had suffered the strain of war
for four years led to confusion and discomfort under the fearful
pressure of the forthcoming tremendous effort which was to use all the
will power, energy, and brains of every man that America had in
France.
For we were now to know no rest until the armistice was signed. After
the 1st and 2d Divisions had fought themselves to utter exhaustion in
the drive to Soissons with a loss of nearly 50 per cent of their
infantry, the work of reducing the salient fell upon the "Yankee" 26th
Division, which had been hurried from a long tour in the mud and
misery of the Toul sector, upon Muir's "Iron" 28th Division of
Pennsylvania National Guard, coming fresh from the drill grounds back
of the British front to the drive toward the Ourcq, upon the
redoubtable 3d Division, which, despite its losses in resisting the
German crossing of the Marne, took up the counteroffensive with a
fiery zeal.
Then the 42d Division swung around to take the place of the "Yankee"
26th, after it had fought heroically to exhaustion in attacking
through more forests and against more machine-gun nests, and Haans
32d Division of National Guard from Michigan and Wisconsin, "the
Arrows," who always broke the line which came down the apron of the
hills toward Cierges under artillery fire with the jauntiness of
parade, conquered the wicked woods and heights of the ravines on the
other side of the Ourcq in its first great action. Hersey's 4th
Regular Division with but little experience lived up to the record of
the other divisions by promptly becoming veteran and Duncan's 77th
"Liberty" Division, of New York City, the first of the National Army
divisions to arrive in France and the first to know active battle,
pressed on to the Vesle. All these gave all the strength they had, all
fought until in weariness they must accept relief, in that wonderful
revelation of citizen America turned soldier.
There was not one of these divisions that did not regret that instead
of being associated with French divisions they were not associated
with American divisions. All were ambitious to be a part of our own
army. They had finished their Château-Thierry job; they had done all
that was expected of them; they had met the emergency. Château-Thierry
had been an introduction, a preparation, a proof of quality for other
and greater tasks which commanders had now learned that we could
perform.
Now began the Hegira of our divisions toward our own American sector
in Lorraine, where all but two, who were with the British, were to
join them. With the assurance that by the first of December we should
have more than two million Americans in France while the number of
German reserve divisions were dwindling and the Germans could hope for
no further reenforcements, the offensive of Château-Thierry was to be
followed by the succeeding offensives with which, as opportunity
offered, Marshal Foch was to conduct his final campaign. Germany had
no hope now of winning the war. The question was how soon it might be
won by the Allies.
With the attack on the Saint Mihiel salient our army entered upon its
third and greatest phase, which was the cumulation of all the plans
made in June, 1917. At that time it was considered that we should be
ready for our first offensive operation as an integral force by the
autumn of 1918, and the salient was considered as its objective; but,
as I have said, we had not calculated upon a million men by midsummer
of 1918, which our lines of communication would have to supply, let
alone two million by November 1, 1918. The requirements laid upon
transport and supply were more than doubled, while the emergency of
scattering our divisions to resist the German offensives had
introduced an unexpected feature, and the strain upon France and
England, as the result of these offensives, had interfered with our
receiving as much assistance from them as we might have originally
expected.
As officers in France had foreseen, the promises of our ambitious
program in the manufacture of aeroplanes, ordnance, and material of
war at home, could not be fulfilled even by the most diligent
application of energy and enterprise as soon as the War Department had
hoped. We were still equipping all our divisions with British gas
masks and helmets. Only in the last days of the Château-Thierry
operations had a plane driven by a Liberty motor flown over our lines.
All our artillery and machine guns were still French. The Browning
machine guns were only just beginning to arrive; and we waited upon
the American tanks and gas outfits and other weapons.
These handicaps made the successes which were to follow all the more
remarkable. The increasing forces must all have their daily rations,
and in the pressure of battle the artillery must not lack ammunition,
and there must be at all times sufficient transport, whether railroad,
motor, or horse, in order that the supplies should be delivered at the
front. Therefore the development of the Service of Supply as a part of
the whole project must keep pace in capacity and efficiency with the
demands of the fighting forces.
Our army's activities were divided into three zones: the base, the
intermediate, and advance, with that of the base and the intermediate
in charge of the commanding general of the Service of Supply at Tours.
Every harbor of western France not occupied by the British was teeming
with American effort, while Marseilles, in the Mediterranean, was
caring for our increasing business which the Atlantic ports could not
accommodate. The recruits for the army of the Service of Supply must
keep pace with those for the army at the front. Battalions of negroes
had been brought from the Southern States to act as laborers and
stevedores. We were using German prisoners for labor as fast as they
were captured.
At Bordeaux and Saint Nazaire, particularly, among the ports, we had
built long expanses of wharves and the spur tracks which connected
them with systems of warehouses. The plan had been always to have
reserve supplies for forty-five days at the base ports; with thirty
days' at the great intermediate depot of Gièvres, where another vast
system of spur tracks and warehouses had been built in open fields,
and fifteen days' supplies at the regulating stations with their
systems of spur tracks and warehouses where the trains were made up to
meet the immediate requisitions from the front. Without any prevision
as to when the war would end, with nothing certain except that we must
go on preparing as if it were to last for years in order the sooner to
force the end, new construction, while requirements of the present
were met, must keep pace with growth. We had car and locomotive
assembling shops; motor repair shops; salvage depots, remount depots,
and immense areas of hospitals, with as many as eighteen thousand beds
in a single area, which had been building in grim expectation of the
flow of wounded from the front when we began operations on a large
scale. Nurses and doctors must be in sufficient numbers for the
emergency.
Never had America had such a test of its organizing capacity as in its
formation of the Service of Supply. Its problems, both in number and
complexity as well as in the size of the task, the amount of material
and personnel required, were far greater than those of the Panama
Canal. The leisure which any undertaking permits in carrying out plans
and the dependence which may be placed upon the receipt of tools and
material in time of peace were both wanting under the pressure of war.
Personnel for this enterprise was summoned from our engineers, our
business men and experts, and from the ranks of skilled labor in
every civil branch who were for the first time brought together in a
national organization in foreign surroundings where they faced many
difficulties with which they were unfamiliar, under the direction of
the regular army, which had to reconcile all policies with the
requirements of the front line, and which had to expand its
imagination and its powers of organization from a quartermaster's
business of a little regular army to the mastery of unparalleled
forces in the direction of reserve officers who had been used to
handling great business enterprises.
Next to the position of General Pershing that of the commanding
general of the Service of Supply was the most important in France. It
was proposed at one time from Washington that he should have authority
coordinate with General Pershing's direct from Washington; but this
was strongly opposed on the ground that the commander in chief of the
fighting army must be supreme over every branch if he were to be
responsible for the success of a campaign. Major General James G.
Harbord, who had been the first chief of staff of the American
Expeditionary Force and later commanded the marine brigade of the 2d
Division and afterward the division itself in the Château-Thierry
operations, was summoned from the front late in July, 1918, at a time
when the rapid arrival of troops from America and the prospects of the
terrific demands of the campaigns which would ensue made it vital that
there should be administrative reform in the Service of Supply by some
man not only of high organizing ability but with the personal quality
that inspires coordination among his adjutants, if the Service of
Supply were to be equal to the enormous demands which would be placed
upon it in the next few months.
Whether it was the officers drawn from civil life without military
training, or the laborers or the privates, every man in the Service of
Supply wished that he were at the front. Hundreds of officers with
combat training and thousands of soldiers who had been in the training
camps found themselves, because of their particular efficiency in
business organization, immured in some particular Service of Supply
branch, doing long hours of prosaic work in the different camps and
shops of the base ports and central France without hope, so far as
they could see, of ever hearing a shot fired. It seemed to them
frequently that the staff organization of the Service of Supply lacked
the characteristics of energetic direction and team play with which
they had been familiar in civil life. They had everything to make them
discouraged. General Harbord, with the reputation he had won as a
fighter, his magnetism, his understanding of human nature and his
capability of promptly grasping the essentials of any problem, soon
showed that he had the talent for transforming the spirit of the
personnel by applying the indefatigable industry and the patriotic
spirit of this vast force in a homogeneous corps, without which the
victory of the American forces in France would not have been possible.
While General Harbord was reorganizing the Service of Supply, General
Pershing was preparing in haste and under great handicaps for the
direction of hundreds of thousands of men in battle. The division was
the fighting unit of our army. It went into the trenches and into
battle as a division; was transferred from one part of the line to the
other as a unit which was complete in all its branches, with a
personnel of twenty-seven thousand men, or about double the size of a
British or French division. The command of many divisions in battle
brought us to the question of higher tactics. We had to train officers
for this high responsibility as well as for leading the battalions in
the front line.
According to the original plan we were to have six divisions to a
corps. Major General Hunter Liggett, as soon as we had four divisions
in training, had been set the task of organizing our first corps. He
had a high reputation in the regular army as a student and tactician,
and he was a man of great poise and a most thorough student. The
withdrawal of our divisions from our Lorraine sector, in order to
assist in the defense of Paris and later in the counteroffensive of
July, had allowed General Liggett little practical experience. With
the rapid arrival of our troops other corps staffs were rapidly
formed. Major General Robert L. Bullard, who had commanded the 1st
Division in the Toul sector and in the attack on Cantigny, was given
the command of the 3d Corps. For a brief period both General Liggett
and General Bullard and their staff had some experience acting as
corps commanders in the Château-Thierry operations. Not until the
Saint Mihiel operations, however, had we ever had more than two
divisions operating together under American command. Meanwhile we had
organized our First Army, which was under the personal command of
General Pershing.
With our new corps and army organization, we were now to undertake an
attack against the fortifications of one of the most formidable
positions on the western front with a shorter period of preparation
than had been generally accepted as necessary by the veteran French
and British armies whose staffs had had four years' training under
actual battle conditions. The experts, whether in the gaining of
intelligence, in the handling of traffic, or in the highly complex
technique of the arrangements for the liaison of artillery and
infantry and aviation and all the other branches of uniformity of
operations between the divisions, were to apply in practice what they
had learned in theory and by observation of the Allied armies. Their
theory had been learned at the staff school of Langres, solving
problems of combat organization and listening to lectures by staff
officers of other armies; but theory is not practice.
Since 1915 there had been no important action from Verdun to the Swiss
border. The wedge of the Saint Mihiel salient, which the Germans had
won in 1914 with its commanding hills and ridges, had remained an
eyesore on the map of the western front. Aside from its strong natural
positions it was defended by the most elaborate of modern
fortifications. By the criterion of precedents of previous offensives
against front-line positions we should succeed in our undertaking only
at an immense cost of life, should the Germans decide to make a
determined defense. Until a few days before the attack we had every
expectation that they would. The original plan was that we should go
through to Mars-la-Tour and Etain until we were before the great
German fortress of Metz. Marshal Foch changed this plan, as we shall
see.
By the time we had finished the Saint Mihiel operations the chilling
fall rains would have begun in earnest. These would not only expose
the men, but would impede transport. We should use the winter months
for applying the lessons learned in our first offensive in the forming
of our organization for the greater offensive which was to begin in
the spring of 1919 and continue until we had won a decision. For in
1919 it was the American army with its inexhaustible reserves and the
vigor of its youth which was due to do the leading and to endure
accordingly heavy losses. The artillery, the machine guns, the tanks,
and all the other material which we had been manufacturing at home as
it arrived through the winter of 1918 we should incorporate into our
organization.
Marshal Foch, who desired the complete success of the Saint Mihiel
offensive as a part of his plan, had assigned to the American army,
under General Pershing's command, ample forces in addition to our own
artillery and aviation. While French divisions were to mark time at
the apex of the salient before following up our attack, the American
divisions from right to left, the 90th, 5th, 2d, 89th, 42d, and 1st
were to swing in on the eastern side of the salient, with the 82d as a
pivot and the 26th Division, cooperating with French troops, was to
swing in on the western side. For the first time our army corps and
divisional artillery were to cooperate in a preliminary bombardment in
cutting the barbed wire, encountering the enemy's artillery fire, and
to prepare the way for the charge of a long line of American infantry
in the first attack of an American army as an army on the continent of
Europe. For the first time the responsibility for command all the way
from the front line through all the headquarters up to that other
commander in chief was ours. The French staff officers were at hand
with their advice and information, but ours was the decision and the
battle was ours.
By the morning of September 12, 1918, the Germans, in view of the
strength of our forces and of the pressure on other parts of their
line, had decided not to make strong resistance in the Saint Mihiel
salient. Indeed, they contemplated a rear-guard action in withdrawal,
but not expecting that we would attack on the 12th, owing to rainy
weather, we practically caught them before their withdrawal had begun,
with the result that the impetuosity of the attack of our men, who
forced their way through stretches of barbed wire which the artillery
fire had not cut, cleared both the first and second lines of defense
on schedule time and gathered in prisoners and guns out of all keeping
to their losses. On the morning of the 13th, troops of the 26th
Division and the 1st Division, swinging in from the east and west, had
come together and the Saint Mihiel salient was no more. Our success
had been complete and inexpensive. It thrilled the Allied armies with
fresh confidence in our arms when they saw that the angle on the old
line of the map had been straightened and the German people, to whom
the Saint Mihiel salient had become equally a symbol, were accordingly
depressed.
Already, instead of looking forward to months of preparation for the
next offensive, our army had begun preparations for another offensive
which was to begin only thirteen days after that of Saint Mihiel.
Marshal Foch had decided before the Saint Mihiel attack to change his
plan, and instead of going through to Mars-la-Tour and Etain, only to
cut the salient, withdrawing surplus troops for action elsewhere. In
conjunction with the Fourth French Army, which was to attack from the
left, we were to attack from the Argonne Forest to the Meuse River in
the greatest battle in which Americans had ever been engaged.
Following the success of the Château-Thierry offensive in which our
troops had played a part, the British Canadians and the French had had
continuing success in their offensives beginning on August 8, 1918.
Our 32d Division had increased the reputation which it had won in the
fighting on the Ourcq by assisting the French in breaking the old
front-line positions northeast of Soissons.
The Allies had now regained practically all the ground that the
Germans had won in their spring and summer offensives. In places they
had penetrated the Hindenburg line. The Belgian as well as the British
and French armies were about to take the offensive. The German losses
in prisoners and material in the last month indicated a decline in
German morale. Information confirmed the idea that Hindenburg, with
his rapidly weakening reserves, was contemplating a withdrawal to the
line of the Meuse. Every consideration called upon the Allied armies
to stretch their resources in men and material to the utmost in order
to take advantage of the situation. For the first time since the war
had begun on the western front they completely had the initiative.
The next step was to broaden the front of the Allied attacks, further
confusing Ludendorff in his dispositions, and breaking through the
Hindenburg line and all the old front-line positions which the Germans
had held for four years, to force the offensive in the open, where
rapid maneuvers could harass the effort of the Germans in withdrawing
their forces and the material which they had accumulated through four
years, and by repeated blows continue to weaken their morale until a
positive decision was won.
If Ludendorff were given leisure for a deliberate retreat to a shorter
line which he could fortify during the winter while his army recovered
its spirit, this shorter line would give him all the advantage which
serves the defense in deeper concentrations of troops to the mile with
less room for the offensive to maneuver for surprises.
All the Allied offensives--Champagne, Loos, the Somme, Arras, and
Passchendaele--had been made to the west of the Argonne Forest,
because of the advantage of ground. To the east, facing the Rhine, the
Germans had their great fortress of Metz, and the positions in
Lorraine and the Vosges Mountains and the wedge of Saint Mihiel, which
had seemed unconquerable. The Meuse River winds past Saint Mihiel
through the town of Verdun, then northward where it turns westward
toward Sedan. All the way from Saint Mihiel, including the hills of
the forts of Verdun, which look out on the plain of the Woevre with
the fortress of Metz in the distance, runs a rampart of heights clear
to the great bastion of the Forest of Argonne, where the country
becomes more rolling, and therefore better ground for military
operations.
The line of our second offensive was to be from the Meuse River just
west of Verdun to the western edge of the Argonne Forest. Anyone who
looks at the map of the old line of the western front and of the
enemy's railroad communications would say at once that this was the
obvious line for an offensive. The Metz-Lille railway line, two-track
all the way, and in places four-track, runs through Sedan and
Mézières, following the Meuse Valley where it turns westward. This was
the most important southern transversal line that the Germans had for
supplying their armies in eastern France and connecting them with the
coal fields of northern France. Northeast of the Meuse-Argonne
positions were the famous Briey iron fields on which the Germans were
dependent for their supplies of ore for the Krupp works. A blow toward
Mézières and toward Briey was a blow at the heart of German military
power.
The Germans fully realized the danger in this direction and knew, as
our generals knew, how thoroughly it was protected. They had all the
advantage of rail connections in hastening their reserves to this
point if the Allies had made an advance in this direction. In 1916 or
1917 the Germans would have welcomed the Meuse-Argonne offensive, in
the confidence that the Allied attacks would have suffered as bloody
repulses as the Germans suffered at Verdun against the same kind of
positions. The front German line was in the southern part of the
Forest of Argonne with its ravines and hills covered with dense
undergrowth. And back of this was still another great forest, that of
Bourgogne. Offensives against even small patches of woods had proved
the hopelessness of any frontal attack against forests.
East of the Argonne Forest is the little river Aire, its valley
forming a trough between the hills, and between that and the Meuse for
a distance of about ten miles the German line, which had been placed
in the retreat from the Marne, had at its rear a whaleback of rising
heights which reached their summit in the neighborhood of Buzancy.
From this summit it was downhill all the way to the Meuse River. It
was this summit which the American army must gain in advancing over
ground in which nature seemed to have had in mind the possibilities of
modern warfare in defense. The heights would give observation for the
enemy guns which were hidden on the reverse slopes. Numerous patches
of woods and tricky ravines made ideal positions for machine-gun
nests. One position gained, the victor still looked ahead to higher
ground. The enemy could always bring his reserves up under cover while
those of the attacking force would be in full view.
The soldiers of our new army had shown that they had the spirit of
attack. Marshal Foch was to give them the opportunity to display it to
the utmost, and in the conference which he and General Pershing held
before the battle of Saint Mihiel one of the great decisions of the
war was made. We were to send partly trained divisions into a conflict
in winter rains and under incalculable hardships in the faith that our
courage, exerted to its utmost in the fall of 1918, might break the
weakening German army before it could recover its spirit, while the
losses which this effort entailed would save us from far greater
losses in the spring and the prolongation of the war. Though we should
never reach the summit of those heights, the threat which we should
make against the German line of communications must withdraw more and
more German troops from other parts of the line, and keep on
increasing the confusion of Ludendorff's dispositions.
The only American comparison for the Meuse-Argonne Battle was the
Appomattox campaign which lasted much longer and consisted of a series
of separate actions with nothing like the concentration and continuous
fighting which the Americans of another generation were to endure.
Grant had no lack of supplies, he had more guns than he could use and
was fighting on his own soil with ample resources in reserve within
easy reach. Pershing's army was not relatively as ready for the task
that it was to undertake as McClellan had been for his Peninsula
campaign.
From the time of the attack of Saint Mihiel on September 12, 1918,
until September 25, 1918, we had thirteen days to prepare for an
offensive which, as it was made by a new army, could be likened to the
great Somme offensive of the British in 1916. Then the British had
taken five months in which to build roads, dig assembly trenches,
prepare ammunition dumps, and bring up necessary engineering material.
But it must be borne in mind that at this time the enemy was in the
prime of his numbers and confidence. Moreover, such elaborate
arrangements were then considered necessary in order to take
powerfully intrenched lines. They had the fault of warning the enemy
in ample time of any concentration which enabled him to mass men and
material for defense. Later, the French had developed a system of
limited objectives of brief artillery preparations, followed by the
rolling barrage which preceded the advance of the infantry, while the
enemy's strong points and gun positions were smothered with shells.
The Germans, however, in their great offensive against the British in
March, 1918, had taken ample time for preparation while they made the
innovation of driving through for sufficiently great depth to become
masters of all the trench defenses and of the opposing artillery.
In the counteroffensive toward Soissons on July 18, 1918, and again in
the Anglo-French-Canadian offensive of August 8, 1918, and the
succeeding offensives, the Allies had depended on either a very brief
artillery preparation or upon not opening fire until the moment of the
infantry's advance while they followed through in the German fashion.
In our Meuse-Argonne offensive, we had all these precedents and the
experience of the officers in directing them for our guidance. But
very veteran and skilled armies had carried out the later style of
offensive, and they had the advantage which comes from long experience
that the units, used to keeping their uniformity in battle action, did
not become dispersed after they had made a certain advance as was
supposed to be the case in any extensive offensive where new divisions
were engaged.
The most disastrous example in throwing an untrained division into a
violent attack was that of the British 21st Division in the fall of
1915 at Loos, which in trying to apply its drill-ground training under
fire, became disorganized and failed to take its objectives. Later,
after it had had more experience, this same division, though no more
courageous than in its first battle, proved itself masterful in the
complicated technique of modern attack which it had learned in
diligent application in smaller actions after Loos, and by applying
the lessons learned at Loos by thorough drilling.
Practically all our pioneer divisions which had had long experience in
France were either engaged at Saint Mihiel or else they were occupied
elsewhere. For the new offensive we must therefore depend upon new
divisions which had been a shorter time in France than the 1st or 2d
or 26th or 42d Divisions.
Following the attack by the American army on the Meuse-Argonne line
and the 4th French Army on its left with their threat toward the lines
of communications, the British and French were to strike the
Hindenburg line in the St. Quentin-Cambrai region on September 29,
1918, and on October 2, 1918, the French were to attack to the east of
Rheims. Thus a succession of offensives were to broaden the whole
front of operations in an effort to break through the old trench line,
all the way from the Meuse to the North Sea, and bring the Allied
armies into the open where they would be forever free of trench
shackles. This was a most audacious enterprise which was warranted by
the information which the Allies had of the state of the German army.
The Bulgarian army was beginning to disintegrate and the Italians had
turned the Austrian offensive on the Piave into a disaster from which
the Austro-Hungarian armies could not recover. Throughout the months
of August and September, 1918, the Germans had been yielding large
numbers of prisoners and an immense quantity of material, while the
Allied losses had been comparatively light.
The German cards were now on the table; the number of German divisions
in reserve were known; and in the arrival of American divisions the
Allies had a vast store of man power. We had become the dependable
quantity of a mighty growing reserve force.
Marshal Foch chose to put us in the very hinge of the whole movement
and he set for our objective in a swift series of advances nothing
less than the heights of Buzancy--the heights of the whaleback itself.
Had we gained that within three or four days, we would have threatened
the retreat of the whole German army, indeed, the capture of a hundred
thousand or more Germans would have been fairly certain. No one
considered such a success except in the category of a military miracle
until German reserves were more depleted than they were at the end of
September.
Ludendorff, on his side, knew that he must hold the hinge of the door.
He might yield toward the west, if necessary, but must not yield in
front of Mézières and Sedan. The neck of the bottle must not be
closed. The measure of our initial success, whatever the intrepidity
of our attack, must depend largely upon how far we were able to take
the Germans by surprise, and the depth of our advance must depend upon
our ability to bring up our artillery and ammunition and food for our
men. To the rear of the line from the Meuse to the Argonne Forest
there are literally only two roads of approach. If we attempted to
build more, they would immediately be visible to the aeroplane
observers of the enemy. We could not build more when our engineers and
our laborers were occupied at Saint Mihiel.
If we arranged elaborate dumps of ammunition, these would inevitably
be seen by the enemy or their presence would be communicated in some
way as past experience had proved. To move long columns of troops and
transport by day was equally an advertisement of our plan for an
enormous attack which was the thing that we wished to conceal when the
success of the attack was to depend upon secret mobilization and a
swift blow. If we were to repair the old roads across the broad area
of the shell-crushed no-man's-land and through the trench systems
after our attack, this also required the assembling of a great deal of
material in view of the enemy.
No part of a modern army's arrangements is more difficult than the
handling of the necessarily dense vehicular traffic behind the
immediate front, even if ample supplies are brought to the railheads.
The numbers of motor trucks and ambulances required were incredible.
Our Service of Supply, which had been concentrating all its energies
and material toward Saint Mihiel, now had to prepare for another
equally great offensive. New railheads, new railways, new hospitals,
new headquarters, and new routes of transport had to be established.
With the certainty that the Saint Mihiel sector, if it became violent,
would consume large quantities of ammunition we had to provide for the
immense consumption of ammunition which would undoubtedly be required
in the Meuse-Argonne.
The continued fighting throughout the summer, with additional and
unexpected requirements for the new offensive campaign, had made
increasingly heavy drafts upon transport and animals. It was no use to
say that more horses were coming from Spain and from America; they
were needed now. All the tanks and aeroplanes and the light and heavy
artillery which were in the making at home or on the docks at New York
would be of no service unless they were in the battle. The lack of
sufficient railway lines and shortage of rolling stock required
accordingly more travel on the limited roads approaching the area of
concentration east and west of Verdun.
When artillery, in course of being withdrawn from the Saint Mihiel
front to go to the Argonne front, had their horses killed, the weary
survivors who were now to draw the guns could not be forced through
according to the usual schedule. They had to cross the streams of
traffic running to the Saint Mihiel front. At night all the roads were
solid columns of men and vehicles that had to keep at the uniform pace
of the slowest of its units lest motor transport, which could go
fifteen miles an hour, in trying to pass tractor-drawn heavy artillery
that could go three or four, should become imbedded in the mud and
thus stall the whole column for hours.
Thus the unprecedented strain of the Meuse-Argonne Battle, which was
to endure for six weeks, began with the difficulties of mobilization.
During the Château-Thierry operations we had had summer weather, when
men could sleep in the open with comfort, when it was easy to repair
broken roads and when motor trucks which got off the road did not sink
into the mud. Now we had already entered the period of chill fall
rains which made the ground porous and wet marching soldiers to the
skin. Instead of time for reflection and reorganization, in applying
the lesions of the Saint Mihiel salient, every officer and man was
straining his utmost to make sure by improvisation, when organization
failed and by sheer sleepless industry, of meeting with forced smiles
each new contingency as it developed.
Our three corps in line were, the first under General Liggett on the
left, the fifth under General Cameron in the center, and the third
under General Bullard on the right. The corps headquarters were
established only four days before the attack. Unfamiliar except in
theory, and from what they had learned at Saint Mihiel, with the
problems of directing an army in a prolonged battle, they had not a
quarter of the time for preparations which they ordinarily should have
received even if they had had long experience. They did not know the
division commanders or the divisions which were to serve under them,
and the divisions did not arrive until the last moment.
Artillery brigades, fresh from the training grounds where they had
only received their guns, marched up to be assigned to divisions with
which they had never cooperated in action. Batteries that had no
horses depended upon batteries that had horses to be drawn into
position. The coordination of infantry units for the attack was
dependent upon coordination by paper directions rather than previous
association.
We had an enormous concentration of artillery and of aviation, thanks
to assistance from the French, but our aviation and much of that of
the French sent us was new. Our aviators lacked experience as
observers in keeping their liaison in directing artillery fire and in
informing the infantry of the movements of their units and of the
enemy's. Infantry and artillery commanders who had had little previous
battle experience, were not always fortunate in their efforts to keep
liaison with one another and with the aviation in view of the
aviation's inexperience. To say that the American army was ready for
such an offensive as that of the Meuse-Argonne would be unfair to the
men who began the battle and detracting from the glory of their
achievement. Her courage, eagerness, adaptability, and industry were
merits which were to overcome the handicaps in a way that made results
even more glorious in the greatest battle of our history.
Aside from the fact that two of the divisions in line were going under
fire for the first time there was not one of the divisions which was
not handicapped in some way for their effort, either for want of
artillery or because they had had no time to rest after hard marches
or previous battles. In the space of this brief review it is
impossible to tell of their actions in detail which reflected credit
on each one of the Regular, National Guard, or National Army
divisions, and which, taken together, reflected credit upon the army
as a whole.
On the right was Bell's 33d Division of Illinois National Guard. At
its back was the famous _Mort Homme_, or Dead Man's Hill, where
Frenchmen and Germans had struggled in the battle of Verdun, with its
shell craters now fringed with weeds. The 33d had to cross the Forges
Brook and swing in toward the Meuse River protecting the right flank
of the whole movement which rested on the river. On the left of the
33d was the 80th, Cronkhite's Blue Ridge Division, trained at the
British front and come from Saint Mihiel. Next in line was the 4th
Regular Division, which, coming fresh from the British front, had
fought magnificently in the Château-Thierry operations. On its left
was Kuhn's 79th, the National Army Division from Camp Meade, which had
never heard a shot fired until it marched up amidst the roar of guns
and artillery preparation. Then we had Farnsworth's 37th, National
Guard of Ohio, which with unconquerable persistence was to take the
wicked Malancourt Woods; and then the 91st Division of the National
Army from the Pacific slope which was to give such a remarkable
exhibition of continued and determined advance. Next we had Traub's
85th Division, National Guard from Kansas and Missouri, which was set
the dreadful task of taking the heights on the west of the Aire river
and of crossing the Exermont ravine. Next was Muir's 28th, or "Iron"
Division, National Guard of Pennsylvania, which was in the valley of
the Aire and faced the wooded heights of the Argonne which were thrust
out Gibraltarlike into the valley. Finally, on the extreme left was
the 77th, National Army from New York (now under command of
Alexander), facing the heart of the formidable Argonne Forest.
Some of these divisions had more difficult obstacles than others to
overcome. Their relative position in line was due less to a strategic
arrangement, with any view to their experience or to their exhaustion
in relation to their objectives, than to the relation of their
positions to the roads by which they had had to travel in reaching the
front. Up to this time the 4th, the 77th, and the 28th had probably
seen the most fighting. They had just come from the Château-Thierry
operations and in common with all the other divisions, were short of
transport and had to make forced marches.
All the men of all the divisions had either been sleeping in box cars
on railroad trains or they had been in the miserable crowded billets
of small villages, getting what rest, after marching at night, they
could during the day, in the midst of the rumble of traffic. No corps,
divisional, regimental, or battalion commander, no chief of one of the
staff sections who had anything to do with the direction of traffic,
could say quite how this was accomplished, except by sleepless vigil
and grim, sweating effort, but the fact was that the miracle had
happened; for on the night of September 24, 1918, every division was
in position, with a thin fringe of the French remaining in the front
line in order to prevent the Germans, if they took any prisoners, from
identifying the number of American divisions which were present.
Marshal Foch had now postponed the attack until the 26th; this gave
the men a day in which to rest as much as they could, and a little
more time for the artillery and staff to make its preparation.
General Pershing, who was to direct the battle in person, had taken
up his headquarters in the city hall of the village of Souilly on the
"sacred road" from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun where the French commanders
had planned the defense against the great German offensive of 1916.
On the morning of the 26th, after six hours of artillery preparation,
the waves of infantry of these nine divisions which had now assembled
in the front-line trenches, relieving the French, went over the top in
beginning the greatest battle in American history. The fortifications
which they attacked represented the result of all the experience which
the Germans, in their antlike industry, had applied in preparing their
defenses. No-man's-land had been pummeled by four years of shell fire
until the rims of shell craters joined. The weeds which had grown up
hid the rims, slippery in the morning mist, and made footing more
uncertain on the soft turf. The barbed-wire entanglements were deep,
in keeping with the formidability of the German trench system. When
they built these works, the Germans rightly considered them
impregnable. The story of every battalion that attacked that morning,
as well as every battalion that participated in the Argonne Battle, is
worthy of a lengthier description than I am giving to the whole
operations of the American Expeditionary Force.
It is usual in such attacks that, at many points of the line where the
enemy's barbed wire has not been cut by the artillery fire, or where
machine-gun nests are strategically placed, portions of the advancing
wave of infantry are held up with the result that succeeding portions
push on until they are caught in salients in enfilade fire. This leads
to confusion and frequently to arresting the whole attack, or at least
to interfering with the plan, thus giving the enemy time to bring up
his reserves and profit by his opportunity. This had happened in the
Somme offensive, at Loos, at Passchendaele and in the fifth and last
German offensive and, indeed, in every big offensive on the western
front. There was every reason why it should happen this time to the
eye of any experienced observer who had not the youthful enthusiasm of
our soldiers, who in their ingrained American offensive spirit,
attacked in a manner as confident as if they were used to breaking
first-line trench systems as a part of their routine of drill.
It was this spirit, on that memorable morning, that carried the
fortifications at every point. By every rule, by every precedent,
after they had gone through the barbed-wire and in and out of the maze
of trenches and then over the shell craters of No-man's-land they
ought, even if they had not been under fire, to have lost their
uniformity of line and formed into irregular groups. But instead of
this they kept on going, overcoming the enemy's machine-gun nests and
gathering in prisoners, when sheer fatigue ought to have stopped them.
By night some of them had reached objectives five and six miles beyond
the front line.
The daring stroke of throwing our army against the Meuse-Argonne line
straight at the enemy's communications had already had its reward;
although the Germans had been warned of the attack, they had no idea
that it would be in such force. They recognized at once that the
threat against the Lille-Metz railroad was serious. They must bring up
good divisions and enough of them, and sufficient artillery, to make
sure that it was arrested.
Our task, now, was the thankless one of continuing to draw more and
more divisions against us in the consciousness that every German whom
we held or whom we killed or wounded was one more removed from the
British or French fronts. We were to have the stiffest fighting of any
part of the line, and the value in what we did was not to be reckoned
in ground gained, but in damage done the enemy. During the following
days we continued to advance while the Germans settled down in
strength in front of us and established themselves in the strong
trench line of the Kriemhilde Stellung across a series of commanding
heights. Our divisions, exhausted after a week or more of fighting,
had to be relieved by rested divisions which were called to the front
including the 3d and the 5th and 1st Divisions of Regulars. We had to
weaken our line a little owing to the necessities of transport.
The embargo on building roads before the attack, and our inability to
bring up engineering material, and our lack of labor and sufficient
experience in handling traffic, which can only be learned in battle,
led to inevitable congestion. The area of shell craters, extending for
half a mile or more as well as across no-man's-land, which consisted
simply of earth pulverized by four years of shell fire, seemed to have
no bottom to the engineers who worked night and day in order to make
the passage of the artillery and the heavy motor trucks possible. In
the dripping rain and penetrating cold, taking what sleep they might
steal in wet clothes, all hands kept ceaselessly at their task while
the men in the front line were digging "fox holes" in the seeping
slopes of hills among the roots of trees of gassed woods and in
ravines. The issue was joined in stubborn and bitter fighting in which
it was the American plan always to keep the initiative and the upper
hand over the enemy and to force him to put in more and more of his
decreasing reserves.
We still had our Second Corps with the British under the command of
Major General George W. Read, consisting of O'Ryan's 27th National
Guard Division from New York and Lewis's 30th National Guard Division
from the Southern mountain States. They had assisted in driving the
Germans out of the positions they had won in the Ypres salient in
April, 1918. After that they were swung around across the old Somme
battle field, and in keeping with the policy of the Allied command,
which recognized the confident valor of our men in the attack, they
were to be sent against one of the strongest portions of the old
Hindenburg line, that of the region over the St. Quentin Canal tunnel.
Allied commanders said that the sheer presence of our troops in the
offensive inspirited their own. The homesickness of our men who knew
that they could not return until they had won the war was an impelling
influence to force the issue now that their quick intelligence assured
them that victory depended upon pressing the enemy hard.
Though the 27th and 30th Divisions were never to be associated with
their own army, on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of September, 1918, they
were to know in the company of the British the same kind of fighting
that we had in breaking the line in the Argonne, as they charged
through the enemy's barrages and against his machine-gun nests for the
conquest of the famous positions which had taken the name of
Hindenburg, who had given them his especial attention and who had
declared that they never could be taken. The 30th made a clean sweep,
but it was not in human power for the 27th Division to reach all of
its objectives. The gallant men of the 27th had, however, in two days'
fighting, immortalized their division before the Australians, coming
fresh into the line, took their place according to schedule and
completed the task.
Throughout the offensives of August and September, 1918, the German
positions in front of Rheims had remained where they were established
in September of 1914. On October 2, 1918, in an offensive in this
sector, Le Jeune's 2d Division with its brigades of Regulars and
Marines, which led all our divisions in the number of its casualties
in this war, was joined with the French in an attack to disengage
Rheims; and when, after fighting its way through the deep trenches cut
in the chalky soil of Champagne, the 2d stormed Blanc Mont, the German
guns had fired their last shot at the cathedral and were in retreat.
Smith's 36th Division of National Guard, from Texas, which was without
its artillery and which had never been under fire, took the place of
the 2d, and, after enduring with an amazing equanimity a terrific
bombardment from the German guns before they withdrew, pursued the
enemy to the Aisne at a rate of travel worthy of Texans and most
discomforting to German veterans.
We now return to the Meuse-Argonne Battle, where as I have said, the
issue was joined in "hammering it out on this line" tactics, and
divisions which had fought with lion-hearted determination until they
were staggering with exhaustion and their ranks depleted by
casualties, were withdrawn in order that fresh divisions might take
their place. Some divisions either for one reason or another were able
to remain in longer than others. The harder a division's experience
the more it suffered from what is known as "dispersion"; its units,
either in their continued advances or in resisting attacks and
counterattacks in the midst of continued shell fire, lost their
cohesion. How they kept cohesion even for a day was a marvel past
understanding. A division which had only a portion of its troops at a
time in the front line could last longer than a division that had put
all its reserves into action and had worn out the personnel of the
whole division.
Much depended upon the division commander and his staff. If he were
capable and his division well-trained, he could accomplish results
through prompt tactical adaptability to the situation on his front
without unnecessary sacrifice of his men. In holding ground against
machine-gun fire the fewer men on the front the better. The object was
always to gain, of course, the maximum of advantage at the minimum of
cost. When our lines settled down in a position it was not to intrench
according to the old system, but simply to bide their time for another
attack.
There was no thought but the offensive. The days of trench warfare
were entirely over. The contact with the enemy was through outpost
lines in fox holes and machine-gun positions chosen carefully with a
view to interlocking fire that covered every possible path or avenue
of approach. With the Germans bringing up fresh artillery and
countless machine guns in full realization of the situation it became
evident that further advance by piecemeal was impracticable and that
another general attack should be made along the old battle front.
Across the Meuse River on our right flank were a series of heights
ideal for artillery positions, overlooking not only the valley, but
all the ravines, the roads, and open places. Thus our 3d Corps,
swinging toward the whaleback, was literally in a trough of fire from
the heights of the whaleback in front and in flank and from the
heights across the Meuse in flank. On our left flank our 1st Corps was
in the same hateful position as our 3d on our right. The 28th Division
was fighting against the wooded escarpments which extended from the
bastion of the Argonne Forest into the river valley. In the forest
itself, the 77th was meeting with stubborn resistance in the thick
underbrush, and the French army on its left was as unable as the 28th
Division on its right to relieve its situation.
Summerall's 1st Division of Regulars, the oldest of our divisions in
France, with its rank full and its spirit high, which had been brought
from Saint Mihiel and attached to the 5th Corps, was swung over to the
1st Corps for its part in the general attack set for October 4, 1918.
It was evident that no further progress could be made until we had
mastered the commanding heights on the eastern wall of the Aire, and
for this task the 1st Division was chosen. Fighting with all the
experienced skill and courage which was its characteristic, it
succeeded in its undertaking in a series of continuing attacks and
with a loss of over nine thousand men, which included about half its
infantry. In order to spread the wedge which it started, Duncan's 82d,
or All-American Division of the National Army, swung in on its left
between it and Muir's 28th across the river bottoms against the
heights on the other side. With this aid the 28th was able to continue
its advance and complete its task before it was relieved, and the 77th
Division, the French army now coming up on its left, was able to make
a thrilling advance to the northern edge of the forest.
On the right of the 1st, Haan's 32d Division of Michigan and Wisconsin
National Guard, with a heroism in keeping with its brilliant record on
the Ourcq and at Juvigny, extended the wedge in that direction by
repeated assaults upon the stubbornly defended positions which were a
part of the Germans' powerful Romagne system. Later Menoher's Rainbow
Division, the 42d, relieved the 1st Division, and with a tenacity of
purpose in keeping with its veteran reputation continued attacking
until its magnificent persistence had its reward. To the east the 3d
Division (now commanded by Buck and later by Preston Brown), which had
been the stone wall on the banks of the Marne against the fifth German
offensive, was fighting against terrific odds. It was to pay for the
ground which it gained in the ensuing days with over eight thousand
casualties.
Meanwhile, with every advance that its divisions made, the position of
Bullard's 3d Corps became more wickedly exposed to the fire from
across the Meuse where the German artillery from its heights looked
down upon our men as upon the arena of an amphitheater. But here, as
elsewhere, there was no cessation of the offensive. Hershey's 4th
Regular Division, schooled in the Château-Thierry fighting, showed an
endurance in keeping with its skill by remaining in line for over
three weeks; the 5th Regulars, first commanded by MacMahon and then by
Ely, which had learned their first lesson in attack by its taking of
Frappelle in the Vosges Mountains, and which had again at Saint Mihiel
shown a mettle which promised to make it dependable for any kind of an
emergency, had now come in to take the place of Cronkhite's 80th in
that trough of hell where it was to begin its long and thrilling
career of accomplishment in the great battle. On its right, Allen's
90th National Army from Texas had come in on the left and immediately,
though it had not been long in France, proved that it was worthy of
the best traditions of its home State by its stoicism under gas and
shells and the attacking fervor which were to give it a place of honor
until the armistice was signed--after its crossing of the Meuse.
The Germans were now bringing in their best veteran shock divisions
and countless machine guns manned by chosen "no quarter" gunners. It
is significant that on September 29, 1918, three days after we had
begun our Argonne attacks, Hindenburg had informed the German
Government that it ought to sue for peace, and on October 3, 1918,
after the British assault, which included our 2d Corps, had broken the
Hindenburg line and the ferocious attacks against the positions in the
Rheims sector had developed, that he informed the German Government
that the situation of the German army was hopeless. Therefore the
Germans on the Meuse-Argonne front were fighting with the desperation
of men with their backs against the wall to save the line of
communications for their retreat. Our lack of sufficient fresh
divisions in reserve and of sufficient artillery in the second week of
October, 1918, for extensive operations may have given them hope of
success; but we were gathering our forces for another general attack.
Meanwhile it became increasingly evident that something must be done
to stop the flanking fire into our 3d Corps from across the Meuse
where the 17th French Corps was calling for American divisions to
assist in mastering the heights where the plentiful German artillery
was in position. Bell's redoubtable 33d Division of Illinois National
Guard had crossed the river from the left bank, after a most
remarkable feat of bridge building under heavy fire, and had swung
north as a part of a general attack against these heights. Here the
fighting was to be equally as fierce and quite as thankless as on the
main battle front; for here the Germans were in the area of their old
Verdun offensive, and they were perfectly familiar with the ground and
had at their backs all the roads and barracks which they had used in
1916. The main line of hills and ridges, and the covering positions of
the lesser heights and slopes which they held, were already prepared
with dugouts and cement pill boxes, while in place of Württembergers
they brought in their best Prussian troops, with ample machine guns,
to assist an artillery defense which had the sweep of a half-mile
circle east and west of the Meuse, thus enabling them not only to
concentrate at any point on our 3d Corps on the west bank of the
Meuse, but upon the 17th French Corps on the east bank.
Our approach to these defenses was through the ruined villages of the
Verdun battle fields and along the roads which led us into the bottom
of a cup, with its rim occupied by the enemy, through a ravine which
was truly called "Death Valley." Morton's 29th, National Guard of New
Jersey, which was to have its first important battle experience in
conquering positions which would have baffled the skill of the most
veteran of divisions, advanced on the right of the 33d. Later
Edwards's 26th "Yankee" Division, which had known all the kinds of
fighting which the American army had to offer, arrived from its drive
in closing the Saint Mihiel salient for a period of a remorseless,
grinding fighting which was in keeping with its experience. Against
pill boxes, woods, and twisting ravines, across open spaces swept by
machine-gun fire, repulsed by counterattacks and attacking again, the
33d (until it was relieved), the 29th for a long period, and the 26th
had a battle of their own under the 17th French Corps.
The Germans had even stronger reasons for not yielding the heights on
the east of the Meuse than they had on the west of the Meuse. Once we
had Belleu Wood and Pylon Observatory we looked down on a broad valley
and were approaching the last of the hills which separated us from the
plain of the Woevre and German soil. Indeed, this portion of the east
bank of the Meuse was the very key to the positions where the Germans
would have made their stand on a shorter line if they succeeded in
withdrawing their army.
October 11, 1918, was memorable in the history of the organization of
the American Expeditionary Force, as, on that day, General Pershing
appointed Major General Hunter Liggett our pioneer corps commander, to
command the 1st American Army, and appointed Major General Robert L.
Bullard to the command of the 2d Army which was operating on the Saint
Mihiel salient. Both were veterans who had won the additional star of
a lieutenant general which they now received for long service in
France. General Bullard had commanded the 1st Division; and two other
men who had been trained in that veteran school also received
promotions. Major General John L. Hines, who had come to France as a
major, succeeded General Bullard in command of the 3d Corps and Major
General Charles F. Summerall was given command of the 5th Corps in
place of General Cameron. Major General Dickman, who had commanded the
3d Division in the Château-Thierry operations, succeeded General
Liggett in command of the First Corps.
On October 14, 1918, another general attack for the length of the main
battle front took place. The Germans could not afford to lose any
great depth of ground or their main positions defending the crest of
the whaleback would be in danger. All their skill was applied in their
maze of machine-gun positions, to utilize every detail of advantage of
that monstrously favorable ground of slopes, woods, and ravines. The
American divisions, steeled now to this ruthless fighting against a
hidden enemy, took machine guns only to find that there were machine
guns behind them; they took woods, ravines, and crests only to find
that there were more woods, ravines, and crests yet to be conquered.
They made vital gains and fought off fierce counterattacks to hold
them. And the Germans brought in still more divisions and still more
artillery and machine guns in their desperate determination which they
set against that unremitting offensive spirit and unyielding will of
the Americans. Under cold rain and mist in the soaked earth the
grinding continued.
After the 77th Division had come out victorious from its long fight in
the Argonne Forest, McCrea's 78th "Lightning" National Army Division
had relieved it in that inconceivably hard and thankless task of
cleaning up the town of Grand Pré and the positions north of the gap
of Grand Pré. Day after day it kept on attacking even when there was a
lull in other parts of the line. When Wright's 89th Division came into
the line we had in these men of the Middle West, well drilled and in
fine fettle, another new force in the battle which was to bring honor
to the National Army and the nation. The 89th and the 90th and 5th
Divisions and other divisions improved their opportunities in the
final week of October, 1918, by taking positions which were valuable
for the general attack, now in preparation, which was to take place on
November 1, 1918.
With ample artillery and fresh reserves at our command we were
determined to gain the summit of the whaleback in a final drive. This
was the third phase of the battle, the second having been the long
merciless hammering throughout the month of October, 1918, in which
the endurance, the nerves and the aggressive spirit of American
soldiers were tested as they never were before. Every day we were
becoming more skillful in combat and our traffic arrangements were
improving in their organization. The line from left to right on the
morning of November 1, 1918, was: the 78th, 77th, 80th, 2d, 89th,
90th, and 5th Divisions. Our infantry, protected by the best artillery
service which it had ever had, with the exception of some delay at
certain points, irresistible in its sweep everywhere, gained its
objectives, mastering the heights for which it had fought for six
weeks. On November 2, 1918, the German communiqué made its confession
to the German people that the American army had broken the German
line.
The battle now became one of skillful maneuvers and rapid pursuit down
the apron of lesser heights and slopes toward the Meuse. Behind the
1st Corps in reserve was the 42d Division; behind the 5th Corps in the
center the 1st; and behind the 3d Corps on the right the 32d. These
three veteran divisions, after their rest from the fearful fighting of
the second phase of the battle, now had the opportunity finally, as
the movement spread, to join in the glorious final phase which saw
that army of regulars, guardsmen, and draftmen, the strongest force
America had ever had under arms, as citizens victorious in the cause
of democracy.
On November 11, 1918, when the armistice was signed, the 5th and 90th
Divisions of the 3d Corps had swung well across the Meuse, taking the
heights on the other side. The 89th and 2d Divisions were also across,
while the 42d Division had reached the suburbs of Sedan, and the 77th
Division was on the left bank. Kuhn's 79th Division from Camp Meade,
which had relieved the worn and gallant 29th Division, which had done
such lion's work across the Meuse, moving in unison with the
operations beginning November 1, 1918, had conquered the heights which
had poured their fire down into the trough where the Third Corps had
fought. The 26th Division, which had stubbornly kept in line despite
its losses and the misery of its position, was able to appreciate, as
only such veterans could, the privilege of operating on the 79th's
right, in mastering the positions on its front which had so long
defied it. These two divisions were both attacking on the morning of
the 11th. Before nightfall they had gained the last of the hills
separating them from the plain of the Woevre. Thus the rapid daily
advances of the American forces toward and across the Meuse, in their
capture of the positions upon which the Germans depended for their
winter defense line, had been not the least of the arguments which
Marshal Foch was offering the Germans for signing the armistice.
We had only two divisions in reserve when hostilities finished. If we
had come late into the war, once our legions were prepared, we had
not been hesitant in giving them for service. All the resources of our
army from the base ports to the front line had been stretched to their
limit. Our hospitals were full and our surgeons exhausted. We had
broken up freshly arriving divisions when the Service of Supply
demanded more labor in order that the demands of the front should be
filled at this juncture When the hope had risen in every heart that by
a supreme effort we might bring the orgy of the great war to a close.
We had fought for six weeks in chill winter rains and in face of fire
and of hardships; and in the test of nerves, courage, and devotion we
had come out triumphant. And through it all there had been no finer
heroism than that of the trained army nurses who kept cheerful when
staggering with fatigue in caring for the wounded in our hospitals. Be
it aviator or motor truck driver, soldier in the fox hole or stevedore
on the docks, all had given their strength and zeal in keeping with
the spirit of their errand in France. There remained the task of the
organization of the 3d Army, under General Dickman from the veteran
divisions, which had the fortune to be in the front line on November
11, 1918, to march through Luxemburg and across the German frontier to
the Rhine, where they did their duty as policemen during the peace
negotiations; and the further task of reversing the great machinery of
the army, in sending the soldiers home in good health after their
wonderful experience and splendid service.
PART VII-THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT PARIS
CHAPTER XIX
FIRST SESSION OF PEACE CONGRESS--CLEMENCEAU, PERMANENT
CHAIRMAN--PRESIDENT WILSON'S ADDRESS--THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS COVENANT
COMPLETED
The Peace Congress held its first session at 3 o'clock in the
afternoon on January 18, 1919, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Paris. The scene of this historic event upon which the interest of the
world centered was the former Salle d'Horloge, renamed for the
occasion Salle de la Paix, one of the most magnificent reception rooms
in all Europe.
The French Government had made careful preparation of the chamber for
every need of the assembly, and in a manner worthy of such a
gathering.
For the opening session seventy-two seats were provided, the Japanese,
the British and Colonial delegates, and the fifth British delegate
were on the outer side of the great horseshoe. To the right of the
table of honor a seat was reserved for the fifth American delegate.
The delegates representing Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Peru,
Portugal, Serbia, Czecho-Slovakia, and Uruguay were seated in the
order named.
At the left wing of the table sat the delegates of Siam, Rumania,
Poland, Liberia, Hedjaz, Ecuador, China, and Bolivia.
A striking object among the decorations of the splendid chamber was a
heroic marble statue of Peace holding aloft the torch of Civilization
which stood behind the chair of Premier Clemenceau.
A council table of horseshoe form, covered with green baize, stood
directly before the statue. Nine seats of honor had been prepared at
the upper end of the table for the presiding officer, the vice
presidents and the premiers. On each side of the wings of the great
horseshoe there were fifteen seats, making sixty in all, in addition
to the nine seats of honor at the head of the table.
The seats, upholstered in leather of a vivid crimson, served to
emphasize and throw into relief the figures of the representatives in
somewhat somber attire. The walls of the chamber were decorated in
white and gold and from the ceiling, whose borders were frescoed with
dancing Cupids in pastel shades, hung four great crystal chandeliers.
An abundance of light from five large windows overlooking the Seine
made it possible for the delegates to read and write in any part of
the hall. From the council room there opened another sumptuous
apartment overlooking the gardens where the delegates could retire for
consultations. Adjoining was a superbly furnished dining room, where
meals could be served when protracted meetings were held.
Long before the Peace Congress began its session the Quai d'Orsay was
thronged with people, their eyes fixed on the windows of the Salle de
la Paix. The Palais Bourbon and the Foreign Office were protected by a
line of troops, and a special guard of honor was drawn up near the
entrance to the Foreign Office, the delegates passing through a double
file of soldiers. Each arrival was the signal for a fanfare of
trumpets and full military honors from the troops on guard. President
Wilson's appearance a few minutes before the time fixed for the
opening of the session was the occasion for a remarkable demonstration
of good will on the part of the crowd. The President joined M. Pichon,
the French foreign minister, in the anteroom and was conducted to the
council chamber. At the table of honor Mr. Wilson was joined by
Secretary Lansing, Mr. White, and General Bliss, and exchanged
greeting with other delegates.
President Poincaré entered the chamber at 3 o'clock, and the entire
assembly stood up as he delivered his address, which was in French.
After he had concluded, an interpreter read the speech in English.
In the course of his remarks, which were delivered with calm
earnestness, M. Poincaré, after greeting the delegates in the name of
the French Republic, reviewed the course of the war, placing on
Germany the guilt of premeditation in plunging the world into
frightful disaster for the purpose of spoils and conquest. He praised
the Allies for the mighty efforts they had made to crush the German
menace, and dwelt on America's unselfishness in entering the world war
in defense of free ideals.
In conclusion he spoke warmly in favor of the League of Nations, which
would be a supreme guaranty against any fresh assault upon the rights
of peoples. M. Poincaré then declared the congress open and retired.
Georges Clemenceau, the French premier, was elected permanent chairman
of the conference. Speeches by President Wilson, Premier Lloyd-George,
and Baron Sonnino expressed the desire of the representatives of the
different nations to reach a friendly understanding with respect to
the problems that were to be decided at the conference.
President Wilson, in proposing Premier Clemenceau for the permanent
chairmanship, said:
"It gives me great pleasure to propose as permanent chairman of the
conference Mr. Clemenceau, the president of the council.
"I would do this as a matter of custom. I would do this as a tribute
to the French Republic. But I wish to do it as something more than
that. I wish to do it as the tribute to the man.
"France deserves the precedence, not only because we are meeting at
her capital, and because she has undergone some of the most tragical
suffering of the war, but also because her capital, her ancient and
beautiful capital, has so often been the center of conferences of
this sort, on which the fortunes of large parts of the world turned.
"It is a very delightful thought that the history of the world, which
has so often been centered here, will now be crowned by the
achievements of this conference--because there is a sense in which
this is the supreme conference of the history of mankind.
"More nations are represented here than were ever represented in such
a conference before. The fortunes of all peoples are involved. A great
war is ended which seemed about to bring a universal cataclysm. The
danger is past. A victory has been won for mankind, and it is
delightful that we should be able to record these results in this
place.
"But it is more delightful to honor France, because we can honor her
in the person of so distinguished a servant. We have all felt in our
participation in the struggles of this war the fine steadfastness
which characterized the leadership of the French in the hands of Mr.
Clemenceau. We have learned to admire him, and those of us who have
been associated with him have acquired a genuine affection for him.
"Moreover, those of us who have been in these recent days in constant
consultation with him know how warmly his purpose is set toward the
goal of achievement to which all our faces are turned. He feels as we
feel, as I have no doubt everyone in this room feels, that we are
trusted to do a great thing, to do it in the highest spirit of
friendship and accommodation, and to do it as promptly as possible in
order that the hearts of men may have fear lifted from them, and that
they may return to those purposes of life which will bring them
happiness and contentment and prosperity.
"Knowing his brotherhood of heart in these great matters, it affords
me a personal pleasure to propose that Mr. Clemenceau shall be the
permanent chairman of this conference."
In accepting the presidency of the congress M. Clemenceau expressed
his gratification for the honor paid him and outlined the principal
questions which the conference must decide. The three principal
subjects of these were, he said, responsibility of the authors of the
war, responsibility for the crimes committed during the war, and
international labor legislation. The League of Nations would lead the
program at the next full session.
Mr. Lloyd-George, who seconded Mr. Wilson's motion, and Baron Sonnino,
the Italian foreign minister, paid tribute to M. Clemenceau's courage,
energy, and inspiration which had helped the Allies to bring the war
to a triumphant conclusion.
At this session the regulations governing the conference proceedings
were adopted. The following were the regulations regarding the
composition of the congress:
The belligerent Powers with general interests--the United States of
America, the British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan--shall take part
in all meetings and commissions.
The belligerent Powers with particular interests--Belgium, Brazil, the
British Dominions, and India, China, Cuba, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti,
Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Poland, Portugal,
Rumania, Serbia, Siam and the Czecho-Slovak Republic--shall take part
in these sittings at which questions concerning them are discussed.
The Powers in a state of diplomatic rupture with the enemy
powers--Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay--shall take part; in the
sittings at which questions concerning them are discussed.
The neutral Powers, and states in process of formation, may be heard
either orally or in writing, when summoned by the Powers with general
interests at sittings devoted especially to the examination of
questions directly concerning them, but only so far as these questions
are concerned.
The representation of the different Powers was fixed as follows:
Five for the United States of America, the British Empire, France,
Italy, and Japan; three for Belgium, Brazil, and Serbia; two for
China, Greece, the king of the Hedjaz, Poland, Portugal, Rumania,
Siam, and the Czecho-Slovak Republic; one for Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti,
Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, and Panama; one for Bolivia, Ecuador,
Peru, and Uruguay.
The British Dominions and India were to be represented as follows:
Two delegates each for Australia, Canada, South Africa, and India,
including the native states; one delegate for New Zealand.
Although the number of delegates must not exceed the above figures,
each delegate had the right to avail himself of the panel system, by
which the representatives of the Dominions, New Zealand, and India
might be included in the representation of the British Empire.
Montenegro would be represented by one delegate as soon as the
political situation of the country was cleared up. The conference
would fix the representation of Russia at the moment when the matters
concerning Russia were examined.
It was further decided that the secretariat should be appointed from
outside the plenipotentiaries, composed of one representative of the
United States of America, one of the British Empire, one of France,
one of Italy, and one of Japan.
It was decided that the publicity of the proceedings should be assured
by official communiques prepared by the secretariat and made public.
In case of a disagreement as to the drafting of these communiques the
matter should be referred to the principal plenipotentiaries or their
representatives.
A provision was made that all questions to be decided upon should be
subject to two readings. The program regarding resolutions which was
agreed upon was, in brief, that a committee should be formed for
drafting the resolutions adopted, composed of five members not forming
part of the plenipotentiary delegates, and composed of one
representative of the United States of America, one of the British
Empire, one of France, one of Italy, and one of Japan. This committee
should concern itself only with questions that have been decided. Its
sole duty should be to draw up the text of the decision adopted and to
present it for the approval of the conference.
The supreme council, consisting of two ranking delegates from each of
the five chief Powers, held its first session on January 20, 1919,
when the Russian situation was considered and was further discussed on
the following day. At the session of the council of January 22, 1919,
the decision was announced by which all Russian factions were invited
to a conference at Princes' Island, Sea of Marmora. (The proposed
conference was subsequently abandoned, as certain Russian factions
refused to negotiate with representatives of the Soviet Government of
Lenine and Trotzky.)
At the meeting of the supreme council on January 23, 1919, an order of
business was announced for a plenary meeting of the conference on
January 25, 1919, when the following questions were considered for
this purpose.
First.--International legislation on labor.
Second.--Responsibility and punishments in connection with the war.
Third.--Reparation for war damage.
Four.--International régime of ports, waterways, and railways.
On January 24, 1919, the supreme council met for the first time as the
supreme war council. Besides President Wilson and the premiers and
foreign ministers of the Allied Powers, there were present also
Marshal Foch, Field Marshal Haig, General Pershing, General Diaz, and
the generals of the Versailles war council, including Generals Wilson,
Bliss, Bolling, and Robilant.
The council conferred with Marshal Foch and other military authorities
as to the strength of the forces to be allowed to the various Allied
Powers on the western front during the period of the armistice.
The President of the United States and the prime ministers and foreign
ministers of the Allied and Associated Governments addressed a
communication to the world in which reference was made regarding the
use of armed force in many parts of Europe and the East to gain
possession of territory "the rightful claim to which the Peace
Conference is to be asked to determine." Those employing armed force
for such purposes were warned that they were prejudicing their claims
by so doing, and that "if they expect justice, they must refrain from
force and place their claims in unclouded good faith in the hands of
the Conference of Peace."
On the same day the mission of the Allies and Associated Great Powers
to Poland was discussed. It was agreed that M. Pichon, the French
foreign minister, should prepare the instructions to the mission, and
that one press representative for each of the five great Powers should
be allowed to accompany the mission. The question of territorial
adjustment concerning the German colonies was then discussed by Sir
Robert Borden, prime minister of Canada; Mr. Hughes, prime minister of
Australia; General Smuts, representing General Botha, the prime
minister of South Africa, and Mr. Massey, prime minister of New
Zealand.
At the second plenary session of the Peace Conference on January 25,
1919, with M. Clemenceau in the chair, the plan for a League of
Nations was unanimously adopted. The resolution on the creation of a
committee on the League of Nations was as follows:
It is essential to the maintenance of the world settlement which the
associated nations are now met to establish that a League of Nations
be created to promote international obligations and to provide
safeguards against war.
This league should be created as an integral part of the general
treaty of peace, and should be open to every civilized nation which
can be relied on to promote its objects.
The members of the league should periodically meet in international
conference, and should have a permanent organization and secretaries
to carry on the business of the league in the intervals between the
conference.
The conference therefore appoints a committee, representative of the
Associated Governments, to work out the constitution and the functions
of the league, and the draft of resolutions in regard to breaches of
the laws of war for presentation to the Peace Congress.
That a commission, composed of two representatives apiece from the
five great Powers and five representatives to be elected by the other
Power's, be appointed to inquire upon the following:
First.--The responsibility of the authors of the war.
Second.--The facts as to the breaches of the laws and customs of war
committed by the forces of the German Empire and their allies on land,
on sea, and in the air during the present war.
Third.--The degree of responsibility for these offenses attaching to
particular members of the enemy's forces, including members of the
General Staffs and other individuals however highly placed.
Fourth.--The constitution and procedure of a tribunal appropriate to
the trial of these offenses.
After the reading of the resolutions by M. Clemenceau President Wilson
addressed the assembly. He said that they had met together for two
purposes: to make the present settlements rendered necessary by the
war and to secure the lasting peace of the world not only by the
present settlements, but by the arrangements which they should make
for its maintenance.
The League of Nations Mr. Wilson believed to be necessary for both of
these purposes. Some complicated questions could not be worked out to
an ultimate issue at the time, but would need subsequent
consideration, they were not susceptible of confident judgments at
present. It would be necessary to set up some machinery to render the
work of the conference complete.
"We have assembled here for the purpose of doing very much more than
making the present settlements that are necessary.... We are not the
representative of governments, but representatives of the peoples. It
will not suffice to satisfy governmental circles anywhere. It is
necessary that we should satisfy the opinion of mankind.
"The burdens of the war have fallen in an unusual degree upon the
whole population of the countries involved." Here, Mr. Wilson spoke of
the burden thrown upon the older men, women, and children, upon the
homes of the civilized world.
These people looked to this assembly to make a peace which would make
them secure. "It is a solemn obligation on our part, therefore, to
make permanent arrangements that justice shall be rendered and peace
maintained.... Central settlements may be temporary, but the actions
of the nations in the interest of peace and justice must be permanent.
We can set up permanent processes. We may not be able to set up a
permanent decision."
In a sense, said President Wilson, the United States was less
interested in this subject than the other nations here assembled. Her
great territory and extensive sea borders made her less likely to
suffer from enemy attacks than other nations. The deep ardor of the
United States for the society of nations did not spring from
apprehension, but out of the ideals begotten of the war.
"In coming into this war the United States never for a moment thought
that she was intervening in the politics of Europe, or the politics of
Asia, or the politics of any part of the world. Her thought was that
all the world had now become conscious that there was a single cause
of justice and liberty for men of every kind and place.
"Therefore the United States would feel that its part in this war
should be played in vain if there ensued upon it abortive European
settlements. It would feel that it could not take part in guaranteeing
those European settlements unless that guaranty involved the
continuous superintendence of the peace of the world by the associated
nations of the world."
To make the League of Nations a vital thing, said Mr. Wilson, it must
continue to function, there must be no intermission of its
watchfulness and of its labor; it should be the eye of the nations to
keep watch upon the common interest.
The select classes of mankind, said President Wilson, were no longer
governors of mankind. The fortunes of mankind were now in the hands of
the plain people of the whole world. "Satisfy them and you have
justified their confidence not only, but have established peace. Fail
to satisfy them and no arrangement that you can make will either set
up or steady the peace of the world." In the United States the great
project of a League of Nations was regarded as the keynote of the
whole. "If we returned to the United States without having made every
effort in our power to realize this program, we should return to meet
the merited scorn of our fellow citizens.... We have no choice but to
observe their mandate. But it is with the greatest pleasure and
enthusiasm that we accept that mandate. And because this is the
keynote of the whole fabric, we have pledged our every purpose to it,
as we have to every item of the fabric. We would not dare abate a
single item of the program which constitutes our instructions; we
would not dare to compromise upon any matter as the champions of this
thing--the peace of the world, this attitude of justice, this
principle, that we are the masters of no peoples, but are here to see
that every people in the world shall choose its own masters and govern
its own destinies, not as we wish, but as they wish.
"We are here to see, in short, that the very foundations of this war
are swept away. Those foundations were the private choice of a small
coterie of civil rulers, of military staffs. Those foundations were
the aggression of great Powers upon the small. Those foundations were
the holding together of empires of unwilling subjects by the duress of
arms. Those foundations were the power of small bodies of men to wield
their will and use mankind as pawns in the game. And nothing less than
the emancipation of the world from these things will accomplish
peace...."
Mr. Lloyd-George, the British premier, and Signor Orlando, premier of
Italy, followed President Wilson, and made eloquent speeches in
support of the resolution. After Leon Bourgeois, a French delegate,
and representatives of China, Poland, and Belgium had expressed their
adherence to the plan for a League of Nations the resolution was
unanimously adopted.
It was decided at the conference to appoint a commission in regard to
reparation for war damage to consist of representatives from Belgium,
Greece, Poland, Rumania, and Serbia who would report on the amount of
reparation which the enemy countries ought to pay, on what they are
capable of paying, and on the method, form, and time within which
payment should be made.
A resolution in regard to international legislation on industrial and
labor questions was also passed. This provided for the appointment of
two representatives apiece from the five great Powers and five
representatives to be elected by the other Powers represented at the
Peace Conference to inquire into the conditions of employment from the
international aspect and to recommend the form of a permanent agency,
to continue such inquiry in cooperation with and under the direction
of the League of Nations. The conference also adopted a resolution to
appoint a commission to inquire and report upon the international
régime of ports, waterways, and railways.
The supreme council at its session on January 27, 1919, prepared a
program of work and the constitution of new committees for economic
and financial questions and those relating to private and maritime
laws. The question of the former German colonies was discussed on the
following day. At the two sessions of the supreme council on January
29, 1919, reports were heard from delegates on the Polish situation
and Polish claims, and the Czecho-Slovak delegates gave their views.
The question of Kiauchau and the Pacific Islands created sharp
differences between the delegates of China and Japan. China finally
agreed that Kiauchau should be left to the disposal of Japan, to be
restored to China on condition that it was opened as a commercial
port.
At the meeting of the supreme council on January 30, 1919, the
question of the German colonies in the Pacific and in Africa and the
occupied territory in Turkey was discussed. Provisional arrangements
were made to incorporate in the constitution of the League of Nation a
plan for administering the German colonies by which the league should
assign them to various powers for administration. This was opposed by
the representative of Australia, who insisted on the annexation of New
Guinea to Australia.
President Wilson was firmly opposed to a division of Germany's
colonial possessions among the Powers which then held them. He
believed that to divide the colonies among the Entente nations would
be in direct contravention of the "Fourteen Points" which had been
accepted as a basis of peace, and would violate the principles of the
League of Nations.
The famous "Fourteen Points," it will be remembered, were formulated
by President Wilson, and in January, 1918, were offered to the
belligerent nations as the foundation for peace negotiations:
I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there
shall be no private international understandings of any kind, but
diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.
II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial
waters, alike in peace and in war, except as seas may be closed in
whole, or in part by international action for the enforcement of
international covenants.
III. The removal as far as possible of all economic barriers and the
establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations
consenting to the peace and associated for its maintenance.
IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will
be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
V. A free, open-minded, and also impartial adjustment of all colonial
claims, based upon the strict observance of principles that in
determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the
populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims
of the government whose title is to be determined.
VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such settlement of all
questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest
cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an
unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the desired determination
of her own political development and national policy, and assure her
of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under the
institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance
also of every kind that she may need and herself desire. The treatment
accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to some will be
the acid test of their good will, of the comprehension of her needs as
distinguished from their own interests and of their intelligent and
unselfish sympathy.
VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and
restored without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys
in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve
to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they
themselves have set and determined for the government of their
relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole
structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.
VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions
restored, and the wrongs done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the
matter of Alsace and Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the
world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace
may once more be made secure in the interest of all.
IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along
clearly recognizable lines of nationality.
X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among nations we wish
to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest
opportunity for autonomous development.
XI. Russia, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied
territories restored, Serbia accorded free and secure access to the
sea, and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another
determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of
allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the
political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the
several Balkan states should be entered into.
XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be
assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nations which are now
under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and
an absolutely unmolested opportunity for autonomous development, and
the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the
ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.
XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should
include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations,
which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose
political and economic independence and territorial integrity should
be guaranteed by international covenants.
XIV. A genuine association of nations must be formed under specific
covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political
independence and territorial integrity of great and small states
alike.
At the session of the supreme council on February 1, 1919, a decision
was reached concerning the German colonies and the conditions were
later confirmed by the covenant of the League of Nations.
President Wilson presided at the opening meeting of the League of
Nations Commission on February 3, 1919, held at the residence of
Colonel Edward House in Paris. The United States was represented by
Mr. Wilson, Colonel House, and Mr. Miller, technical expert. Lord
Robert Cecil and General Christian Smuts represented Great Britain;
for France, Leon Bourgeois and Ferdinand Larnaude; for Italy Premier
Orlando, and for Japan Baron Chinda; also delegates from Belgium,
Serbia, Brazil, Portugal, and China.
The discussion in which Mr. Wilson took a leading part was not general
but specific, as the printed text of the agreed plan for the formation
of the League of Nations was before the meeting.
On the same date important committees on reparation, ports, waterways
and railways held their first formal meetings. The French and British
presented a program recognizing the right of nations to control
international waterways and international railways, which was accepted
by the commission.
The commission of the Allied Nations held daily sessions beginning
February 4, 1919, and made continued progress. The delegates were
unanimous in believing that a League of Nations was desirable, but
some doubted its immediate efficiency and favored maintaining the old
order of balance of power until the new plan had demonstrated its
capacity and workability, to meet the needs of nations loving peace.
Much time was spent in winning over these dissenters, and it was only
accomplished after long and patient endeavors.
The final session of the League of Nations Commission was held on
February 13, 1919, when a French delegate offered a clause for an
interallied military force to compel peace, and the Japanese presented
an amendment providing that racial discrimination should not be
tolerated. Both proposals were defeated.
At this meeting the constitution of the League of Nations as finally
drafted was unanimously adopted by the committee and President Wilson
was designated to present the completed plan to the plenary council at
their next session.
CHAPTER XX
THE COVENANT AND DRAFT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE LEAGUE OF
NATIONS--PRESIDENT WILSON'S SPEECH IN SUPPORT; HE RETURNS TO
AMERICA--THE UNITED STATES SENATE CRITICISES LEAGUE DOCUMENT
On February 14, 1919, President Wilson read the draft of the
constitution of the League of Nations before the plenary council of
the Peace Conference and afterward delivered an earnest and spirited
address in support of the plan. Lord Robert Cecil, head of the British
delegation, expressed his approval of the League and constitution in
an eloquent speech, and the Italian Premier Signor Orlando, described
his satisfaction at having collaborated in one of the greatest
documents in all history.
Leon Bourgeois, for France, said that the French delegation reserved
the right to present their views on certain details of the plan which
made no distinction between great and small States. France and
Belgium, said M. Bourgeois, were especially exposed to danger, and
required additional guarantees. He urged a system of permanent
inspection of existing armaments and forces as a means to avoid the
renewal of wars.
The text of the document read by President Wilson at the plenary
session, opening with a preamble, is here given in full.
"In order to promote international cooperation and to secure
international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not
to resort to war, by the prescription of open, just, and honorable
relations between nations, by the firm establishment of the
understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct
among governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous
respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organized
peoples with one another, the Powers signatory to this covenant adopt
this constitution of the League of Nations."
Of the twenty-six articles which comprise the constitution of the
League of Nations some were afterward amended, and such changes will
be noted later in their place.
The first seven articles of the constitution which are the least
important to the general reader may be thus summarized:
The action of the high contracting parties under the terms of the
covenant shall be effected through the meeting of a body of delegates
representing them, and the meetings of an executive council, and of a
permanent international secretariat to be established at the seat of
the League. Each of the high contracting parties shall have one vote,
but not more than three representatives.
The executive council shall consist of representatives of the United
States of America, British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan, and
representatives of four other states members of the League. Meetings
shall be held as occasion requires and at least once a year. Any Power
shall be invited to attend a meeting of the council when matters
concerning its interests are to be discussed. The first meeting of the
body of delegates shall be summoned by the President of the United
States.
Admission to the League of states not signatories to the covenant
requires the assent of not less than two-thirds of the states
represented in the body of delegates. Only full self-governing
countries or dominions shall be admitted.
Article VIII. Provides that the executive council shall determine for
the consideration of the several governments what military equipment
and armament is fair in proportion to the scale of forces, laid down
in the program of disarmament. The high contracting parties agree to
examine the manufacture by private enterprise of war material and
direct the executive council to advise how to prevent the evil effects
attendant on such manufacture, respecting the need of those countries
that cannot manufacture munitions and war implements necessary for
their safety.
Article IX. Permanent commission shall be constituted to advise the
council on the execution of the provisions of articles I and VIII and
on military and, naval questions generally.
Article X. This and the two following, as among the most important
articles in the constitution, and which became the subject of heated
controversy, must be given in full:
"The high contracting parties shall undertake to respect and preserve
against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing
political independence of all the states members of the League. In
case of any such aggression, or in case of any threat of danger of
such aggression, the executive council shall advise upon the means by
which the obligation shall be fulfilled."
Article XI. States that any war, or threat of war, is a matter of
concern to the League, and the high contracting parties reserve the
right to take such action as will conserve the peace of nations.
Article XII. States in effect that if disputes arise that cannot be
adjusted by the ordinary processes of diplomacy no resort to war will
be made until the questions involved are submitted for arbitration of
the executive council. Until three months after the award by the
arbitrators war will not even then be resorted to against a member of
the League which complies with the award of the arbitrators, or the
recommendation of the executive council.
Article XIII. The high contracting parties agree that disputes or
difficulties arising between them which cannot be settled by diplomacy
they will submit the whole matter to arbitration. They agree to carry
out in good faith any award that may be rendered.
Article XIV. Provides for the establishment of an international court
of justice to hear and determine any matters suitable for submission
to it for arbitration.
Article XV. Disputes between members of the League not submitted to
arbitration shall be referred to the executive council. If the dispute
has not been settled, a report by the council shall be published and
recommendation made by the council for the settlement of the
difficulty. If the report is unanimously agreed to by the council
other than the parties to the dispute, the high contracting parties
agree that they will not go to war with any party which complies with
the recommendations.
Article XVI. "Should any of the high contracting parties break or
disregard its covenants under Article XII, it shall thereby ipso facto
be deemed to have committed an act of war against all the other
members of the League, which hereby immediately undertakes to subject
it to the severance of all intercourse between their nationals, trade
or financial relations, the prohibition of all intercourse between
their nationals and the nationals of the covenant-breaking state, and
the prevention of all financial, commercial, or personal intercourse
between the nationals of the convenant-breaking state and the
nationals of any other state, whether a member of the League or not.
"It shall be the duty of the executive committee council in such a
case to recommend what effective military or naval force the members
of the League shall severally contribute to the armed forces to be
used to protect the covenant of the League." This article further
states that the high contracting parties agree to mutually support
each other financially and economically, and in resisting any special
measures aimed at one of their number by the convenant-breaking state.
Article XVII. Considers disputes between one state member of the
League and another state which is not a member of the League, or
between states not members of the League. In such event the high
contracting parties invite the state, or states, not members of the
League to become members and accept the obligations of the League
membership for the dispute in such conditions as the executive council
shall deem just. The executive council will immediately inquire into
the merits of the dispute and recommend such action as may be deemed
just and equitable. Any Power refusing to accept the obligations of
membership in the League for the purposes of the League would
constitute a breach of Article XII. The provisions of Article XVI
shall be applicable too against a state taking such action.
Article XVIII. In this article the League is empowered with general
supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with countries where
control of the traffic is necessary.
Article XIX. Deals with the question of colonies and territories which
through the war have ceased to be under the old sovereignty.
"Inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves ... there
should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of
such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization, and that securities
for the performance of this trust should be embodied in the
constitution of the League." The tutelage of such peoples, it was
advised, should be intrusted to the advanced nations, and should be
exercised by them as mandatories on behalf of the League. Communities
that have reached a stage of development as in Turkey could be
provisionally recognized as independent nations, subject to
administrative advice and assistance by mandatory power until they
were strong enough to stand alone.
Article XX. In this the League promises to endeavor to secure and
maintain fair conditions of labor for men, women, and children in all
countries where their commercial and industrial relations extend, and
agree to establish a permanent bureau of labor.
Article XXI. Provision through the instrumentality of the League to
secure and maintain freedom of transit and equitable treatment for the
commerce of all states members of the League. Special arrangements
with regard to the necessities of the regions devastated during the
war.
Article XXII. The high contracting parties agree to place under
control of the League all international bureaus already established if
the parties to such treaties consent. All such international bureaus
in the future shall be placed under the League.
Article XXIII. Every treaty or international engagement entered into
by any member of the League shall be registered with the secretary
general and published by him. No treaty or international engagement
shall be binding until so registered.
Article XXIV. The body of delegates shall have the right to advise the
reconsideration by states members of the League of treaties which have
become inapplicable, and of international conditions of which the
continuance may endanger world peace.
Article XXV. The high contracting parties agree to abrogate all
obligations inconsistent with the terms of the covenant, and will not
hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with those terms.
Powers signatory hereto, or subsequently admitted to the League, who
have undertaken any obligations inconsistent with the terms of this
convenant shall take steps to secure release from such obligations.
Article XXVI is concerned with amendments to the covenant. These are
to take effect when ratified by the states whose representatives
compose the executive council, and by three-fourths of the states
whose representatives compose the body of delegates.
At the conclusion of his reading of the draft of the constitution of
the League, President Wilson said in part:
"It is not a vehicle of power, but a vehicle in which power may be
varied at the discretion of those who exercise it, and in accordance
with the changing circumstances of the time. And yet, while it is
elastic, while it is general in its terms, it is definite in the one
thing that we were called upon to make definite. It is a definite
guaranty of peace. It is a definite guaranty by word against
aggression. It is a definite guaranty against the things which have
just come near bringing the whole structure of civilization into ruin.
"Its purposes do not for a moment lie vague. Its purposes are declared
and its powers are unmistakable. It is not in contemplation that this
should be merely a league to secure the peace of the world. It is a
league which can be used for cooperation in any international matter.
That is the significance of the provision introduced concerning labor.
There are many ameliorations of labor conditions which can be effected
by conference and discussion. I anticipate that there will be a very
great usefulness in the bureau of labor which it is contemplated shall
be set up by the League. Men, women, and children who work have been
in the background through long ages, and sometimes seemed to be
forgotten.... Now these people will be drawn into the field of
international consultation and help and will be the wards of the
combined governments of the world.
"As you will notice there is an imperative article concerning the
publicity of all international agreements. Henceforth no member of the
League can claim any agreement valid which it has not registered with
the secretary general.... And the duty is laid upon the secretary
general to publish every document of that sort, at the earliest
possible time....
"Then there is a feature about this covenant which to my mind is one
of the greatest and most satisfactory advances that have been made. We
are done with annexations of helpless peoples, meant in some instances
by some Powers to be used merely for exploitation. We recognize in the
most solemn manner that the helpless and undeveloped peoples of the
world ... put an obligation upon us to look after their interests
primarily before we use them for our interests and that in all cases
of this sort hereafter it shall be the duty of the League to see that
the nations who are assigned as the tutors and advisers and directors
of these peoples shall look to their interests and their development
before they look to the interests and desires of the mandatory nation
itself....
"It has been one of the many distressing revelations of recent years
that the great Power which has just been happily defeated put
intolerable burdens and injustice upon the helpless peoples of some of
the colonies which it annexed to itself, that its interest was rather
their extermination than their development, that the desire was to
possess their land for European purposes and not to enjoy their
confidence in order that mankind might be lifted in these places to
the next higher level.
"Now the world, expressing its conscience in law, says there is an
end of that, that our consciences shall be settled to this thing.
States will be picked out which have shown that they can exercise a
conscience in this matter and under their tutelage the helpless
peoples of the world will come into a new light and into a new hope.
"So I think that I can say of this document that it is at one and the
same time a practical document, a human document. There is a pulse of
sympathy in it. There is a compulsion of conscience throughout it. It
is practical, and yet it is intended to purify, to rectify, to
elevate.
"It was in one sense, said Mr. Wilson, a belated document, for he
believed the conscience of the world had long been prepared to express
itself in some such way.
"We are not just now discovering our sympathy for these peoples and
our interest in them. We are simply expressing it, for it has long
been felt and in the administration of the affairs of more than one of
the great states represented here--so far as I know all of the great
states that are represented here--that humane impulse has already
expressed itself in their dealings with their colonies whose peoples
were yet at a low stage of civilization.
... "Many terrible things have come out of this war, gentlemen, but
some very beautiful things have come out of it. Wrong has been
defeated, but the rest of the world has been more conscious than it
ever was before of the majority of right. People that were suspicious
of each other can now live as friends and comrades in a single family,
and desire to do so. The miasma of distrust, of intrigue is cleared
away. Men are looking eye to eye and saying: 'We are brothers, and
have a common purpose. We did not realize it before, but now we do
realize it, and this is our covenant of friendship.'"
After notifying by cable the Congressional Committee on Foreign
Affairs at Washington, that he would return to America and confer with
them at the White House, President Wilson sailed from Brest for home
on February 15, 1919. Greeted at Boston by a great multitude of
enthusiastic citizens, he delivered an address in the afternoon to
7,000 people assembled in Mechanic Hall on the subject of the League
of Nations. Traversing much of the ground he had covered in his speech
on the draft of the League in Paris, Mr. Wilson said he had been
impressed with the wonderful fact during his work at the Peace
Conference that there was no nation in Europe that suspected the
motives of the United States....
"Before this war, Europe did not believe in us as she does now. She
did not believe in us during the first three years of the war. She
seems to have believed that we were holding off because we thought we
could make more by staying out than by going in. And, all of a sudden,
in a short eighteen months, the whole verdict is reversed.... They saw
what we did--that, without making a single claim, we put all our men
and all our means at the disposal of those who were fighting for their
homes, in the first instance, but for a cause, the cause of human
rights and justice, and that we went in, not to support their national
claims, but to support the great cause which they held in common. And
when they saw that not only America held ideas, but acted ideals, they
were converted to America and became firm partisans of those
ideals....
"And now do you realize that this confidence which we have established
throughout the world imposes a burden upon us, if you choose to call
it a burden? It is one of those burdens which any nation should be
proud to carry."
President Wilson said that all the peoples of Europe were buoyed up
with a new hope, that they believed a new age was dawning, when
nations would understand each other and support each other in every
just cause and unite every moral and physical strength to see that
right should prevail. "If America were at this juncture to fail the
world, what would become of it?" He dwelt on the despair and
bitterness that would follow if America failed to justify the world's
hope; on the return to the old bad conditions that had prevailed
before the war when all European nations were hostile camps.
Yet the most satisfactory treaty of peace, said Mr. Wilson, would have
little value unless it were backed by the united nations to defend
it, with great forces combined to make it good, and the assurance
given to oppressed peoples of the world that they should be safe.
America would not disappoint the hopes of the world, and would make
men free. "If we did not do that, the fame of America would be gone
and all her power would be dissipated. She then would have to keep her
power for those narrow, selfish, provincial purposes which seem so
dear to some minds that have no sweep beyond the nearest horizon." He
spoke of the claims of Poland, and the wrongs of Armenia, and of the
aspirations of the Czecho-Slovaks and Jugoslavs, and how certain
powers would pounce upon them if there were not the guarantees of the
world behind their liberty.
President Wilson said he had returned to report progress which would
not stop short of the goal. The people were in the saddle and they
would see to it that if their own present governments did not do their
will some other governments shall. "And the secret is out and the
present governments know it."
Before President Wilson returned to America the League of Nations
covenant had already been discussed in the United States Senate. The
Republican members in particular were vehement and even bitter in
denouncing the project as set forth in the original draft. Senator
Poindexter declared in the course of a three-hour speech that the
charter of the League meant surrender of American sovereignty to
European nations. Article X bound the United States as one of the
contracting parties, he said, to preserve against aggressions the
territory and political independence in all states members of the
League. This, argued the Senator, would compel the United States to
tax its people and sacrifice its soldiers to make war on behalf of a
foreign country. In mixing in the affairs of small European nations,
these small nations would intrude into the affairs of the United
States. To place into the hands of the council of the League of
Nations--all but one foreigners with different ideals and
interests--such control over the sovereign action of the American
people for which so many heroes had labored "would be as though it
were a pitiful murder of the very souls of our fathers in their own
house, builded by their hands...."
Senator Borah, Republican, attacked the League as a radical departure
from the policy laid down in Washington's Farewell Address and the
Monroe Doctrine. Article X, which provided for the preservation of the
territorial integrity of the nations of the League, the Senator said,
would first obligate America to protect the territorial integrity of
Great Britain. If the British Empire was threatened in any part, not
the United States Congress, or the people, or the Government would
determine what should be done, but the executive council, of which the
American people had one member, would determine what should be done.
The British Empire, united in interest with Italy and Japan, would
outvote America in the League. The whole project, he believed, would
sterilize the principle of nationalism and abrogate the American
Constitution.
The League found a sturdy and eloquent champion in Senator Hitchcock,
Democrat, of Nebraska, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. In
the course of a speech delivered on February 27, 1919, Senator
Hitchcock expressed his belief that the League was a positive guaranty
against future world wars. The attitude Japan might take regarding her
nationals was not a cause for worry. Japan had already recognized the
exclusion laws of the United States. There was no question about
Mexico, which could not give guaranties of international obligations
and therefore would not be admitted to the League.
Senator Hitchcock declared that those who opposed the League were
thinking in the terms of the past. The fear expressed that the League
would open the way to European despotism was without foundation, for
the spirit of despotism had vanished. Democracy was the mastering
spirit in all the nine nations represented in the executive council,
yes, even in Japan. Such a league, he argued, with its provision of
arbitration and delay for calm consideration, would make war
improbable. The restrictions on armaments would save the great nations
billions and eliminate oppressive tax burdens.
One of the principal arguments against the League was that in joining
it America would have to renounce the Monroe Doctrine and relinquish
the right to attack any nation that attempted to establish itself in
the Western Hemisphere. Senator Hitchcock argued that the League of
Nations included the very purposes of the Monroe Doctrine in that it
prevented the aggression of nations upon each other. An unfriendly
act, or attack, upon any American republic, or upon the United States,
would at once be the subject of inquiry and action by the League of
Nations. America also would no longer be compelled to defend alone the
Western Hemisphere, but would be backed by the sympathy and help of
the League of Nations.
"We have been told that this is one of those entangling alliances
against which Washington warned us. I deny it. In Washington's day the
world was full of alliances, the nations of the world were seeking to
maintain, through the theories of the balance of power, their rival
interest. Alliances were for the very purpose of waging war, whereas
the League of Nations is a great covenant among the democracies of the
world for the purposes of preserving peace."
Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, Republican leader in the Senate,
expressed the definite opposition of his party to the League as
proposed in a speech before the Senate on February 28, 1919.
Senator Knox, Republican, of Pennsylvania, ex-Secretary of State and a
member of the Foreign Relations Committee, speaking on March 1, 1919,
before the Senate, expressed himself in favor of a modified League
that would preserve our sovereignty. The chief points in his argument
may be summarized.
The Central Powers must not be left out of the League, or it would
force them for mutual protection to form a second League of Nations,
which the neutral states would almost certainly join. The result would
be two great camps, each preparing for a new and greater
life-and-death struggle.
Even the term League of Nations was a misnomer, for according to the
proposed plan the nations of the world were divided into three
classes.
First.--Signatories to the covenant confined perhaps to the five great
Entente Powers--British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, and United
States.
Second.--States not signatory, but named in the protocol, including
possibly such Entente Powers, if any, as were not signatories, as well
as other states neutral in the war.
Third.--Those states which are neither signatories nor protocol states
which must furnish guaranties as to their intention to be bound by
their international obligations, to be admitted to the League.
Thus the League of Nations, said Senator Knox, in the sense of all the
nations was not created by the document, nor were the states members
of the League treated as equals. He pointed out the difficulties in
withdrawing from the League. "Once in this union we remain there no
matter how onerous its gigantic burdens may become."
The climax to the senatorial discussion came when Senator Lodge
circulated a proposal to reject the League of Nations constitution as
then drafted. Thirty-nine members of the next Senate, said Senator
Lodge, approved of the proposal, and read out their names. The
thirty-nine members of the next Senate, if they stood fast for
rejecting the League's constitution, would represent more than
one-third of the body which must ratify any treaty by a two-thirds
vote before it became effective.
Immediately after Congress adjourned on March 4, 1919, President
Wilson left Washington for New York, where he delivered an address on
the League in the evening of that date at the Metropolitan Opera
House.
President Wilson in his address covered much the same ground he had
traversed in his Boston speech, and paid his respects to the critics
of the covenant in somewhat scathing terms. He was amazed that there
should be in some quarters such ignorance of the state of the world.
"These gentlemen do not know what the mind of men is just now.
Everybody else does. I do not know where they have been closeted. I do
not know by what influences they have been blinded; but I do know that
they have been separated from the general currents of the thought of
mankind.... I have heard no counsel of generosity in their criticism.
I have heard no constructive suggestions. I have heard nothing except
'will it not be dangerous to us to help the world?' It will be fatal
to us not to help it."
After concluding his address President Wilson and party boarded the
_George Washington_ and sailed again for France.
The attacks on the League of Nations in the United States affected the
attitude of the French press and of the delegates in Paris, who had
been critical of the project. But as soon as it became apparent that
the Wilson program was in danger of defeat at home the press rallied
to its support and the delegates, fearing failure of the whole
project, became advocates of the covenant as it stood. Only Germany
denounced it as unjust to the German people. Italy gave unqualified
support, and England's attitude, as expressed through Mr. Balfour, was
that an immense responsibility rested on the American people. "They
have come into the war. Their action has had profound importance.
Their service to mankind in this crisis will make a great page in
their history. But that service is only half accomplished if they do
not take a share in the even more responsible labors of peace."
The effect of the assaults upon the League was to speed up the
preliminary work on the Peace Treaty.
CHAPTER XXI
REVISED COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS--THE TREATY OF PEACE
On April 28, 1919, the revised covenant of the League of Nations was
adopted by the plenary session of the Peace Conference without
divisions and without amendment. Sir Eric Drummond of Great Britain
was nominated the first secretary general of the League.
The covenant as drafted may be briefly summed up.
"The original members of the League of Nations shall be those of the
signatories which are named in the annex to this covenant, and also
such of those other states named in the annex as shall accede without
reservation to this covenant."
(In the annex to the covenant the original members of the League of
Nations signatory to the treaty of peace are given as follows: the
United States of America, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, British Empire,
Canada, Australia, South Africa, New South Wales, India, China, Cuba,
Czecho-Slovakia, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hedjaz,
Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland,
Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Siam, and Uruguay. States invited to accede
to the covenant: Argentine Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Salvador, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, and Venezuela.) It is interesting to note that
Mexico was not included among the states invited to join the League.
Article I, as revised, provides that "Any self-governing state,
dominion, or colony, not named in the annex may become a member of the
League if its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of the assembly,
provided it shall give effective guaranties of its sincere intention
to observe its international obligations and shall accept such
regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its
military and naval forces and armaments.
"Any member of the League may, after two years' notice of its
intention, withdraw from the League, provided that all its
international obligations and all its obligations under this covenant
shall have been fulfilled at the time of its withdrawal."
Article IV, as revised, reads: "The council shall consist of
representatives of the United States of America, of the British
Empire, of France, of Italy, and of Japan, together with four other
members of the League. These four members of the League shall be
selected by the assembly from time to time in its discretion. Until
the appointment of the representatives of the four members of the
League first selected by the assembly, representatives of (blank)
shall be members of the council."
Two new paragraphs in this article provide specifically for one vote
for each member of the League in the council, which was understood
before, and providing also for one representative of each member of
the League.
[Illustration: The signers of the treaty for the United States:
President Woodrow Wilson, Robert Lansing, Henry White, Edward M.
House, Tasker H. Bliss; for the British Empire: David Lloyd-George,
Andrew Bonar Law, Viscount Milner, Arthur James Balfour, George N.
Barnes.]
[Illustration: Signature of Ch. J. Doherty and A. L. Sifton, Canada;
W. N. Hughes and Joseph Cook, Australia; Louis Botha and J. C. Smuts,
South Africa; W. F. Massey, New Zealand; Ed. S. Montagu and Sir Ganga
Singh, India; for France: Georges Clemenceau, S. Pichon, L. L. Klotz,
A. Tardieu, Jules Cambon.]
[Illustration: Signatures of delegates from Peru, Portugal, Rumania,
Jugoslavia, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia, Uruguay. Pages preceding were
delegates from Italy, Japan, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador,
Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua,
Panama.]
[Illustration: Signatures and seals of the German delegates, Dr.
Hermann Muller and Dr. Bell.
Names of delegates, not previously given, who signed on behalf of the
Allied and Associated Powers, are: ITALY, Baron Sonnino, Marquis
Imperiali, S. Crespi; BELGIUM, Paul Hymans, Van den Heuvel, E.
Vandervelde; BOLIVIA, Ismael Montes; BRAZIL, P. Calogeras, Rodrigo
Octavio; CUBA, Antonio Sanchez de Bustamente; ECUADOR, Enrique Dorn y
de Alsua; GREECE, E. Venizelos, N. Politis; GUATEMALA, Joaquin Mendez;
HAITI, Terulien Guilbaud; HEDJAZ, Rustem Haidar, Abdul Hadi Anuni;
HONDURAS, Policarpo Bonilla; LIBERIA, C. D. B. King; NICARAGUA,
Salvador Chamorro; PANAMA, Antonio Burgos; PERU, Candamo; POLAND,
Paderewski, Dmowski; PORTUGAL, Costa, Soares; RUMANIA, Bratiano,
Coanda; JUGOSLAVIA, Pachitch, Trumbitch, Vesnitch; SIAM, Prince
Charoon, Prince Traislos Probandhu; CZECHO-SLOVAKIA, Kramarez, Benes;
URUGUAY, Buero.]
A new paragraph in Article V expressly incorporates the provision as
to the unanimity of voting, which was at first taken for granted. The
second paragraph of Article VI has added to it that a majority of the
assembly must approve the appointment of the secretary general.
In Article VII Geneva is named as the seat of the League, as before,
but the council are given power to establish it elsewhere if
subsequently desired.
A new paragraph in Article VII establishes equality of employment of
men and women by the League.
An added paragraph in Article XIII gives instances of disputes which
are generally suitable to arbitration, such disputes as to the
interpretation of a treaty, as to any question of international law,
as to the existence of any fact, which if established would constitute
a breach of any international obligation, or as to the extent and
nature of the reparation to be made for any such breach.
A new paragraph added to Article XV is an amendment regarding domestic
jurisdiction, that where the council finds that a question arising out
of an international dispute affects matters which are clearly under
the domestic jurisdiction of one or other of the parties, it is to
report to that effect and make no recommendation.
A new paragraph in Article XVI provides for expulsion from the League
when a member violates any covenant "by a vote of the council
concurred in by the representatives of all the other members of the
League represented thereon."
Article XXI was not in the first draft of the League covenant and
reads: "Nothing in this covenant shall be deemed to affect the
validity of international engagements, such as treaties of
arbitration, or regional understandings, such as the Monroe Doctrine,
for securing the maintenance of peace."
This amendment recognizing the validity of the Monroe Doctrine meets
the "inequality of voting power" criticism, and its inclusion in the
covenant was regarded as a personal triumph for President Wilson.
Article XXII provides that all agreements shall be unanimous and that
a nation must decide whether it is to be a mandatory for any other
nation.
Article XXIII contains a new clause providing for just treatment of
the aborigines, a clause looking toward prevention of the white slave
traffic and opium traffic, and a clause looking toward progress in
international prevention of disease.
Article XXV specifically mentions the Red Cross as one of the
international organizations which are to connect their work with the
work of the League.
Article XXVI permits the amendment of the covenant by a majority of
the states composing the assembly, instead of three-fourths of the
states, though it does not change the requirement in that matter with
regard to the vote of the council. A new paragraph was added to this
Article at the request of the Brazilian delegates in order to avoid
constitutional difficulties. It permits any member of the League to
dissent from an amendment, the effect of such dissent being withdrawal
from the League.
On May 7, 1919 (the anniversary of the sinking of the _Lusitania_),
the Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers on the
one hand and Germany on the other was delivered to the German
plenipotentiaries at Versailles. Fifteen days were allowed for reply.
The treaty represents the work of more than a thousand experts who
were continuously engaged on the task for three and a half months. It
is the longest treaty ever drawn, totaling about 80,000 words. The
treaty does not deal with questions affecting Austria, Bulgaria, and
Turkey except to the extent of binding Germany to accept any agreement
reached with her old allies.
The covenant of the League of Nations is contained in the first
section of the treaty and in addition to its general duties others are
specified.
The League may question Germany at any time for a violation of the
neutralized zone east of the Rhine as a threat against the world's
peace. A high commissioner of Danzig will be appointed to guarantee
the independence of the free city, and arrange treaties between
Danzig, Germany, and Poland. It will appoint three out of five members
of the Sarre commission, oversee its régime and carry out the
plebiscite. The mandatory system will be applied to the former German
colonies and the League will act as a final court in the matter of the
plebiscites of the Belgian-German frontier and Kiel Canal disputes.
SECTION II.
BOUNDARIES OF GERMANY.
Germany cedes to France Alsace-Lorraine, 5,600 square miles to the
southwest, and to Belgium two small districts between Luxemburg and
Holland, totaling 382 square miles. To Poland she cedes the
southeastern point of Silesia beyond and including Oppeln, most of
Posen and West Prussia, 27,686 square miles. East Prussia is thus
isolated from the main body by a portion of Poland. Germany loses
dominion over the northeastern tip of East Prussia, forty square miles
north of the River Memel and the internationalized areas around
Danzig, 729 square miles, and the basin of the Sarre, 738 square
miles, between the western border of the Rhenish Palatinate of Bavaria
and the southeast corner of Luxemburg. The Danzig area consists of a V
between the Nogat and Vistula Rivers, made a W by the addition of a
similar V on the west including the city of Danzig. The southeastern
third of East Prussia and the area between East Prussia and the
Vistula north of latitude 53 degrees 3 minutes is to have its
nationality determined by popular vote, 5,785 square miles, and the
same with Schleswig, 2,787 square miles.
SECTION III.
BELGIUM.
Germany is to consent to the abrogation of the treaties of 1839 which
established Belgium as a neutral state, and she agrees to any
convention the Allied and Associated Powers may determine to replace
them.
She is to recognize Belgium's sovereignty over the contested territory
of Moresnet and part of Prussian Moresnet, and renounce in Belgium's
favor all rights over the circles of Eupen and Malmedy, whose
inhabitants may within six months protest the change, in whole or
part, the League of Nations to decide.
Germany renounces her various treaties and conventions with the Grand
Duchy of Luxemburg, all rights of exploitation of railroads, and
adheres to the abrogation of its neutrality, accepting in advance any
international agreement arrived at by the Powers.
Germany will not maintain fortifications, or armed forces, within
fifty kilometers east of the Rhine, hold maneuvers, or maintain works
to facilitate mobilization. In case of violation "she shall be
regarded as committing a hostile act against the powers who sign the
present treaty and as intending to disturb the peace of the world."
ALSACE-LORRAINE.
Alsace-Lorraine are restored to France with their frontiers as before
1871. Citizenship is regulated by detailed provisions distinguishing
those who are immediately restored to French citizenship, those who
have to make applications therefor, and those for whom naturalization
is open after three years. All public and private property of former
German sovereigns passes to France without payment or credit.
Ownership over railways and rights over tramway concessions and the
Rhine bridges pass to France.
For five years manufactured products of Alsace-Lorraine will be
admitted free of duty to Germany to a total amount not exceeding in
any year the average of the three years preceding the war. Textile
materials may be imported from Germany into Alsace-Lorraine and
reexported free of duty. For seven years, perhaps ten, the ports of
Kehl and Strassburg shall be administered by a French administrator
appointed by the Central Rhine Commission. Property rights will be
safeguarded in both ports and equality of treatment in traffic
assured nationals, vessels, and goods of all countries.
Contracts between Alsace-Lorraine and Germany are maintained, but
France has the right to annul them on grounds of public interest.
Judgments of courts hold in certain classes of cases, others require
first a judicial exequatur. War-time political condemnations are null
and void and the obligation to repay war fines is established, as in
other parts of Allied territory.
THE SARRE.
To compensate France for the destruction of her coal mines in the
north, Germany cedes to France full ownership of the coal mines in the
Sarre basin, their value to be estimated by the Reparation Commission
and credited against that account. France replaces the present owners,
whom Germany undertakes to indemnify. France will continue to supply
coal for present needs and contribute in just proportion to local
taxes. The basin extends from the frontier of Lorraine as reannexed to
France as far as St. Wendel, including on the west the Sarre valley as
far as Saarholzbach and on the east the town of Homburg.
To secure the rights and welfare of the population and guarantee to
France entire freedom in working the mines the League of Nations will
appoint a commission of five to govern the territory, one French, one
a native of Sarre, and three representing different countries other
than France and Germany. Existing German legislation will remain the
basis of the law, but the commission may make modifications after
consulting a local representative assembly which it will organize. It
will have taxing power for local purposes only. The assembly must
approve new taxes. The wishes of local labor organizations will be
considered in labor legislation and the labor program of the League.
French and other labor may be utilized freely; the former are at
liberty to belong to French unions. Pensions and social insurance will
be maintained by Germany and the Sarre Commission.
There will be no military service; a local gendarmerie will preserve
order. The people will preserve their local assemblies, religious
assemblies, schools, etc., but may only vote for local assemblies.
They will keep their present nationality except as they wish to change
it, and their property will be respected if they wish to leave the
territory. As a part of the French customs system there will be no
export tax on coal and metal products going to Germany, nor on German
products entering the basin and for five years no import duties on
products going and coming. For local consumption French money may
circulate without any restrictions.
After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held to discover if the
people wish a continuance of the régime under the League of Nations,
union with France, or union with Germany. The right to vote will
belong to all inhabitants over twenty, resident therein at the
signature. The League will take into account the opinions expressed
and decide the ultimate sovereignty. In any portion restored to
Germany the German Government must buy out French mines at their
appraised value, which if not paid for in six months pass finally to
France. In case that Germany should buy the mines, the League will
decide how much coal shall be annually sold to France.
SECTION IV.
"Germany recognizes the total independence of German-Austria in the
boundaries traced." She recognizes the independence of the
Czecho-Slovak state, including the autonomous territory of the
Ruthenians south of the Carpathians, accepting the frontiers as will
be determined, which in the case of the German frontier follows the
frontier of Bohemia in 1914.
POLAND.
Germany cedes to Poland the greater part of upper Silesia, Posen, and
the province of West Prussia on the left bank of the Vistula. A Field
Boundary Commission of seven, five representing Allied and Associated
Powers and one each representing Poland and Germany, shall be
constituted to delimit this boundary. Special provisions to protect
racial, linguistic or religious minorities and secure equitable
treatment of commerce for other nations will be laid down in a
subsequent treaty.
The southern and eastern frontiers of East Prussia as touching Poland
shall be fixed by plebiscites, the first in the regency of Allenstein
between the southern frontier of East Prussia and the northern
frontier, or Regierungsbezirk Allenstein, from where it meets the
boundary between East and West Prussia, to its junction with the
boundary between the circles of Oletsko and Angerburg, thence the
northern boundary of Oletsko to its junction with the present
frontier. The second plebiscite will be held in the area comprising
the circles of Stuhm and Rosenberg and the parts of the circles of
Marienburg and Marienwerder east of the Vistula.
In each case German troops and authorities will move out within
fifteen days of the peace and an international commission of five
members appointed by the Allied and Associated Powers will arrange for
a free, fair, and secret vote.
Regulations will be drawn up by the Allied and Associated Powers
assuring East Prussia full and equitable use and access of the
Vistula. A subsequent convention will fix terms between Poland,
Germany, and Danzig, to assure railway communication across German
territory on the right bank of the Vistula between Poland and Danzig,
while Poland shall grant free passage from East Prussia to Germany.
The northeastern corner of East Prussia about Memel is to be ceded by
Germany to the Associated Powers, the former agreeing to accept the
settlements made, in particular as regards nationality.
DANZIG.
Danzig and the territory near it is constituted a free city under
guaranty of the League of Nations. A high commission appointed by the
League and the president of Danzig shall draw up a constitution in
agreement with the representatives of the city, dealing with all
differences between the city and Poland. The boundaries of the city
shall be delimited by a commission appointed within six months of the
peace of representatives chosen by the Allied and Associated Powers
and one each for Germany and Poland. A convention, the terms to be
fixed by the Powers, will include Danzig in the Polish customs
frontiers through a free area in the port; insure Poland free use of
the city's waterways, docks, the control of the Vistula and the whole
railway system within the city, and telegraphic and telephonic
communication between Poland and Danzig; provides against
discrimination against Poles in the city, and places its foreign
relations and the diplomatic protection of its citizens abroad in
charge of Poland.
DENMARK.
The frontier between Germany and Denmark, will be fixed by the
self-determination of the population. Ten days from the peace German
troops and authorities shall evacuate the region north of the line
running from the mouth of the Schlei, south of Kappel, Schleswig, and
Friedrichstadt along the Eider to the North Sea south of Tönning; the
Workmen's and Soldiers' Councils shall be dissolved and the territory
administered by an international commission of five, of whom Norway
and Sweden shall be invited to name two.
This commission shall insure a free and secret vote, and draw a new
frontier on the basis of the plebiscite, Germany renouncing all
sovereignty over territories north of this line in favor of the
Associated Governments, who will hand them over to Denmark. All
military works on islands of Helgoland and Dune will be destroyed by
German labor under supervision of the Allies.
RUSSIA.
Germany agrees to respect the independence of all territories which
were part of the Russian Empire. Accepts abrogation of Brest-Litovsk
and other treaties, and recognizes all treaties of the powers with
states part of former Empire. The Allied and Associated Powers reserve
the right of Russia to obtain restitution and reparation on the
principles of present treaty.
SECTION V.
Outside Europe, Germany renounces all rights as to her own and her
allies' territories to all the Allied and Associated Powers and will
accept whatever measures are taken by the five powers.
GERMAN COLONIES.
Germany renounces in favor of the Allied and Associated Power her
overseas possessions. All property of the German Empire, or state,
passes to the government exercising authority in the territory.
Provision will be made for the repatriation of German nationals and of
German subjects holding property. Germany undertakes to pay damages to
French nationals in the Cameroons who suffered from acts of German
civil and military authorities between January, 1900, to August 1,
1914.
CHINA AND SIAM.
Germany renounces in favor of China all privileges and indemnities
resulting from the Boxer rebellion of 1901, and all public property
except diplomatic and consular establishments in the German
concessions of Tientsin and Hankow, and in other Chinese territory
except Kiauchau, and agrees to return to China all astronomical
instruments seized in 1900 and 1901. Germany accepts the abrogation of
concessions at Hankow and Tientsin, China agreeing to open them to
international use. Germany renounces all claims against China, or any
allied or associated government, for the internment or repatriation of
her citizens in China, and for seizure or liquidation of German
interests. She renounces in favor of Great Britain her state property
in the British concession at Canton, and of France and China.
Germany recognizes that all agreements with Siam ceased July 22, 1917.
All German property but consular and diplomatic premises pass to Siam.
Germany waives all claims against Siam for seizure of German property
during the war.
LIBERIA.
Germany renounces all rights under international arrangements of 1911
and 1912, regarding Liberia. All commercial treaties and agreements
between herself and Liberia are abrogated and she recognizes
Liberia's right to determine the status and condition of the
reestablishment of Germans in Liberia.
MOROCCO.
Germany renounces all her rights, titles, etc., under the act of
Algeciras and French-German conventions of 1909 and 1911, and all
arrangements with the Sherifian Empire. She undertakes not to
interfere in any negotiations as to Morocco between France and other
powers, accepts the French protectorate and renounces the
capitulations. The Sherifian Government shall have complete liberty of
action over German nationals. All German property may be sold and the
proceeds deducted from the reparation account.
EGYPT.
Germany recognizes the British Protectorate over Egypt and renounces
the capitulations and all treaties, etc., concluded by her with Egypt.
She undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations between Great
Britain and other powers. She consents to the transfer to Great
Britain of the powers given to the late Sultan of Turkey for securing
the free navigation of the Suez Canal. German nationals will be dealt
with as in Morocco. Anglo-Egyptian goods entering Germany shall enjoy
the same treatment as British goods.
Germany accepts all arrangements which the Allied and Associated
Powers make with Turkey and Bulgaria.
SHANTUNG.
Germany cedes to Japan all rights, etc., notably as to Kiauchau and
the railroads, mines, and cables acquired by her treaty with China of
1907 and agreements as to Shantung. All German rights to the railroad
from Tsingtau to Tsinan-fu, including mining rights, pass equally to
Japan, and the cables from Tsingtau to Shanghai and Che-foo free of
all charges.
SECTION VI.
THE GERMAN ARMY, ARMAMENTS, ETC.
The German army must be demobilized within two months of the peace.
Its strength may not exceed 100,000 including 4,000 officers, to be
devoted exclusively to maintaining internal order and control of
frontiers. The great German General Staff is abolished. The army
administrative service is reduced to one-tenth of the total in 1913
budget.
Customs officers, coast guards, etc., may not exceed the number in
1913. Local police may be increased with growth in population only,
and none of these may be assembled for military training.
Within three months of the peace all establishments manufacturing arms
and munitions of war except those specifically excepted must be closed
and their personnel dismissed. The amount of armament and munitions
allowed Germany is laid down in detail tables, all in excess to be
surrendered or rendered useless. The manufacture or importations of
asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases is forbidden, as well as
importations of arms, munitions, and war material. Germany may not
manufacture such material for foreign governments.
Conscription is abolished. The enlisted personnel is to be maintained
by voluntary enlistments for a term of twelve consecutive years.
Officers remaining in the service must agree to serve to the age of
forty-five. Newly appointed officers agree to serve for twenty-five
years.
No military schools but those indispensable shall exist in Germany two
months after the peace. No associations, such as societies of
discharged soldiers, shooting or touring clubs, etc., may occupy
themselves with military matters. All measures of mobilization are
forbidden.
All fortified works in German territory within a zone of fifty
kilometers east of the Rhine shall be dismantled within three months.
Construction of new fortifications is forbidden. Fortified works on
southern and eastern front may remain. Interallied commissions will
see to the execution of the provisions for which a time limit is set,
the maximum named being three months. Germany must afford them every
facility to go to any part of Germany, pay their expenses, and cost of
labor and material necessary in destruction or surrender of army
equipment.
THE GERMAN NAVY.
The German navy must be demobilized within two months of the peace.
She will be allowed six small battleships, six light cruisers, twelve
destroyers, twelve torpedo boats and no submarines, either military or
commercial, with a personnel of 15,000 men, including officers, and no
reserve force of any character. Conscription is abolished, only
voluntary service being permitted, with a minimum period of
twenty-five years' service for officers and twelve for men. No member
of the German mercantile marine will be permitted any naval training.
All German vessels of war in foreign ports and the German high-sea
fleet interned at Scapa Flow will be surrendered, the final
disposition to be decided upon by the Allied and Associated Powers.
Germany must surrender forty-two modern destroyers, fifty modern
torpedo boats, and all submarines with their salvage vessels. War
vessels under construction must be broken up, other war vessels may be
placed in reserve, or used in commerce. Ships cannot be replaced
except those lost, until at the end of twenty years for battleships,
and fifteen years for destroyers. The largest armored ship permitted
Germany will be 10,000 tons. All German fortifications in the Baltic
defending the passages through the belts must be demolished. For three
months after the peace German wireless stations at Nauen, Hanover, and
Berlin will be permitted to send commercial messages only under
supervision of the Associated and Allied Powers, and no more may be
built.
CABLES--AIR FORCES.
Germany renounces all title to specified cables, the value of such as
were privately owned being credited to her against reparation
indebtedness. The armed forces of Germany must not include air forces
for more than 100 unarmed seaplanes. No dirigibles shall be kept. All
the air personnel must be demobilized within two months except for
1,000 men retained until October 1, 1919. No aviation grounds or
dirigible sheds are allowed within 150 kilometers of the Rhine, or the
eastern or southern frontiers. Existing installations will be
destroyed. Manufacture of aircraft is forbidden for six months. All
military and naval aeronautical material must be surrendered within
three months, except the 100 planes specified.
PRISONERS.
Repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians will be
carried out without delay at Germany's expense by a mixed commission
of Allies and Germans. The Allies have the right to hold German
officers until Germany has surrendered persons guilty of offenses
against the laws and customs of war. Repatriation is conditional on
the immediate release of any Allied subjects still in Germany. Germany
is to restore all property belonging to Allied prisoners.
GRAVES.
Both parties will respect and maintain the graves of soldiers and
sailors buried on their territory and assist commissions charged with
identifying, registering, etc., erecting monuments over the graves,
and to afford each other facilities for repatriating the remains of
their soldiers.
SECTION VII
RESPONSIBILITIES.
"The Allied and Associated Powers publicly arraign William II of
Hohenzollern, formerly German Emperor, not for the offenses against
any criminal law, but for the supreme offense against international
morality and the sanctity of treaties."
Holland will be requested to surrender the ex-emperor, and a tribunal
will be set up composed of one judge from each of the five great
powers, with full guarantees of the right of the defense. It will fix
the penalty which should be imposed.
Persons accused of acts violating the laws and customs of war will be
tried and punished by military tribunals. If the charges affect the
nationals of only one state, they will be tried before a tribunal of
that state; if they affect the nationals of several states, they will
be tried by joint tribunals of the several states concerned. Germany
shall surrender all persons so accused and all documents and
information necessary to insure full knowledge of the incriminating
acts, the discovery of the offenders, etc.
SECTION VIII.
REPARATION AND RESTITUTION.
The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the
responsibility of herself and her allies for causing all the loss and
damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments have been
subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the
aggression of Germany and her allies. The total obligation of Germany
to pay is to be determined and notified to her not later than May 1,
1921, by an Interallied reparations commission. At the same time a
schedule of payments to discharge the obligation within thirty years
shall be presented.... She further agrees to restore to the Allies
cash and certain articles which can be identified.
Germany shall pay within two years one thousand million pounds
sterling in either gold, goods, ships, etc.; this sum being included
in the first thousand million bond issue referred to later. Expenses
such as those of the army of occupation and payments for foodstuffs,
raw materials, etc., may be deducted at the Allies' discretion.
Germany further binds herself to pay all sums borrowed by Belgium from
her allies as a result of Germany's violation of the treaty of 1839,
up to November 11, 1918, and will at once issue and hand over to the
Reparations Commission 5 per cent gold bonds falling due in 1926.
Germany is required to make compensation for all damages caused to
civilians, such as injury caused by acts of war, exposure at sea,
maltreatment of prisoners; damages to the Allied peoples represented
by pensions and separation allowances, to property; damages to
civilians forced to labor; damages in the form of fines or levies
imposed by the enemy.
The sums for reparation which Germany is required to pay shall become
a charge upon her revenues prior to that for the service or discharge
of any domestic loan.
In case of voluntary default by Germany the Allied and Associated
Powers shall take measures which Germany agrees not to regard as acts
of war, and may include economic and financial prohibition and
reprisals.
The Reparations Commission shall consist of one representative of the
United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium, a
representative of Serbia or Japan taking the place of the Belgian
representative when the interests of either country are particularly
affected, with all other Allied Powers entitled, when their claims are
under consideration, to the right of representation without voting
power. The commission shall permit Germany to give evidence regarding
her capacity to pay and assure her opportunity to be heard. Permanent
headquarters will be established at Paris, which will become the
exclusive agency of the Allies for reparations. Majority vote will
prevail, except that unanimity is required on questions involving the
sovereignty of the Allies, the cancellation of all, or part of
Germany's indebtedness, the time and manner of selling, negotiating,
etc., bonds issued by Germany.
The commission may require Germany to give issues of bonds from time
to time to cover claims not otherwise satisfied. Bond issues are
required presently of Germany in acknowledgment of its debt as
follows: 20,000,000,000 marks gold payable not later than May 1, 1921,
without interest; 40,000,000,000 marks gold bonds bearing interest at
5 per cent under terms fixed by the commission. Interest on Germany's
debt will be 5 per cent., unless otherwise determined by the
commission. Payments not made in gold may be accepted in the form of
properties, commodities, businesses, rights, concessions, etc.
The German Government recognizes the right of the Allies to the
replacement ton for ton and class for class of all merchant ships and
fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war, and cedes to the
Allies all German merchant ships of 1,600 tons gross, and upward;
one-half of her ships between 1,600 and 1,000 tons gross, and
one-quarter of her steam trawlers and other fishing boats, to be
delivered within two months to the Reparations Commission. Germany
further agrees to build as reparation merchant ships to the amount not
exceeding 200,000 tons gross annually during the next five years. All
ships used for inland navigation taken by Germany from the Allies are
to be restored within two months; the amount of loss not covered by
such restitution to be made up from Germany's river fleet up to 20 per
cent thereof.
To effect payment by deliveries in kind, Germany is required for a
period of years varying in each case to deliver coal, coal-tar
products in specific amounts to the Reparations Commission. The
conditions of delivery will be modified so as not to interfere with
Germany's industrial requirements.
DEVASTATED AREAS.
Germany undertakes to devote her economic resources directly to the
physical restoration of the invaded areas, replacing destroyed
articles by the delivery of animals, machinery, etc., existing in
Germany and to manufacture materials needed for reconstruction.
Germany is to deliver to France annually for ten years coal equivalent
to the prewar output of Nord and Pas de Calais mines, and the annual
production during above ten-year period. Germany further gives options
over ten years for delivery of 7,000,000 tons of coal per year to
France, in addition to the above, of 8,000,000 tons to Belgium, and of
an amount rising from 4,500,000 in 1919 to 1920 to 8,500,000 in 1923
to 1924 to Italy, at prices fixed as prescribed in the treaty.
Provision is also made for delivery to France of benzol, coal-tar and
ammonia.
Germany is to restore within six months the Koran of the Caliph Othman
to the King of the Hedjaz, the skull of the Sultan Okwawa to Great
Britain, and to the French Government papers and flags taken in 1870.
For destroying the Louvain library Germany is to hand over
manuscripts, rare books, etc., to the equivalent of those destroyed.
Germany is also to hand over to Belgium the wings of the altar piece
of "The Adoration of the Lamb" by the Van Eyck's, now in Berlin, and
the wings of the altar piece "The Last Supper," now in Berlin and
Munich.
FINANCE.
Powers to which German territory is ceded will assume a portion of the
German prewar debt, the amount to be fixed by the Reparations
Commission, except Alsace-Lorraine and Poland. If the value of the
German public property in ceded territory exceeds the amount of debt
assumed, the states to which the property is ceded will give credit on
reparation for the excess, excepting Alsace-Lorraine. Mandatory powers
will not assume any German debts, or give any credit for German
Government property. Germany renounces all right of representation on,
or control of, state banks, commissions, or like organizations.
Germany is required to pay the total cost of the armies of occupation
as long as they are maintained in German territory, this cost to be a
first charge on her resources. The cost of reparations is the next
charge, after making such provisions for payment for imports as the
Allies may deem necessary.
Germany is to deliver to the Allied and Associated Powers all sums
deposited in Germany by Turkey, and Austria-Hungary, in connection
with the financial support extended to them during the war, and to
transfer to the Allies all claims against Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria,
or Turkey in connection with agreements made during the war. Germany
confirms the renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and
Brest-Litovsk.
Germany will expropriate any rights or interests of her nationals in
public utilities in ceded territories, or those administered by
mandatories, and in Turkey, China, Russia, Austria-Hungary and
Bulgaria, and transfer them to the Reparations Commission which will
credit her with their value.
SECTION IX.
OPIUM.
The contracting powers agree, whether or not they have signed and
ratified the opium convention of January 23, 1912, or signed the
special protocol opened at the Hague in accordance with the
resolutions by the third Opium conference in 1914, to bring the said
convention into force by enacting within twelve months of the peace
the necessary legislation.
RELIGIOUS MISSIONS.
The Allied and Associated Powers agree that the properties of
religious missions in territories belonging to or ceded to them shall
continue in their work under the control of the powers, Germany
renouncing all claims in their behalf.
SECTION X.
ECONOMIC QUESTIONS.
For six months Germany shall impose no tariff duties higher than the
lowest in force in 1914. For wines, oils, vegetable oils, artificial
silk, and washed and scoured wool, the restriction obtains for two and
a half years more. For five years, unless extended by the League,
Germany must give favored-nation clauses treatment to Allied and
Associated Powers. She shall impose no customs tariff for five years
on goods originating in Alsace-Lorraine and for three years on goods
originating in former German territory ceded to Poland, with the right
of observation of a similar exception for Luxemburg.
SHIPPING.
Ships of the Allied and Associated Powers shall for five years and
thereafter under condition of reciprocity, unless the League
otherwise decides, enjoy the same rights in German ports as German
vessels, and have most-favored-nation treatment in fishing, coast
trade, and towage, even in territorial waters. Ships of a country
having no seacoast may be registered at some place within its
territory.
UNFAIR COMPETITION.
Germany undertakes to give the trade of the Allied and Associated
Powers safeguards against unfair competition, suppressing the use of
false wrappings and markings and on condition of reciprocity to
respect the laws and judicial decisions of Allied and Associated
States in respect of regional appellations of wines and spirits.
TREATMENT OF NATIONALS.
Germany shall impose no exceptional taxes or restrictions upon the
nationals of Allied and Associated States for a period of five years,
and unless the League acts, for an additional five years German
nationality shall not continue to attach to a person who has become a
national of an Allied or Associated State.
MULTILATERAL CONVENTIONS.
Some forty multilateral conventions are renewed between Germany and
the Allied and Associated Powers, but special conditions are attached
to Germany's readmission to several. As to postal and telegraphic
conventions Germany must not refuse to make reciprocal agreements with
new states.
She must agree, as respects the radiotelegraphic convention, to
provisional rules to be communicated to her. In the North Sea
fisheries, and North Sea liquor traffic, convention rights of police
and inspection over associated fishing boats shall be exercised for at
least five years only by vessels of these powers. As to the
international railway union, Germany shall adhere to the new
convention when formulated. China, as to the Chinese customs tariff
arrangement of 1905 regarding Whangpoo and the Boxer indemnity of
1901; France, Portugal, and Rumania as to the Hague Convention of
1903, relating to civil procedure; and Great Britain and the United
States as to Article III of the Samoa Treaty of 1899, are relieved of
all obligations toward Germany.
BILATERAL TREATIES.
Each Allied and Associated State may renew any treaty with Germany, in
so far as is consistent with the Peace Treaty, by giving notice within
six months. Treaties entered into by Germany since August 1, 1914,
with other enemy states, and before or since that date with Rumania,
Russia, and parts of Russia, are abrogated, and concessions granted
under pressure by Russia to German subjects are annulled. The Allied
and Associated States are to enjoy most-favored-nation treatment under
treaties entered into by Germany before August 1, 1914, and during the
war.
PREWAR DEBTS.
Clearing houses will be established, one in Germany, and one in each
Allied and Associated State for the payment of prewar debts and those
from contracts suspended during the war. For adjustment of proceeds of
liquidation of enemy property and settlement of other obligations each
state participating assumes responsibility for debts owing its
nationals, to nationals of enemy states, except in case of prewar
insolvency of the debtor. Proceeds of sale of enemy properties in each
participating state may be used to pay the debts owed the nationals of
that state. Disputes to be settled by the courts of the debtor
country.
ENEMY PROPERTY.
Germany shall restore or pay for all enemy property seized or damaged
by her, the amount to be fixed by a mixed tribunal. German property
within Allied or Associated States may be liquidated as compensation
for property of their nationals not paid for by Germany, who will
compensate her nationals for such losses.
Prewar contracts between Allied and Associated States--excepting the
United States, Japan, and Brazil,--and German nationals are canceled
except for debts for accounts already performed.
For the transfer of property, leases of land, mortgages, etc.,
arbitral tribunals of three members, one from Germany, and one each
chosen by Associated States, shall have jurisdiction over all
disputes.
INSURANCE.
Fire insurance contracts are not dissolved by the war even if premiums
have not been paid, but lapse at the date of the first premium falling
due three months after the peace. Life insurance contracts may be
restored by payment of accumulated premiums and interest. Marine
insurance contracts are dissolved by the outbreak of war except where
the risk insured against had already been incurred. Reinsurance
contracts are abrogated unless invasion has made it impossible for the
reinsured to find another reinsurer. Any Associated or Allied Power
may cancel all contracts running between its nationals and a German
life insurance company, the latter being obligated to hand over the
proportion of the assets attributable to such policies.
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY.
Rights to industrial, literary, and artistic property are
reestablished. Special war measures of the powers are ratified, and
the right reserved to impose conditions on the use of German patents
and copyrights in the public interest. Except as between the United
States and Germany prewar licenses and rights to sue for infringements
committed during the war are canceled.
SECTION XI.
AERIAL NAVIGATION.
Aircraft of Allied and Associated Powers shall have full liberty of
passage, etc., and equal treatment with German planes in German
territory and with most-favored-nation planes as to commercial
traffic. Germany agrees to accept Allied certificates of
airworthiness, competency, etc., and to apply the convention relative
to aerial navigation concluded between the powers to her own aircraft
over her own territory.
SECTION XII.
TRANSIT, PORTS, WATERWAYS.
Germany shall grant freedom of transit through her territories by mail
or water to persons, goods, from or to any of the Allied and
Associated Powers without customs or restrictions. The powers shall
have equal rights with her own nationals in her ports and waterways.
Free zones existing in German ports on August 1, 1914, must be
maintained with due facilities as to warehouses, etc., without charge
except for use and administration.
The Elbe from the junction of the Ultava, the Ultava from Prague, the
Oder from Oppa, the Niemen from Grodno, and the Danube from Ulm are
declared international together with their connections, and will be
placed under international commissions.
The Rhine is placed under a central commission to meet at Strassburg,
within six months of the peace. Germany must give France all rights to
take water to feed canals between the two extreme points of her
frontiers. She must also hand over all drafts and designs for this
part of the river.
Belgium is permitted to build a Rhine-Meuse canal, Germany to
construct the part within her territory. The Central Rhine Commission
may extend its jurisdiction over the lower Moselle, upper Rhine and
lateral canals. Germany must cede to the Allied and Associated
Governments certain vessels and facilities on all these rivers as
specified by an arbiter named by the United States.
In addition to most-favored-nation treatment on her railways, Germany
agrees to cooperate in through-ticket services between Allied,
Associated, and other states, to allow the construction of
improvements and to conform her rolling stock to enable its
incorporation in trains of the Allied and Associated Powers.
CZECHO-SLOVAKIA.
To assure Czecho-Slovakia access to the sea toward the Adriatic she
may run her own through trains to Fiume and Trieste. Germany will
lease her spaces in Hamburg and Stettin, the detail to be worked out
by a commission.
THE KIEL CANAL.
The Kiel Canal shall be free and open to all ships of all nations at
peace with Germany; subjects, goods, ships to be treated on terms of
absolute equality, and no taxes may be imposed but those necessary for
upkeep and improvement.
SECTION XIII.
INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION.
Members of the League of Nations agree to establish a permanent
organization to promote international adjustment of labor conditions
to consist of an annual conference and a labor office, the former
composed of four representatives of each state, two from the
government and one each from employers and employed.
The international labor office will be established at Geneva as a part
of the League. It is to collect and distribute information on labor
throughout the world, publish a periodical, and prepare agenda for the
conference. The first conference will take place in October, 1919, at
Washington to discuss the eight-hour day, prevention of unemployment,
child labor, and similar questions.
Nine principles of labor conditions are recognized in the treaty. They
include the principle that labor should not be regarded as a mere
commodity; the right of association of employers and employees; a wage
adequate to maintain a reasonable standard of life; the eight-hour
day, or forty-eight hour week; a weekly rest of twenty-four hours,
including Sunday; abolition of child labor, education, and proper
physical development of children, equal pay for equal work for men and
women; equitable treatment of all workers lawfully resident therein,
including foreigners; a system of inspection in which women shall take
part.
SECTION XIV.
GUARANTIES.
As a guaranty for the execution of the treaty, German territory to the
west of the Rhine with the bridgeheads will be occupied by Allied and
Associated troops for fifteen years. If Germany faithfully carries out
conditions, certain districts, including the Cologne bridgehead, will
be evacuated in five years, certain other districts and territories
nearest the Belgian frontier after ten years, and remainder after
fifteen years.
If Germany fails to observe her obligations during occupation, or
after fifteen years, the whole or part of the areas will be
immediately reoccupied. If before the expiration of the fifteen years
Germany complies with all her treaty undertakings, the occupying
forces will be withdrawn immediately.
All German troops at present in territories east of the new frontier
shall return as soon as the Allies deem wise.
SECTION XV.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Germany agrees to recognize the full validity of the treaties of peace
and additional conventions to be concluded by the Allied and
Associated Powers with the powers allied with Germany, to agree to the
decisions to be taken as to the territories of Austria-Hungary,
Bulgaria, and Turkey, and to recognize the new states in the frontiers
to be fixed for them. Germany agrees not to put forward any pecuniary
claims against Allied or Associated Powers signing the present treaty
based on events previous to the coming into force of the treaty.
THE STORY OF CANADA IN THE GREAT WAR
EDITED AND COMPILED
BY
LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN A. COOPER
Late Commander of the 198th Battalion, Canadian Buffs
INTRODUCTION
By LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN A. COOPER
Late Commander of the 198th Battalion, Canadian Buffs
When the dark cloud broke on August 4, 1914, Canada was not wholly
unprepared. While not a militaristic people, Canadians had always
recognized that it was the duty of every able-bodied citizen to be
prepared to defend his country in case of need. That principle had
underlain the military policy of the nineteenth century both before
and after Confederation. Every citizen of fighting age was
theoretically a soldier, more or less prepared to take his share in
national defense.
To this was added, in later years, a feeling that some day Canadians
might be called upon to take a part in the defense of the British
Empire should it become engaged in a supreme struggle. This feeling
developed during the South African War when Canada took over the last
garrison duties from the Imperial forces as well as the naval stations
at Halifax and Esquimalt. The obligation of contributing men to
Imperial defense was admitted and discussed at the various Imperial
Conferences between 1900 and 1914. Assisted by British experts,
certain military and naval preparations had been made with the
intention of meeting any national emergency and any imperial necessity
which might arise.
While these grave obligations may have rested lightly on the majority
of the people engaged in agriculture, commerce, and railway building,
the country was not mentally unprepared for the great call of August,
1914. This explains in part why the recruiting of her early battalions
and the prompt dispatch of her first contingent of 33,000 men was so
enthusiastically accomplished. Division followed division until in
about fifteen months Canada had a fighting army corps in France. This
accomplishment surprised herself not more than it surprised the Allies
and the enemy. Canada's enlistment during the five years of activity
totaled one-thirteenth of her population. Over four hundred thousand
men, out of a population of about eight millions, actually crossed the
ocean. Four divisions fought as such in France. Railway troops worked
with every British Army, and forestry battalions did almost all the
work of that nature required to supply the needs of both French and
British forces on the western front. The casualties among Canadian
troops were quite equal to those sustained by the more numerous armies
of the United States, because of the greater duration of Canadian
service.
Such success as the Canadians had in fighting was due largely to
inheritance and environment. Many of those who fought were of British
birth or were English, Scotch, Irish, or Welsh once or twice removed.
The military instincts of the British and French races had been
preserved to a remarkable degree in the Dominion. Added to this was
the energy, adaptability, and initiative developed in a people living
in small communities scattered through the vast open spaces of a
country almost equal in area to the whole of Europe. The pluck of the
pioneer, the tenacity of the settler, the self-reliance of the rider
of the plains, the initiative of the woodsman, the skill of the
shantyman and the prospector--all these combined to give the Canadian
army a quality second to none among those engaged in the Great World
War.
Remarkable also was the development of officer ability. The Canadian
army, after the first two years, was officered entirely by Canadians.
The business man, with his experience in organization and executive,
became a military administrator in a wonderfully short space of time.
The corps commander had never been in any military school except the
Canadian militia. Of the seven or eight men who served as divisional
commanders, not more than three could qualify as professional soldiers
before the war. Of the brigadiers and battalion commanders probably 90
per cent had never attended a military school for more than a month.
Canada's army was a citizen army, commanded and administered by men
without business training. Such professional soldiers as Canada had
before the war became administrators rather than leaders in battle.
The war developed so much that was new in tactics and technique that
the militia officer had almost an equal chance with the so-called
military expert.
If the individual soldier ranked high in initiative and valor, he also
must be credited with a loyalty to discipline and to his national
traditions. He quickly acquired steadiness and obedience to his
officers. He respected himself and his superiors. While never servile
nor obsequious, he rendered such service as made the fighting units
effective because of their cohesion and compactness. That was
remarkably exhibited in the first great engagement in which Canadians
took part, the Second Battle of Ypres. It was equally in evidence at
Amiens, Arras, Cambrai, and Mons during the final period of the war.
The Canadian never forgot he was a Canadian. He had such a sublime
faith in himself and in his army as a whole, that his ambition was
only fully realized when he was asked to do more than was usually
asked of a soldier in this titanic struggle. He never despised the
enemy, but he never lost the feeling that he was physically and
mentally the enemy's superior. Excepting, perhaps, the Guards
Division, the Fifty-first Division, and the Australians, the Canadian
army yielded the palm to no portion of the British fighting forces.
Finally, Canadian success in the field of war was but a reflection of
the determination of those who remained at home and who with wonderful
fortitude, self-sacrifice, and determination backed the army to the
limit. There were few tears and less mawkishness when the battalions
moved out from their home towns on the long trail. The sentiment of
the time was stern because of the prevailing spirit of duty and
responsibility. But no nation has paid more honor to those who served
nor has done more toward reestablishing the warrior in citizen life
than have the Canadian people. If the pay of the soldier was good and
the allowance to his dependents adequate, the effort and money
expended on his reestablishment have been most generous. In raising
Red Cross gratuities and other patriotic funds, the motto of Canadians
was "Give till it hurts." In the production of food and of war
material, the nation accomplished the seemingly impossible. In
subscriptions to the national loans, patriotism reached heights
undreamed of by bankers and financial experts. Nearly seventy million
shells, made and exported by a country that never before made an
explosive instrument of this kind; the purchase of over two thousand
million dollars worth of Dominion Government bonds by a people who had
never bought a million of such in their history--these are the
tangible results by which one may measure the depth of Canadian
loyalty and determination.
When the war broke out, the Hon. (afterward Sir) Sam Hughes was
Minister of Militia and Defense. He possessed militia experience
extending over many years and had seen active service in South Africa.
The possibility of war in Europe in which the Empire troops would be
engaged had long been in his mind, and he had studied in advance the
possibilities of such a situation. Consequently when the first
contingent was authorized he proceeded to discharge both the civil
duties of Minister of Militia and the military duties of Chief of
Staff. He it was who recruited, organized, administered, and commanded
this first Canadian army. He was the driving power which brought
success in the speedy dispatch of the first contingent and the raising
and the training of subsequent divisions.
This very success in the end brought a change. General Hughes
centralized too much power in himself to please all those with whom he
was associated. The purchasing of supplies for the army was taken from
his department and put in charge of a purchasing board. A Shell
Committee was formed at his suggestion and this later grew into the
Imperial Munitions Board. The administration of the troops in England
was gradually organized and eventually placed under General (afterward
Sir Richard) Turner at Argyll House, London. The control of the army
in the field passed as a matter of course to the British authorities,
who were responsible for food, clothing, transport, and
administration from the moment the troops crossed the Channel.
Sir Sam Hughes resigned his post as Minister of Militia in the autumn
of 1916. He was succeeded by Sir Edward Kemp, who later went to
England as Minister of the Overseas Forces of Canada. His place in
Canada was taken by General The Hon. S. C. Mewburn, who remained
Minister for some time after the war closed.
In the field the first commanding officer of the little Canadian army
was General Alderson, an English officer of experience. He was in
charge when the First Division made its unique reputation at the
Second Battle of Ypres. Later on General Byng, a younger English
officer, was selected to command the corps, which he did with complete
success. In process of time a Canadian was selected in the person of
General (afterward Sir) Arthur W. Currie. He took over in 1917 and
commanded with general satisfaction for the remainder of the war. On
his return to Canada he was made Inspector General, the highest purely
military office in the Canadian army next to that of the Governor
General who is Commander in Chief.
After the Fifth Division was filled up, the unsystematic practice of
sending reenforcements overseas by battalions and batteries was
discontinued. In January, 1917, a new method of furnishing drafts was
outlined. This necessitated the reorganizing of the whole army on a
territorial basis. There was created in each military district in
Canada a home battalion, with corresponding battalions in England and
in France. The scheme was as follows:
M. D. No. 1--Western Ontario Regiment (one depot battalion in Canada,
two reserve battalions in England, and 1st, 18th, 160th, 161st, and 2d
Pioneers in the field).
M. D. No. 2--1st Central Ontario Regiment (3d, 4th, 5th, 15th, 20th,
75th, 123d, 124th, 134th, 198th, and 208th Bus.).--2d Central Ontario
Regiment (4th C. M. R., 54th, 58th, 102d, 116th, 119th, 125th, and
164th).
M. D. No. 3--Eastern Ontario Regiment (P. P. C. L. I., 2d, 21st, 38th,
156th).
M. D. No. 4--1st Quebec Regiment (5th C. M. R., 13th, 14th, 24th, 42d,
87th).
M. D. No. 5--2d Quebec Regiment (22d and 159th).
M. D. No. 6--Nova Scotia Regiment (R. C. R., 25th, 85th, 185th).
M. D. No. 7--New Brunswick Regiment (26th, 100th).
M. D. No. 10--Manitoba Regiment (8th, 16th, 27th, 43d, 52d, 78th, and
107th Regt).
M. D. No. 11--British Columbia Regiment (2d C. M. R., 7th, 29th, 47th,
and 72d).
M. D. No. 12--Saskatchewan Regiment (3d C. M. R., 5th, 28th. and
46th).
M. D. No. 13--Alberta Regiment (10th, 31st, 49th, and 50th).
The idea behind this scheme was to effect a closer connection between
the military patriotism and pride of the home distinct with the
battalions serving overseas. The hope was distinctly expressed that
"the Canadian militia should inherit the honors and distinctions won
in battle by the Canadian Expeditionary Force."
There is no question that this measure was founded in wisdom and that
it worked tolerably well. It was not always possible to maintain it
exactly, since the smaller provinces had too many battalions for their
resources in men. Consequently Ontario, which produced most men
proportionately, was called upon to reenforce units credited to other
provinces. For example, the 2d C. M. R. ceased to be a British
Columbian unit early in 1918, although its commanding officer was a
British Columbian who continued to give British Columbia officers the
preference. This, however, was quite on a par with the selection of
generals in France; for, when the war closed, Ontario which
contributed half the men in the ranks, did not have a single brigadier
or divisional commander on active duty.
It is also interesting to note that the hope of the originators of the
scheme with regard to the old militia inheriting the "Honors and
distinctions" of the C. E. F. has been negatived by the action of the
militia authorities of 1919 in disbanding all militia units which
existed previous to the war. This action seems to have been based on
a mistaken conception of the important part played by the Canadian
militia from 1860 to 1914.
[Illustration: General Sir Arthur William Currie, who commanded the
Canadian Army Corps in France from 1917 to 1919. He was later made
Canadian Inspector General and Principal of McGill University.]
Early in 1918 came one of the greatest discussions of policy that ever
engaged the Canadian army leaders. The British had decided to reduce
their brigades from four battalions to three to conform to the German
changes and for other good and sufficient reasons. The Canadians were
requested to conform to the new organization, and the chiefs of Argyll
House decided that this should be done by creating two corps of three
divisions each instead of one corps of four divisions. Thus, instead
of five divisions with 12 battalions of infantry each, there would be
six divisions of 9 battalions each, and the number of infantry
battalions would be reduced from 60 to 54. This was to be accomplished
by breaking up four battalions of the Fifth Division, the infantry of
which was still in Witley Camp, England, and turning the other two
into pioneer battalions for the Fifth and Sixth Divisions.
The scheme was so far planned and executed that the two battalions of
the Fifth, chosen to be pioneers, had already commenced their training
as such, and the four battalions to be eliminated had already been
decided upon. Argyll House had even chosen, unofficially, the new
staffs required.
The proposal was negatived eventually by the influence of the corps
commander. Quite naturally, he did not take kindly to the reduction of
his corps from four to three divisions. His four divisional commanders
did not relish having their commands reduced from twelve battalions of
infantry to nine. A protest was lodged with Sir Edward Kemp, who had
recently arrived in England as Minister of Militia Overseas. After
consultation with Ottawa, Sir Edward Kemp decided that General Currie
was right and the request of the British authorities was refused. The
logical consequence of that refusal was the break-up of the infantry
of the Fifth Division, since four divisions were sufficient for the
one corps which it was decided to maintain. Its artillery and
engineers were already in France, and its machine-gun companies also
passed over intact. The artillery retained its identity until the end
of the war.
After the break-up of the Fifth Division, and because reenforcements
for some months had exceeded casualties, the corps commander found
himself with an abundance of troops. He therefore decided to enlarge
his establishment, increasing the number of men in each infantry
battalion, to change his pioneer battalions into engineer brigades
with greatly increased strength, and to create machine-gun battalions
instead of machine-gun companies. Even these changes left him with
surplus men, and so came the creation of The Hughes Brigade (4,234),
The McPhail Brigade (4,776), and Brutinel's Brigade, afterward known
as the "Independent Force." The latter was composed largely of motor
machine-gun units, cyclists, and cavalry, and was used as emergency
corps troops. There was also an engineer motor-transport company, a
tramway company, a field-survey company, several searchlight companies
and various other corps accessories.
Here is seen one of the difficulties of coordinating the military
forces of the Empire, a problem which tried the patience of the higher
command. The overseas troops were magnificent in their fighting
qualities, but the overseas officers were not always as sympathetic
with the higher military control as might have been expected. The
overseas business man makes a good soldier and a good general, but in
either case he is prone to exhibit those elemental qualities which
make him a trenchant and resourceful warrior.
Another of the outstanding problems which faced the Canadian army was
the question of the supply of officers. Canada had an oversupply of
officers from the start, and the army never quite recovered from the
malady. This surplus was continually seeking to be absorbed while the
officers in the field were quite as assiduous in trying to keep it
from fulfilling its desires. Most officers who went over with the
First and Second Divisions had friends of equal civilian rank with
themselves in their commands and they desired to see these men
rewarded with commissions earned in the field. As all four divisions
were controlled largely by those who arrived in France in 1915, the
surplus officer in the Canadian camps in England was usually forced to
return home without fighting; to seek imperial service as town
major--the lowliest employment in the army; or to serve as
supernumerary without recognition. When the infantry of the Fifth
Division was broken up, the surplus officer question became even more
acute. As an example of the injustice which necessarily resulted, it
may be cited that one former commanding officer from the Fifth
Division was killed when acting as platoon commander in a battalion in
the Second Division.
Another unfortunate result of the surplus officer was the creation of
new posts for those who had to be absorbed. Many young officers were
given unnecessary jobs in brigade, divisional and corps staffs who but
made extra work for those who had already enough to do. In other
words, the heads of the staff were overburdened with a multiplicity of
juniors. The Canadian corps had, it is said, nearly as many staff
officers as any other two corps in France. The primary causes, it must
be remembered, were the free creation of officers in Canada and the
lack of coordination between those in control of this function in the
field and at home.
After the United States came into the war a British Canadian
Recruiting Commission was established in that country to enable
Britishers of military age to join either the British or Canadian
armies. This was done with the approval and consent of the United
States Congress. Twenty-seven recruiting depots and three divisional
headquarters were established and by the end of the war 60,000
volunteers had been dealt with, of whom 42,000 were accepted. Of these
about 30,000 went to the Canadian army.
The official report (Memo. No. 5) regarding the later phases of this
work says: "Effective stimulus was given to the recruiting operations
of the Mission by the announcement and conclusion of negotiations for
satisfactory conventions between the United States and Great Britain
and Canada, providing for mutual compulsory military service, whereby
those of military age were compelled within a limited period to elect
between military service in their country of residence or of origin."
When the war was concluded and the work of disbanding and
repatriating the army was begun, there was again some conflict of
opinion between the authorities at home and those in the field. The
plan proposed by the officials in Canada provided for sending home the
men in the order of enlistment. The corps authorities opposed this and
asked that the units be sent home intact, disregarding the date of
enlistment. Either scheme had its difficulties, but as usual the corps
authorities had their way. The Third Division units came home first,
followed by those of the First, Second, Fourth, and details. The
various units returned to their territorial headquarters in Canada
practically intact.
Thus ended Canada's greatest war achievement--a chapter full of
conflicting theories and methods, redolent of minor errors and clash
of ambitions, but on the whole creditable and glorious. Above
everything else the patriotism, courage, gallantry, and self-sacrifice
of all classes of people in the greatest of the British dominions
overseas shines conspicuously and brilliantly.
The deeds of the Canadian army in this World War will vitalize the
pages of the nation's history in all the years-to-be. The monuments in
France and Canada, the sacred colors in cathedrals and public
buildings, the bronze tablets which will be erected everywhere, will
gather up and preserve the memories of those who died that others
might live. Meantime those who served know that in all that was done
they but followed the simple path of duty.
PART I--PREPARATION FOR WAR
CHAPTER I
CANADA BEFORE THE WAR
Canada was no more prepared than any other nation for the outbreak of
the Great War. Because of their geographical isolation from the
turmoil of international politics the Canadians were even more
incredulous of war, in their mental attitude, than their kin across
the waters. It is against this important fact as a background that one
must consider the achievements of the Canadians during the war--and
marvel.
Theodore Roosevelt once suggested that to maintain a "fighting edge"
men should do continuous battle, but the Canadians have demonstrated
the fallacy of this precept, in a military sense at least.
For over a hundred years Canada had known only an atmosphere of peace
and almost continuous prosperity. Truly, during that period the mother
country had frequently waged warfare along the outskirts of the
Empire, and had even engaged in one or two wars of considerable
magnitude, but never had she felt the danger so pressing as to send a
call for help across the Atlantic.
Canadian help was, indeed, offered during the Crimean campaign, but
before this impulse could materialize on the field of battle the need
had ceased to exist. Again, during the South African struggle, the
same impulse had been manifested, and nearly eight thousand Canadian
volunteers did eventually reach the fighting front against the Boers.
But these had been inspired by a spirit of adventure, rather than by
any sense of patriotic duty.
There was everything in their environment to develop peaceful
instincts in the Canadians. To the east and west were limitless
expanses of sea; northward was the frozen Arctic; and to the southward
was another people who, though thirteen times greater in population,
was equally isolated from the political jealousies and rivalries of
Europe, and their kinsmen in speech, customs, and, to a large extent,
in blood also. From this direction no danger had threatened during the
century, and danger from across the seas had been of too intangible a
quality to reach the imagination.
Under these conditions the Canadians had devoted themselves
exclusively to the labors and arts of peace: of agriculture,
manufacturing, and trade and commerce. Vast natural resources lay
before them awaiting exploitation and development. The psychology of
the Canadian was entirely constructive.
There remained, of course, the sense of responsibility involved in the
ties binding the people to the British Empire, a subconscious
realization that when Great Britain was at war, Canada, too, would be
at war. Yet here again environment and local conditions tended to
reduce this consciousness to the quality of abstract theory, a mere
convention. The native Canadian, though of British ancestry, knew
England only through hearsay or the written word. And a considerable
portion of Canada's population felt not even the tie of a common
speech and literature. In so far as they recognized this bond, the
temperamental self-reliance of the Canadian people was inclined to
reduce it to a sentiment, rather than any deep feeling of dependence
on the power of the British navy. A keen sense of economic
independence and strength served still further to intensify this
feeling. Whatever allegiance the average Canadian owed to the Empire
must have been, and undoubtedly was, of the nature of an
ideal--something far more abstract than the ordinary sentiment of
patriotism--love of country.
In a people in this state of mind the first threat of a great war
involving themselves could only have roused varying degrees of
skepticism--while the first actual confirmation must have struck them
with the impact of a thunderbolt.
Canadians were shocked--unutterably, outrageously shocked.
Casual observers, basing their judgment on the mental attitude of the
people, as briefly outlined above, might reasonably have expected a
quick return to the previous state of mind, at most a strong sympathy
for the mother country, which might manifest itself in substantial
contributions of funds, supplies, and perhaps a few battalions of
enthusiastic adventurers. For, whatever might have been said at the
time as a recruiting argument, Canadians felt no danger of immediate,
or even future, invasion by European armies. When it came to that they
had every reason to believe that the hundred million population of the
United States would stand solidly with them, quite aside from the
Monroe Doctrine. There was, of course, the possibility that Canada's
trade with Great Britain, totaling half a billion dollars a year,
would be destroyed in case of naval disaster to the British navy, but
that would be only temporary. Whoever conquered would be willing to
pay a stiff price for a portion of Canada's tremendous wheat crops,
nearly 140,000,000 bushels in 1913. Economically Canada was in no way
dependent on European countries.
But such a chain of deductions would have ignored the chief
premise--the spirit of the people who made up the Canadian nation. For
a hundred years, indeed, the people of Canada had pursued the paths of
peace; for three generations they had known no stronger passion than
that involved in ordinary political partisan strife.
Vice and idleness, not the pursuits of peace, render men soft and
flabby in spirit. A pioneer stock does not require the continuous
excitement of military warfare to maintain its combativeness; it needs
only a just cause to rouse it to furnace heat. And that just cause the
Canadians found in the attitude of England that Germany and Austria
should not dominate the political destinies of peoples outside their
frontiers. Within twenty-four hours all Canada was aflame with the
war passion, but it was a passion thoroughly controlled by the reason
behind it.
"When Great Britain is at war, Canada is at war!" became a popular
slogan. Intermingling with that supreme indignation, with the fervent
loyalty to the empire, was the sinking dread of the tremendous
sacrifices, not only in material interests, but in blood, which would
have to be made, and that dread was terrible because of the profound
sincerity and determination of the people to enter into the struggle,
to stay until the bitter end. There was nothing jubilant in the wave
of enthusiasm which swept over Canada in favor of the war during that
first week in August; that note would have been out of harmony with
the grim determination which was the dominating element in the popular
emotion which swept over the land. It was not the sort of emotion
which would naturally manifest itself in noisy street demonstrations,
especially among people of Anglo-Saxon blood.
Such demonstrations did, indeed, occur, especially in those districts
where the population was predominantly of Latin blood. In Montreal and
Quebec vast throngs paraded the streets during the first few days of
August, 1914, carrying Belgian, French, and British flags, singing the
"Marseillaise" and "Rule Britannia," and cheering the orators who
addressed the crowds. But in Toronto and in other cities in the
English-speaking districts the crowds, though they filled the streets
before the bulletin boards of the principal newspapers, maintained a
silence which was even more impressive.
Whatever undercurrents of opinion there might have been against a
whole-hearted support of the Empire in the struggle, such as
manifested itself openly in practically all the belligerent European
countries, found little expression in Canada. Political party issue
sank for the time being out of sight, and the popular voice, as
expressed through the newspapers of diverse shades of opinion, and
through the popular political leaders, was practically unanimous. And
that voice demanded that Canada should strain every resource, should
offer every available man, in Britain's support.
The Toronto "Globe," chief organ of the Liberals, was one of the
first to enunciate the main issue of the great struggle
impending--that it was a gigantic contest between the forces of
autocracy and democracy, and that, in supporting England, Canada was
not alone fulfilling her obligations to the mother country, but she
was championing the cause of human liberty the world over.
"Because it is the world's fight for freedom," spoke that journal on
August 4, 1914, "Britain, reluctantly but resolutely, speaks the word,
and Canada also answers aye."
"There can be no question as to Canada's duty if the European War goes
on," said the Toronto "Star" on August 4, 1914. "This country must do
all it can to support the arms of Britain."
The Toronto "World," representing the Conservatives, urged the
immediate organization of a fighting force of 50,000 men, to be sent
across as soon as they could be trained. The Montreal "Star," having
invited expressions of opinion from some hundreds of prominent
political and industrial leaders and municipal officials, published
them in full. Of the many pages of telegrams printed, only two failed
to emphasize the need of an immediate contribution of money and men.
The mayor of Quebec, the center of French Canada, was in favor of "all
we can do to help the Empire in money, arms, and men." Alphonse
Verville, representing French-Canadian labor elements in Parliament,
believed that "we should be prepared to give Great Britain all the
assistance she needs." Turning to his fellow citizens, the
French-Canadian mayor of Montreal said: "The war is as much in defense
of Canada as of Great Britain."
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, representing the opposition in Parliament, made a
statement on August 4, 1914, of which the following is a part:
"I have often declared that if the mother country were ever in danger,
or if danger ever threatened, Canada should render assistance to the
fullest extent in her power. In view of the critical nature of the
situation I have canceled all my meetings. Pending such great
questions there should be a truce to party strife."
Even in the French provinces demonstrations of enthusiasm soon passed,
giving place to intense energy in preparation. With a silent
determination the people faced the gigantic task before them,
unappalled. And a gigantic task it was, apparently, to a people so
unprepared materially for the prosecution of warfare on so tremendous
a scale as was now demanded of them, if their aid was to count. But if
the spirit was there, so were the material resources, the raw
material--and the men.
CHAPTER II
BUILDING A WAR MACHINE
Some few words should be devoted to the personnel of the Government
which immediately took supreme charge of the almost superhuman
preparations which Canada undertook as her share in the gigantic
struggle, and which were so successfully carried to a conclusion. Not
only was this task which the Government faced a tremendous one, but it
was of a nature extremely foreign to its supposed qualifications. To
practically all of these men the science of waging war, or preparing
for war, was as strange as it was to the majority of Canada's peaceful
citizens.
Sir Robert Borden and his ministers had only been in office three
years, and of their number only one had ever had previous experience
as a Cabinet minister. It was essentially a Government for the
handling of peace problems, so that there is little to be wondered at
if minor mistakes were committed and occasional criticism did manifest
itself.
The premier and his colleagues met the crisis and assumed their new
responsibilities with a calm efficiency. There was nothing in the
personality of the premier to make him a popular or a picturesque
figure, but the fact remains that he so far fulfilled his
responsibilities that at the end of the war he was one of the two
premiers of the belligerent governments who had not passed from
power--who still held the confidence of their people.
Associated with Sir Robert Borden was Thomas White (later Sir Thomas),
Minister of Finance, whose experience in big-scale finance had been
gained in Toronto business circles. To no small degree was the
financial equilibrium which Canada maintained during the first few
months of the war due to his ability.
Lieutenant General Sir Sam Hughes, as Minister of Militia, assumed an
order importance in the Cabinet which his position had not warranted
in times of peace. Bluff, frank, independent of public opinion almost
to an unpleasant degree where his own convictions were concerned, he
was the object of more criticism and censure than any of his
colleagues. As an advocate of extensive military preparedness he had
not been popular before the war and had often been denounced as a
militarist and a jingo. Under his direction came the preparation for
and the organization of the military forces which Canada was to send
across seas to fight in France. In the main, what he accomplished
speaks for him.
On the shoulders of these three men fell the main responsibilities of
preparing Canada for assuming her share in the Great War.
The work of the other members of the Government brought them less into
the public eye. These were Sir George E. Foster, Minister of Trade and
Commerce, the one member who had experience in a previous
administration; Robert Rogers, Minister of Public Works; J. Douglas
Hazen, Minister of Marine, Fisheries, and Naval Affairs, under whose
jurisdiction came the defense of the coast and harbors; Martin Burrel,
Minister of Agriculture, who popularized the slogan "Patriotism and
Production"; the Hon. C. J. Doherty, Minister of Justice; the Hon.
Frank Cochrane, Minister of Railways; the Hon. W. J. Roche, Minister
of the Interior; the Hon. T. W. Crothers, Minister of Labor; the Hon.
J. D. Reid, Minister of Customs; and the Hon. A. E. Kemp and the Hon.
J. A. Lougheed, ministers without portfolios. The interests of the two
million French-speaking population of the Dominion were indirectly
represented in the Government by the Hon. L. P. Pelletier, Postmaster
General; the Hon. W. B. Nantel, Minister of Inland Revenue, and the
Hon. Louis Coderre, Secretary of State.
Many and varied were the special war problems which the Government had
to handle, but first and foremost was that of organizing and equipping
a military force. With characteristic energy General Hughes hurried to
this, his special task. On the last day of July, 1914, he had already
hurried to Ottawa and there called an emergency meeting of the Militia
Council, comprising Colonel E. Fiset, D. S. O., Deputy Minister;
Colonel W. G. Gwatkin, Chief of the General Staff; Colonel V. A. S.
Williams, A. D. C, Adjutant General; and Major General D. A.
Macdonald, C. M. G., I. S. O., Quartermaster General. At this
conference it was decided, subject to the approval of the governor
general and the premier, that an initial force of 20,000 should be
organized, equipped, and sent across if war was declared.
By the time that all doubt on that point was past General Hughes and
his staff of assistants had already formulated their plan of action.
From all parts of the country came offers of aid from men who had had
military training.
Practically there was very little to build upon; Canada had barely a
nucleus around which to create that big and efficient military
organization which afterward became so powerful a factor in the
military situation in France. The Royal Military College at Kingston
had, indeed, turned out hundreds of young military officers, but most
of them had accepted commissions in the British army and were now
scattered all over the world in the British possessions as officers in
British regiments.
Everything must be created anew. But the crude material, the man
power, was there. According to the census taken in 1911 there were a
little over a million and a half men between the ages of twenty and
forty-four, of which a trifle over half were married, with families
dependent on them. Allowing for a normal increase in the population,
and for the fact that the military age was from eighteen to
forty-five, and eliminating the physically unfit, Canada had available
about a million and a half for active military service.
On August 6, 1914, the Government issued a call for volunteers for the
formation of the First Army Division, to number about 21,000 men. The
responses came immediately and in a volume greater than could be
handled. To this first quota Ontario and the West contributed most
generously. No more men were needed for the time being, though
probably a hundred thousand men could have been obtained within those
first few weeks, had they been needed. It was not till this first
contingent had gone through its preliminary training and had been
equipped and sent to training camp in England that the second call was
issued, for another 21,000 men, in November, 1914.
CHAPTER III
DEPARTURE OF FIRST CONTINGENT
The calling together of the men, during the earlier period of the war
at least, was the easiest part of the work in hand. The training and
equipment of these first two contingents required all of the rest of
the first war year. Eight thousand horses had to be purchased and
shipped from all parts of the country to the training camps.
Provisions to feed men and horses had also to be gathered in from all
the Provinces and shipped across after the first contingent had
sailed. Over a hundred special trains were needed to accomplish this
before the end of the year, after which, as the Canadian forces on the
other side increased, they were augmented in proportion. With the
first contingent there was shipped a consignment of war material
including seventy field guns alone. The total value of this first
shipment approached close to $14,000,000.
Nor were these supplies confined to the use of Canadian troops
exclusively. On August 6, 1914, when war had become a definite
certainty, the governor general sent the following message to the
British colonial secretary:
"My advisers request me to inform you that the people of Canada,
through their Government, desire to offer one million bags of flour,
of ninety-eight pounds each, as a gift to the people of the United
Kingdom, to be placed at the disposal of his Majesty's Government, and
to be used for such purposes as they may deem expedient."
This munificent gift was accepted with deepest expressions of
gratitude, and with the assurance that "we can never forget the
generosity and promptitude of this gift and the patriotism from which
it springs." Two hundred trains, of thirty cars each, were required to
transport this flour, valued at $3,000,000, to the port whence it was
shipped.
Meanwhile, during the first few weeks after the call for men had been
issued, hurried preparations were made to establish the training camps
in which they were to be received and trained. Most notable of these
mobilization centers was Valcartier Camp, ideally situated outside of
Quebec. Under the direction of Captain William Price, Lieutenant
Colonel E. H. Burstall, and Lieutenant Colonel W. McBain, extensive
housing accommodations were erected, roads constructed, and all the
improvements of a modern city were installed. One prominent feature
was three miles of rifle butts for rifle practice. Here 33,000
recruits were gathered and housed before three months had passed.
The training of the recruits in the Canadian mobilization camps was,
for obvious reasons, only of the most elementary sort. First of all
there was a dearth of competent instructors, which could be more
plentifully supplied in England. And then there was the psychological
factor; it was difficult to make the men realize the seriousness of
military discipline on native soil, so distant as it was from the seat
of war. Therefore the men were taught little more than how to march in
proper formation before they were shipped to England, where they were
to be more fully "licked into shape" in the Canadian training camps
established there.
Once on the other side, immersed in the tense war feeling which
permeated the English people, almost within sound of the big guns
which were already thundering close to the gates of Paris, the
Canadian recruit came to a profound realization of the full
significance of the situation and his responsibilities. Under these
conditions he quickly relinquished the last vestige of that intense
individualism so characteristic of the sons of pioneers, an excellent
quality in a guerrilla fighter, but not so desirable in the units of a
large fighting organization.
During the last week of September, 1914, the first contingent of
recruits at Valcartier Camp began embarking for its overseas journey.
On the 21st the premier and several of his Cabinet members formally
delivered a farewell address to these men about to leave their native
country for war service. At Quebec a great fleet of transports,
thirty-two in number, were anchored in readiness, and as each received
its assignment of troops, it lifted anchor and sailed quietly and
secretly down the river, toward the open sea, there to meet a convoy
of warships, under the command of Rear Admiral Rosslyn E. Wemyss, C.
M. G., D. S. Q. As each regiment embarked there was read to it the
farewell message of the governor general:
"On the eve of your departure from Canada I wish to congratulate you
on having the privilege of taking part, with the other forces of the
crown, in fighting for the honor of the king and the Empire. You have
nobly responded to the call of duty, and Canada will know how to
appreciate the patriotic spirit that animates you. I have complete
confidence that you will do your duty, and that Canada will have every
reason to be proud of you. You leave these shores with the knowledge
that all Canadian hearts beat for you, and that our prayers and best
wishes will ever attend you. May God bless you and bring you back
victorious."
CHAPTER IV
THE STEADY STREAM OF RECRUITS
The departure of the first contingent, which became known to the
public through an announcement made to the press by General (then
Colonel) Hughes on September 24, brought all Canada to a first
profound realization of the tragic aspects of the war. The first big
sacrifice had been made.
Meanwhile recruiting continued at a steady pace. But it was now
becoming more obvious that a sense of patriotic duty, rather than
enthusiasm, was to be the impelling motive henceforward. The youth of
the country came forward more deliberately, thoughtfully.
During 1915 180,000 men responded to this call of duty, or at the
average rate of 3,400 a week. A large proportion of these, especially
in the second half of the year, undoubtedly had been moved by the
campaign of education which was carried on by the newspapers. "The
country requires," said the Toronto "Globe," in its issue of January
23, 1915, "information as to the causes of the war, the issues
involved, and the pressing need for men."
The difference between the first volunteers and those who only came
forward during the later periods was one which certainly reflected no
discredit on the latter. If they came more slowly it was only that
they were, on the whole, older men, more inclined to be guided by
reason than by youthful enthusiasm. These were the men who had given
the issues of the war close study, and by the process of deliberate
judgment came to the conclusion that their duty, not to Canada, or to
the Empire, alone, required them to offer themselves, but a duty to
the cause of world democracy and civilization itself. From these came
some of the best soldiers who later distinguished themselves and won
promotion on the bloody fields of battle in France.
At the end of the year 212,000 Canadians were in uniform. At that
time the Government called for a total contribution of half a million
men. In the middle of February a mere handful short of a quarter of a
million men had enlisted. Of these 30 per cent were native-born
Canadians, 62 per cent were British-born settlers, and 8 per cent were
foreign born.
On November 2, 1915, an official announcement indicated in what
proportion the various provinces had contributed to the total number
of enlistments. The figures were as follows:
Ontario, 42,300; Quebec, 14,000; the Maritime Provinces, 15,000;
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 28,000; British Columbia and the Yukon,
17,000; Alberta, 14,200.
At this time recruiting was now averaging 2,000 a day.
The call for half a million men which the premier issued at the first
of the year, 1916, stimulated recruiting perceptibly. During the month
of January 30,000 men responded from all parts of Canada; in February
almost 27,000 enlisted; and in March nearly 33,000 presented
themselves. The grand total during these three months was not far
short of 90,000. By the following June 335,000 of the half million men
called for had been obtained.
During the summer and the fall of 1916 the stream of recruits began to
diminish very perceptibly. During this period the daily average
dropped down to three hundred.
By this time the volunteer system was beginning to reach its limits.
But the record was, nevertheless, a splendid one, especially when it
is remembered how abstract the issues of the war must have been to the
minds of a large portion of the masses. At the end of 1916 434,529 men
from Canada were on war duty of some kind, not counting over 70,000
casualties at the front.
During 1917 the slackening of recruiting became so apparent that the
Government had now to consider extraordinary means to stimulating it,
if Canada was to raise her full quota of half a million men. Chief of
these means was the creation of the National Service Board, by an
Order in Council, on October 5, 1916. This body was empowered to order
a registration of the remaining man power of the nation, for the
purpose of bringing about a coordination of the various industries
with a view to army requirements.
The census taken by the board during the following few months showed a
total enumeration of 1,549,360 able-bodied workers, 286,976 of which
were engaged in nonessential occupations, and 183,727 in agriculture.
Included there were 4,660 skilled workers in the mining industry,
shipbuilding, and the manufacture of munitions. The work of the board
brought this information, but no increase in enlistments.
Splendid as had been the response of Canada's youth, the fact had now
to be faced, in the beginning of the fourth year of the war, that the
need for men at the front exceeded the supply available through the
volunteer system. Needs considered, there remained only the last
resort--conscription.
This was a decision which the Government faced with extreme
reluctance. Already conscription had become the subject of a great
deal of heated discussion, in legislative halls as well as in the
daily press. Temperamentally the Canadian people could accept the idea
only with the greatest of reluctance. It was contrary to the
individualistic sentiment of the nation. But it was the only remaining
alternative to a still greater evil--a German victory.
CHAPTER V
THE CONSCRIPTION ACT
The question of conscription came to a final issue on May 18, 1917,
when the premier returned from England, where he had been in
conference with his colleagues on the Imperial War Board. It was then
that he announced that it would be necessary to introduce a
conscription measure in the near future.
"A great struggle lies before us," he said, "and I cannot put that
before you more forcibly than by stating that at the commencement of
this spring's campaign Germany put in the field one million more men
than she put in the field last spring.... Hitherto we have depended on
voluntary enlistment. I, myself, stated to Parliament that nothing but
voluntary enlistment was proposed by the Government. But I return to
Canada impressed at once with the extreme gravity of the situation and
with a sense of responsibility for our further effort at the most
critical period of the war. It is apparent to me that the voluntary
system will not yield further substantial results."
Only a little over fifty thousand men more were needed to supply the
need at the front, and to complete Canada's full quota, but they were
needed most imperatively. That this need was strongly impressed on the
public mind became apparent during the month which intervened between
these utterances by the premier and the first presentation of the
Conscription Bill in Parliament. As a matter of fact, Australia and
South Africa were the only belligerent countries besides Canada, at
this time, which had not been compelled to adopt the principle of
forcible enlistment.
On June 11 the bill was presented to Parliament, with a speech by the
premier explaining all its provisions. Administration was placed under
the Department of Justice, and the term was for the duration of the
war, including demobilization. All male British subjects in Canada
were included, from the ages of twenty to forty-five. Those eligible
were divided into six classes, according to their marital conditions
and ages, and each class was to be called in succession. An amendment
presented by the leader of the opposition would have submitted the
bill to a referendum vote of the electorate, but this was rejected by
a vote of 111 against 62. The bill finally passed the third reading by
a vote of 102 against 44.
At the end of the year 404,395 eligible men had registered. The number
of men eventually drafted under this law amounted to 83,000, making
the total number of enlistments up to the end of the war 611,741.
The army thus raised was eventually represented in infantry and
cavalry battalions, exclusive of engineers, forestry, railway
construction, pioneer, and cyclist corps, or the Siberian
expeditionary force of 4,000 men. The following list was issued by
the Government at the close of the war:
ORIGINAL OFFICERS OF INFANTRY BATTALIONS[TN1]
---------+------------------------------+-------------------------+-------------
BATTALION| ORIGINAL OFFICER | MOBILIZED | SAILED
| IN COMMAND | |
---------|------------------------------|-------------------------|-------------
1st | Lt. Col. F. W. Hill |Valcartier |Oct. 3, 1914
2nd | " D. Watson | " | " 3, 1914
3rd | " R. Rennie | " | " 3, 1914
4th | " R. H. Labatt | " | " 3, 1914
5th | " G. S. Tuxford | " | " 3, 1914
6th | " R. W. Paterson | " | " 3, 1914
7th | " W. Hart-McHarg | " | " 3, 1914
8th | " L. J. Lipsett | " | " 3, 1914
9th | " S. M. Rogers | " | " 3, 1914
10th | " R. L. Boyle | " | " 3, 1914
11th | " R. Burritt | " | " 3, 1914
12th | " H. F. McLeod | " | " 3, 1914
13th | " F. O. W. Loomis | " | " 3, 1914
14th | " F. S. Meighen | " | " 3, 1914
15th | " J. A. Currie | " | " 3, 1914
16th | " R. G. E. Leckie | " | " 3, 1914
17th | " S. G. Robertson | " | " 3, 1914
18th | " E. S. Wigle |London, Ont. |Apr. 18, 1915
19th | " J. J. McLaren |Toronto |May 13, 1915
20th | " J. A. W. Allen | " | " 15, 1915
21st | " W. St. P. Hughes |Kingston | " 6, 1915
22nd | " F. M. Gaudet |St. Jean, P.Q. | " 20, 1915
23rd | " F. W. Fisher |Quebec |Feb. 23, 1915
24th | " J. A. Gunn |Montreal |May 11, 1915
25th | " G. A. LeCain |Halifax | " 20, 1915
26th | " J. L. McAvity |St. John, N.B. |June 13, 1915
27th | " I. R. Snider |Winnipeg |May 17, 1915
28th | " J. F. L. Embury | " | " 29, 1915
29th | " H. S. Tobin |Vancouver | " 20, 1915
30th | " J. A. Hall | " |Feb. 23, 1915
31st | " A. B. Bell |Calgary |May 17, 1915
32nd | " H. J. Cowan |Winnipeg |Feb. 23, 1915
33rd | " A. Wilson |London, Ont |Mar. 13, 1916
34th | " A. J. Oliver |Guelph, Ont |Oct. 23, 1915
35th | " F. C. McCordick |Toronto | " 16, 1915
36th | " E. C. Ashton |Hamilton |June 19, 1915
37th | " C. F. Beck |Sault Ste. Marie |Nov. 27, 1915
38th | " C. W. Edwards |Ottawa |May 30, 1916
39th | " J. A. V. Preston |Belleville |June 24, 1915
40th | " A. Vincent |Halifax |Oct. 8, 1915
41st | " L. A. Archambault |Quebec | " 18, 1915
42nd | " G. S. Cantlie |Montreal |June 10, 1915
43rd | " R. M. Thomson |Winnipeg | " 1, 1915
44th | " E. R. Wayland | " |Oct. 23, 1915
45th | " F. J. Clark |Brandon |Mar. 13, 1916
46th | " H. Snell |Regina |Oct. 23, 1915
47th | " W. R. Winsby |New Westminster |Nov. 13, 1915
48th | " W. J. H. Holmes |Victoria |July 1, 1915
49th | " W. A. Griesbach |Edmonton |June 4, 1915
50th | " E. G. Mason |Calgary |Oct. 27, 1915
51st | " R. Del. Harwood |Edmonton |Apr. 18, 1916
52nd | " J. A. D. Hulme |Port Arthur |Nov. 23, 1916
53rd | " R. M. Dennistoun |Winnipeg |Mar. 29, 1916
54th | " W. M. Davis |Nelson, B. C |Nov. 22, 1915
55th | " J. R. Kirkpatrick |Sussex, N. B |Oct. 30, 1915
56th | " W. C. G. Armstrong |Calgary |Mar. 23, 1916
57th | " E. T. Paquette |Quebec |June 2, 1916
58th | " H. A. Genet |Toronto |Nov. 22, 1915
59th | " H. J. Dawson |Brockville |Apr. 21, 1916
60th | " F. A. Gascoigne |Valcartier |Nov. 6, 1915
61st | " F. J. Murray |Winnipeg |Apr. 21, 1916
62nd | " J. Hulme |Vancouver |Mar. 23, 1916
63rd | " G. B. McLeod |Edmonton |Apr. 22, 1916
64th | " H. M. Campbell |Halifax |Mar. 31, 1916
65th | " N. Lang |Saskatoon |June 18, 1916
66th | " J. W. McKinery |Edmonton |Apr. 28, 1916
67th | " Lorne Ross |Victoria | " 21, 1916
68th | " P. E. Perrett |Regina | " 28, 1916
69th | " J. A. Dansereau |Montreal | " 17, 1916
70th | " R. I. Towers |London, Ont. | " 24, 1916
71st | " D. M. Sutherland |Woodstock, Ont. | " 21, 1916
72nd | " J. A. Clark |Vancouver | " 23, 1916
73rd | " P. Davidson |Montreal |Mar. 31, 1916
74th | " J. M. McCausland |Toronto | " 29, 1916
75th | " S. G. Beckett | " | " 29, 1916
76th | " J. Ballantine |Barrie, Ont. |Apr. 23, 1916
77th | " D. R. Street |Ottawa |June 19, 1916
78th | " J. Kirkcaldy |Winnipeg |May 20, 1916
79th | " G. Clinglan |Brandon, Man |Apr. 24, 1916
80th | " W. G. Ketcheson |Belleville |May 16, 1916
81st | " B. H. Belson |Toronto |Apr. 28, 1916
82nd | " W. A. Lowry |Calgary |May 20, 1916
83rd | " R. Pellatt |Toronto |Apr. 28, 1916
84th | " W. D. Stewart | " |June 18, 1916
85th | " E. C. Phinney |Halifax |Oct. 12, 1916
86th | " W. W. Stewart |Hamilton |May 19, 1916
87th | " I. P. Rexford |St. Jean, P. Q. |Apr. 23, 1916
88th | " J. R. Cullin |Victoria |May 31, 1916
89th | " W. W. Nasmyth |Calgary | " 31, 1916
90th | " W. A. Monroe |Winnipeg | " 31, 1916
91st | " W. J. Green |St. Thomas |June 28, 1916
92nd | " G. G. Chisholm |Toronto |May 20, 1916
93rd | " I. J. Johnston |Peterborough |July 15, 1916
94th | " H. A. C. Machin |Port Arthur |June 28, 1916
95th | " R. K. Barker |Toronto |May 31, 1916
96th | " J. Glenn |Saskatoon |Sep. 26, 1916
97th | " A. B. Clark |Toronto | " 18, 1916
98th | " H. A. Rose |Welland, Ont. |July 8, 1916
99th | " T. B. Welch |Windsor, Ont. |May 31, 1916
100th | " J. B. Mitchell |Winnipeg |Sep. 18, 1916
101st | " D. MacLean | " |June 28, 1916
102nd | " J. W. Warden |Victoria | " 18, 1916
103rd | " E. C. J. L. Henniker| " |July 23, 1916
104th | " G. W. Fowler |Sussex, N. B. |June 28, 1916
105th | " A. E. Ings |Charlottetown |July 15, 1916
106th | " R. Innes |Truro, N. S | " 15, 1916
107th | " R. Glenn Campbell |Winnipeg |Sep. 18, 1916
108th | " G. H. Bradbury |Selkirk, Man. | " 18, 1916
109th | " J. J. H. Fee |Lindsay, Ont. |July 23, 1916
110th | " J. B. Youngs |Stratford, Ont. |Oct. 31, 1916
111th | " J. D. Clark |Galt, Ont. |Sep. 25, 1916
112th | " H. B. Tremaine |Windsor. N. S. |July 23, 1916
113th | " W. A. Pryce Jones |Lethbridge, Alberta |Sep. 25, 1916
114th | " A. T. Thompson |Cayuga, Ont. |Oct. 31, 1916
115th | " F. V. Wedderburn |St. John, N. B. |July 23, 1916
116th | " S. Sharpe. |Uxbridge, Ont. | " 23, 1916
117th | " L. J. Gilbert |Sherbrooke, P.Q. |Aug. 14, 1916
118th | " W. M. O. Lochead |Kitchener |Jan. 23, 1917
119th | " T. P. T. Rowland |Sault Ste. Marie |Aug. 8, 1916
120th | " D. G. Fearman |Hamilton | " 14, 1916
121st | " A. W. McLelan |New Westminster, B.C. | " 14, 1916
122nd | " D. M. Grant |Huntersville & Galt, Ont.|June 2, 1917
123rd | " W. B. Kingsmill |Toronto |Aug. 7, 1916
124th | " W. C. V. Chadwick | " | " 7, 1916
125th | " M. E. B. Cutcliffe |Brantford | " 7, 1916
126th | " S. J. Hamilton |Toronto | " 14, 1916
127th | " T. Clark | " | " 22, 1916
128th | " F. Pawlett |Moosejaw, Sask. | " 15, 1916
129th | " W. Knowles |Dundas, Ont. | " 22, 1916
130th | " J. F. De Hertel |Perth, Ont. |Sep. 23, 1916
131st | " J. D. Taylor |New Westminster |Oct. 31, 1918
132nd | " G. W. Mesereau |Chatham, N. B. | " 25, 1917
133rd | " A. C. Pratt |Simcoe, Ont. | " 30, 1916
134th | " A. A. Miller |Toronto |Sep. 6, 1916
135th | " B. Robson |London, Ont. |Aug. 22, 1916
136th | " R. W. Smart |Port Hope, Ont. |Sep. 25, 1916
137th | " G. W. Morfitt |Calgary |Aug. 22, 1916
138th | " R. Belcher |Edmonton | " 22, 1916
139th | " W. H. Floyd |Cobourg |Sep. 25, 1916
140th | " L. H. Beer |St. Johns, N. B. | " 25, 1916
141st | " D. C. McKenzie |Fort Francis |Apr. 29, 1917
142nd | " C. M. R. Graham |London, Ont. |Oct. 31, 1916
143rd | " A. B. Powley |Victoria |Feb. 17, 1917
144th | " A. W. Morley |Winnipeg |Sep. 18, 1916
145th | " W. E. Forbes |Moncton, N. B. | " 25, 1916
146th |Major C. A. Lowe |Kingston, Ont. | " 25, 1916
147th |Lt. Col. G. F. McFarland |Owen Sound |Nov. 18, 1916
148th | " A. Magee |Montreal, P.Q. |Sep. 26, 1916
149th | " R. G. C. Kelley |Watford, Ont. |Mar. 28, 1917
150th | " H. Barre |Montreal |Sep. 23, 1916
151st | " J. W. Arnott |Strathcona |Oct. 3, 1916
152nd | " S. Nells |Wayburn, Sask. | " 3, 1916
153rd | " R. T. Pritchard |Guelph, Ont. |Apr. 29, 1917
154th | " A. G. F. McDonald |Cornwall |Oct. 25, 1916
155th | " M. K. Adams |Belleville | " 17, 1916
156th | " T. C. D. Bedell |Brockville | " 17, 1916
157th | " D. H. McLaren |Barrie, Ont. | " 17, 1916
158th | " C. Milne |Vancouver |Nov. 13, 1916
159th | " E. F. Armstrong |Haileybury |Oct. 31, 1916
160th | " A. Weir |Walkerton, Ont. | " 17, 1916
161st | " H. B. Combe |Clinton, Ont. | " 30, 1916
162nd | " J. Arthurs |Parry Sound | " 30, 1916
163rd | " H. Desrosiers |Montreal |Nov. 27, 1916
164th | " P. Domville |Milton, Ont. |Apr. 11, 1916
165th | " L. C. D'Aigle |Moncton |Mar. 28, 1916
166th | " W. G. Mitchell |Toronto |Oct. 12, 1916
167th | " O. Readman |Quebec | [1]
168th | " W. T. McMullin |Woodstock |Oct. 3, 1916
169th | " J. G. Wright |Toronto | " 17, 1916
170th | " L. Reed | " | " 25, 1916
171st | " Sir W. Price |Quebec |Nov. 23, 1916
172nd | " J. R. Vickers |Kamloops, B. C. |Oct. 25, 1916
173rd | " W. H. Bruce |Hamilton, Ont |Nov. 13, 1916
174th | " H. F. Osler |Winnipeg |Apr. 29, 1917
175th | " N. Spencer |Medicine Hat |Oct. 3, 1916
176th | " D. Sharpe |St. Catherines |Apr. 29, 1917
177th | " J. B. McFee |Simcoe, Ont |May 3, 1917
178th | " L. de la B. Girouard|Victoriaville |Mar. 3, 1917
179th | " J. Y. Reid |Winnipeg |Oct. 3, 1916
180th | " R. H. Green |Toronto |Nov. 13, 1916
181st | " H. B. Combe |Brandon, Man |Apr. 18, 1917
182nd | " A. A. Cockburn |Whitby |May 3, 1917
183rd | " W. T. Edgecomb |Winnipeg |Oct. 3, 1916
184th | " W. H. Sharpe |Lisgar, Man | " 31, 1916
185th | " F. P. Day |Halifax | " 12, 1916
186th |Major Neil Smith |Chatham, Ont |Mar. 28, 1917
187th |Lt. Col. G. W. Robinson |Red Deer |Dec. 15, 1916
188th | " C. J. Donaldson |Prince Albert |Oct. 12, 1916
189th | " A. Piuze |Frazerville |Sep. 9, 1916
190th | " G. K. Watson |Winnipeg |May 3, 1917
191st | " W. G. Bryan |McLeod, Alta |Mar. 28, 1917
192nd |Captain H. E. Lyon |Blairmore, Alta |Oct. 31, 1916
193rd |Lt. Col. J. Stanfield |Truro, N. S | " 12, 1916
194th | " W. C. Craig |Edmonton |Nov. 13, 1916
195th | " A. C. Gomer |Regina |Oct. 31, 1916
196th | " D. S. Mackay |Camp Hughes | " 31, 1916
197th | " H. G. Fonseca |Winnipeg |Jan. 23, 1917
198th | " J. A. Cooper |Toronto |Mar. 28, 1917
199th | " P. J. Trihey |Montreal |Dec. 15, 1916
200th | " A. L. Bonnycastle |Winnipeg |May 3, 1917
201st | " E. W. Hagarty | |Disbanded
202nd | " T. E. Bowen |Edmonton |Nov. 23, 1916
203rd | " J. E. Hansford |Winnipeg |Oct. 26, 1916
204th | " W. H. Price |Toronto |Mar. 23, 1917
205th | " R. R. Moodie |Hamilton | [2]
206th | " T. Pagnuelo |Montreal | [3]
207th | " C. W. McLean |Ottawa |June 2, 1917
208th | " T. H. Lennox |Toronto |Mar. 21, 1917
209th | " W. O. Smyth |Swift Current |Oct. 31, 1917
210th | " W. E. Seaborn |Moosejaw. Sask |Apr. 11, 1917
211th | " W. M. Sage |Vancouver |Dec. 15, 1916
212th | " E. C. Pitman |Winnipeg | [4]
213th | " B. J. McCormick |St. Catherines | [4]
214th | " J. H. Hearn |Wadena, Sask |Apr. 18, 1917
215th | " H. E. Snider |Brantford | " 29, 1917
216th | " F. L. Burton |Toronto | " 18, 1917
217th | " A. B. Gillis |Moosomin, Sask |June 2, 1917
218th | " J. K. Cornwall |Victoria |Feb. 17, 1917
219th | " W. H. Muirhead |Halifax |Oct. 12, 1916
220th | " B. H. Brown |Toronto |Apr. 29, 1917
221st | " M. McMeans |Winnipeg | " 18, 1917
222nd | " J. Lightfoot | " |Nov. 13, 1916
223rd | " H. Albrechsten | " |May 3, 1917
224th | " A. McDougall |Ottawa | " 19, 1916
225th | " J. Mackay |Fernie, B. C |Jan. 25, 1917
226th | " R. A. G. Gillespie |Dauphin, Man |Dec. 15, 1916
227th | " C. H. Le P. Jones |Hamilton |Apr. 11, 1917
228th | " A. Earchman |North Bay |Feb. 16, 1917
229th | " H. D. Pickett |Moosejaw |Apr. 18, 1917
230th | " R. de Salaberry |Brockville |Jan. 23, 1917
231st | " F. E. Leach |Vancouver |Apr. 11, 1917
232nd | " R. P. Laurie |Battleford | " 18, 1917
233rd | " E. Leprohon |Winnipeg | [5]
234th | " W. Wallace |Toronto |Apr. 18, 1917
235th | " S. B. Scobel |Belleville |May 3, 1917
236th | " P. A. Guthrie |Fredericton |Nov. 9, 1917
237th | " Rev. C. S. Bullock |Sussex | [6]
238th | " W. R. Smith |Valcartier |Sep. 11, 1916
239th |Major V. L. MacDonald | " |Dec. 15, 1916
240th |Lt. Col. E. J. Watt |Renfrew |May 3, 1917
241st | " W. L. McGregor |Windsor |Apr. 29, 1917
242nd | " J. B. White |Montreal |Nov. 23, 1916
243rd | " J. E. Bradshaw |Prince Albert |June 2, 1917
244th | " E. M. McRobie |Montreal |Mar. 28, 1917
245th | " C. C. Ballantyne | " |May 3, 1917
246th | " N. H. Parson |Halifax |June 2, 1917
247th | " C. H. Ackerman |Peterboro | [7]
248th | " J. H. Rorke |Owen Sound |June 2, 1917
249th | " C. B. Keenlyside |Regina |Feb. 21, 1918
250th | " W. H. Hastings |Winnipeg | [8]
251st | " G. H. Nicholson | " |Oct. 6, 1917
252nd | " J. J. Glass |Lindsay |June 2, 1917
253rd | " P. G. C. Campbell |Kingston |Apr. 29, 1917
254th | " A. P. Allen |Belleville |June 2, 1917
255th | " G. C. Royce |Toronto | " 2, 1917
256th | " W. A. McConnell | " |Mar. 28, 1917
257th | " L. T. Martin |Ottawa |Feb. 16, 1917
258th | " P. E. Blondin |Quebec |Oct. 6, 1917
| | |
Universit. | |
Inf. Co | | |
No. 1 " |Captain P. Molson |Montreal |May 29, 1915
No. 2 " | " G. C. MacDonald | " |June 29, 1917
No. 3 " |Lieut. F. L. Turnbull | " |Sep. 4, 1915
No. 4 " | " J. R. Mitchener | " |Nov. 27, 1915
No. 5 " | " O. S. Tyndale | " |Apr. 2, 1916
| | |
Yukon Inf. | |
Co |Comm. Black |Dawson City |Jan. 24, 1917
| | |
No. 1 Jewish | |Mar. 28, 1917
Inf. Co |Captain I. Friedman |Montreal |Mar. 28, 1917
| | |
No. 1 Independent | |Oct. 6, 1917
Inf. Co |Major T.J. Langford |Winnipeg |Oct. 6, 1917
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Footnote TN1: In this file, the battalion numbers have been changed
from words to numbers to reduce the size of the table.]
[Footnote 1: Converted into Quebec recruiting battalion.]
[Footnote 2: Converted into C. M. C. Corps.]
[Footnote 3: Sent to Bermuda.]
[Footnote 4: Disbanded; unable to obtain recruits.]
[Footnote 5: Absorbed by 178th Battalion.]
[Footnote 6: Disbanded.]
[Footnote 7: Absorbed by 236th Battalion.]
[Footnote 8: Amalgamated with 249th Battalion.]
--------------------+----------------------------+-------------------------+-------------
UNIT | ORIGINAL OFFICER | MOBILIZED | SAILED
| IN COMMAND | |
--------------------|----------------------------|-------------------------|-------------
R. C. D |Lt. Col. C. M. Nelles |Toronto |Oct. 3, 1914
L. S. H | " A. C. MacDonald |Winnipeg | " 3, 1914
R. N. W. M. P |Major C. L. Jennings |Regina |June 4, 1918
C. M. R. Depot |Lt. Col. W. C. Brooks |Hamilton |Oct. 22, 1917
First C. M. R. Bde | " F. O. Sissons |Winnipeg |June 12, 1915
First Regt. C. M. R | " H. J. Stevenson } { " 12, 1915
Second " " | " J. C. L. Bott }Included in First Brigade{ " 12, 1915
Third " " | " L. J. Whittaker } { " 12, 1915
Second C. M. R. Bde |Col. C. A. Smart |Sherbrooke |July 18, 1915
Fourth Regt. C. M. R|Lt. Col. S. F. Smith } { " 18, 1915
Fifth " " | " G. H. Baker }Included in Second { " 18, 1915
Sixth " " | " R. H. Ryan } Brigade { " 18, 1915
Seventh " " |Major E. I. Leonard |London, Ont |June 29, 1915
Eighth " " |Lt. Col J. R. Munro |Ottawa |Oct. 9, 1915
Ninth " " | " G. C. Hodson |Lloydminster, Sask |Nov. 23, 1915
Tenth " " |Major F. C Washington |Portage la Prairie |Apr. 28, 1916
Eleventh " " |Lt. Col. G. H. Kirkpatrick |Vancouver |July 8, 1916
Twelfth " " | " G. MacDonald |Calgary |Oct. 9, 1915
Thirteenth Regt. | | |
C. M. R | " V. H. Holmes |Medicine Hat |June 28, 1916
First Can. Div. | | |
Cav. Sq. | " F. C. Jamieson |Valcartier |Oct. 3, 1914
Second " " |Major H. J. Leonard |London, Ont. |June 9, 1915
Third " " | " T. W. Wright |Winnipeg |Jan. 22, 1916
Fourth " " |Lt. Col. R. A. Carman |Portage la Prairie |Apr. 28, 1916
A digest of the foregoing tables will indicate the proportionate
enlistments in the various sections of the country. Population
considered, the West did better than the East.
As to the proportional representation of the various occupations in
the enlistments, some light is thrown on that by figures presented by
Mr. N. W. Rowell, K. C., in the Ontario Legislature, covering the
period of heaviest voluntary enlistment, up to March 1, 1916. Out of a
total of 263,111 recruits, 6 per cent, or 16,153 were professional
men; 2 per cent, or 6,530, were merchants or men in the employing
class; 18 per cent, or 48,777, were clerical workers; 64 per cent, or
170,369, were manual workers; 6 per cent, or 17,044, were farmers; and
1 per cent, or 4,238, were students.
The latter item deserves special mention, in the unusual enthusiasm
shown by the students of the Canadian universities. At the end of 1914
McGill University had nearly a hundred of its student body in training
on Salisbury Plain, many more were at Exhibition Park, preparing
themselves for active service at the front, while others were in
different camps throughout the country; 1,800 men were in the
Officers' Training Corps, with 80 members of the faculty acting as
officers. On March 1, 1915, 307 undergraduates had enlisted. Out of
4,000 registered students there were, at the end of 1915, 811 enlisted
men, together with 1,003 graduates and 83 members of the staff.
The University of Toronto, by the end of 1918, was represented by
5,308 men, from its staff, graduates, undergraduates, and its faculty
of education, of which 531 were killed. Other Ontario universities
were represented by 900 men on active service. At the close of the war
it was estimated that about 17,000 college students, or graduates,
had enlisted, of which about 1,200 were reported as casualties.
CHAPTER VI
THE "PRINCESS PAT" REGIMENT
No consideration of the activity of the university graduates, or
undergraduates, in the war can be made without reference to that
famous regiment whose personnel was very largely made up of university
men--the Princess Patricia Regiment, the first Canadian body of
fighting men to reach the front, and the one that suffered most
heavily.
The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment was recruited
in Montreal, though its members were from all parts of the Dominion.
This body was formed on the initiative of A. Hamilton Gault of
Montreal. The regiment was first commanded by Lieutenant Colonel F. D.
Farquhar, D. S. O., of the Coldstream Guards, and military secretary
to the governor general. The other original officers were Major A.
Hamilton Gault; Adjutant, Captain H. C. Buller; Quartermaster, the
Hon. Lieutenant C. A. Wake; Paymaster, the Hon. Captain D. H.
MacDougall; Medical Officer, Major C. B. Keenan. The heroic career of
this body of men at the front will be followed in a later part of this
volume.
Those brigades which embarked from Quebec during the fall of 1914 were
those which were later to become famous as the First Canadian
Division, which was the first large body of Canadian troops to arrive
in France.
The First Division was constituted as follows: First Artillery
Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel E. W. B. Morrison; Second
Artillery Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J. J. Creelman;
Third Artillery Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J. H.
Mitchell; First Infantry Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel M.
S. Mercer; Second Infantry Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A.
W. Currie; Third Infantry Brigade, commanded by Colonel R. E. W.
Turner; Royal Canadian Dragoons, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel C.
M. Nelles; Lord Strathcona's Horse, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A.
H. Macdonnell; Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel H. A. Panet; Fourth Infantry Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel J. E. Cohoe; First to Ninth Field Batteries, commanded
respectively by Major C. H. L. Sharman, Lieutenant Colonel C. H.
MacLaren, Major A. G. L. McNaughton, Major E. G. Hanson, Lieutenant
Colonel H. G. McLeod, Major W. B. M. King, Major H. G. Carscallon, and
Major E. A. McDougall. The General Staff officers were: Colonel E. H.
Hard, Lieutenant Colonel A. H. Macdonnell, Lieutenant Colonel G. C. W.
Gordon-Hall, Lieutenant Colonel C. H. Mitchell, and Lieutenant Colonel
H. J. Lamb. Besides the above units there were also the Automobile and
Machine Gun Brigade, various line of communication units, a clearing
hospital, two stationary hospitals, and two general hospitals and
remount department.
The Second Canadian Division was composed of those units which arrived
in England during March, April, and May, 1915. It was in command of
Major General S. B. Steele, who was afterward succeeded by Brigadier
General R. E. W. Turner. As finally constituted the infantry included
the Fourth Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Lord Brooke; the
Fifth Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel David Watson; and the
Sixth Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel H. D. B. Ketchen.
A fifth division was later organized in England, but was there held as
a reserve, most of its constituent elements being sent to France as
reenforcements to the first four divisions.
The Canadian Cavalry Brigade was not organized until early in 1915, in
England, but its constituent parts had come over from Canada with the
first contingent. From the time of its formation until May, 1918, it
was under the command of Brigadier General (later Major General) J. E.
B. Seeley, C. B., C. M. G., D. S. O., M. P., a veteran of the South
African War, where he served under Sir John French, and later
Secretary of State for War in the Asquith Cabinet.
The brigade was originally formed from the Royal Canadian Dragoons,
Lord Strathcona's Horse, King Edward's Horse, an Imperial unit, and
the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. In 1916 the King Edward's Horse
left the brigade and its place was taken by the Fort Garry Horse,
previously known as the Canadian Reserve Cavalry Regiment. Later the
brigade had added to it the Machine Gun Squadron, the Canadian Cavalry
Field Ambulance, and the Mobile Veterinary Section. During the early
part of its services in France the brigade operated as infantry, and
it was not till the early part of 1916 that it was finally
reconstituted as a cavalry force. The cavalry brigade ranged in
numbers from two to three thousand throughout the war.
CHAPTER VII
CANADA'S HUGE FORESTRY CORPS
Of the special corps, outside the regular classifications into which
all armies are subdivided--infantry, cavalry, artillery, etc., special
emphasis and more detailed description should be accorded the Canadian
Forestry and the Canadian Railway Corps. The extraordinary dimensions
which these arms of the service acquired must be considered when the
number of Canadian troops on the actual field of battle is compared
with those who did not reach the front. No general history of the war
can ever be written without devoting considerable space to these two
corps as factors which assumed much importance in the defeat of
Germany.
In the production of lumber, and in the building of railways, to keep
up with the rapid westward progress of the Canadian population, Canada
stands forth preeminent. It was only natural that the special skill
and knowledge acquired in these industries should be in strong demand
by the Allied forces in general, and it was Canada which could supply
it in the greatest measure. Hence the unusual number of Canadian
recruits who were diverted to these particular branches of military
service.
The formation of the Forestry Corps came about through the growing
shortage of shipping. In February, 1916, the British Government issued
a proclamation restricting certain imports, for the sake of economy in
shipping. One of the chief commodities affected was timber, of which
six million tons was being brought into the country annually.
The Secretary of State for the Colonies called on the Governor General
of Canada for assistance in the production of timber for military
purposes from the home forests in England and Scotland. A special
force of Canadian lumbermen was asked for.
The result was the formation of the 224th Canadian Forestry Battalion,
which was sent over to England in the early part of the year. The
first unit to arrive in England carried with it all the machinery
necessary and immediately established a lumber camp and saw mill in
Surrey. Within three months after the first call for this special
assistance the battalion had been organized, transported across the
waters, and had sawn and delivered its first lot of sawn English
lumber. The battalion eventually reached a working force of over
1,500, detachments from which were distributed over various parts of
England and Scotland.
So big a success was the work of the 224th Lumber Battalion that
further and continuous demands were made on the Canadians for
lumbermen to cut the trees of Britain into lumber for the allied
armies on the western front. From this battalion gradually developed
the Canadian Forestry Corps, which later came to supply cut lumber to
the military forces of all the nations participating in the operations
against the Germans in France and Belgium.
Not long after the first contingent of Canadian lumbermen had arrived
in England, another cablegram was sent by the British authorities to
the Governor General of Canada, asking for more lumbermen. "His
Majesty's Government again turns to Canada for assistance," the
cablegram concluded.
This was the occasion for the formation of the 238th Canadian Forestry
Battalion, which arrived in England a few months later, in September,
1916. But even before it had arrived the French Government's grant of
extensive forests to the British forces had brought about the
necessity of putting the timber-cutting activities of the British
Government on a much broader basis, and some of the Canadian lumber
detachments were sent across to France.
In October, 1916, authority was granted for the formation of the
Canadian Forestry Corps, under the command of Major General Alexander
McDougal, who was then a Lieutenant Colonel, commanding the 224th
Battalion. By the British Government he was appointed director of the
timber operations for France and Great Britain. The two battalions
already in France and England thus became the nucleus of the corps.
Meanwhile enough machinery and other equipment was being prepared and
shipped from Canada to afford employment to 10,000 men. For by this
time it had been decided that timber imports would have to bear 60 per
cent of the total reductions decided upon, as three and a half million
tons of shipping could thereby be saved.
The first detachment of the Forestry Corps to arrive in France began
work in the Bois Normand. Later three other centers were established:
one in the Jura Mountains, one near Bordeaux, and another in the Marne
district. But the work of the corps spread over a wide area, reaching
out to the frontiers of Switzerland, Spain, and Germany.
The corps headquarters was established at Paris-Plage, in the
neighborhood of Boulogne, the supply department for equipment being at
Havre.
In so far as it was possible the methods of the Canadian lumber camps
were employed in cutting lumber in the corps' camps, but certain
differences in physical conditions caused many obstacles to present
themselves. In the absence of the waterways facilities, so common in
the Canadian forests, a great many miles of railways had to be built
for the transportation of the logs to the sawmills.
In the mountainous districts, however, conditions, especially during
winter, more closely representing those to which the men were used in
their native forests, and Canadian methods could therefore be more
closely applied.
The officers and men of the corps were recruited from all parts of
Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboards. Special effort was
made to allot men to forests more nearly resembling those they were
used to at home. As an instance, the men from eastern Canada, not used
to the giant logs of the West, were assigned to the medium-sized
timber in the level portions of France, while the Westerners were sent
to the Jura and the Vosges Mountains, where logging engines, heavy
steel cables, and modern railway construction were involved in the
work of getting the logs out.
Most of the detachments worked in stationary camps, but there were
also a great number of mobile camps which, together with their
equipment, moved about from place to place, supplying timber to those
points at the front where a demand happened to develop to an acute
degree. Often detachments would be working within range of the enemy
artillery fire and at considerable risk to men and equipment. The
degree of efficiency which some of these detachments acquired in their
movements is illustrated by the following extract from an official
report:
"This, the record transfer, was in the case of a sawmill where the
last log was sawn at nine o'clock on the day the move was to take
place. By seven o'clock the next day the mill had been moved to a wood
three miles away and was in full operation. The following day the
product of this mill exceeded 18,000 board feet, and the day after the
total output was 23,000 board feet, much more than the guaranteed
capacity of the mill."
The largest output by any one stationary camp, according to the
official report, was registered by the group operating in the Jura
Mountains. Here a total of 156,000 board feet was cut in ten hours in
a mill which was only registered to turn out 30,000 feet in that time.
Across the Channel, in Great Britain, the operations of the Forestry
Corps extended over six districts--four in England and two in
Scotland. Forty-three detachments were spread over these areas,
totaling 12,533 men at the end of the war, though of this number about
3,000 were attached labor or prisoners of war. In England the corps
did especially noteworthy service in supplying the Royal Air Force,
more specially for the defense wing. In a letter of appreciation
written by Lord Derby, Secretary of State for War, it was indicated
that on several occasions the men of the Forestry Corps had worked at
the rate of ninety hours a week to supply timber needed in the
construction of aerodromes for the aeroplanes used to repel hostile
air raids.
In November, 1918, at the conclusion of hostilities, the total
strength of the Canadian Forestry Corps stood at 31,447, divided as
follows: In France, regular officers, 425; attached officers, 53;
other ranks, 11,702; attached, 1,039; prisoners of war, 5,021; giving
a total of 18,240. In Great Britain there were: Regular officers, 343;
attached officers, 49; other ranks, 9,624; attached labor, 1,926;
prisoners of war, 1,265; making a total of 13,207.
When hostilities ceased over 70 per cent of the timber in use on the
western front by all the Allied armies had been supplied by the
Forestry Corps. Up to December, 1918, the corps had supplied nearly
814,000,000 board feet of sawn lumber.
"It is largely due," wrote Lord Derby, in the spring of 1918, "to the
operations of the units of this corps in France that we have
practically stopped the shipment of British-grown timber to France,
thus saving cross-channel tonnage, while we are also able to save the
shipment of foreign timber by having the production of the corps in
England to meet the various national demands."
CHAPTER VIII
THE CANADIAN RAILWAY CORPS
Never did railways as a means of transportation play so important a
part in warfare as during the recent World War, in spite of the
remarkable development of motor vehicles. It was her superior railway
systems which gave Germany her principal advantage over the Russians
on the eastern front, and as the great struggle developed, it became
daily more obvious that the Allies would have to draw on their
resources in railway construction to the uttermost to offset the
initial advantage which Germany had in this respect on the western
front.
At first the French undertook to direct what railway construction it
was thought would be necessary, but it was not long before the French
Government was forced to call on the British for help. Finally the
British found themselves unable to keep pace with the demand, and what
was more natural than that Canada, the land of marvelous railway
construction, should in her turn be appealed to?
It was in the spring of 1915 that the British Government asked for two
railway construction companies. The Canadian Government turned the
request over to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, with the result
that from the employees of that corporation were recruited the first
five hundred members of the Canadian Overseas Railway Construction
Corps, which landed in France in the following August.
In May, 1916, the situation in France had become so pressing that the
British War Office was compelled to ask for another unit, of about one
thousand men, for railway construction behind the lines in France.
The task of organizing this body of men was assigned by the Canadian
Government to Lieutenant Colonel J. W. Stewart, who combed the railway
workers of the whole country for technical experts and efficient
workers. These men were then formed into the 239th Overseas Railway
Construction Corps.
Meanwhile Sir Eric Geddes had been assigned the task, as director
general of transportation, to reorganize the transportation service
behind the lines on the western front. He immediately called General
Stewart over to England for a special conference, the outcome of which
was a further demand on Canada for railway men.
It was agreed that Canada should furnish five battalions of railway
construction men, which were to be known as the Canadian Railway
Troops. General Stewart was then instructed to proceed to France to
act as deputy director of light railways, as well as chief in command
of the Canadian Railway Troops.
In January, 1917, General Stewart became Deputy Director General of
Transportation, which gave him jurisdiction over the Royal Engineers'
Railway Construction companies as well as over his own Canadians. By
this time it had been decided to increase the number of battalions to
ten.
The 127th Infantry Battalion was reorganized as the 2d Battalion of
Canadian Railway Troops, and proceeded to France in January, 1917. The
239th was renamed the 3d Battalion of Canadian Railway Troops, and
followed the 2d two months later. The 4th and 5th Battalions were
organized at Purfleet, and proceeded to France at about the same time.
By the following April still another battalion had arrived in France,
and by June all ten were behind the lines. Henceforward they carried
on practically all the light railway construction along the whole
western front, especially such lines as had to be laid in quick time,
over ground evacuated by the enemy in their retreat.
Upon their first arrival the Canadian Railway Troops rendered notable
service, just before the attack on and capture of Vimy Ridge. For some
weeks before the weather had been unusually rainy, and the ground was
so deep with mud as to be almost impassable for any kind of vehicle.
In spite of these conditions the Canadian railway men laid their roads
to within rifle range of the front lines, ready to serve as supply
lines when the advance should begin.
The attack begun, and the advance progressing, the railway detachment
followed the front line closely, laying their tracks almost as fast as
the infantry could push ahead. In this way supplies of provisions and
ammunition were carried forward, while the wounded were carried back
to the clearing hospitals.
Within a week before the Arras offensive tracks had been laid to the
top of Vimy Ridge, and by the end of April, 1917, when the British
lines were pushed across the level plain beyond the Ridge, the light
railways had followed them so closely that food supplies were dumped
almost by the field kitchens. Such similar service was rendered by the
Canadian Railway Construction Troops at Messines as well.
It was at Ypres, however, that they especially distinguished
themselves. During two months of the summer of 1917, says the
official report, the average daily number of breaks in the light
railway lines behind the front, due to German artillery fire, was
about a hundred exclusively within the area occupied by the Second and
Fifth British Armies alone. Here the Canadians pursued their
construction work exposed to the full fire of the enemy guns, without
even the moral satisfaction of being able to return the fire.
On one occasion, however, they were to have this satisfaction in full.
It was during the last four days of March, 1918, while the Germans
were advancing on Amiens, that a break suddenly developed in the
British lines. No reserves were available at the time. On the spur of
the moment the railway men organized sixteen Lewis-gun teams and held
the ground in the break until finally they were relieved by regular
troops.
Early in 1918 the Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps, the
58th Broad Gauge Operating Company, the 13th Light Railway Operating
Company, the 69th Wagon Erecting Company, and the 85th Engine Crew
Company were brought under headquarters, and the whole were formed
into the Corps of Canadian Railway Troops.
In the summer of 1918, General Allenby, in command of the
expeditionary force in Palestine, called for a company of expert
bridge builders. The War Office immediately called for volunteers from
among the Canadian Railway Troops, and 6 officers and 250 men were
sent to Palestine. The following table, taken from the report of the
Ministry of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada, shows the relative
strength of the Canadian and the Imperial Railway Construction Corps
at different periods of the war:
Nominal Strength Nominal Strength
Imperial Railway Canadian Railway
Construction Construction
Troops Troops
December 31, 1914 1,476 ---
December 31, 1915 2,440 512
December 31, 1916 4,900 1,617
January 30, 1917 7,340 11,562
December 31, 1917 7,340 13,772
November 11, 1918 7,340 14,877
Besides the foregoing, there were four Canadian Railway Troops
Operating Companies, with a total strength of 1,087 when the armistice
was signed. The total number of Canadian railway troops in England
when hostilities ceased was 3,364.
During the period of their work at the front members of the railway
troops were awarded 489 honors and decorations.
CHAPTER IX
OTHER BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE
That Canada should have had no flying branch of her military
establishment at the outbreak of the war is hardly a matter of
surprise when her lack of military preparedness in other branches is
also considered.
Nevertheless, though it was not considered advisable to organize
specially a Canadian flying force until only a short time before the
close of the war, over 8,000 Canadians became proficient flyers and
aerial fighters, that number having enlisted and held commissions in
the Royal Flying Corps. This number, it will be noted, is quite above
the logical proportion that could ordinarily have been expected from
Canada, population considered.
Those Canadians who entered the Royal Flying Corps were exceptionally
well adapted to this branch of the service. Apparently conditions of
life and open-air training in the Dominion tend to endow men with
those faculties which are essential to the successful flyer.
During the latter part of the war the question of forming a separate
Canadian flying corps began to receive consideration, and finally, in
the early part of 1918, steps were taken to bring this idea to a point
of materialization. The matter now formed the subject of discussion
between the Canadian Ministry and the Secretary of State for the
Royal Air Force. A memorandum setting forth tentative arrangements was
then drawn up. On July 8, 1918, it was definitely settled that the
Canadian Flying Corps should be organized.
The memorandum provided specifically for two air squadrons. These were
to be organized in England by the overseas military forces of Canada,
in conjunction with the Royal Air Force. For the carrying out of this
provision a Canadian Air Force Section of the Canadian General Staff
was created. The types of squadrons decided upon were a single-seater
scout squadron and a day bombing squadron. These were actually
organized and went into quarters at Upper Heyford, near Oxford.
Training was in progress when the armistice was signed, so that the
Canadian flying force never went into action.
Training continued, however, but was adapted to future postwar flying,
special attention being paid to wireless operations, photographic
training, aerial geographical training, and cross-country flying.
To provide for a flying force on a peace basis, for the future
Canadian military service, the following establishment was then
authorized:
A director of air service, assisted by a staff captain and a staff
lieutenant, along with four other ranks; a wing headquarters,
consisting of a lieutenant colonel, who will have command of the two
squadrons, assisted by a captain for administration, a captain for
technical duties, and a lieutenant for armament, along with five other
ranks; No. 1 Squadron (scout), consisting of 18 aeroplanes, commanded
by a major with three captains, flight commanders, and 18 flying
officers of the rank of lieutenant, the total personnel being 159; No.
2 Squadron (day bombing), also consisting of 18 aeroplanes, manned
like Squadron No. 1; and a technical and supply branch, consisting of
a headquarters, technical branch, and a supply depot.
At the end of 1918 the equipment of the Canadian Air Corps consisted
of 3 aeroplanes, presented by the Imperial Air Fleet Committee; 16
presented by the Overseas Club and Patriotic League; and 40 German
aeroplanes allotted by the Air Ministry. In addition to the above 50
Curtiss machines were presented to the Canadian Government by the
Imperial Munitions Board, making a total of 109 machines available for
service on the return to Canada of the Canadian Air Force.
Like the aeroplane, the tank became a military weapon only during the
Great War, and tank battalions were entirely unknown as a branch of
any army service before hostilities began. At about the same time that
the matter of forming a Canadian air force came up for consideration,
the organization of a separate Canadian tank battalion was also
discussed. It was in March, 1918, that the British War Office
requested the Canadian Government to supply the men for one tank
battalion. By the middle of summer the battalion had been formed and
had arrived in England, comprising 92 officers and 716 men.
What made this battalion especially noteworthy was the fact that the
entire body had been recruited from among the students of Canadian
universities. One company came from McGill University, another from
Toronto University, while the third came from the others.
While the battalion was in training, two months later, the British
Government again requested the Canadian Governor General to provide a
tank battalion. This request was immediately complied with, and in the
middle of October, 1918, the 2d Canadian Tank Battalion arrived in
England from Canada, consisting of 44 officers and 960 other ranks.
Meanwhile the 1st Battalion had completed the training course and was
preparing to embark for France when the armistice was signed. At that
time, however, Canada had been requested to recruit a third tank
battalion.
At the time that hostilities ceased, says the official report of the
Overseas Ministry, the Medical Corps of the Canadian overseas forces
exceeded in numbers the entire British Royal Army Medical Corps during
the South African War. In November, 1918, the bed capacity of the
hospitals overseas amounted to 40,000, as compared to 3,000 in June,
1915.
In the matter of a military medical service Canada had been prepared
to a certain degree. Back in 1904 the first nucleus of the Army
Medical Corps had been formed, and in 1911 the equipment of a military
medical branch had been authorized, including a complete scheme for
quick mobilization in case of hostilities. Thus there was a basis for
the high degree of efficiency which characterized the Canadian Medical
Corps, and won for it the highest recommendations as early as the
Second Battle of Ypres. This efficiency was largely due to the
director of the corps, Major General G. L. Foster, C. B.
This, however, was merely a nucleus, and the later tremendous
development of the corps was entirely due to the spirit of
self-sacrifice and patriotism of the great number of Canadian doctors
and surgeons who flocked to the colors during the early months of the
war and freely offered their professional services.
The work of the corps was divided into two distinct sections, each
with a character peculiar to itself yet harmonizing and cooperating
closely. There was, first of all, the professional side, comprising
scientific medical work and investigation, and the military side,
which provides for the physical organization on which the professional
work must be based.
One of the first tasks undertaken was the creation of a consultant
staff, with officers of rich experience to superintend at hospitals,
sanitary formations, laboratories, etc. It was organized on an
effective and systematic basis, and its big success was largely due to
the invaluable services which were rendered by some of Canada's most
brilliant medical men, in cooperation with those of England and
France. The Canadian consultants and specialists attended the various
important Allied medical conferences and made tours of observation and
instruction in the hospitals of the various countries, and it was by
these and other means that the Canadian soldiers in hospitals
benefited by the latest medical and surgical discoveries in every land
which was at war with the country responsible for the horrors which
had to be faced. This knowledge was passed on and diffused among the
staffs of all the Canadian hospitals. In the remarkable development of
reconstructive surgery which took place during the war the Canadian
surgeons had their full share.
In the defensive warfare with epidemic diseases the Canadian Medical
Corps attained a degree of efficiency that contrasted well with the
medical corps of any of the Allied armies. The results in regard to
enteric were perhaps the most remarkable of all. Of 100,000 Canadian
patients only one man was found to have typhoid, and he, for some
reason or other, had not been inoculated.
The military organization of the corps was in all respect equal to the
professional qualities of its members. In one division there were
about twenty regimental medical officers and three field ambulances,
with nine medical officers each--about 750 men to the three
ambulances. For transport each ambulance had fifty horses, and seven
motor and three horse ambulances, with general service wagons and
carts in addition.
The following represented a few of the specific achievements of the
corps:
A school of massage and Swedish remedial drill was organized for
training nurse sisters and soldiers for this service in hospitals.
A laboratory service was organized on an economical and efficient
basis. Four grades of laboratories were adopted, with standard
equipment and an established personnel for each; and each of the two
laboratory units and twenty-two hospital laboratories were organized.
The X-Ray laboratory service was similarly organized and systematized.
A central medical stores was established, through which all medical
supplies and technical equipment were received and distributed.
The sanitary service was also completely reorganized and measures for
the prevention and control of infectious diseases placed on an
effective basis.
Among the units organized were: Ten general hospitals; 8 special
hospitals; 6 convalescent hospitals; 3 ship hospitals (one of which,
the _Llandovery Castle_, was sunk by a German submarine); 2 laboratory
units; 4 sanitary sections; 1 medical stores; 1 regimental depot and
training school; 7 administrative units for training areas.
The following table, taken from the official report of the Ministry,
shows the strength of the Canadian Army Medical Corps on June 1 of
successive years and on November 30, 1918:
June 1 June 1 June 1 June 1 Nov. 30
1915 1916 1917 1918 1918
Officers 378 817 1,319 1,386 1,451
Nursing Sisters 535 915 1,486 1,829 1,886
Other Ranks 3,620 6,913 11,327 12,304 12,243
Total Personnel 4,533 8,645 14,132 15,519 15,580
In connection with the medical service, and yet comprising a separate
and certainly a new feature of military organization, was the Canadian
Army Dental Corps, which was developed to extraordinary dimensions.
Undoubtedly thousands of young Canadians had never had their teeth
troubles properly attended to until they entered the army.
The Dental Corps was organized within a few months after the first
contingent had gone overseas, early in 1915, in fact. The organization
was under the direction of the Director of Dental Services, Colonel J.
A. Armstrong, C. M. G. In France the corps members carried on their
work principally at field ambulances, casualty clearing stations,
general and stationary hospitals, and at base camps.
On arriving in England every Canadian soldier was obliged to submit to
mouth inspection, and, if time permitted, his requirements were
attended to there. If the time did not permit, his teeth record
followed him over to France, and there, as soon as he found a
permanent station, the work was continued and completed. In addition
to the general clinics, which handled the bulk of the work, there were
special clinics, where dental surgery was practiced and wounds
affecting the region around the mouth and jaws were attended to. Here
was performed some of the remarkable facial surgery whose development
was a special feature of the war.
To combat an epidemic of infectious stomatitis, commonly known as
"trench mouth," which at one time affected 10,000 men, the Dental
Corps established the Department of Oral Pathology, and as a result
of microscopic diagnosis and persistent treatment the disease was
finally brought under control.
Summed up, the total number of dental operations from July 15, 1915,
till December 31, 1918, amounted to 2,225,442, including 96,713
operations performed on soldiers of Imperial units who chanced to come
within the jurisdiction of the Canadian Dental Corps.
On first coming overseas the strength of the Dental Corps was 30
officers, 34 noncommissioned officers, and 40 privates. When the
armistice was signed this number had increased to 223 officers, 221
noncommissioned officers, and 238 privates.
No consideration of Canada's war establishment, as developed during
the great world struggle, can be complete without a few words devoted
to Canada's naval service.
At the outbreak of the war Canada's naval strength was represented by
two vessels, the _Niobe_, a cruiser of 11,000 tons displacement, with
a main armament of sixteen 6-inch guns, stationed at Halifax, and the
_Rainbow_, a small cruiser of 3,600 tons, armed with two 6-inch, six
4.7-inch, and four 12-pounder guns, stationed at Esquimalt.
The latter vessel performed patrol service along the Pacific Coast
during the war, cruising as far south as Panama, and captured several
ships carrying contraband of war.
The _Niobe_ performed similar duty on the Atlantic Coast for over a
year, and afterward became a depot ship at Halifax.
When the war began the Canadian Government immediately took over a
number of small craft from the Departments of Marine and Customs,
which were fitted out for patrol duty. To this fleet were added two
submarines, which had been purchased just before war was declared.
Later more vessels were taken over from private owners and utilized
for coast patrol.
The officers and men of the Royal Canadian Navy numbered 749, and the
officers and men of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve
amounted to 4,374. In addition to these over 1,700 Canadians went
into the Imperial navy and saw service in the war area.
CHAPTER X
ADMINISTRATION OF CANADA'S WAR ESTABLISHMENT
Although the Canadian forces operating in the field were under the
British High Command, Canada retained control of the vast army she had
sent overseas in so far as military operations were not concerned. For
this purpose an extensive and a somewhat complicated administrative
machinery was required.
Up until the close of 1916 Sir George H. Perley acted as High
Commissioner for Canada in England. At the end of that period,
however, Sir George became the Minister of the Overseas Military
Forces of Canada with enlarged powers, and a Military Council composed
of Brigadier General P. E. Thacker, as Adjutant General; Brigadier
General A. D. McRae, as Acting Quartermaster and Chief Executive
Officer, and Major General R. E. W. Turner, as Commander of the
Canadian troops in England.
During the summer of 1917 still further changes were made, through
which the administration of the Canadian military establishment in
England was divided into four branches, under the supervision of the
Military Secretary, Major F. F. Montague, the General Staff, in charge
of Lieutenant Colonel H. F. McDonald, the Adjutant General, Brigadier
General P. E. Thacker, and the Quartermaster General, Brigadier
General A. D. McRae.
In May, 1918, the Canadian Headquarters Staff in England was created,
with Lieutenant General Sir R. E. W. Turner as Chief of Staff.
Over in France, in the war zone, by agreement with the British War
Office, a Canadian section of General Headquarters of the British
armies in France was formed in July, 1918. This section was in no way
supposed to interfere in purely fighting operations, but through it
the Canadian Government obtained control over matters of organization
and administration within its own forces.
[Illustration: Lieutenant General Sir Ernest William Turner, V. C. He
commanded a Canadian Division in France in 1915 and was Commander of
Canadian Troops in England from 1916 on.]
PART II--CANADA AT THE FRONT
CHAPTER XI
THE CANADIANS IN FLANDERS--NEUVE CHAPELLE--THEIR BRAVE PART IN THE
SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES--THE PRINCESS PATRICIAS
The fleet with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, after a long but
uneventful voyage, arrived in Plymouth Sound in the evening of October
14, 1914. The British censorship had maintained such secrecy regarding
their movements that the people of Plymouth and Devonport first
learned that they had crossed the seas when the transports were in
harbor. When the news spread through the neighborhood the townsfolk
flocked to the waterside and with cheers and song welcomed the
soldiers of the Dominion. This demonstration was repeated on a greater
and more enthusiastic scale when the troops later disembarked and
marched through the streets.
Lieutenant General E. A. H. Alderson, C. B., was appointed to the
command of the contingent, which soon after landing encamped on
Salisbury Plain. Here the Canadians spent four miserable months of one
of the rainiest seasons on record. They were most of the time under
canvas, the roads became quagmires, they were miles from any
considerable town, yet despite their discomforts they maintained a
brave and cheerful spirit.
King George, accompanied by Field Marshals Roberts and Kitchener, Sir
George Perley, member of the Canadian Cabinet, and Sir Richard
McBride, Prime Minister of British Columbia, visited the troops in
November, 1914.
The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, composed largely of
soldiers who had seen war service, left for the front early in
December, 1914, and joined the Twenty-seventh British Division.
On February 4, 1915, a division composed of three infantry brigades,
three artillery brigades, ammunition column, divisional engineers,
divisional mounted troops, and divisional train left Salisbury Plain
and sailed from Avonmouth, the last transport reaching St.-Nazaire, on
the Bay of Biscay, in the second week of February, 1915.
The 6th, 9th, 11th, 12th, and 17th Battalions remained in England as
the base brigade of the division. Later these battalions were formed
into the Canadian Training Depot, and afterward, with the coming of
reenforcements, into the Canadian Training Division, under the command
of Brigadier General J. C. MacDougall.
The Canadians had a long journey of 350 miles after landing in France
before they arrived at the front within the triangle of country
between St.-Omer on the west, Ypres on the east, and Béthune to the
south. At this time the entire British army in Europe was contained in
this territory.
When the Canadians arrived in England the British held a front between
twenty and thirty miles long running from Ypres on the north, where
the Seventh Division made its historic stand against the Prussian
Guards, to Givenchy on the south near the scene of the battle that was
afterward fought at Neuve Chapelle. This front the British had
continued to maintain through the long winter when it may be truly
said that they lived, ate, slept in mud. Mud they were never free from
until the welcome spring brought a cessation of the almost continuous
rain and the winds dried up the mire.
When the Canadians took their turn as a division in the trenches there
were no sensational happenings. They were not called upon to attack,
nor was their bravery tested in holding a trench against a determined
assault by the enemy. But the weeks spent in trench work were not
wasted, and they learned much that was to serve them well in after
days when they were in the thick of the hardest fighting of the war.
There were casualties from snipers and sufficient excitement to keep
them keyed up to the proper fighting spirit.
Here we must leave for a time the Canadian Division and follow the
fortunes of Princess Patricia's Light Infantry Regiment, which was the
first to carry the badge of Canada on the battle fields of Flanders.
As previously noted, the "Princess Pats" arrived in France December,
1914. The regiment was hurried north to strengthen the Eightieth
Brigade of the Twenty-seventh British Division holding a thin line
which the Germans continually assailed. For several months the
regiment was engaged in hard winter trench work. Later a section of
trench in front of the village of St.-Eloi was occupied by them. This
was a dangerous position where it was impossible to raise the hand
without attracting the bullet of a sniper. The Germans seemed to know
the position of every dugout in the Princess Patricia's lines. It was
said that they had rifles so fixed as to cover them exactly, and it
was only necessary to pull the trigger without aiming. The regiment
lost some valuable officers at this time.
It was while they held the trenches before St.-Eloi that the Patricias
were engaged in an important action. On February 28, 1915, the Germans
had completed a sap which became a source of danger and loss. The
battalion commander decided to sweep away this menace. Major Hamilton
Gault and Lieutenant Colquhoun went out after dark and made a careful
reconnoissance of the German position, returning to the line with much
valuable information. But more was needed, and Lieutenant Colquhoun
went out again and alone and fell into the hands of the enemy.
It was decided to attack on the strength of information that had been
obtained and an assault was organized by Lieutenant Crabbe, the bomb
throwers being commanded by Lieutenant Papineau, the last a lineal
descendant of the rebel of 1837. Corporal Ross was in command of the
snipers. A body of troops were organized in support with picks and
shovels to destroy the parapet of the enemy trench, which at the
nearest point was only about fifteen yards away. Corporal Ross, who
was in the lead when the party ran forward and flung themselves into
the sap, was killed. Lieutenant Papineau with his bombers ran along
the outside of the parapet bombing the occupants of the trench, while
Lieutenant Crabbe followed up with his detachment through the trench
to "clean up" until a barricade which the Germans had built barred
farther progress.
While troops held the rear of the sap to beat off counterattacks,
Sergeant Major Lloyd led a platoon which demolished the German's
parapet. In the course of this operation the gallant Lloyd was killed.
Just as the day was breaking, the party completed the job and were
ordered back to their trenches. There were casualties, among the
wounded being Major Gault, but the work had been carried out so
successfully that none regretted the cost.
On March 1, 1915, the Germans made a fierce attack with bombs and
shells to recover the site of the sap, which had been demolished by
the battalion, and the struggle continued until the 6th. On this date,
after the men had withdrawn from the trenches, which were only twenty
or thirty yards from the Germans, British artillery wiped out the sap
and the trench which the enemy had used in making it, the enemy being
blown high in the air by the explosive shells.
Here, for a time, we leave the Princess Patricias and return to the
Canadian Division on the eve of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. The
Canadian infantry was not especially engaged in this contest, but
Canadian artillery played an important part in the bombardment that
preceded the British attack. The Canadians were ready waiting during
the struggle for an order to join the fight, but they were not called
upon. The main purpose of the British offensive was to break the
German lines and occupy Aubers Ridge, which dominates Lille. Had they
succeeded, the enemy would probably have been forced out of this part
of France.
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle was the first great effort made by the
British to pierce the German lines since the fighting around the
Marne and the Aisne. All the British gained in this costly operation
was about a mile of territory on a three-mile front.
After Neuve Chapelle quiet reigned in the trenches of the Canadian
Division. In the last days of March the troops were withdrawn and went
into rest camps.
The Princess Patricias were in billets when the Germans made a
powerful attack on the intrenchments around St.-Eloi on March 13,
1915. It became necessary to organize a counterattack to relieve the
pressure, and hurried orders were sent to the battalion at Westoutre
to proceed at once to St.-Eloi. The Princess Patricias marched off at
7 p. m. and joining a battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps
proceeded by way of Dickebush to Voormanzeele. While the troops were
drawn up along the road, news came in that Germans in large numbers
were moving toward the eastern end of the village. The battalion
commander detailed Number 4 Company to occupy a position on the east
as a precaution against surprise. The St.-Eloi mound and trenches to
the west of it had been captured by the Germans, and the battalion was
ordered to cooperate with the rifle brigade in an endeavor to recover
the lost positions.
At St.-Eloi it was learned that trench A, as it was known to the
Intelligence Staff, had been retaken by the British. The battalion
occupied a breastwork to the west of a farm building, which was to be
their first objective. It was just before daybreak when the battalion
arrived, and an attack was at once organized by Number 2 Company
against trench P, the approach being made in three parties from the
back of trench A.
The Germans had possession of the mound from which their guns could
sweep the approaches. To have attempted to cross that fire-swept field
would have been a useless sacrifice of men. Three platoons therefore
were detailed to hold the right of the breastwork near the mound while
the remainder of the battalion was withdrawn to Voormanzeele.
The troops left at the breastwork held fast during the long and trying
night, which was all that could have been expected of them. At
daybreak they withdrew and joined the battalion then at Dickebush.
On March 20, 1915, Colonel Francis Farquhar, commanding officer of
the battalion, was killed by a stray bullet. This fine officer had
been military secretary to the Duke of Connaught and had done more for
the battalion than it is possible to record here. Though a strict
disciplinarian, Colonel Farquhar was greatly loved by the soldiers for
his patience and good humor and his readiness to hear their complaints
and improve their condition whenever possible. Lieutenant Colonel H.
C. Buller succeeded to the command of the regiment.
After the death of Colonel Farquhar the battalion retired to rest,
occupying a line on the Polygon Wood in the Ypres salient. Near by
they constructed log cabins of such skillful workmanship as to excite
the admiration of the French, British, and Belgian officers who
visited the camp. The regiment was also busy improving and
strengthening the trenches and in erecting breastworks before them
under cover of the wood. When enemy guns were bombarding Ypres again
the battalion, then in billets in the neighborhood of that stricken
town, were ordered once more to the trenches.
The Second Battle of Ypres began on April 21, 1915, and during the
first days of the struggle the Patricias occupied trenches some
distance south and west of those held by the Canadian Division. Though
doomed to inaction they were constantly shelled by the enemy. They
were eager to join in the battle raging in the north and where their
kinsmen were desperately engaged, but the order to move to the firing
line never came. On May 3, 1915, the battalion was withdrawn to a
subsidiary line a considerable distance to the rear.
In the meantime the Canadian Division won enduring fame at Ypres.
Their achievements were all the more remarkable because the division
was in the main made up of raw material, and until the outbreak of war
untrained and undisciplined in warfare. The officers, too, had mostly
learned military science from study rather than from experience; yet
these former lawyers, professors, and business men, with rare
exceptions, displayed valor and resource at the most trying moments in
the battle.
It was on April 22, 1915, that the Germans brought into action a new
form of "frightfulness," which was so far successful that a gap was
created in the Allies' line, which might have led to disastrous
results but for the dauntless courage displayed by the Canadians.
It was a calm, sunny, and peaceful day when the enemy sprang their
surprise. The Canadian Division held a line of about five thousand
yards extending in a northwesterly direction from the Ypres-Roulers
railway to the Ypres-Poelcappelle road where at the terminus it joined
the French. The division comprised three infantry brigades, the first
in reserve, the second on the right, and the third in contact with the
French, as previously noted. In addition to the infantry there were
the artillery brigades.
About 5 o'clock in the afternoon of the 22d, the Germans projected
asphyxiating gas of great intensity over the French line on the left.
Aided by the favorable wind, the gas penetrated the trenches,
poisoning and disabling great numbers of troops who were wholly
unprepared to combat this new horror of warfare. The French troops,
principally Turcos and Zouaves, became panic-stricken and fled back
over the canal and through the village of Vlamertinghe just at
twilight. The Canadian reserve battalions of the First Brigade were
amazed as the French soldiers surged into the town, their faces
contorted with pain, and gasping for breath. It was some time before
order could be restored and the staff officers could learn from the
fugitives that they had left thousands of their comrades dead, or
dying, that a four-mile gap had been created in the French line
through which the Germans were advancing in the wake of their gas
attack.
The withdrawal of the French created a serious situation as the
Canadian Third Brigade was now without any left. It was imperative
under the circumstances that the Canadian lines should be at once
greatly extended to the left rear. The first reserve could not be
moved from reserve at short notice, and the line increased from 5,000
to 9,000 yards was not the same line which the Allies had held at the
time of the gas attack. A gap still remained on the left.
Brigadier General Turner (now Major General), the commander of the
Third Brigade, was forced to throw back his left flank southward to
protect his rear. While these adjustments of the positions were under
way, resulting at first in some confusion, the Germans, who had been
pushing rapidly forward, captured four British 4.7 guns which had been
lent to the French.
The Canadian Division stood fast against overwhelming odds. They were
outnumbered four to one, while the enemy was also greatly superior in
artillery. The gap in the line remained, though somewhat reduced in
extent. The Canadians, aroused to the dangers of the situation, fought
with dogged determination for two days and nights, losing heavily,
especially in officers. The Germans made the most of the advantage
gained by the breach in the Allies' line and launched a series of
attacks against the new Canadian salient. At every point the troops of
the Dominion were faced by superior numbers and the fighting was
especially fierce and sanguinary on the apex of the new line which ran
toward St.-Julien.
The Third Brigade under General Turner was ordered to counterattack
the wood where the Germans had captured four British guns on April 22,
1915. The 2d Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel (now Brigadier
General) Watson and the 3d (Toronto) Battalion under Lieutenant
Colonel Rennie (now also a Brigadier General), both of the First
Brigade, reenforced Turner's brigade. At this time the 7th Battalion
(British Columbia Regiment) held intrenchments in support of the Third
Brigade.
The 10th Battalion and the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion
delivered an attack on the wood some time after midnight on April 23,
1915. The battalions, under the commands respectively of Lieutenant
Colonel Boyle and Lieutenant Colonel (now Brigadier General) R. G. E.
Leckie, made a dashing advance on the wood in the face of a heavy
machine-gun and rifle fire, which was soon followed by a close and
desperate struggle in the pale moonlight, the Canadians finally
carrying the position at the point of the bayonet.
Those who participated in the advance on the wood described the havoc
wrought in the Canadian ranks by the enemy's machine-gun fire, and,
though many fell, others took their places and the line never for a
moment wavered. The German garrison in the wood were evidently
demoralized by the fierceness of the Canadians' assault, having
counted on the effective fire of their machine guns to shatter its
force. The victors penetrated to the far side of the woods, where they
dug themselves in, but were unable to hold the position when later in
the night the Germans concentrated a sweeping gunfire on the wood,
which made the place untenable. The four British guns were not
recovered, as the enemy had destroyed them some time during the
progress of fighting.
Shortly after the attack on the wood Lieutenant Colonel Boyle ordered
the 10th Battalion to capture a German trench on the battalion's right
front. At the beginning of the assault, when the German gunfire began,
Colonel Boyle fell wounded, his left thigh pierced in five places. His
second in command, Major MacLaren, was wounded about the same time.
Colonel Boyle was removed to Poperinghe, but died soon afterward.
Major MacLaren while being moved to a hospital was killed by a shell.
Major D. M. Ormond, who succeeded to the command of the 10th
Battalion, was wounded soon after assuming the position. Major
Guthrie, a lawyer from Fredericton, New Brunswick, a tried and
courageous soldier, then took command.
The Canadians continued to fight and hold their difficult position
during the night of April 22-23, 1915, the Germans in increasing
numbers delivering one assault after another. The odds were so greatly
in favor of the enemy that it seemed inevitable that the Canadians
must give way unless they were reenforced. When the situation became
entirely discouraging, British troops began to arrive under the
command of Colonel Geddes of the Buffs. The reenforcements consisted
of three and a half battalions of the Twenty-eighth Division, a
composite force drawn from different regiments that became known as
Geddes's Detachment.
The Second Canadian Brigade at this time was holding its own, but the
Third Canadian Brigade had been pushed back on St.-Julien, where the
Germans were making a strong effort to outflank it. Had they
succeeded, the result might have been disastrous to the whole
Canadian line and involved others. To ease the German pressure a
counterattack was launched against the first German line at 6.30 a. m.
by the 1st (Ontario) Battalion and the 4th Battalion of the First
Brigade under Brigadier General Mercer acting with Geddes's
Detachment.
The 4th Battalion made the advance, having the 1st in support, under
the covering fire of the First Canadian Artillery Brigade. The troops
were conscious that they were engaged in a desperate venture, but
their comrades were in peril, and there was no hesitation as they
dashed into the storm of fire that swept the field from the enemy's
guns. The attack was pressed, though the casualties reached an
alarming figure. Colonel Birchall, commanding the 4th Battalion, who,
waving a light cane, encouraged and rallied his men, was killed. The
loss of their beloved commander fired the troops with renewed energy,
and with hoarse cries they dashed forward against the enemy to avenge
his death. So fierce was the onslaught that the Germans were
overwhelmed and the first line of trenches was won after a
hand-to-hand conflict.
The importance of this victory--won in the face of almost certain
death--saved the Canadian left, and not only that, but it maintained
at a critical moment the integrity of the Allied line. For the 4th
Canadian Battalion did more than capture the German trench: they held
it against the most determined German assaults until April 25, 1915,
when the decimated and weary remnants of the battalion were finally
relieved.
The success of the attack was not a little due to the admirable work
of the First Artillery Brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Morrison,
whose battery of four 18-pounders was later supplemented by two
heavier guns, and served with great efficiency throughout the
struggle. Colonel Morrison for his services was given command of the
artillery of the Second Division with the rank of brigadier general.
Another officer who contributed to the victory was Captain T. E.
Powers of the Signal Company of General Mercer's command. Though the
enemy's heavy shell fire repeatedly cut the signal wires,
communication with the front line of the attack was never lost.
General Turner's Third Brigade, which, as previously noted, was
holding the Canadian left on April 22, 1915, and after attacking had
taken over the defense of the new Canadian salient, had also sent a
detachment to establish a line between the wood and St.-Julien. Here
they were subjected to a heavy gas attack followed by two enemy
assaults. They were unprovided with the means for protecting
themselves against the gas, but a wet handkerchief stuffed in the
mouth was found to afford relief, and they held their ground beating
off the heavy attacks in which the enemy lost heavily. The assault on
the wood, as previously narrated, followed.
About 4 a. m. on the following day the Germans made a gas attack on
the Second Brigade holding the line which ran northeast, and the Third
Brigade which continued the line up to the pivotal point and then
extended down in a southeasterly direction. The Royal Highlanders of
Montreal, 13th Battalion, and the 48th Highlanders, 15th Battalion,
were especially affected by the gas. The trenches of the 48th
Highlanders became so untenable for a time that they were forced to
retire until conditions improved.
During the night of April 23, 1915, the Third Brigade, which had
displayed fearless courage and tenacity, was subjected to an unusual
strain when the Germans attempted to sweep around and smash their left
wing. One attempt succeeded in part, considerable numbers pushing past
the unsupported left of the brigade, taking up a position between the
wood and St.-Julien. This added to the difficulties of the Canadians,
who felt that they were isolated from the brigade base.
The situation called for heroic action, and it would be impossible to
select any battalion for special commendation in this hour of crisis
when all displayed such valor and fortitude. The fate of some of the
officers must be briefly described.
Major Norsworthy, who was in the reserve trenches half a mile back of
the firing line, was killed while attempting to bring up
reenforcements to Major McCuaig. Captain Guy Drummond fell while he
was engaged in rallying French troops. The death of these officers
left Major McCuaig to handle the situation. Through the afternoon and
night, his communications cut and without artillery support, this
intrepid fighter held on. The Germans were strong enough to overwhelm
him, knowing the weakness of his position; that they held off was
because they feared his supports when in reality he had none. When
daylight came, revealing the weakness of the defense to the Germans,
the wounded having been evacuated. Major McCuaig withdrew his men
under fire as Major Buchanan with reenforcements appeared on the
scene.
The battalion, which had faced such fearful odds and held on until
relieved, occupied dugouts until dark when they retired to a new line.
Having waited until all the wounded were removed, Major McCuaig, who
had faced death every moment during that terrible struggle, was
wounded and captured by the enemy.
The officers of the 7th Battalion (British Columbia Regiment)
displayed no less valor during the fateful struggle than those whose
fate has been described. This battalion, which was attached to the
Third Brigade, occupied on April 23, 1915, the forward crest of a
ridge, with its left flank near St.-Julien, and throughout the day was
under a blasting shell fire. After receiving orders in the afternoon
to strengthen the position for holding it during the night, Colonel
Hart-McHarg of Vancouver, Major Odlum (afterward Lieutenant Colonel
commanding the battalion), and Lieutenant Mathewson of the Canadian
Engineers went out to choose the site for the new trenches which were
to be due as soon as darkness fell. Not knowing exactly where the
German lines were located, they suddenly became aware of the enemy
lining the hedges not more than 100 yards away. In the hurried retreat
Colonel Hart-McHarg was seriously wounded. Lieutenant Mathewson
remained with him while Major Odlum ran in search of help. After dark
Colonel Hart-McHarg was carried back to battalion headquarters, but
died during the night.
Major Odlum succeeded to the command of the battalion, which continued
to fight off enemy attacks until, flanked both right and left, it was
forced to retire, its fighting strength being reduced to 100 men.
The 7th Battalion, after being strengthened by additional troops from
the 10th, was again sent into the fight on the following day, to hold
a gap in a Canadian line. Here it stood fast and fought until
surrounded by the enemy, when the battalion succeeded in withdrawing
under cover of a heavy mist. In the course of three days' fighting the
7th had lost its colonel, and 600 of its officers and men had been
killed, or wounded. Some companies lost every officer. Lieutenant E.
D. Bellew, machine-gun officer of the battalion, continued to serve
his gun until it was destroyed, and continued to use relays of loaded
rifles until wounded and taken prisoner.
The Canadian line was now strengthened by the King's Own Scottish
Borderers, and the 1st Royal West Kents, and the division was further
aided by French counterattacks, but the increasing artillery fire of
the enemy and their great superiority in numbers rendered the Canadian
salient untenable. Retirement was imperative, and fighting every yard
of the way the Canadians fell back on St.-Julien. This place being
exposed to enemy fire from right and left, a further retirement was
necessary. The Third Brigade began a retreat southward. Detachments of
the 13th and 14th Battalions were cut off before they could escape
from the village. After being surrounded they fought on until their
ammunition gave out and all were killed, wounded, or captured.
The retirement of the Third Brigade had exposed the flank of General
Currie's Second Brigade. To meet the situation, he flung his left
flank round south, holding his line of trenches from the afternoon of
April 22, 1915, to the afternoon of April 25, 1915. On the last date
he withdrew his undefeated troops. His trenches had been wiped out by
artillery fire, and his fortifications in the field had been
demolished; only the spirit of the troops remained unbroken.
Mention should be made here of the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg
Rifles), Lieutenant Colonel Lipsett commanding, which held the extreme
left of the brigade position and held on through a most critical
period. Early in the morning of April 23, 1915, this battalion had
been driven from the trenches by a violent gas attack, but in less
than an hour counterattacked and recaptured the trenches, bayoneting
the enemy. Colonel Lipsett held the position after the forced
retirement of the Third Brigade, his left "in the air," until the
night of the 24th, when two British regiments arrived and filled the
gap.
Two companies of the 8th Battalion were relieved by Durham Light
Infantry on the morning of the 25th and retired to reserve trenches.
The Durhams were so badly hammered by the enemy during the day that a
company of the 8th Canadian Battalion replaced them on the extreme
left of the Canadian line. The Germans were in position to the rear of
this company, while their guns on the left flank enfiladed it. The
Canadians were ordered to retire, and the movement was carried out
with a loss of 45 per cent of their strength. The platoon covering the
retirement had all its officers and men either killed or taken
prisoners.
The Germans had captured the village of St.-Julien in the morning of
April 25, 1915, and the situation demanded an offensive movement to
check their further progress. General Alderson, commanding the
Canadians and also the reenforcements, directed the advance of the
Tenth Brigade under General Hull and the Northumberland Brigade
through the Canadian left and center. As we are dealing with the story
of the Canadian contingent, it is only necessary to say that the
British troops succeeded in arresting the German advance.
The Second and Third Brigades and the reenforcements had retired,
fighting all the way, to a line which ran roughly from Fortuin south
of St.-Julien toward Passchendaele, where they were relieved by two
British brigades.
The Canadians were out of the firing line on April 26, 1915, but,
owing to the force of the enemy's attacks, General Currie's Second
Brigade, reduced to a quarter of its strength, was compelled to return
to the firing line. Throughout the 26th they held the apex of the
line, and not until two days later were they relieved and sent to
billets in the rear. During the struggle Lieutenant Colonel
Kemis-Betty, Brigade Major, and Major Mersereau, Staff Captain, were
both wounded by a shell. Colonel Kemis-Betty continued, despite his
serious wounds, to discharge his duties throughout April 26, 1915.
Major Mersereau, who was very badly injured, was removed to General
Currie's dugout and remained there until night as no ambulance was
available. He was finally removed under shell fire by Colonel Mitchell
of the Headquarters Staff as far as Fortuin, and afterward invalided
home to Canada.
The principal achievements of the Canadians at Ypres having now been
described in outline, there remains to be recorded an operation
carried out by Lieutenant Colonel Watson. In the night of April 28,
1915, Colonel Watson was commanded to carry out a dangerous and
difficult task. This was to advance with his battalion and dig a line
of trenches which would link up with the French on the left and the
Rifle Brigade on the right. Proceeding north toward St.-Julien he was
held up for an hour by a storm of shrapnel, but moved on again at 8
o'clock. After crossing the bridge over the Ypres Canal great
precautions were taken to conceal the movements of the battalion from
the enemy. The newly arrived officers and men who had joined the
battalion that morning received a terrible baptism of fire in this
their first experience at the front. The Germans, believing that some
important movement was under way, filled the air with high explosives,
and their shells rained down on every hedgerow and clump of trees that
the battalion passed. It was a long and terrifying journey, and
considering conditions the casualties were few. The battalion finally
arrived behind the first-line trench, which was held at the time by a
battalion of the King's Own Borderers. Reaching the place where the
trenches were to be dug, Colonel Watson led out two companies, while
two others acted as covers for the diggers. Through the night the work
went on while enemy guns and rifles from the neighboring ridge were
active. Though star shells and flares were numerous, and the Germans
must have been aware of the work that was going on, all their bullets
passed fortunately over the heads of the trench diggers, who worked
steadily at their task. It was 2 o'clock in the morning when the
battalion completed its work. The officers and men were so exhausted
that many slept on the march back to the billets.
In the afternoon of May 2, 1915, the First Canadian Infantry Brigade
was moved to the support of the Tenth and Twelfth Infantry Brigades
(British) because of the gas which flooded the entire front. The
poisonous fumes had disabled the troops of the Twelfth Brigade, and
they were forced to fall back, but the Tenth Brigade stood fast.
During the night of May 3, 1915, and the morning of the 4th, the First
Canadian Infantry Brigade withdrew from the line and went into billets
at Bailleul. General Alderson in the night of May 4 handed over the
command of the section to the general officer commanding the Fourth
Division, withdrawing the Third Infantry Brigade on that date and the
Second Canadian Infantry Brigade on the following day.
The second phase of the Second Battle of Ypres dates from the time
that the British line was readjusted. An account of the noble part
played by the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry in subsequent
operations must be recorded. The regiment from April, 1915, occupied
trenches south and west of those held by the Canadian Division, where
they were constantly under shell fire. The "Princess Pats" were eager
to take part in the battle to the north, where their brothers in arms
were engaged in a desperate struggle, but not until May 4 were they
afforded an opportunity.
On that date the regiment occupied a new line. A strong enemy attack
developed which was beaten off. Throughout the day the regiment was
heavily bombarded, and some of their trenches were destroyed. During
the night they were relieved by the King's Shropshire Light Infantry
and withdrew to reserve trenches. Major Gault arrived on May 5, 1915,
and took over the command, Lieutenant Colonel Buller having lost an
eye from the splinter of a shell.
In the night of May 6, 1915, the "Princess Pats," who had been
fretting over their inaction, were sent to relieve the 2d Shropshire's
in the trenches. The Germans maintained a heavy bombardment throughout
the night and the next day. On May 7, 1915, the roll call showed the
strength of the battalion as 635.
The battalion the next day came under heavy shell fire, which began
on the right flank, followed by enfilading the fire trenches. Preceded
by gas shells, the Germans advanced on the double from the hill in
front of the trench, but were beaten back by rifle fire. Every
telephone wire having been cut by 6 a. m., it was necessary to
dispatch every signaler, pioneer, orderly, and servant at battalion
headquarters to man the support trenches.
The struggle was short but intense, and the Germans were thrown back,
leaving many dead and wounded on the field. But though repulsed, the
enemy were still able to inflict great damage. They had installed
several machine guns in buildings near, and could sweep the parapets
of the Canadian fire and support trenches. A runner was dispatched to
brigade headquarters to inform them of the situation.
Major Gault was badly wounded in the arm and thigh by a shell at 7 a.
m., and as it was impossible to move him, he lay in a trench for ten
hours, enduring without a murmur intense suffering. Lieutenant Niven,
the next senior officer who was unwounded, took over the command.
The Germans now brought heavy howitzers into action, using high
explosives which, with the work of the field guns, wrought havoc among
the trenches, demolishing them at some points.
The enemy's infantry made an attack at 9 o'clock, but were assailed by
such heavy machine-gun and rifle fire that they were at first halted
and then driven to seek cover. The Germans lost heavily in this
encounter, but the battalion also suffered many casualties. Of the
officers, Captain Hill, and Lieutenants Martin, Triggs, and De Bay
were wounded.
The commanding officer, Lieutenant Niven, succeeded in establishing
contact with the King's Own Light Infantry on the left, and the Fourth
Rifle Brigade on the right, but as these formations had been badly
punished, they were unable to afford any assistance.
The Germans had taken the exact range of the Canadian machine guns and
buried every one of them. The gunners dug them out and served them
again. One gun was buried by the enemy fire three times, dug up and
put into action, but was finally demolished by a shell which also
destroyed the whole section. Corporal Dover, who had served his gun
throughout this trying period, lost a leg and an arm in the explosion.
After being dug out by comrades, and while he was being lowered into
the trench, an enemy bullet ended the brave man's sufferings.
The Germans maintained this deadly and destructive fire, and by 10.30
fully half of the right fire trench had been demolished. Lieutenant
Denison then ordered Lieutenant Clark to withdraw the remnant of
command into a communication trench on the right, while he held on
himself with Lieutenant Lane and a few men to that part of the fire
trench which was still tenable. The German guns continued their deadly
work. Lieutenant Edwards was killed. The left fire trench was blown
in, and the machine guns silenced. Sergeant Scott and a few men who
survived entered a communication trench and held fast until it too was
demolished. Lieutenant Crawford, serving in the hottest corners in the
morning, was badly wounded. Captain Adamson, wounded in the shoulder,
continued to serve out small ammunition with a single arm. Sergeant
Major Fraser was killed while performing similar work. There were now
only four officers remaining: Lieutenants Papineau, Niven, Vandenberg,
and Clark. Lieutenants Niven and Clark were troopers when the war
began.
When the supplies of small-arms ammunition were almost exhausted about
noon on May 7, 1915, it was the snipers of the battalion who carried
messages across the heavily shell-swept ground to the brigade
headquarters, and to the Reserve Battalion at Belle-Waarde Lake in the
rear.
A contingent of the Fourth Rifle Brigade reenforced the desperately
tired battalion early in the afternoon, their arrival being greeted by
hearty cheers from the weary defenders. They brought with them a
machine-gun section which was of inestimable value at that time. The
Rifles were placed on the extreme right to protect the battalion's
flanks, in line with the Canadian support trenches hidden by trees and
hedgerows.
Lieutenant Niven, the commanding officer, at 2 p. m. visited
headquarters to describe the situation of the battalion returning half
an hour later. During his journey both of the orderlies who
accompanied him were struck by explosive shells.
About 3 p. m. the battalion welcomed a detachment of the King's
Shropshire Light Infantry, who brought with them twenty boxes of
small-arms ammunition, which were at once distributed as they were
sorely needed. The Shropshires were assigned to the left end of the
support trench.
When later in the afternoon the support trenches were inspected it was
discovered that a gap of about fifty yards existed, and the few men
who could be spared were hurried there to reestablish contact with the
regiment on the left. This quick move had just been made when news
came that the battalions on the left had been forced to withdraw to a
line of trenches in the rear.
The Germans now began their last attack, which was vigorously pressed.
A few succeeded in penetrating the fire trench on the right, which was
practically undefended, all the Princess Patricias having fallen. But
they only occupied the trench for a short time and their last
offensive ended in failure.
The situation of the Canadians did not improve as the long afternoon
wore away. The number of casualties was constantly increasing. All the
company commanders were dead or wounded by 10 o'clock at night, and
the roll call showed a strength of 150 rifles and a few stretcher
bearers.
Shortly before midnight the King's Royal Rifle Corps relieved the
battalion and assisted in the burial of the dead. Those who had fallen
in the fire trenches were already buried under the earth which the
German shells had thrown over them.
The remnant of the shattered regiment, with bared heads, stood by the
open graves of their comrades, while Lieutenant Niven, holding the
gloriously stained colors of the Princess Patricias, recited the
Church of England service for the dead.
After the simple and impressive ceremony the survivors of the
battalion still lingered around the graves of their comrades until the
colonel of the Rifles ordered them to retire. Led by Lieutenant
Papineau the Canadians in sad silence went back to reserve trenches
and later were ordered to another part of the position. During the day
the section of trenches they occupied was heavily shelled and they
lost five men killed and several wounded.
The Princess Patricias were in bivouac in the rear on May 13, 1915,
when news arrived that their old fellow fighters, the Fourth Rifle
Brigade, were in a difficult position and sorely pressed by the enemy.
They at once formed a composite battalion with the Fourth King's Rifle
Corps and hurried to the relief of their friends, whom they helped to
break down the German assaults. This was the last effort that the
survivors of the regiment were called upon to make at this stage of
the war.
What the Princess Patricias accomplished during the remainder of the
year 1915 may be described here though the record runs ahead of the
story of the Canadian Division.
Major Pelly, who had been invalided to England in March, 1915,
returned to the regiment on May 15, 1915, and took over the command
from Lieutenant Niven, who had so bravely served throughout the
darkest hours in the regiment's history.
Early in June, 1915, the Princess Patricias held a trench line at
Armentières and continued there until the last days of August, 1915.
Lieutenant C. J. T. Stewart, and other officers who had been wounded
in the spring fighting, returned to the battalion, and reenforcements
from Canada brought it up to full strength.
With the Twenty-seventh Division the battalion occupied a line of
trenches held by the Third Army, and subsequently the Princess
Patricias went into billets far back of the fighting area. On November
27, 1915, they were once more united with the Canadian Corps from whom
they had long been separated.
CHAPTER XII
BATTLE OF FESTUBERT--THE CANADIANS FIGHT FOR THE ORCHARD--VALOR OF THE
SECOND BRIGADE AND FOURTH BATTALION--GIVENCHY
In staging the Battle of Festubert, where the Canadians fought with
distinction and again displayed their dashing bravery and staying
powers, the Allies had a definite purpose in view. General Joffre had
prepared a great offensive in May, 1915, in Artois, and the French had
made important progress, but some defenses of Lens, the key to the
whole French objective, remained in possession of the enemy. The
Germans were sending powerful reenforcements into the south, and Sir
John French, acting with the French commander, advanced his forces to
attack. His purpose was to arrest the German reenforcements headed for
Lens, and afford the British a chance to capture Aubers Ridge, which
they had failed to do at Neuve Chapelle. The Ridge dominated Lille and
La Bassée, and if the French succeeded in their part of the plan,
which was to reach Lens, the Allies would be strong enough to push on
together toward the city which was their objective.
The German positions were attacked on May 9, 1915. In brief detail the
engagement was planned as follows: Sir Herbert Plumer with the Second
Army was to protect Ypres while the Third Corps held Armentières. Sir
Douglas Haig's First Army was to carry intrenchments and redoubts on
the right of Prince Rupprecht's Army. The Fourth Corps was to attack
the German position at Rouge Bancs northwest of Fromeles, and the
First Corps and Indian Corps were to occupy the plain between Neuve
Chapelle and Givenchy and then take the Aubers Ridge.
The fighting was vigorously pressed by the British for several days
and nights, followed by a lull, but on May 16, 1915, the struggle was
renewed. The Second and Seventh Divisions, which had been badly
shattered, were withdrawn from the fighting line, their places being
taken by the Canadian Division and the Fifty-first Highland Division
(Territorials).
The British attack had failed to clear the way to Lille and Aubers
Ridge was still in German hands. British and Canadian troops had again
and again pierced but not broken the German lines, taking the first,
second, and third trenches. The result was to split up the German line
into innumerable fortified strong points. They were on the defensive,
and the front with its pits, quarries, mills, farms, etc., had all
been transformed into small forts that were packed with machine guns.
These forts were linked together by tunnels and galleries reenforced
with concrete. Had the British and Canadians been amply supplied with
guns and ammunition, the task of reducing these many forts would still
have been a long and difficult task. The British attack weakened when
it was found that the artillery was not strong enough to reduce the
German fortifications and it ceased entirely on May 26, 1915.
The failure of the British at Festubert was attributed in many
quarters to the shortage of munitions. In England press and public
raised such an outcry as to produce a crisis that led to a Coalition
Government. Festubert served to arouse the nation to a sense of the
mighty task it had undertaken and the need of greater effort if
victory was to be won. Out of this determination to prosecute the war
more vigorously the War Committee was created and later the Allies'
Grand Council of War in Paris.
The Canadian Division after the Second Battle of Ypres had moved into
billets where until May 14, 1915, the tired troops enjoyed a
much-needed rest. Headquarters had moved to the southern section of
the British line and preparations were under way for a new offensive
operation. Reenforcements were constantly arriving from the Canadian
base in England, where fresh troops from the Dominion gathered in
increasing numbers.
On May 17, 1915, the Canadian infantry brigades, raised to full
strength, were on their way to the firing lines. By this date the
British had driven two salients into the German lines, one north of
Festubert and the other to the south of it. The operation of
connecting the two salients was pressed during the day.
On May 18, 1915, the Canadian Third Brigade occupied reserve trenches,
two companies of the 14th (Royal Montreal) Battalion commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel Meighen, and two companies of the 16th (Canadian
Scottish) under Lieutenant Colonel (afterward Brigadier General)
Leckie being ordered to advance on La Quinque Rue to the northwest of
an Orchard which the Germans had made a strong defensive position. The
16th Canadian Scottish were ordered to make a flanking movement on
this position, advancing for this purpose through an old German
communicating trench. They were to attack at the same time as the
frontal attack developed. This movement was hurriedly carried out,
there being no time to reconnoiter the ground. The 16th battalion
company which undertook the flanking operation reached its position.
The remaining company of that regiment and the 14th advanced under
intense shell fire, reaching part of their objective, but were unable
at once to carry out the attack on the German position in the Orchard
as they lacked a covering fire. They were ordered to dig themselves in
and link up with the Wiltshire Battalion on the right and the
Coldstream Guards on the left. This was after an advance had been made
of about 500 yards. Two companies of the 16th sent up by Lieutenant
Colonel Leckie came to their assistance in the work of trench digging
and relieved the two original companies at daybreak.
Sometime in the night the companies of the 14th Battalion (Royal
Montreal) were also withdrawn, the Coldstream Guards on one flank and
the 16th Canadian Scottish on the other spreading out so as to hold
the trench.
The attack on the Orchard was ordered for the night of May 20, 1915.
Major Leckie, a brother of the Lieutenant Colonel of that name, made a
reconnoissance of the German position. One of the patrols engaged in
this work had a narrow escape from being cut off by the enemy and the
other suffered a number of casualties, showing that the Germans were
alert and that the Canadians had a hard task before them. In the
course of the night the Canadian Scottish had worked their way forward
and established a garrison of thirty men with two machine guns in a
deserted house not far from the German lines.
This operation was carried out with such secrecy that the enemy never
learned that a garrison was in the building, which remained unharmed
while all the British trenches were under heavy bombardment.
The hour fixed for the attack on the Orchard was 7.45 p. m. Major Rae
had command of the two attacking companies, the Canadian Scottish
under Captain Morison and Major Peck. It was planned that while these
companies attacked the 15th Battalion were to strike at a German
position on the right.
In the afternoon the Canadian artillery hammered the Orchard
position, the bombardment increasing in intensity as the zero hour
approached. When the thunder of the guns ceased the two companies of
the 16th Canadians went over the top, and advanced, while the machine
guns in the garrisoned house opened fire on the German position. As it
was now clear daylight the Germans were alert, and a storm of shrapnel
machine-gun and rifle fire assailed the Canadians who continued
steadily to push forward.
Having gained the edge of the Orchard, they were confronted by a deep
ditch full of water backed by a hedge which had been made into a
strong barricade with wire. The Canadians crossed the ditch, though
the water was up to their necks in some places, and broke through the
hedge. By this time the Germans had mostly retired from the Orchard to
trenches in the rear, leaving only a guard to hold the position, until
they could get reenforcements and return to drive out the attackers.
The Germans left in the Orchard manned a machine-gun redoubt in a
central position where they might have worked considerable destruction
on their assailants, but for some reason they did not attempt to fight
when the Canadians appeared, but retreated with their guns. The main
body of the Germans, however, returned to contest the advance, and
though outnumbering the Canadians two to one they were forced to beat
a hasty retreat. The Orchard position was cleared by three platoons;
the fourth, being compelled to make a detour owing to an impassable
ditch, did not arrive on the scene until the occupation of the Orchard
was completed.
One company which had not penetrated the Orchard occupied a trench
running in a southwesterly direction which the Germans had abandoned.
This movement was made to prevent the enemy from making a flank
counterattack while the assault on the Orchard was in progress. It was
a highly exposed position, but important to hold for the success of
the attack, and the Germans' fire caused many casualties. Had the
enemy been able to get back into this position--which they had
evidently planned to do after the bombardment of the Orchard--the
operation carried out by the Canadians might have failed of success.
One of the bravest exploits of the many performed during the struggle
was that of Sapper Harmon of the 1st Field Company, C. E., one of a
party of twelve sappers and fifty infantrymen of the 3d Canadian
Battalion, which had constructed a barricade of sandbags across a road
leading to the Orchard while under heavy fire. The Germans later
smashed the barrier with a shell, and Harmon wormed his way forward
and repaired it while a machine gun not more than sixty yards away was
pumping bullets into the barricade. Of Harmon's party which went out
to build the obstruction, six of the twelve were killed, and of the
infantry, out of fifty, six were killed and twenty-four wounded.
Sapper Harmon continued his dangerous and useful work in the Orchard,
where alone and unassisted he worked for thirty-six hours digging
tunnels to serve in subsequent operations.
A short time after the capture of the Orchard the Canadians played a
little trick on the Germans that cost the latter many casualties.
While the Canadian artillery hammered a section of their line, a great
show was made of preparing to attack as soon as the firing ceased. As
was their usual custom the Germans fell back on their support trenches
ready to rush forward when the bombardment ceased and meet the
Canadian attack. The operation did not develop exactly as they
expected, for after the guns shifted from the front trenches and
shelled the supports, and the Germans notwithstanding pushed forward
and occupied the front trenches the Canadian infantry did not attack.
They stood fast while their guns shortened range and the enemy crowded
in the front trenches received the full blast of a devastating fire.
The German wireless on the following day reported that a heavy
Canadian attack had been repulsed.
Early in the evening of May 20, 1915, the 13th Battalion (Royal
Highlanders), commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Loomis, moved across the
British trenches under intense shell fire that caused heavy
casualties, in support of the 16th Battalion Canadian Scotch.
Three companies of the 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders), after the
Orchard had been won, now marched forward under Major Buchanan, who
replaced the commanding officer, who was severely wounded. A fourth
company advanced and occupied a support trench in the immediate rear.
The position having been consolidated, the weary but elated 16th
Battalion, which had performed such brilliant work, withdrew from the
scene.
North of the Orchard the Germans made a demonstration in the afternoon
of May 21, 1915, but the fire of the Canadian artillery dispersed
them. The Germans did not attempt to attack during the night though
they kept up a constant musketry fire. Canadian working parties by the
light of German flares were busy improving the position, which they
left in excellent condition when the 3d Toronto Battalion of the First
Brigade relieved the Royal Highlanders.
The Second Canadian Infantry Brigade had in the night of May 19, 1915,
taken over trenches recently won by the Twenty-first British Brigade
and also a section of trenches from the Forty-seventh Division.
Meanwhile the 8th and 10th Battalions occupied the front-line
trenches, while the 5th Battalion went into Brigade Reserve with one
company at Festubert. Three companies bivouacked near the Willow Road,
and the 7th Battalion joined the Divisional Reserve.
Major Guthrie, who had joined the 10th Canadian Battalion at Ypres as
a lieutenant, after most of its officers were casualties, made an
effort in the early evening of May 20, 1915, to capture an important
position known as Bexhill. The attempt was not successful, for the
preliminary bombardment was ineffectual, and the troops were forced to
cross a gap in the fire trench in open view of the Germans, who made
the most of the opportunity. The only approach to the coveted position
was through an old communicating trench that the enemy could easily
sweep with their machine guns. The 10th Battalion, after all the
leading men in the advance company had been struck down, was forced to
retire. (The casualties of the 10th Battalion while in action during
April and May, 1915, were 809. At Ypres alone the casualties were 600
of all ranks.)
During the night the Canadians carried out a successful reconnoissance
of the German position and the gap in the fire trenches was repaired.
Covered communications were now assured for further operations in all
parts of the line.
In the evening of May 21, 1915, the German position was heavily
bombarded under the direction of Brigadier General Burstall and
continued until 8.30, when two companies of the 10th Battalion and the
grenade company of the First Canadian Brigade launched the attack. The
German redoubt on Bexhill responded with a withering machine-gun fire
against which it was impossible to advance. The Canadian left was
badly cut up and unable to move. Those attacking on the right gained
the trench line running southward from Bexhill, and, with bombers
leading the way, drove the Germans for a considerable distance down
the trench and then hurriedly threw up a barricade to hold what they
had gained. The Germans made several attempts in the course of the
night to win back the trench, but their every effort failed.
The Canadian attack had achieved only a partial success, and this was
won at a heavy cost. As at Ypres they displayed the same unflinching
bravery while facing heavy odds, and the only marvel was that they had
been able to gain so much. Individual acts that deserved the V. C.
were many. Major E. J. Ashton of Saskatoon, who had been wounded in
the head on the previous night and continued to serve, was again
wounded. Corporal W. R. Brooks, a sniper belonging to the 10th
Battalion, during the night left the trench under heavy fire and
brought back two men of the Camerons who had been lying for three days
in the field.
The Germans made another effort to regain the captured trench at
daybreak on May 22, 1915. They maintained a furious bombardment that
lasted all day until the trench was reduced to ruins. Forced to
abandon the southern end of the trench, the Canadians, despite their
heavy casualties, clung to the remaining portion, where they built
another barricade.
The courage displayed by officers and men during the bombardment was
beyond praise. Though practically at the mercy of the enemy, their
spirit remained unbroken. Captain McMeans, Lieutenant Smith-Rowse, and
Lieutenant Passmore were killed, and Lieutenant Denison was wounded.
Half of the men of the company were killed or wounded, but the poor
remnant clung obstinately to the position. Captain J. M. Prowse having
been wounded, returned to his command as soon as his wounds were
dressed, and even after he had been buried under the parapet continued
to serve. Company Sergeant Major John Hay deserves special mention for
the gallant example of fortitude he displayed, steadying and
controlling the men of his company after all the officers and half of
the troopers were dead or wounded.
The Germans prepared an infantry attack in the afternoon, but were
driven back by the Canadian artillery and machine-gun fire. In the
course of the night British troops and a detachment of the First
Canadian Infantry Brigade and King Edward's Horse and Strathcona's
Horse took over the trenches. The Strathconas served as infantry, and
it was the first time that they took part in the Great War. Their
services in the South African campaign will be remembered.
The trench held by the 8th Canadian Battalion, which had lost about 90
per cent of its officers and men, was relieved by King Edward's Horse.
The Post Office Rifles of the Forty-seventh Division were on the right
of Strathcona's Horse, but the latter manned the Rifles' machine guns.
The Seventh Prussian Army Corps started a massed attack upon King
Edward's Horse on May 23, 1915, but were driven back by the heavy fire
of the Canadian artillery brigades.
At 11 o'clock at night on this date the 5th Canadian Battalion was
ordered to take Bexhill salient and redoubt, which had been attempted
before without success. The attacking force consisted of two companies
of the battalion, about 500 men, under Major Edgar. In addition 100
men from the 7th (British Columbia) Battalion, divided into two
parties, were assigned to the work of constructing bridges before the
attack and to consolidating the positions that were won. Lieutenant
(afterward Captain) R. Murdie, commanding the bridge makers (50 men),
took his party out in the early morning of the 24th while the moon was
still brightly shining, and threw out twelve bridges over a ditch
filled with water between the Canadian line and their objective in
the attack.
At 2.45 a. m. the Canadians went over the top. Lieutenant Tozer with
the battalion bombers reached the German communication trench leading
to the redoubt and after an intense struggle occupied the redoubt. The
attacking party won about 200 yards of trenches to the left of it and
a small strip on the right, clearing out the enemy, who lost heavily.
The two attacking companies of the 5th Battalion, reenforced by a
company of the 7th Battalion and a squadron of Strathcona's Horse,
were now strong enough to attempt the capture of Bexhill proper. The
attack was vigorously pressed against stiff enemy opposition, and
shortly before 6 o'clock in the morning the German strong point had
been won and 130 yards of trenches to the north of the position. A
little later a platoon from the 5th Battalion arrived with orders to
dig in and hold fast. The Germans held very strong positions and it
was not deemed expedient to attempt to win more ground at that time.
Major Odlum now assumed command of the 5th Battalion as Colonel
Tuxford had fallen ill and Major Edgar was wounded.
The small force under Major Edgar had suffered heavy losses,
especially among the officers. The commanders of the two companies,
Major Tenaille and Captain Hopkins, were killed, and also Captains
Maikle, Currie, McGee, and Mundell, while Major Thornton, Captain S.
J. Anderson, Captain Endicott, Major Morris, Lieutenant Quinan, and
Lieutenant Davis were wounded. Major Powley was wounded while bringing
up his company from the 7th. The enemy's guns were active throughout
the morning, but the accurate fire of the Canadian artillery held them
to their position, and no attack to recover the redoubt was attempted.
Throughout the day the captured trenches were held by those who had
won them. At night they were relieved by the Royal Canadian Dragoons
and the 2d Battalion of the First Brigade. It was time, for the Second
Brigade had never passed through a more fiery trial, having lost 55
officers and 980 men.
At 11.30 p. m. on May 24, 1915, the 3d Battalion under Lieutenant
Colonel (afterward Brigadier General) Rennie made an assault on a
strong German machine-gun redoubt known as The Well. In the first rush
they won a section of trench, but the machine-gun fire was so intense
in the redoubt that to attempt an advance, or to hold on would have
caused needless sacrifice of life. The heroic attackers were forced to
retire, having incurred severe losses.
Brigadier General Seeley, M. P., a popular and experienced officer,
assumed command of the troops which had captured Bexhill on the
following day. Arriving at a critical moment, he at once grasped the
situation and took measures to improve conditions. General Seeley was
in command through two trying days and nights, inspiring the officers
and men with his courage and activity. It was a time of severe trial
for the brigade, whose losses were heavy, especially in officers.
Lieutenant W. G. Tennant of Strathcona's Horse was killed, and the
wounded included Major D. D. Young, Royal Canadian Dragoons; Major J.
A. Hesketh, Strathcona's Horse; Lieutenants A. D. Cameron, D. C.
McDonald, J. A. Sparkes, Strathcona's Horse; Major C. Harding, and
Lieutenants C. Brook and R. C. Everett, King Edward's Horse.
It would be impossible in this narrative to record all the acts of
bravery performed by officers and men during these days of struggle,
but a few should be described as examples of the fighting spirit.
Among the bravest of the brave mention must be made of Major Arthur
Cecil Murray, M. P., to whose efforts the gain in ground on the left
was in large measure due. Major Murray inspired the men with his own
intrepid spirit, leading his squadron as coolly as if on parade, and
held his ground under heavy machine-gun fire while the work of
constructing a parapet was under way. Lieutenant (afterward Captain)
J. A. Critchley of Strathcona's Horse, armed with bombs, attacked the
Germans' machine-gun redoubt under heavy fire. In the night of May 25,
1915, Corporal Legge of the Royal Canadian Dragoons crept out of the
trenches and located a German machine gun which had caused many
casualties, and which his regiment were then enabled to silence.
Sergeant Morris of King Edward's Horse on the same date accompanied
the brigade grenade company, reenforcing the Post Office Rifles of the
Forty-seventh London Division, who were engaged in an attack on a
German position. Sergeant Morris led a party down a German
communication trench, and, after all were killed or wounded but
himself, fought on alone with bombs, rifle, and bayonet until the Post
Office Rifles arrived on the scene and he was relieved.
On May 26, 1915, Corporal Pym of the Royal Canadian Dragoons heard
cries for help in English between the lines, and crawling out of his
trench, making his way across the field swept by machine-gun and rifle
fire, reached a wounded man who had been lying there for three days
and nights. Finding it impossible to bring in the unfortunate alone,
owing to his severe wounds, Pym sent a call to the trench for help.
Sergeant Hollowell immediately responded, but was killed just as he
reached the two men in the field. Pym after many efforts succeeded in
bringing in the wounded soldier alive.
The 4th Canadian Battalion was under incessant fire at Festubert
through ten days and eleven nights. On May 27, 1915, all communication
wires between the fire trenches and battalion and brigade headquarters
had been cut by the enemy's fire. Private (afterward Lieutenant) W. E.
F. Hart volunteered to mend the wires and succeeded in repairing
eleven breaks, reestablishing communications. In the Orchard he worked
under heavy shrapnel fire without cover for an hour and a half,
completing the work he had set out to perform. Hart, who owned a farm
near Brantford, Ontario, was with the battalion since August, 1914. He
afterward became a signaling officer of the 4th Battalion.
Sergeant Hickey, who had distinguished himself in April, 1915, at
Pilckem Ridge, when he brought in five wounded men under heavy shell
fire, performed a no less heroic act at Festubert. On May 24, 1915, he
volunteered to try and recover two trench mortars that had been
abandoned on the previous day. None of the 4th Battalion expected him
to return alive through the storm of fire the Germans were creating,
but he returned with the mortars and, what was even more important,
with information concerning a short safe route by which troops could
be brought up from the reserve trenches to the firing line. This brave
soldier, who had risked death so many times, was killed by a stray
bullet on May 30, 1915.
The Canadian division was withdrawn on May 31, 1915, and moved to the
south of the British line, where the routine of trench warfare was
continued until the middle of June, 1915.
Among the minor engagements between the close of the Battle of
Festubert and the great struggle at Loos the fight at Givenchy stands
out conspicuous. Here the Canadians again demonstrated their
unconquerable spirit and stubborn bravery.
The Seventh British Division had been ordered to make a frontal attack
on a German position known as Stony Mountain and the 1st Canadian
(Ontario) Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Hill of the First Brigade
was detailed to capture two lines of German trenches running south
from Stony Mountain to another strong point called Dorchester. This
operation was intended to secure the right flank of the British
division.
In the afternoon of June 15, 1915, the 1st Canadian Battalion (Ontario
Regiment) reached the line of trenches opposite the position to be
attacked, joining the 2d Canadian Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel
Watson. To the right of the attacking battalion the 2d and 4th
Canadian Battalions held the line to the La Bassée Canal, the 3d
Canadian Toronto Regiment in support, the East Yorks holding the left.
For three hours in the evening the Ontario Regiment was under enemy
fire awaiting the order to charge. Two 18-pounders had been installed
in the infantry trenches under cover of darkness and fifteen minutes
before zero hour they opened fire on the German parapets. One gun
under the direction of Lieutenant C. S. Craig cleared the ground of
wire entanglements and smashed two German machine guns. Lieutenant
Craig, who had been wounded at Ypres, was again injured while doing
his duty at Givenchy.
Lieutenant L. S. Kelly, in charge of the other gun, was successful in
destroying a German machine gun, when an enemy shell demolished his
own gun and he received at the same time a serious wound. Corporal
King was also struck down and died of his wounds, while several of the
gun crew were wounded.
A tragic result followed the explosion of a mine. Owing to the fact
that water had been found under the German trenches it was impossible
to tunnel far enough forward, so an unusually heavy charge was used,
which it was hoped would reach the Germans. The explosion had a
serious result in the Canadian trench lines, several bombers being
killed and wounded, while a reserve depot of bombs was buried under
the ruins. As the enemy blew up another bomb depot a little later, the
shortage of bombs was keenly felt as there were no other supplies
convenient to draw upon.
It was at this time that Lieutenant Colonel Beecher, the second in
command, was killed by a splinter from a high explosive.
Under cover of the smoke and flying débris of the explosion the
attacking company under Major G. J. L. Smith dashed forward into the
devastating fire from the machine guns in Stony Mountain, and captured
the enemy's front trench and Dorchester. The Canadians opposite Stony
Mountain were held up by the enemy fire and all were either killed or
wounded.
Bombing parties had followed the leading company that attacked. The
one on the right advanced without a leader, Lieutenant C. A. James,
who had charge, having been killed. The bombing party on the left
under Lieutenant G. N. Gordon narrowly escaped being wiped out. Only a
few straggled back to the first-line trench, among whom was Lieutenant
Gordon, who was later wounded and then killed by a German bomb.
A blocking party of eight sappers of the 1st Field Company of Canadian
Engineers, which had followed the leading company into the attack, had
also been all killed and wounded; but one man, Sapper Harmon,
gathering bombs from his dead and wounded comrades, bombed his way
along the trench alone, finally getting away with ten bullets in his
body after he had hurled his last bomb.
The second company under Captain G. L. Wilkinson joined with the
leading company in an attack on the German second-line trench. The
enemy presented a stiff front and many were bayoneted who resisted.
The group of prisoners sent back later with an escort came under fire
of their own guns in Stony Mountain, and some of them were killed as
well as a few of their captors.
The third company was in charge of Lieutenant T. C. Sims, the other
company officers, Captain F. W. Robinson and Lieutenant P. W. Pick,
having been killed at the time of the mine explosion. In the advance
across the open space between the lines they suffered many casualties,
but completed the work of consolidating the first-line German trench
that had been captured. The fourth company, which now advanced to
support, met with a series of misfortunes. Captain Delamater, the
officer in charge, was wounded, and Lieutenant J. C. L. Young, who
assumed command, was wounded soon after. The command now devolved upon
Lieutenant Tranter, who a moment later was killed. Company Sergeant
Major Owen then assumed charge, who proved himself fully equal to the
task in bravery and resource. When Lieutenant F. W. Campbell was
bringing up two machine guns to the rear of Captain Wilkinson's
company the whole crew of one gun were either killed or wounded. A few
men of the other crew reached the Germans' first-line trench and
pushed on toward Stony Mountain, preceded by bombers and under heavy
fire, until held up by an enemy barricade. Of the machine-gun crew
only Lieutenant Campbell and Private Vincent were fit to fight and
they still had the machine gun and tripod. Lacking a suitable base,
Lieutenant Campbell set up the gun on Private Vincent's broad back and
maintained a continuous fire on the enemy. When German bombers invaded
the trench Lieutenant Campbell was struck down, but succeeded in
crawling out of the trench and was carried in a dying condition to the
Canadian line by Company Sergeant Major Owen. Private Vincent
meanwhile had made his escape from the enemy trench and brought away
the machine gun in safety.
The Germans' heavy machine-gun fire forced the Canadian working
parties to abandon the attempt to construct the line joining the
Canadian trenches with the enemy trench that had been captured. The
battalion's efforts were now concentrated in building barricades
immediately south of Stony Mountain and to the north of Dorchester,
and to maintaining a strong hold on the second-line trench.
Owing to the explosion of the mine, as previously noted, the battalion
suffered from a lack of bombs. Private Smith of Southampton, Ontario,
son of a Methodist minister, a young man under twenty, undertook to
increase the supply. He had been buried when the mine exploded, but
dug himself out. This catastrophe deprived the Canadians in the
captured trench of bombs, and Private Smith, gathering bombs from the
dead and wounded around him, crawled forward on all fours, and under
fire, bringing the needed supplies to his comrades. Five times he went
forward loaded down with bombs to the points where they were mostly
needed, and while his clothes were reduced to tatters by the German
fire he miraculously escaped uninjured.
Despite Private Smith's heroic effort the supply of bombs ran out,
while the increasing machine-gun and rifle fire from Stony Mountain
added to the difficulties of the Canadians in holding the line.
Reenforcements from the 3d Battalion arrived, but little could be done
until more bombs could be found. Four volunteers were killed one by
one while on their way to get more. Sergeant Krantz of London,
Ontario, succeeded in bringing back a load, and Sergeant Newell, a
cheesemaker of Watford, and Sergeant Major Cuddy, a druggist from
Strathroy, went out on the same mission. The Canadians in the second
German line, having lost most of their officers, were slowly forced
back along the communication trench, and as nearly all the volunteers
who had gone after bombs were killed, the supply gave out and the
defense was in a perilous position.
Meanwhile the British division, owing to the strength of Stony
Mountain and of the German line north of that strong point, had been
unable to advance on the left. The Canadians meanwhile stood fast,
trusting that attack on the left would succeed.
The Germans having assembled strong forces for attack, the remnant of
the battalion, lacking bombs and other supplies, was forced to
withdraw from all the ground that had been gained, losing heavily from
the enemy's fire during the operation.
Only three out of twenty-three combatant officers who were in this
action escaped death or wounds. The fortunate ones were Colonel Hill,
who was in the thick of the struggle and displayed great courage and
resource, and Lieutenants S. A. Creighton and T. C. Sims.
The plan of the attack was prepared by the corps commander, the
operations of the 1st Canadian Battalion being directed by the Brigade
Commander General Mercer. A lawyer by profession, this distinguished
officer had taken an active part in Canadian militia affairs for
twenty-five years, and while commanding officer of the Queen's Own of
Toronto enjoyed universal esteem.
During the attack so many individual acts of bravery were
performed--it was such a common and indeed expected thing--that they
failed to attract much attention, but a few examples of heroism must
be noted.
On the day after the attack, when the space between the British and
German lines was swept by a heavy shell and rifle fire, a wounded man
was observed lying in the open. Lance Corporal E. A. Barrett of the
4th Battalion, who had been steward of the Edmonton Club, at once
volunteered to go out and bring the wounded man in. This act he
successfully carried out in safety though in clear view of the enemy
who made him their special target.
A few days later Lieutenant Houghton of Winnipeg, machine-gun officer
of the 8th Battalion, noticed a British soldier lying near a German
trench and evidently badly wounded. When dark set in, with the
assistance of Private G. F. Clark of the 8th Battalion, Winnipeg
Rifles, they dug a hole in the parapet, and Clark went out and brought
in the wounded man. A bullet through Clark's cap showed how narrowly
he had escaped with his life. As the opponents' trenches here were not
more than thirty-five yards apart the Germans must have been napping,
as they failed to get him. After the rescue of the wounded man Private
Clark went out and brought in a machine gun which the Canadians had
been forced to abandon near the German trenches in the recent attack.
For several days after the attack the Canadians were under heavy
artillery fire, when they were relieved, and the headquarters moved to
the north. Here they occupied a trench line taken over from the
British.
On Dominion Day the trenches were decorated with the flowers of
France, which seemed to enrage the Germans, who proceeded to destroy
the ornamentation by concentrated fire. Back of the lines the men of
the Dominion celebrated the holiday with athletic sports, the pipers
of the Scottish Canadian battalions enlivening the occasion by playing
the national airs of Great Britain and the Allies.
CHAPTER XIII
THE SECOND AND THIRD CANADIAN DIVISIONS--BATTLES OF ST.-ÉLOI AND
SANCTUARY WOOD--VICTORY AFTER DEFEAT
During the summer various units of the Second Canadian Division
arrived in England and went into training at Shorncliffe, where they
were more fortunate than the First Division, who worked through months
of rain, while they had the benefit of sunny summer weather.
Major General Turner took over the command from General Steele, who
remained to command the troops at Shorncliffe. On September 5, 1915,
the transportation of the troops to Havre was begun. Eight battalions
were left in reserve at Shorncliffe.
The First Division in the latter part of summer held a sector whose
right rested on the northern edge of Ploegsteert. As the troops of the
Second Division joined the fighting line the sector was extended
northward until the left rested on a point a short distance south of
St.-Eloi. The Second Division took over the northern line ending by
St.-Eloi, while the First occupied the Ploegsteert area to the south.
The Canadian Corps had been formed on September 13, 1915, the Second
Division arriving at Caestre on the following day. General Alderson,
being appointed corps commander, relinquished the command of the First
Division to General Currie and Brigadier General Lipsett succeeded to
the Second Brigade. Major General Turner, then in command of the
Second Division, was succeeded in the command of the Third Brigade by
Brigadier General Leckie, his brother, Major Leckie, taking over from
him the command of the 16th Battalion. The duty planned for the Second
Division was to relieve the Twenty-eighth British Division in what may
be called, for convenience, the Kemmel section of the line, which
extended north from the ground of the First Canadian Division.
The relief was carried through by September 23, 1915. The last week of
September in this year was the period of the Anglo-French offensive
when Loos and Champagne were on every tongue.
The Canadians staged a demonstration that would hold the enemy to
their trenches, and prevent them from reenforcing their sorely tried
comrades in the south. On September 25, 1915, the Germans could see
ominous activity in the Canadian trenches. Orders were shouted,
whistles blown, every preparation was made for attack. The enemy was
completely fooled, put down a barrage behind the Canadian firing line
to prevent the bringing up of supports and thronged their own
second-line trenches where they were heavily shelled. When it was too
late for them to move troops to Loos, the Canadian fire ceased and the
Germans could then see that no new attack was intended.
The winter of 1915-16 passed with periods of quiet broken by
bombardments, trench raids, and encounters between patrols. The chief
event of the New Year was the formation of the Third Division and at
the same time the Seventh and Eighth Brigade took shape. The Seventh
Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Macdonell, consisted of the
Princess Patricias, the Royal Canadian Regiment, the 42d Royal
Highlanders of Canada, and the 49th (Edmonton) Canadian Battalion.
The Eighth Brigade was made up of the six Canadian mounted rifle
regiments made into four infantry battalions under command of
Brigadier General Williams. Early in January, 1916, the Third Division
was constituted out of these brigades, and Major General Mercer was
appointed to the command.
In February, 1916, began a period of close cooperation with the Fifth
British Corps, which was to last for nearly seven weeks owing to the
fighting around the mound at St.-Eloi. Patrol encounters became
frequent in the days that followed. The Canadian corps on February 17,
1916, had an unfortunate day when Generals Macdonell and Leckie were
severely wounded by stray bullets.
The heaviest fight in which the Canadians were engaged since the
Second Battle of Ypres began in the night of April 3, 1916. The Battle
of St.-Eloi will always rank among the highest achievements of the
Canadian troops, who again demonstrated in this hard-fought struggle
their indomitable courage and stubborn tenacity. The Second Division
had taken over the ground won by the Third Division in recent
engagements. The opposing lines opposite St.-Eloi ran due east and
west. The new line won by the Third Division was a salient thrust due
south into the German position, receding slightly on the right and
abruptly on the left, to meet the old British line. To quote the
official story: "The old British line had been the arc of a bow turned
north and the new line became the arm of a bow pushed south. The
distance between these bows never exceeded 500 yards, and both of them
were less than 1,000 yards in length from end to end with a frontage
of 600 yards. In the middle, running as the string of both concave
bows, and separated by 200 or 250 yards from either old or new line,
was the original German line, blown to atoms in most places, and
represented through the center part of its length by a series of four
huge mine craters. These crowned the mound of St.-Eloi, a rise in the
ground which dominated the whole country."
The explosion of the great mine had damaged trenches on both sides,
and had created in the center of the arc of the bow a line of great
piles of earth. The trenches captured by the Third Division lay in
front. To the rear were the remains of the old line, a crater imposing
a barrier between troops holding either side. The new front trench
could not be reached except from the right or left, and a line is
always in danger when supports cannot be brought up from the rear.
The frontage at St.-Eloi was 600 to 1,000 yards, and the Germans' guns
had hammered it for three weeks until the whole surface of the ground
was uptorn. The Second Division occupied this area in the night of
April 3, 1916. Brigadier General Ketchen and the Sixth Brigade took
over the immediate front while the Fourth and Fifth Brigades were in
reserve. The 27th (Winnipeg) Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel Snider, held the right of the line to the 31st (Alberta)
Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Bell on the left. The 29th
(Vancouver) Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Tobin was in support of
the 27th while the 28th (Northwest) under Lieutenant Colonel Embury
was behind the craters and in the center, supporting the 31st with its
left.
The Canadian communication trench from the right of the old British
line broke out straight to the left, running east to meet the old
original German firing trench at a spot that was known as Sackville
Center. It was held by a company of the 27th under Lieutenant Wilson.
To the left the line crossed the first of two roads that led to
Wytschaete, which, running north and south, meet at St.-Eloi; here the
front, after a stretch of fifty yards to the southeast, turned due
east to Bathurst Butts near the second road, then bent abruptly north
completing the salient by meeting the old German firing trench at
Campbelltown Corner. This line was 540 yards in length, the few firing
platforms facing the wrong way, the Third Division having failed to
turn it about when they took the line. The two companies of the 27th
shared the frontage. Machine guns were numerous along the line, and as
they were constantly put out of action there were frequent calls for
additional guns.
The relief was successfully carried out during the night of April 4,
1916. The British of the Sixty-first Brigade, Third British Division,
who had been fighting for five days under heavy shell fire, were found
to be in a thoroughly exhausted condition. To this badly hammered line
the 27th (Winnipeg) and the 31st (Alberta) succeeded.
General Turner had made plans to make the position secure and tenable,
but before they could be more than started the German advance checked
further operations.
The working of evacuating the British wounded began in the morning,
when the German guns were busy. Lieutenant McCaw's company held fast
while the bombardment destroyed the greater part of their position and
sixty-seven out of the ninety men present were killed or wounded.
Captain Meredith of the 27th found that the position he was to occupy
had been wiped out and it was only possible to find shelter for a few
groups of bombers and his sentries in shell holes and behind
improvised refuge barriers. It was necessary to send most of his men
back while forty tried to hold a position where 200 were needed.
In the night of April 5-6, 1916, Captain Gwynn of the 29th Battalion
took over Meredith's command from the left of the line while
Lieutenant O'Brien of the same regiment relieved the 27th Company on
the right.
Small parties of Germans during the night of the 5th, dashing through
the Canadian artillery fire, had been steadily massing within striking
distance on the front, while the battered 27th Battalion was being
relieved.
The German artillery preparation began at 3 a. m. on April 6, 1916.
Canadian officers around the telephone dugout discovered that the line
was cut. The bombardment increased to a tornado of fire. Officers were
unable to rejoin their units. To move even was certain death; while
shell holes opened everywhere and trenches were shattered. The Sixth
Canadian Brigade found that many of its rifle and machine guns had
become clogged with mud and were useless. As day broke, the Germans
were seen advancing up the Wytschaete road toward Sackville Center.
Every Canadian gun was brought to bear, but the mud thrown up by the
bombardment had put them out of action, and groups were too isolated
to make a counterattack with the bayonet. Lieutenant Browne of the 22d
French Canadians turned his Lewis gun on the Germans, but after a few
of the enemy were shot down it went out of action. The Germans dashed
by toward the craters in the rear, overpowering the small groups
holding them. Two or three hundred Germans with machine guns held
Craters 2 and 3, to the left of the Canadian position, and in the
course of the day working to the left won Craters 4 and 5. The trench
between Campbelltown Corner and the old British line became untenable,
and while some got back to the original line, others occupied Craters
6 and 7. While here they were presently attacked by the Germans, who,
however, gained nothing, being beaten off by Major Doughty of the
31st, who organized the defense. All this took place while the relief
of the 27th was being completed, a time when there is always some
confusion. Small parties found themselves in danger of being
surrounded and retired toward Sackville Center and Fredericton Fort,
where Captains Gwynn and Meredith were organizing the defense. The
officers determined to hold on though under heavy machine-gun fire,
and called on Colonel Snider, the nearest commanding officer, for
help. The cover was poor, and many men fell. Lieutenant Jackson went
out to discover the precise position of the enemy and returned with
one private, eight others having been immediately killed. The Germans'
fire on the communication trenches made it impossible for the Canadian
command to move up supports, and believing the enemy was only a
raiding party, hesitated to bombard for fear that more Canadians than
Germans would be killed. Not until 5 o'clock on the 6th did General
Kitchen learn that Craters 2 and 3 had been lost, when artillery fire
was opened on Crater 2.
The trench mortars in the right-hand trenches were out of action, but
some 18-pounders were brought up and turned on the enemy in Crater 2.
A bombing and infantry attack from the north and northeast was
prepared and the 28th Battalion was ordered to move up behind the
center of the position and aid in the assault.
Parties of the 27th and 29th and machine-gun teams of the Fifth
Brigade, struggling to reach the rallying point before Crater 1, lost
heavily. Only one gun was brought out of action by Sergeant Naylor of
the 24th. Parties of the 25th and 26th were never seen again.
Lieutenant Browne of the 22d (French-Canadians) and a handful of men
marched through the enemy line and after a hand-to-hand fight in an
enemy trench reached Fredericton fort with only two men of his section
alive.
Captains Meredith and Gwynn, who were defending Fredericton, held on
for two hours longer, their men falling fast around them and were then
forced to retire.
The Canadians had lost all the new line except a few outpost
positions, and the remainder of the struggle was devoted to attempts
to regain the lost ground and drive the Germans from the craters.
On the morning of April 6, 1916, when headquarters learned of the
German attack, supports and reserves of the Sixth Brigade were ordered
forward. Two companies of the 29th were by this time with the 27th in
the old British trenches and the new Canadian line beyond. The 28th
occupied Voormezeele in the support center line. The 18th (Western
Ontario) under Lieutenant Colonel Wigle, and 21st (Eastern Ontario)
under Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, were in reserve at Dickebush. Two
counterattacks were made simultaneously. Right-of-the-line bombers of
the 27th and 29th headed an assault on Craters 2 and 3. Bombers of the
28th and 31st Battalions from the left center of the line were to
occupy Craters 4 and 5. The troops of these two regiments had to come
up from behind St.-Eloi and the Germans turned a heavy barrage of fire
on them. They were unfamiliar with the ground, and seeing the outlines
of two craters before them assumed these were their objectives. No one
knew at the time that the craters on the left were in German hands.
The attack on Craters 2 and 3 met with such a sweeping machine-gun
fire from the Germans that the attack had to be abandoned.
Canadian artillery bombarded the craters during the day, and it was
decided to attack 4 and 5 (supposed to be Craters 2 and 3) in the
evening of April 6, 1916. Soon after dark fifty or sixty Germans, who
had been hiding all day in shell holes, suddenly attacked the 31st,
but were swept away by a heavy fire and only a few escaped.
Later in the evening the 28th moved forward in parties to the support
of the much-tried 31st Battalion, making a junction with Major Daly
(21st) behind the craters held by the Canadians. They were ordered to
assault and capture Craters 2 and 3, but actually advanced against
Craters 4 and 5. The bombers under Lieutenant V. P. Murphy, supported
by Captain Styles, established themselves near the hostile craters,
but owing to the darkness and impassable mud, and the ground a mass of
holes, further progress could not be made.
Daybreak on the 7th found the Canadian infantry occupying Craters 6
and 7, but no progress had been made against German positions. The
attackers had lost their way or were worn out from exhaustion. Though
the opposing forces were within forty yards of each other during the
night they had never come to grips.
Orders continued to come up from the rear to capture the enemy's
intrenchments at any cost, and while reenforcements went forward, in
the conditions existing at the front they mysteriously vanished.
That night the Fourth Brigade began to come up to the relief. The
Sixth Brigade had fought nobly for three days and nights, with
casualties of 617 officers and men. The 27th had lost eight officers
and 209 of its rank and file killed or wounded. The 31st came next
with 180 casualties, then the 29th with a roll of 180 casualties,
while the 28th lost 101. The brigade had achieved a glorious defeat.
The relief, which lasted over four nights, put the 21st instead of the
27th on the right in the trenches, the 18th replacing the 28th in the
center support position, while the 19th took the place of the 31st on
the left in the Canadian craters.
Before the relief was completed on the night of April 8-9, 1916, a new
attack was made against Craters 2 and 3. Captain Miller of the 21st,
leading the attack on the right, was wounded in the engagement. With a
bombing party he had gained the edge of Crater 2 without being
observed. Finding the crater too strongly held, an attack was not
attempted until Lieutenant Brownlee and fifty men reenforced the
party. By this time the Germans were alert and started such a heavy
fire that only a fourth of the party succeeded in struggling back to
the trench.
The assault on Crater 3 by the 18th was also a failure. Lieutenant
Kerr, who led the party, was wounded, and the blasting German gunfire
forced them to reoccupy the old British line, putting out an advanced
post before it fifty yards from the German crater. There was great
difficulty in getting in the wounded. Captain McKeough and Sergeants
Richardson, Cunningham, and Bowie again and again dashed through the
fire to bring in the casualties. Meanwhile the 19th Battalion was
engaged in relieving the 31st in the Canadian craters. Majors Moors
and Morrison (19th Battalion), who successively held this dangerous
position, could accomplish little as the German Crater 5 dominated it.
Attacks were made, but all failed. On the night of April 9, 1916, an
assault was pushed with some success. Lieutenant Davidson (21st) and
Lieutenant Brownlee with a strong party of bombers seized Crater 1 and
pushed north to capture Crater 2 from the rear. Here they failed, but
dug in close to its rim and consolidated the ground thus won.
The 19th Battalion continued to hold positions in the Canadian craters
until relieved on the 12th. Among conspicuous acts of bravery at this
time was that of Corporal A. F. Lynch, who went out and dragged in a
machine gun the entire crew of which had been killed.
Attempts were repeatedly made to wrest the lost positions from the
enemy, but all failed. On the night of April 11, 1916, the Fourth
Brigade was relieved by the Fifth; their casualties were 14 officers
and 389 men.
It was decided to reconstruct the old British line and hold fast to
the two craters then in possession. The Fifth Brigade under General
Watson began the work of reconstruction. The relief of the Fourth
started on the 11th, and General Watson took over the line the next
morning. By April 13, 1916, the relief was accomplished. The position
taken over consisted of trenches and posts in the old British line,
the Craters 6 and 7, advanced trenches in Crater 1, and Sackville
center and outposts to the north. The work of consolidating this last
position fell to the 24th (Victoria Rifles). In the night of April
14-15, 1916, Lieutenants Robertson and Duclos made two daring
reconnoissances. Major Ross and Lieutenant Greenshields also went out
on the same dangerous mission, gaining information that led to a
strengthening of the posts in the old German trench leading to Crater
2, and the approaches to Crater 1. Brigadier General Watson saw the
necessity of making over a strong front line, and this was carried out
under heavy fire.
The Germans launched four successive bombing attacks on the night of
the 14th which were repulsed by bombers under Lieutenant Farish,
grenade officer of the 25th. After that, action merged into ordinary
trench warfare though the artillery continued active. On the 16th the
weather conditions enabled aeroplanes once more to carry out
observations. Then it was discovered that Craters 4 and 5 were in
German hands and Craters 6 and 7 held by the Canadians.
So heavy was the German fire on the Canadian craters during the
succeeding days that the High Command considered abandoning them, but
finally decided that they must be held at whatever cost. Brigade
relieved brigade, and every effort was made to strengthen the
positions.
Early in the morning on the 15th the Germans made a powerful bombing
assault on Craters 6 and 7. Communications were broken and runners who
tried to get through to the main position were killed or driven back.
The 25th held on until relieved by parties of the 24th on the 16th.
The relieving force immediately were called on to beat off another
enemy attack.
At noon on April 17, 1916, the 24th Battalion was relieved by the
26th. The terrible strain to which the troops were subjected at this
time necessitated that these, too, should have relief. The 26th were
in turn relieved by the 29th Battalion of the Sixth Brigade in the
night of April 18-19, 1916. On the next day the defense collapsed.
Crater 6 was held by Lieutenant Myers and forty men on the left, and
Lieutenant Biggs occupied Crater 7 on the right. The Germans shelled
the crater so heavily in the afternoon that only a few of the
defenders were left alive. Then the Germans advanced. Lieutenant Biggs
appears to have allowed his few men to surrender, but Lieutenant Myers
fought to the last. Five men who tried to get away across the
fire-swept country escaped, though only one man was unwounded. They
were the sole survivors of the garrison. All the others were killed or
taken prisoner.
Thus the craters which the Canadians had clung to so long were lost.
That they were untenable was the German view, for no attempts were
made to occupy them. On the 20th Major Tait of the 29th on
reconnoissance with a small party found Crater 6 demolished around the
edges, and within a mass of mud full of dead bodies. No further
efforts were made by the Canadians to reoccupy the position. Crater 1,
which had been held throughout the fighting of the 19th, remained
definitely in their hands.
On May 28, 1916, General Alderson took over new duties and was
succeeded by General Sir Julian Byng, commander of the 3d (British)
Cavalry.
When the storm broke on June 2, 1916, the struggle began southeast of
Ypres, which lies in a depression, a ridge curving around southwest to
Mount Sorrel.
From ruined Hooge, beyond a mile of green water meadows, Zouave Wood
is seen running up one of the greatest gaps in the ridge. This gap
isolates Hooge from the system and through it the Germans could view
the British trenches in the plain. To the south the slopes are covered
by Sanctuary Wood and crowned by Hills 61 and 62, and beyond Mount
Sorrel completing the fighting area. Between Sanctuary Wood and Mount
Sorrel is a bare tongue of higher ground, Observatory Ridge, running
due west into the British positions toward Zillebeke village. Such was
the position occupied by the Third Canadian Division on the first day
of June, 1916, as viewed from the rear. They held the high ground, a
plateau, and were determined to retain it.
The First Canadian Division was on the right of the Third. The Second
Division was farther south at St.-Eloi, and was not called on until
later in the action.
The left of the line was held by the Seventh Brigade under Brigadier
General A. C. Macdonell and the right by the Eighth Brigade under
Brigadier General Victor Williams. Two companies of the Royal Canadian
Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel C. H. Hill were astride the Menin
road on the far side of Hooge, their left sloping down through bombing
posts to link with the British at Bellewaarde Beek, their right in
touch with the Princess Patricias at the gap under Lieutenant Colonel
Buller. In the southern section of Sanctuary Wood they met the 1st
Canadian Mounted Rifles of the Eighth Brigade under Colonel Shaw
holding Hills 61 and 62. Next on the right was the 4th Mounted
Canadian Rifles under Colonel Ussher holding Mount Sorrel, where the
Second Brigade of the First Division continued the line.
Back of the front line there was a support line left of the position.
From the Menin road support line trenches extended southeast, held by
the support company of the Princess Patricias and the Royal Canadian
Regiment. Northeast of Maple Copse, and in the middle of Sanctuary
Wood, the support line broke into two systems of trenches. A series of
communication trenches broke abruptly back to Maple Copse and the
southwest, forming an apex facing the enemy. From the apex the support
line continued back of the Canadian front-line trenches on Hill 62 and
Mount Sorrel. Fortified posts back of these covered the ground between
Zouave Wood and the southern slopes of Observatory Ridge. A second
line known as G. H. Q. nearer Ypres was the last defense.
The 5th Canadian Rifles support battalion under Lieutenant Colonel
Baker held the fortified post on the north, the 4th Canadian Mounted
Rifles the post on the south. The Princess Patricias held one fort.
Maple Copse was occupied by a company and a half of the 5th Canadian
Mounted Rifles, the 42d Battalion of Royal Highlanders and the
remaining company of the Royal Canadian Regiment. The 49th Edmonton
Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Griesbach was the reserve battalion
of the Seventh Brigade, and the 2d Canadian Mounted Rifles of the
Eighth.
The German offensive on June 2, 1916, was not unexpected, as for some
days they had been driving "T" saps in front of their lines and
linking them together to form advance trenches.
The German bombardment, which began about 8.30 a. m., surpassed
anything of its kind the Canadians had faced since landing on the
continent. A tornado of fire and steel swept defenses away. The
defenders were slain, or wounded, or buried under débris. The generals
and their staffs were caught in the storm. One of the first shells
wounded Brigadier General Williams, who was later made a prisoner by
the Germans. General Mercer was last seen encouraging his men, and his
fate was not known until ten days later when his body, with both legs
broken, was found in one of the side trenches. This gallant soldier
was buried at Poperinghe, where many other brave Canadian soldiers
lie.
The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles were swept away by the storm of fire,
but afterward it was learned that some parties had escaped. The
garrison holding the last trench on the right reached the lines of the
Second Brigade when night fell.
The German advance was stubbornly resisted. Major Dennison fought a
rear-guard action and got back to the second line with five men. The
fortified post held by the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles was blown up.
One garrison was wiped out, and only three men got away from the other
post. Between thirty and forty men were rallied behind the support
line. The casualties were 637.
The 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion on their left had also met
with disaster. Their trenches were obliterated. The survivors retired
to the apex, and some on battalion headquarters.
The German attack launched just after 1 o'clock was made in four
successive lines from the southwest. Mount Sorrel was reached and the
German left flank began clearing the way, when the center attacked the
1st Canadian Mounted Rifles. Colonel Shaw in his redoubt found his
right flank exposed, and was attacked on all sides. The garrison
fought hard. Colonel Shaw fell and with him Major Palmer and
Lieutenant Rowles. At last all the officers but two and most of the
noncommissioned officers were killed and wounded. Lieutenants Key and
Evans led fifteen survivors back to a fortified post before the apex
where, with the help of stragglers, they held out until relieved the
next day. The total casualties of the regiment were 367.
The Princess Patricias had two companies in the firing line, one in a
communication trench leading up to it, and a fourth in the
support-line trenches. They were the next to withstand the German
assault. The company on the right hand in the firing line was blown
from the trenches. The survivors retired to the communication trenches
held by the support company. The German wave engulfed all the left
except the front-line company under Captain Niven, which turned and
volleyed into the German rear. The company held ground for eighteen
hours fighting hard and with excellent results. Their casualties were
heavy, but the enemy too was hard hit.
The Germans next attacked the Princess Patricias in the communication
trenches, bombing their way along to the apex line then lightly held.
Colonel Buller was killed while rallying the support platoons in the
communication trench. A close and dreadful struggle ensued between
Germans and Canadians in the communication trenches. The latter
endeavored to build blocks down the communication trenches to hold the
enemy from reaching the support line until it had been fully manned.
The garrison of each block perished while a new one farther on was
being built. They kept off the enemy long enough, however, for the
reserve company to come up and the vital position was saved. Had the
support line gone, the Ypres salient would have gone with it. Colonel
Buller saved the day by holding on until General Macdonell could bring
up his reserve.
Captain Niven meanwhile was clinging to the knoll of trenches in the
front line to the northwest, threatened on all sides by the Germans.
His right-hand platoon had been smashed by the bombardment and
Lieutenant Haggerty was killed. Lieutenant Molson took over the
command, but, being wounded, the section had to be abandoned.
Lieutenants Triggs and Irwin, the latter the only remaining subaltern,
were wounded later in the day. Captain Niven, though wounded, and the
only officer remaining of his company, continued to command. All
communication with the battalion was cut off, but some runners got
through. At twilight Captain Niven gave up his command to Lieutenant
Glascoe from headquarters, and after having his wound dressed returned
to his company, only to be struck down by a bullet.
Lieutenant Glascoe, seeing the surviving party would soon be
surrounded, brought away the remnant to the support line in safety.
Lieutenant C. P. Cotton of the First Divisional Artillery in command
of the gun crews serving two 18-pounders continued to fire upon the
enemy coming over Observatory Ridge until they were within a few yards
of the gun pits. Lieutenant Cotton and the gun crews fought to the
last.
The attack spread to Hooge in the afternoon when the Royal Canadian
Regiment repulsed two heavy attacks. But the Canadian position was
still serious, for the Germans had smashed the front and support lines
on the crest of the ridge and decimated the defenders. In strong force
they now advanced on Observatory Ridge, into the heart of the Canadian
position, and were also attacking farther north communication trenches
leading to the support lines. The enemy had won the support trenches
on Hill 62 and Mount Sorrel, and it was a matter of life and death for
the Canadians to hold on to the support trenches to the apex and Maple
Copse. The 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles offered a stout resistance, but
their position and that of the Seventh Brigade was seriously
imperiled, though General Macdonell was active pushing up
reenforcements. Early in the afternoon the 5th Mounted Rifles were
nearly blown out of Maple Copse. The Germans got into the support line
on the left, and the Princess Patricias bayoneted a large number in a
hand-to-hand struggle.
In the meantime the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade on the right was
threatened by the enemy from the rear. They got as far as Armagh
House, but were driven out by a patrol of the 5th Battalion. The 7th
Battalion (British Columbia) was brought up to support the 5th
Battalion.
The 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles held fast in Maple Copse, but their
brave commander, Colonel Baker, was slain. The Royal Canadian Regiment
still hung on to its position on the left. The center and support
trenches behind were intact, the Princess Patricias and the 42d still
held fast. Lieutenant Evans clung to the fortified post in front, and
the Germans could not shell the Mounted Rifles out of Maple Copse. To
the south the 5th Battalion of the First Division were in Square Wood
and the front line leading to Hill 60.
The Canadians launched a counterattack at 7.10 a. m. on June 3, 1916.
Major Stewart, formerly of the U. S. A., leading the 7th Battalion,
was slain. The objective of the 7th, supported by the 10th, was to
clear the enemy from the southern edge of Observatory Ridge and push
on to Mount Sorrel. The attacks were vigorously pressed, but all broke
down.
To the north the 15th Battalion attacked at 8.35 a. m. They were
astride the ridge, but the ground in front offered no cover and they
were forced to dig in just behind Rudkin House.
The 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment) went forward an hour
after the first attack took place, and linked up with the 15th at
Rudkin House.
The 49th and 60th on the extreme left were to attack through Sanctuary
Wood. The 52d and 60th were caught in barrages and most of their
senior officers were killed, and failed to arrive at the time fixed
for the assault. The 60th eventually reached the position assigned in
the support trenches and held the line all day under a withering fire.
The 49th in the apex and support line in Sanctuary Wood attacked at 7
a. m. Captain McNaughton and Lieutenant F. W. Scott and five other
officers were killed, while eight officers were wounded. They advanced
and established blocks in Sanctuary Wood, making the apex of the new
front line comparatively safe from assault. By early evening of June
3, 1916, it was known that the counterattack had failed in its main
objective. The Canadians had gained something by making good the line
that ran continuously from the Menin road to Hill 60, and the danger
that threatened on June 2, 1916, was now averted. But it was evident
that the situation could not be left as it was and preparations to
strike again were made by the High Command, which led to the fight for
Hooge.
From the knoll of Hooge one can look down on Ypres, hence its
importance. Advance trenches had been pushed to the east end of the
village overlooking Bellewaarde Lake. On the left the ground slopes
abruptly to Bellewaarde Beek, on the other side of which was the 60th
Battalion. The line here was open to German attack from the higher
ground.
The 28th Battalion went forward in the night of June 5-6, 1916, to
relieve the Royal Canadian Regiment, an operation which was
accomplished under heavy fire. At 7 a. m. on June 6, 1916, the Germans
began a bombardment that lasted for seven hours when the assault on
Hooge began. They knew the importance of Hooge, which must be captured
if the new line was to be made complete and the Ypres salient broken.
At 2 p. m. they exploded four mines under the Canadian front-line
trenches. One company of the 28th perished and many of the remaining
company were killed or wounded. Following the explosions the Germans
occupied the trenches in Hooge and attacked the Sixtieth British
Brigade opposite Bellewaarde Farm, but here they were repulsed. They
next advanced down the Menin road. Captain Styles of the 28th had
organized a defense in the support line and fortunately had numerous
machine guns, and a number of enemy attacks were beaten off. About 4
p. m. the 31st in the support trenches were attacked and the enemy
renewed their attempts in the evening through Zouave Wood. They lost
heavily and gained nothing. But the Sixth Brigade had suffered, its
casualties were 20 officers and 580 men. The village of Hooge was
lost, and the road to Ypres lay open to the enemy.
Preparations were now made by the Canadian High Command for a general
assault on the night of June 12-13, 1916. The Ninth British Brigade
took over the St.-Eloi sector, releasing the Second Division to occupy
ground in the north, while the First Division prepared for the attack.
General Lipsett commanded the 1st, 3d, 7th, and 8th Battalions for the
right attack. General Tuxford took command of the 2d, 4th, 13th, and
16th, while General Hughes remained as divisional reserve with the
5th, 10th, 14th, and 15th Battalions.
In the night of June 12, 1916, the German trenches were bombarded for
four hours and at 1.30 a. m. the battalions advanced in three
successive lines. All the battalions gained their objectives. The 16th
reached Mount Sorrel on the right, the 16th Hill 62 in center, and the
13th the old lines to the north of this.
During the night of the 12th German positions had been heavily shelled
and at 1.30 a. m. on the 13th, Lieutenant Colonel Allen led the 3d
Toronto Battalion forward with the 1st in support, and captured the
German first line. A fortified post in the enemy's hands was carried
by assault, and the objective was won forty minutes after the action
began. Colonel J. E. Leckie of the 16th Battalion (center attacked)
had discovered an old trench 100 yards nearer their objective and two
lines were passed up to the unmarked trench unknown to the enemy. The
Germans were hemmed in front and rear before they learned of the
presence of the Canadians. The two supporting lines did not have the
same good fortune, but suffered heavily from shell fire as they
climbed the parapet.
The second two waves of the 16th encountered strong resistance as they
approached the German front line, and Captain Wood, an American army
officer, was killed. The trench was taken and the defenders killed or
made prisoners. A machine gun a short distance away, which gave the
Canadians trouble, was silenced by Captain Bell-Irving, who dashed
from the line and killed the gun crew. Line after line was carried.
The 16th recaptured the heights, their old ground, and linked up with
the 3d Battalion.
The 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada) under Lieutenant
Colonel Buchanan, after some bombing encounters, broke through to the
north of Hill 62 and joined up with the 16th on the right. The 58th
(Colonel Genet) had fought their way up the communication trenches and
the circle from left to right was complete.
The First Division, through error caused by the dim light, occupied a
trench that was fifty yards from their objective. Bombing posts were
established down the German communication trenches, but the Germans
did not attempt a counterattack. When the morning dawned at last, the
Canadians were once more masters of the heights defending the Ypres
salient.
The Canadians broke into the great Battle of the Somme on September 4,
1916, when the First Division relieved the Australians before Pozières
and the men from overseas fought together for thirty-six hours. On
September 15, 1916, the Eleventh Division (British) held the front
flank in front of Thiepval, but the Second and Third Canadian
Divisions shared in the general advance, pushing their line forward
over the Pozières Ridge and down the slope to join the Fifteenth
Scottish Division in Martinpuich on the right. All Canada was
represented in this achievement. The capture of Courcelette was
largely the work of the 22d Battalion of the Fifth Brigade French
Canadians of the Second Division. The Third Canadian Division during
the Courcelette operation was working upon the left flank of the
Second, as it attacked the village, protecting it from enfilade
attack. The Canadians brought back 1,300 prisoners.
This important victory was followed by a day of failure. The Third
Division, still operating on the left of the Second, advanced to carry
the Zollern Trench and Zollern Redoubt north of Courcelette. The
Seventh and Ninth Brigades were in the attacking line, but the Seventh
was held up. The Ninth was halted by a barbed-wire entanglement. The
60th (Montreal) and the 52d (New Ontario) lost 800 men between them
and the operation was suspended.
CHAPTER XIV
VIMY RIDGE AND PASSCHENDAELE
During the early months of 1917 the Canadians, now forming a
self-contained corps under the command of General Sir Julian Byng,
continued on the front north of Arras where they soon were to win new
glory in the Vimy-Lens sector. January, February, and March, 1917, saw
no action of great importance, though many brilliant raids were
carried out successfully by the various units of the Canadian corps.
The chief work on hand at this time was careful training and
preparation for the part the Canadians were to play in the Battle of
Arras.
To them had been assigned the sector facing directly the menacing Vimy
Ridge, a long, gradual slope with a maximum elevation of 450 feet. The
four Canadian divisions were disposed in their numerical order with
the First (Currie) on the right wing, in touch with the Fifty-first
British Division, and the Fourth (Watson) on the left wing, in touch
with the First British Corps. The center was held by the Second and
Third Canadian Divisions (Burstall and Lipsett).
The infantry brigades were commanded by Brigadier Generals Garnet B.
Hughes, C. M. G.; W. St. P. Hughes, D. S. O.; F. O. Loomis, D. S. O.;
G. S. Tuxford, C. B., C. M. G.; Robert Rennie, C. M. G., M. V. O., D.
S. O.; A. H. Macdonell, C. M. G., D. S. O.; A. C. Macdonell, D. S. O.,
C. M. G.; H. D. B. Ketchen, C. M. G.; J. H. Elmsley, D. S. O.; F. W.
Hill, D. S. O.; Victor W. Odlum, D. S. O., and J. H. MacBrien, D. S.
O.
At half past 5 on Easter Monday morning, April 9, 1917, the great
attack was launched with terrible fire from massed artillery and from
many field guns in hidden advance positions. The Canadian "heavies"
bombarded the enemy positions on and beyond the ridge, and trenches,
dugouts, emplacements, and roads, which for long had been kept in a
continual state of disrepair by the Canadian fire, were now smashed to
uselessness. An intense barrage of shrapnel from field guns,
strengthened by the indirect fire of hundreds of machine guns, was
laid along the front.
At the same moment the Canadian troops advanced in line, in three
waves of attack. Flurries of snow drifted over the battle field as the
Canadians left their jumping-off trenches behind the rolling barrage.
The light was sufficient for maneuvering purposes and yet obscure
enough to obstruct the range of vision and lessen the accuracy of fire
of the German riflemen and machine-gunners.
The troops on the extreme left made a start under conditions as
favorable as those in the center and right, but they were soon
confronted by a strong and constantly strengthening opposition. The
advance of these troops was soon checked between the first and second
lines of objectives by heavy fighting, which was more formidable
against the center of the line than against the flanks.
A dip in the ground caused a change of direction, which swung these
troops off their central objectives. They reached their goals on the
flanks, only to find themselves subjected to heavy, close-range fire
of machine guns and rifles. To be enfiladed from the center and the
north was bad enough, but to add to the situation, caves or a tunnel,
in the hostile line over which we had already advanced, now disgorged
Germans, who promptly reoccupied their old front and opened fire on
the Canadian rear. The enemy at these points fought with unusual vigor
and resolution.
These troops on the extreme left fought all day, and by 10 o'clock at
night succeeded in disposing of the enemy in their rear and capturing
the major portion of the enemy trenches in their center. "The Pimple,"
in the north, still remained to the enemy, but by then snow was
falling heavily and it was wisely decided to consolidate the hard-won
gains and prepare for a counterattack rather than to undertake a
further assault that night. The "Pimple" would keep for the morrow.
In the meantime the other troops fought forward to one line after
another without serious check, but with many brisk encounters and not
without casualties. Most of these were the result of shrapnel fire,
only a small percentage were fatal, and the majority of the wounds
were of a minor character.
On the German second line the troops drew breath and consolidated
their gains. The Canadian barrage was laid before them steady as a
wall. Fresh troops came up and deployed into position. They waited for
the barrage to lift at the ordained minute and lead them on. The
enemy's artillery fire--their counterbarrage and bombardment of the
Canadian gun positions--was not strong as strength in such things was
considered in those days. Prisoners were already hurrying to the rear
in hundreds, pathetically and often ludicrously grateful to the
fortunes of war that had saved them alive for capture. They
surrendered promptly and willingly.
The barrage lifted, and the two divisions on the right followed it
forward to the German third line. Here again they paused for a time,
then advanced again, behind the ever-ready and unslackening barrage,
for a distance of about 1,200 yards. This advance included the capture
of several villages, Hill 140, a number of fortified woods, and
several trenches and belts of wire. And still the enemy surrendered by
hundreds and scuttled rearward to safety. Their resistance grew
feebler, their hands more eager to relinquish their weapons and ascend
high above their heads at each stage of the Canadian advance.
At 10 o'clock snow fell heavily from black clouds sweeping low across
the ridge. Half an hour later the snow ceased, the clouds thinned, and
the sun shone fitfully over the shattered and clamorous battle field.
Word was received at the advanced headquarters that the British
division on the immediate right was enjoying a degree of success in
its operations equal to the Canadian success.
Events continued to develop with rapidity and precision. By 1 o'clock
in the afternoon every point in the enemy's third line of the Canadian
objectives had been reached and secured. By this time the troops on
the right had consolidated their gains and advanced strong patrols.
From their new positions they commanded a wide view of enemy territory
to the eastward. They reported a massing of Germans on a road in the
new field of vision, and heavy guns immediately dealt with the matter.
By noon one of the battalions of a division had received and dealt
drastically with three counterattacks. Its front remained unshaken.
Shortly after this the Canadian corps was able to state that the
prisoners already to hand numbered 3 battalion commanders, 15 other
officers, and more than 2,000 noncommissioned officers and men--with
plenty more in sight--making for the "cages" as fast as their legs
would carry them.
The final stage of the attack of the troops on the right was now made.
They passed through the wide belts of enemy wire which fringed the
plateau by way of wide gaps torn by our heavy artillery at fixed
intervals. So they issued on the eastern slopes of Vimy Ridge--the
first Allied troops to look down upon the level plain of Douai since
the German occupation in 1914. They saw the villages of Farbus, Vimy,
and Petit Vimy at their feet, and beyond these the hamlets of
Willerval, Bailleul, Oppy, and Mericourt. They pressed on to Farbus
Wood and Goulot Wood, and possessed themselves of several hostile
batteries and much ammunition.
By an early hour of the afternoon all the Canadian objectives save
those of the left of the attack had been gained and the task of
consolidating and strengthening these gains was well in hand.
Throughout the day the most courageous and devoted cooperation was
rendered to the Canadian corps by a brigade and a squadron of the
Royal Flying Corps.
The night saw all of Vimy Ridge, with the exception of a few trenches
on Hill 145, secure in Canadian hands.
During the next two days the Canadians, greatly hampered by dreadful
weather, consolidated their new positions. When this had been
accomplished, operations were again resumed.
Attacks were delivered simultaneously at 5 A. M. on April 12, 1917, by
English and Canadian troops against the two small hills known as "The
Pimple," and the Bois-en-Hache, situated on either side of the Souchez
River. Both of these positions were captured, with a number of
prisoners and machine guns. Steps were at once taken to consolidate
these gains and patrols were pushed forward to maintain touch with the
enemy.
The results of this last success at once declared themselves. Prior to
its accomplishment there had been many signs that the enemy was
preparing to make strong counterattacks from the direction of Givenchy
and Hirondelle Woods to recover the Vimy Ridge. The positions captured
on April 12, 1917, commanded both these localities, and he was
therefore compelled to abandon the undertaking. His attitude in this
neighborhood forthwith ceased to be aggressive, and indications of an
immediate withdrawal from the areas commanded by the Vimy Ridge
multiplied rapidly.
The withdrawal commenced on the morning of April 13, 1917. Before
noon on that day Canadian patrols had succeeded in occupying the
southern portion of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, had pushed through Petit
Vimy, and had reached the crossroads 500 yards northeast of the
village. That afternoon English patrols north of the Souchez River
crossed no-man's-land and entered Angres, while Canadian troops
completed the occupation of Givenchy-en-Gohelle and the German trench
system east of it. Farther south other troops seized Petit Vimy and
Vimy, and Willerval and Bailleul were occupied in turn.
For the next two weeks these gains were maintained without any further
attempt to extend them.
In the meantime a great French offensive had been launched on the
Aisne and in Champagne and, in order to assist their allies, the
British had decided to resume their operations at Arras. The British
Commander in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig, in his report describes the
participation of the Canadians in these operations as follows:
"The first of these attacks was delivered on the 28th of April, 1917,
on a front of about eight miles north of Monchy-le-Preux. With a view
to economizing my troops, my objectives were shallow, and for a like
reason, and also in order to give the appearance of an attack on a
more imposing scale, demonstrations were continued southward to the
Arras-Cambrai road and northward to the Souchez River.
"The assault was launched at 4.25 a. m. by British and Canadian troops
and resulted in heavy fighting, which continued throughout the greater
part of the 28th and 29th of April, 1917. The enemy delivered
counterattack after counterattack with the greatest determination and
most lavish expenditure of men. Our positions at Gavrelle alone were
again attacked seven times with strong forces, and on each occasion
the enemy was repulsed with great loss.
"In spite of the enemy's desperate resistance, the village of
Arleux-en-Gohelle was captured by Canadian troops after bitter
hand-to-hand fighting, and English troops made further progress in the
neighborhood of Oppy, on Greenland Hill, and between Monchy-le-Preux
and the Scarpe. In addition to these advances, another 1,000 German
prisoners were taken by us in the course of the two days' fighting.
"Five days later, at 3.45 a. m. on the 3d of May, 1917, another attack
was undertaken by us of a similar nature to that of the 28th of April,
1917, which in the character of the subsequent fighting it closely
resembled.
"In view of important operations which the French were to carry out on
the 5th of May, 1917, I arranged for a considerable extension of my
active front. While the Third and First Armies attacked from
Fontaine-les-Croisilles to Fresnoy, the Fifth Army launched a second
attack upon the Hindenburg line in the neighborhood of Bullecourt.
This gave a total front of over sixteen miles.
"Along practically the whole of this front our troops broke into the
enemy's positions. Australian troops carried the Hindenburg line east
of Bullecourt, Eastern county battalions took Chérisy. Other English
troops entered Roeux and captured the German trenches south of
Fresnoy. Canadian battalions found Fresnoy full of German troops
assembled for a hostile attack, which was to have been delivered at a
later hour. After hard fighting, in which the enemy lost heavily, the
Canadians carried the village, thereby completing an unbroken series
of successes.
"Later in the day, strong hostile counterattacks once more
developed, accompanied by an intense bombardment with heavy guns.
Fierce fighting lasted throughout the afternoon and far into the
night, and our troops were obliged to withdraw from Roeux and
Chérisy. They maintained their hold, however, on Fresnoy and the
Hindenburg line east of Bullecourt, as well as upon certain trench
elements west of Fontaine-les-Croisilles and south of the Scarpe.
"Early in May, 1917, local attacks had been undertaken by Canadian
troops in the neighborhood of the Souchez River, which formed the
prelude to a long-sustained series of minor operations directed
against the defense of Lens. Substantial progress was made in this
area on June 5 and 19, 1917, and five days later North Midland troops
captured an important position on the slopes of a small hill
southwest of Lens, forcing the enemy to make a considerable withdrawal
on both sides of the river. Canadian troops took La Coulotte on June
26, 1917, and by the morning of June 28, 1917, had reached the
outskirts of Avion.
"On the evening of June 28, 1917, a deliberate and carefully
thought-out scheme was put into operation by the First Army to give
the enemy the impression that he was being attacked on a twelve-mile
front from Gavrelle to Hulluch.
"Elaborate demonstrations were made on the whole of this front,
accompanied by discharges of gas, smoke and thermit, and a mock raid
was successfully carried out southeast of Loos. At the same time real
attacks were made, with complete success, by English troops on a front
of 2,000 yards opposite Oppy, and by Canadian and North Midland troops
on a front of two and a half miles astride the Souchez River. All
objectives were gained, including Eleu dit Leauvette and the southern
half of Avion, with some 300 prisoners and a number of machine guns."
In the meantime the commander of the Canadian corps, General Sir
Julian Byng, early in June, 1917, had been promoted to the command of
one of the British armies. On June 19, 1917, Major General Sir Arthur
Currie, who only a short time before had been knighted by King George
on the battle field of Vimy, was gazetted as the new commander of the
Canadian corps and in July was promoted to the rank of Major General.
He was succeeded in the command of the first Canadian Division by
Major General A. C. Macdonell. Sir Arthur Currie had a most
distinguished career. Having joined the Canadian militia as early as
1895 as a private, he had gradually worked up his way to the command
of the Fifth British Columbia Regiment of Garrison Artillery. In 1914
he was given command of a brigade for active service, and in 1915 was
promoted to the command of the First Canadian Division, showing in all
his commands exceptional military capacity.
In the middle of August, 1917, the Canadians again became active in
the Lens sector. A highly successful operation was carried out in the
neighborhood of Lens, whereby the situation of the forces in that
sector was greatly improved. At the same time the threat to Lens
itself was rendered more immediate and more insistent and the enemy
was prevented from concentrating the whole of his attention and
resources upon the front of the British main offensive.
At 4.25 a. m. on August 15, 1917, the Canadian corps attacked on a
front of 4,000 yards southeast and east of Loos. The objectives
consisted of the strongly fortified hill known as Hill 70, which had
been reached but not held in the battle of Loos on September 25, 1915,
and also the mining suburbs of Cité Ste.-Élizabeth, Cité St.-Emile,
and Cité St.-Laurent, together with the whole of Bois Rase and the
western half of Bois Hugo. The observation from Hill 70 had been very
useful to the enemy, and its possession materially increased the
British command over the defenses of Lens.
Practically the whole of these objectives was gained rapidly at light
cost and in exact accordance with plan. Only at the farthest apex of
the advance a short length of German trench west of Cité St.-Auguste
resisted the first assault. This position was again attacked on the
afternoon of the following day and captured after a fierce struggle
lasting far into the night.
A number of local counterattacks on the morning of August 15, 1917,
were repulsed, and in the evening a powerful attack delivered across
the open by a German reserve division was broken up with heavy loss.
In addition to the enemy's other casualties, 1,120 prisoners from
three German divisions were captured by the Canadians.
Then came a period of well-deserved rest, not lacking, of course, in
plenty of drill and training for the battle-weary Canadians. On
October 23, 1917, the corps began its move to the north to participate
in the Battle of Passchendaele. Before long the Canadians were again
in the thick of the fighting.
At an early hour on the morning of October 26, 1917, in spite of heavy
rain, English and Canadian troops attacked on a front extending from
the Ypres-Roulers railway to beyond Poelcappelle.
The Canadians attacked on the right on both sides of the small stream
known as the Ravebeek, which flows southwestward from Passchendaele.
On the left bank of the stream they advanced astride the main ridge
and established themselves securely on the small hill south of
Passchendaele. North of the Ravebeek strong resistance was met on the
Bellevue Spur, a very strong point, which had resisted all efforts in
previous attacks. With splendid determination the Canadians renewed
their attack on this point in the afternoon and captured it. Two
strong counterattacks south and west of Passchendaele were beaten off,
and by nightfall the Canadians had gained practically the whole of
their objectives.
At this time the need for the policy of activity adopted by the
British had been still further emphasized by recent developments in
Italy. Additional importance was given to it by the increasing
probability that a time was approaching when the enemy's power of
drawing reenforcements from Russia would increase considerably. In
pursuance of this policy, therefore, two short advances were made on
the 30th of October and the 6th of November, 1917, by which possession
of Passchendaele was gained.
In the first operation Canadian and English troops attacked at 5:50 a.
m. on a front extending from the Ypres-Roulers railway to the
Poelcappelle-Westroosebeke road.
On the right the Canadians continued their advance along the high
ground and reached the outskirts of Passchendaele, capturing an
important position at Crest Farm on a small hill southwest of the
village. Fighting was severe at all points, but particularly on the
spur west of Passchendaele. Here no less than five strong
counterattacks were beaten off in the course of the day, the Canadians
being greatly assisted by the fire of captured German machine guns in
Crest Farm.
During the succeeding days small advances were made by night southwest
of Passchendaele, and a hostile attack on both sides of the
Ypres-Roulers railway was successfully repulsed.
[Illustration: At the left is Major General Sir Archibald Cameron
Macdonell, who commanded the Canadian First Division in 1917 and 1918;
at the right is Major General Sir Henry Edward Burstall, who commanded
the Canadian Corps Artillery, and later the Second Canadian Division.]
At 6 a. m. on the 6th of November, 1917, Canadian troops renewed their
attack and captured the village of Passchendaele, together with the
high ground immediately in the north and northwest. Sharp fighting
took place for the possession of "pill boxes" in the northern end of
the village, around Mosselmarkt, and on the Goudberg Spur. All
objectives were gained at an early hour, and at 8.50 a. m. a hostile
counterattack north of Passchendaele was beaten off.
Over 400 prisoners were captured in this most successful attack, by
which, for the second time within the year, Canadian troops achieved a
record of uninterrupted success. Four days later, in extremely
unfavorable weather, British and Canadian troops attacked northward
from Passchendaele and Goudberg, and captured further ground on the
main ridge after heavy fighting.
CHAPTER XV
HOLDING THE VIMY SECTOR
During the last year of the war in France and Belgium there were about
160,000 Canadians at the front, including an army corps of four
infantry divisions of 80,000 men under command of Sir Arthur Currie; a
cavalry brigade, 3,000 strong, under General Seely, and, after the
middle of the year, Brigadier General R. W. Paterson, D. S. O.;
numerous and effectively organized lines of communication units,
railway, forestry, engineer, medical, ambulance, sanitary, veterinary,
dental, salvage, and other services. The divisional commanders of the
infantry were as follows: Major General Sir A. C. Macdonell, K. C. B.,
C. M. G., D. S. O., First Division; Major General Sir H. E. Burstall,
K. C. B., C. M. G., Second Division; Major General F. O. Loomis, C.
B., C. M. G., D. S. O., Third Division; Major General Sir David
Watson, K. C. B., C. M. G., Fourth Division. Headquarters officials
included Brigadier General R. J. L. Hayter, C. M. G., D. S. O.;
Brigadier General G. J. Farmer, and Major General W. B. Lindsay, C. M.
G., D. S. O.; the artillery commander was Major General E. W. B.
Morrison, C. B., C. M. G., D. S. O., and his five divisional corps
commanders were Brigadier Generals H. C. Thacker, C. M. G., D. S. O.;
H. A. Panet, C. B., C. M. G., D. S. O.; J. S. Stewart, C. M. G., D.
S. O.; W. B. M. King, C. M. G., D. S. O.; W. O. H. Dodds, C. M. G.;
the Machine-Gun Corps was commanded by Brigadier General R. Brutinel,
C. M. G., D. S. O., and the Canadian representative at General
Headquarters was Brigadier General J. F. L. Embury, C. M. G., D. S.
O.; the Railway Troops were led by Brigadier General J. W. Stewart, C.
B., C. M. G., and the Army Medical Services by Brigadier General A. T.
Ross, C. B., C. M. G.; the Siberian Expeditionary Force was commanded
by Major General J. H. Elmsley, C. B., C. M. G., and Brigadier General
H. C. Bickford, C. M. G. The Infantry Brigade commanders in France and
Flanders were as follows: Brigadier General W. A. Griesbach, C. M. G.,
D. S. O.; Brigadier General G. S. Tuxford, C. B., C. M. G.; Brigadier
General George F. McCuaig, C. M. G., D. S. O.; Brigadier General T. L.
Tremblay, C. M. G., D. S. O.; Brigadier General Alex. Ross, C. M. G.,
D. S. O.; Brigadier General J. A. Clark, D. S. O.; Brigadier General
D. C. Draper, C. M. G., D. S. O.; Brigadier General D. M. Ormond, C.
M. G., D. S. O.; Brigadier General J. M. Ross, C. M. G., D. S. O.;
Brigadier General Victor W. Odlum, C. B., C. M. G., D. S. O.;
Brigadier General J. H. MacBrien, C. B., C. M. G., D. S. O.
After the Battle of Passchendaele the Canadian Corps was assigned to a
part of the front where it had won immortal glory early in 1917--the
Vimy sector. From January 1 to March 21, 1918, the corps held a front
of some 13,000 yards from Hill 70 to Acheville, slightly east of a
line drawn between Loos and Vimy.
This front was divided into five sections: Hill 70, St.-Emile, Lens,
Avion, and Mericourt. The corps now settled down to the routine of
trench warfare. Lieutenant General Sir A. W. Currie, of course, was in
command. His dispositions provided that three of the divisions held
the line while one was resting and training in reserve. Each of the
divisions had approximately one month out of the line. This
arrangement allowed the divisions to absorb more quickly the fresh
drafts and to train rapidly the new officers and N. C. O's.
The Canadians were no strangers to this sector. Having wrested it from
the enemy in April, 1917, in the Battle of Vimy and subsequent
actions, they had held it practically ever since, except for the short
interval late in 1917 when they fought the Battle of Passchendaele. It
had been considerably improved by comprehensive defenses and complete
systems of trench railways, roads, and water supply were in operation.
The great importance of this particular sector arose from the fact
that behind Vimy Ridge lay the northern collieries of France and
certain tactical features which covered the British lateral
communication. "Here," as the British Commander in Chief said in one
of his reports, "little or no ground could be given up."
A comparatively shallow advance beyond the Vimy Ridge would have
stopped the operation of the collieries, paralyzing the production of
war material in France, as well as inflicting very severe hardships on
the already sorely tried population. In conjunction with the shortage
of shipping, which practically forbade an increase in the importation
of coal from England, the loss of the northern collieries might have
definitely crippled France. On the other hand, a deep penetration at
that point, by bringing the Amiens-Bethune railway and main road under
fire, would have placed the British army in a critical position, by
threatening to cut it in two and by depriving it of vital lateral
communication.
The tactical and strategical results to be gained by a moderate
success at that point were so far-reaching in effect that,
notwithstanding the natural difficulties confronting an attack on that
sector, it was fully expected that the German offensive would be
directed against this the central part of the British front.
With the prospect of a German offensive now confronting the Canadians,
it was decided that the defenses should be revised, to take advantage
of the lessons recently learned and to embody the latest methods.
Moreover, instructions had been issued by the First Army defining the
policy of defense to be adopted and the methods to be followed.
The completion of the revised corps defenses and the execution of the
new army program resulted in the organization of a very deep defended
area, consisting of successive defensive systems, roughly parallel to
the general line of the front and linked together by switch lines
sited to protect both flanks.
As planned, the main framework of the defense in depth was based upon
machine-gun positions, protected by belts of wire entanglements so
placed, in relation to the field of fire of the machine guns, that
they were enfiladed over their entire length. The whole area was
compartmented in such a way that the loss of ground at any one point
could be localized, and would not cause a forced retirement from
adjoining areas.
Machine-gun emplacements of the Champagne type were constructed, and
dugout accommodation for the machine-gun detachments was provided in
the deep tunnels of these emplacements.
This framework was completed as rapidly as possible by trenches and by
defended localities organized for all-round defense.
A great many dugouts were made to accommodate the garrisons of these
localities, and for dressing stations and battle headquarters.
Advantage was taken of the possibility of utilizing the subways
tunneled in 1916-17 for the attack on Vimy Ridge, and in addition
steps were taken to create an obstacle on the southern flank of Vimy
Ridge by the construction of dams to enable the valley of the Scarpe
to be flooded as required. Trial inundations were made to insure the
smooth working of these arrangements.
A great deal of care was given to the distribution of the artillery in
relation to the policy of defense. Three systems of battery positions
were built so as to distribute the guns in depth and sited so as to
cover the ground to the northeast, east, and south, in case the flanks
of the corps should be turned. These batteries were protected with
barbed-wire entanglements and machine-gun positions against a sudden
penetration of the enemy, and they were designed to become the natural
rallying points of infantry in this eventuality.
Successive lines of retirement were also prepared, battery positions
were selected, organized, and marked, cross-country tracks were opened
up, and observation posts, echeloned in depth, were located and wired
in.
On Vimy Ridge alone seventy-two new battery positions were built and
stacked with ammunition; these positions could be used either for the
distribution of the corps artillery in depth, or as positions which
reenforcing artillery could immediately take up in the event of a
heavy attack.
The weather being much finer during the months of January, February,
and March, 1918, than is generally the case, very good progress was
made, and the following defensive works were completed in rear of the
main front-line defensive system:
250 miles of trench;
300 miles of barbed-wire entanglements;
200 tunneled machine-gun emplacements.
In addition to the above, existing trench systems, dugouts, gun
positions, and machine-gun emplacements were strengthened and
repaired. Each trench system was plentifully marked with signboards
and many open machine-gun positions were sited and marked.
Machine-gun positions, defended localities, and certain portions of
trenches were stored with several days' supply of ammunition, food,
and water for the use of the garrisons.
The front held remained comparatively quiet during January, 1918, and,
except for minor patrolling encounters and occasional shoots, nothing
beyond the usual activity ever prevailing on a front held by this
corps occurred.
In the months of February and March, 1918, little or no work was being
done by the enemy on his actual defenses, but roads and disused trench
railways were being repaired. In the rear areas his ammunition and
engineer supply dumps were increasing in number and in size, while
fresh battery positions were appearing almost daily. Furthermore,
hostile aircraft and anti-aircraft guns were very active in preventing
reconnoissance by British aeroplanes.
Early in March, 1918, it was considered that the enemy's front was
ready for offensive operations. No concentration of troops had been
observed, but the numerous towns and villages in close proximity to
the front provided extensive accommodation and made it possible for
him to conceal such concentrations. Conditions so favorable to the
Germans required relentless vigilance on the part of the Corps
Intelligence Organization, as the Canadians were dependent on the
efficiency of this branch of the service for timely warning against
surprise attacks.
In addition to the preparation above mentioned the enemy assumed early
in February, 1918, a very aggressive attitude, raiding the Canadian
lines very frequently, using for the purpose specially trained storm
troops. His destructive shoots and intense gas shelling were also of
frequent occurrence. To quell this activity, numerous counter-raids,
retaliation shoots, and gas projections were carried out, and
especially in the Lens sector soon had the desired effect.
Prisoners captured in Canadian raids stated that all their divisions
had been brought up to strength and were undergoing hard training in
the tactics of semiopen warfare. They stated, or left it to be
understood, that the forthcoming German attacks were based on a very
deep initial penetration and the rapid exploitation of success. No
indications were given as to the points at which attacks would be
launched, but they stated that every one of their sectors was prepared
and practically ready. It was also definitely established that the
enemy reserve divisions were kept near railways, ready to be moved
quickly to the parts of the front selected for the coming drive.
CHAPTER XVI
HOLDING LENS AND ARRAS
On March 21, 1918, the Germans launched a violent attack against the
Fifth and Third British Armies. The battle resulting from this attack,
known as the Battle of Amiens, did not involve directly the majority
of the Canadian Corps. The latter on that date was disposed as
follows: Third Canadian Division (Major General L. J. Lipsett), in the
line, Mericourt-Avion sections; Fourth Canadian Division (Major
General Sir D. Watson), in the line, Lens-St.-Emile sections; First
Canadian Division (Major General Sir A. C. Macdonell), in the line,
Hill 70 section; Second Canadian Division (Major General Sir H. E.
Burstall), resting, Auchel area.
In the afternoon orders were received to take over the front of the
Sixty-second Division (Thirteenth Corps) in the Acheville sector. The
Second Canadian Division, then in reserve, was at first chosen to
execute this order. But when, somewhat later, the Canadian Corps was
instructed to keep one complete division in reserve, this order was
canceled, and instead the Third Canadian Division was ordered to
execute its frontage by relieving the Sixty-second Division in the
Acheville-Arleux sector, making the total Canadian front 17,000 yards.
In the evening of March 22, 1918, the Hill 70 sector, then held by the
First Canadian Division, was taken over by the Fourth, extending the
latter's frontage, while the former was placed in reserve.
Late that night General Headquarters ordered the withdrawal of the
First Canadian Motor Machine-Gun Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel W. K.
Walker) from the Vimy sector. This unit, the next morning, moved south
to the support of the Fifth Army, and by midnight of March 23, 1918,
having traveled over 100 miles during the day, all batteries were in
action on a thirty-five-mile front east of Amiens.
Under orders of the Fifth and later of the Fourth Army, it was ordered
to fight a rear-guard action to delay the advance of the enemy and to
fill dangerous gaps on the army fronts. For nineteen days this unit
was continuously in action north and south of the Somme, fighting
against overwhelming odds. Using to the utmost its great mobility, it
fought over 200 square miles of territory. It is difficult to appraise
in its correct extent the influence--material and moral--that the
forty machine guns of this unit had in the events which were then
taking place. The losses suffered amounted to about 75 per cent of the
trench strength of the unit, and to keep it in being throughout that
fighting, reenforcements by personnel of the infantry branch of the
Canadian Machine-Gun Corps were authorized.
On the 23d, at 10.50 a. m., the Second Canadian Division was ordered
to concentrate at once west of Arras in the Mont St.-Eloi area, and
having carried this out, passed into General Headquarters reserve.
The First Canadian Division was moved by busses to Couturelle area,
embussing at about midnight, March 27, 1918. At dawn, March 28, 1918,
the enemy struck heavily astride the river Scarpe, and the First
Canadian Division was ordered at 10.30 a. m. to retain the busses by
which they had moved south and to move back to the Arras-Bainville
area at once, coming there under orders of the Seventeenth Corps.
This move was very difficult, because some busses had already been
sent back to the Park, many units were still en route to the
Couturelle area, and the mounted units and transport were in column on
the road Hauteville-Saulty-Couturelle. The division, however,
extricated itself, and on the night of the 28th, under orders of the
Seventeenth Corps, placed two battalions in the forward area in
support of the Forty-sixth Infantry Brigade, Fifteenth Division. At
daybreak on the 29th the Third Canadian Infantry Brigade moved to
support the Fifteenth Division, and during the night of the 29th and
30th the First Canadian Brigade relieved the Forty-sixth Infantry
Brigade in the Telegraph Hill sector, that brigade front being
transferred from the Fifteenth Division to the First Canadian Division
on March 30, 1918.
The Second Canadian Division passed under orders of the Sixth Corps on
March 28, 1918, and moved forward in support of the Third British
Division in the Neuville-Vitasse sector. On the night of March 29-30,
1918, it relieved the Third British Division in the line, and on the
night of March 31-April 1, 1918, extended its front southward by
relieving the left battalion of the Guards Division.
The front held by the Second Canadian Division extended from south of
the Cojeul River, east of Boisleux St.-Marc, to the southern slopes of
Telegraph Hill (where it joined with the First Canadian Division), a
total length of about 6,000 yards. The Second Canadian Division held
this front for an uninterrupted period of ninety-two days, during
which time it repulsed a series of local attacks and carried out no
less than 27 raids, capturing 3 officers, 101 other ranks, 22 machine
guns, 2 trench mortars, and inflicting severe casualties on the enemy.
The aggressive attitude adopted by this division at such a critical
time and under adverse conditions had a most excellent effect and it
certainly reduced to the lowest point the fighting value of two German
divisions, namely, the Twenty-sixth Reserve Division and the One
Hundred and Eighty-fifth Division. The Second Canadian Division
returned under the orders of the Canadian corps on July 1, 1918.
The Third Canadian Division had been attached on March 27, 1918, to
the Thirteenth Corps. Thus, under pressure of circumstances, the unity
of command of the Canadian divisions had been destroyed. They were now
attached to two different armies (First and Third) and under command
of three different corps (Sixth, Seventeenth, and Thirteenth).
On March 28, 1918, the Germans launched a very heavy attack in the
Arras sector from Gavrelle to Puisieux. The Third, Fifteenth, Fourth,
and Fifty-sixth British Divisions successfully repulsed this
offensive.
The attack was renewed in the afternoon, north of the Scarpe, on the
front of the Fifty-sixth Division, but did not there meet with greater
success. A certain amount of ground had, however, been captured by the
enemy.
The renewed attack on the Fifty-sixth Division had considerably
lowered its power of resistance. German prisoners captured in the
morning were insistent that the attack would be renewed again on the
29th, by storm troops which had been held in reserve for the purpose
of capturing the Vimy Ridge by attacking it from the south. It was
most urgent that the Fifty-sixth Division should be supported without
delay.
On March 28, 1918, the Fourth Canadian Division, then holding the
Lens-St.-Emile-Hill 70 sector, was relieved by the Forty-sixth British
Division, First Corps, and in turn relieved the Fifty-sixth British
Division in the Oppy-Gavrelle sector.
On the completion of this relief the Canadian Corps was to relieve
the Thirteenth Corps, and General Sir Currie again assumed command of
the Third and Fourth Canadian Divisions.
In the meantime all the battalions which the Fourth Canadian Divisions
could spare were to be sent at once by the quickest way to the support
of the Fifty-sixth Division.
The Fourth Canadian Division, therefore, immediately organized a
Composite Brigade, under Brigadier General V. W. Odlum, consisting of
the three reserve battalions of the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth
Brigades, and the support battalions of the Eleventh and Twelfth
Brigades. This Composite Brigade was moved in haste by light railway
and lorry to the vicinity of Mont St.-Eloi, from whence it marched
into reserve positions during daylight on the 28th.
On the night of the 28th-29th the units of the Fifty-sixth Division
which had been most heavily engaged were relieved by these five
Canadian battalions, which came under orders of the Third Canadian
Division.
It was not until about 10.00 p. m., on the night of the 28th-29th,
that the leading troops of the Forty-sixth Division arrived and began
to relieve the Fourth Canadian Division.
In view of the seriousness of the situation, units of the Fourth
Canadian Division were moved, as the relief progressed, by lorry and
light railway to Neuville St.-Vaast, and marched quickly into the line
to relieve the elements of the Fifty-sixth Division.
The situation of the Canadian divisions at noon, March 30, 1918, after
some other readjustments had been carried into effect, was as follows:
Third Army. Under Sixth Corps--Second Canadian Division:
Neuville-Vitasse sector. Under Seventeenth Corps--First Canadian
Division: Telegraph Hill sector.
First Army. Under Canadian Corps--Third Canadian Division:
Acheville-Mericourt-Avion sector. Under Canadian Corps--Fourth
Canadian Division: Gavrelle-Oppy sector.
On April 7, 1918, the First Canadian Division relieved the Fourth
British Division astride the Scarpe and came under orders of Canadian
Corps; the army boundaries being altered so as to include the sector
taken over by the First Canadian Division in the First Army front.
In the meantime, on the night of March 28th-29th, 1918, owing to
operations astride the river Scarpe, the front-line system had been
abandoned under orders of the Thirteenth Corps and the troops withdrawn
to the Blue line in front of the Bailleul-Willer-val-Chaudière-Hirondelle
line, as far north as the Mericourt sector.
This Blue line was originally sited and constructed as an intermediate
position, and consisted in most parts of a single trench none too
plentifully supplied with dugouts. This meant that until a support
line was dug and made continuous the troops had to be kept in strength
in the front line, subject to heavy casualties from hostile shelling
and to probable annihilation in case of an organized attack.
Any advance beyond the Blue line on the Fourth Canadian Division front
would have brought the Germans within assaulting distance of the
weakest part of the Vimy Ridge, and the severity of the shelling
seemed to indicate that a renewal of their attacks was probable.
Every effort was made to give more depth to the new front-line system
by pushing forward a line of outposts and by digging a continuous
support line, as well as by constructing reserve lines at certain
points of greater tactical importance. Switch lines facing south were
also sited and dug or improved.
To increase the depth of the defenses, machine-gun detachments were
extemporized by borrowing men from the machine-gun battalions, who had
then completed their organization on an eight-battery basis. Some
fifty extra machine guns were secured from ordnance and other sources,
and also a number of extra Lewis guns.
Personnel from the Canadian Light Horse and the Canadian Corps Cyclist
Battalion were organized in Lewis and Hotchkiss gun detachments and
sent forward to man the defenses in Vimy and Willerval localities,
under orders of the Third and Fourth Canadian Divisions.
The machine-gun companies of the Fifth Canadian Division had arrived
in France on March 25, 1918, and in view of the extreme urgency of the
situation the personnel and armament had been moved by lorries, sent
specially by Canadian Corps, from Le Havre to Verdrel, where they were
in corps reserve.
Their horse transport having now arrived, these machine-gun companies
(Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth) were moved to the Vimy Ridge
and allotted definite positions of defense on March 30, 1918.
The front held by the Canadian Corps on April 8, 1918, was
approximately 16,000 yards in length. It will be remembered that the
Second Canadian Division under the Sixth Corps (Third Army) was
holding 6,000 yards of front, making a total of 22,000 yards of front
held by Canadian troops.
On April 9, 1918, the Germans attacked on the Lys front between La
Bassée and Armentières. Making rapid progress, they crossed the Lys
River on the 10th, and on the following days advanced west of
Merville-Bailleul. They were well held at Givenchy by the Fifty-fifth
Division and their attack made no progress southward.
The Canadian Corps was not involved in this fighting, but it now found
itself in a deep salient, following with anxiety the development of
the Battle of the Lys.
The Battle of the Lys added a new burden to the already sorely tried
British Army, and it was imperative that troops should at once be made
available to stop the German advance.
On the 10th, the Canadian front was extended by taking over from
the First Corps the line held by the Forty-sixth Division
(Lens-St.-Emile-Hill 70 sector). This relief was commenced on April
11, 1918, and completed on the night of the 12th-13th by the Third
Canadian Division; concurrently with it, the inter-divisional
boundaries were readjusted and the artillery redistributed to meet
as well as possible the new conditions.
The front held by the three divisions then in the Canadian Corps had a
length of approximately 29,000 yards, and of necessity the line was
held very thinly and without much depth.
To deceive the enemy regarding their dispositions and intentions, the
Canadians adopted a very aggressive attitude. The artillery constantly
harassed the enemy's forward and rear areas and the infantry
penetrated his line at many points with strong fighting patrols and
bold raiding parties. Gas was also projected on numerous occasions.
This activity on the immediate flank of the Lys salient greatly
perturbed the enemy, who gave many indications of nervous uncertainty.
The situation was critical, and extensive steps were taken at once to
increase the ability of the Canadian Corps to withstand hostile
attacks.
The success of the German offensive emphasized the need of greater
depth for defensive dispositions, which depend very largely on the
stopping power of the machine gun. Unfortunately the number of machine
guns with a division was inadequate to give the required depth of
defense on a front exceeding 4,000 yards in length. Each Canadian
division was now holding a front approximately 10,000 yards in length,
and the extemporized machine-gun detachments formed previously, added
to the machine-gun companies of the Fifth Canadian Division, were far
from sufficient for the task.
General Sir Currie therefore decided to add a third company of four
batteries to each battalion of the Canadian Machine-Gun Corps, thus
bringing up to ninety-six the number of machine guns in each Canadian
division. This entailed an increase in personnel of approximately 50
per cent of the strength of each machine-gun battalion.
These companies were formed provisionally on April 12, 1918, by
withdrawing fifty men from each infantry battalion. Of these men a
portion was sent to the Machine-Gun Battalion to be combined with the
trained personnel, so that each machine-gun crew would include at
least four trained gunners. The remainder of the infantry personnel
withdrawn as above stated was sent to a special machine-gun depot
formed for the purpose, and there underwent an abridged but intensive
course of training. Thus an immediate supply of reenforcements was
insured. Twenty-three-ton lorries had been borrowed from General
Headquarters to supply a modicum of transport to the new units, and on
April 13, 1918, some of the new machine-gun batteries were already in
the line at critical points.
Sufficient troops were not now available to garrison the local
defenses of Vimy Ridge, or to reenforce parts of the front if the
enemy was successful in effecting a deep penetration.
Two special brigades were therefore organized:
The Hughes Brigade--Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel H. T. Hughes.
Approximate strength, officers, 184; other ranks, 4,050.
McPhail's Brigade--Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A. McPhail.
Approximate strength, officers, 148; other ranks, 4,628.
Two companies of the Eleventh Tank Battalion (twenty-four tanks) were
placed at the disposal of the Canadian Corps on April 13, 1918. These
tanks had officers, drivers, and armament, but no other personnel. A
sufficient number of trained Lewis gunners were found from the First,
Third, and Fourth Canadian Divisional wings and the Canadian Field
Artillery supplied the required number of gunners.
The tanks were then distributed at the critical points in the corps
area, namely: Behind the St. Catherine switch at intervals of about
300 yards, facing south--18 tanks. In the gap between the Souchez
River and Bois-en-Hache, facing east--three tanks. On the ridge line
behind Angres, facing east--three tanks.
It was intended that these tanks should form points of resistance to
check any forward flow of hostile forces and so give time to the
Canadian infantry to re-form in case they should be forced back. In
any event the tanks were to remain in action for twelve hours after
coming in contact with the enemy and thus gain the time so essential
in a crisis.
The First Canadian Motor Machine-Gun Brigade, now returned from the
Amiens Battle, was held as a mobile reserve at one hour's notice.
Bridges, railways, roads, and pumping stations were prepared for
demolition, to be blown up as a last resort.
Extended almost to the breaking point, in danger of being annihilated
by overwhelming attacks, the corps confidently awaited the assault.
All ranks of the corps were unanimous in their ardent resolve to hold
to the last every inch of the ground intrusted to their keeping.
It was for them a matter of great pride that their front was
substantially the only part of the British line which had not budged,
and one and all felt that it could not budge so long as they were
alive.
Eventually, the First, Third, and Fourth Canadian Divisions were
relieved in their sectors by the Fifteenth, Fifty-first, Fifty-second,
Twentieth, and Twenty-fourth British Divisions. The relief started on
May 1 and was completed on May 7, 1918.
As the relief progressed, the Canadian Corps handed over command of
the Avion-Lens-St.-Emile-Hill 70 sectors to the Eighteenth Corps and
the balance of the front to the Seventeenth Corps.
The length of front held by the Canadian Corps at the various stages
of the German offensive has been given previously, but it is here
recalled that from April 10, 1918, until relieved the corps held a
line exceeding 29,000 yards in length; the Second Canadian Division,
then with the Sixth Corps, was holding 6,000 yards of front, making a
total length of 35,000 yards of front held by the four Canadian
divisions. The total length of the line held by the British army
between the Oise and the sea was approximately 100 miles, therefore
the Canadian troops were holding approximately one-fifth of the total
front.
Thus, although the Canadian Corps did not, during this period, have to
repulse any German attacks on its front, it nevertheless played a part
worthy of its strength during that period.
On completion of the relief on May 7, 1918, with the exception of the
Second Canadian Division, which was still in the line in the Third
Army area, the Canadian Corps was placed in the General Headquarters
reserve in the First Army area (Arras sector), and disposed as
follows:
Headquarters--Pernes, and later Bryas. First Canadian Division--Le
Cauroy area. Third Canadian Division--St. Hilaire area. Fourth
Canadian Division--Monchy-Bréton area.
One infantry brigade and one machine-gun company from each Canadian
division were billeted well forward in support of the corps in the
line as follows:
(a) One infantry brigade, one machine-gun company--Anzin area.
Support, Seventeenth Corps.
(b) One infantry brigade, one machine-gun company--Château de la Haie
area. Support, Eighteenth Corps.
(c) One infantry brigade, one machine-gun company--Ham en Artois area.
Support, Eleventh Corps.
These brigades were kept under one hour's notice from 5.00 a. m. to
7.00 a. m. daily and under four hours' notice during the remainder of
the day. The remainder of the Canadian Corps was under four hours'
notice.
Reconnoissances of the front which the corps would have to support in
case of an attack were ordered and carried out by staff and regimental
officers. The brigades billeted forward were relieved from time to
time under divisional arrangements.
On May 23, 1918, the Seventy-fourth British Division, newly arrived in
France from Palestine, came under Canadian Corps for administration
and training. It was necessary to rearrange the areas among the
divisions in the corps to make room for the Seventy-fourth Division
and to equalize the training facilities. With the exception of these
moves, the disposition of the Canadian Corps remained substantially
the same until June 25, 1918.
On that date the Second Canadian Division, which had been in the line
since March 30, 1918, was relieved by the Third Canadian Division,
which came then under the Sixth Corps, Third Army area, with
headquarters at Basseux. Readjustments were also made in the locations
of all the Canadian troops then in reserve.
[Illustration: Canadian Official Photo.
At the left is Major General David Watson, who commanded the Fourth
Canadian Division from 1916 on; at the right is Major General Louis
James Lipsett, who commanded the Third Canadian Division from 1916 to
1918. He was killed in action.]
Though the principal reason for placing the Canadians into reserve, of
course, was to give them a much-needed and well-deserved rest, their
entire time was by no means devoted to this purpose. Throughout this
period there went forward a steady process of reorganization and
training. Reinforcements were received and gradually absorbed. The
most intensive kind of tactical and individual training was carried on
throughout May, June, and July, 1918. At the same time preparations
were being made to recapture Merville and part of the Lys salient,
operations which for purposes of maintaining secrecy were then known
as the "Delta attack."
One memorable event of this period was the celebration of Dominion
Day. Ever since the Canadians had arrived in France, July 1 had been
set aside for this purpose, but never before had the "sports" been as
brilliant as on July 1, 1918.
Finally, on July 6, 1918, the Canadian Corps was warned to be prepared
to relieve the Seventeenth Corps in the line. This operation was begun
on July 10 and completed on July 15, 1918, when Lieutenant General Sir
A. W. Currie assumed command of the Seventeenth Corps front
(Arras-Lens sector), disposing his forces as follows:
Headquarters Canadian Corps--Duisans (First Army area). Second
Canadian Division, in the line--Telegraph Hill section. First Canadian
Division, in the line--Feuchy-Fampoux section. Fourth Canadian
Division, in the line--Gavrelle-Oppy section. Under Sixth Corps--Third
Army area. Third Canadian Division, in the line--Neuville-Vitasse
section.
CHAPTER XVII
THE AMIENS BATTLE OF AUGUST, 1918
The relief of the Seventeenth Corps by the Canadian Corps on July 15,
1918, after the corps' long period of rest and training, with the
attendant movement and activity, made the enemy alert and anxious as
to the British intentions on this front. He was successful in securing
identifications at various points of the line, which he penetrated by
raiding.
As it was desired to keep him fully occupied on this front, the
artillery activity was increased and our infantry engaged in vigorous
patrolling and raiding.
By the latter part of July, 1918, the Allied High Command had decided
to enlarge the scope of the operations east of Amiens. Originally
conceived as of a purely local character, they were now intended to
reduce the entire salient of the Somme created by the successful
German offensive of March 21, 1918, and the days following.
During the last few days of July, 1918, and the first few days of
August, 1918, the Canadian Corps was relieved by the Seventeenth Corps
and was transferred from the First to the Fourth Army area. On July
30, 1918, Canadian Headquarters moved to Molliens Vidarne, in the
Amiens sector.
The attack against the Somme salient eventually was set for August 8,
1918.
The front of attack was to extend from Moreuil to Ville-sur-Ancre on a
front of approximately 20,000 yards. The dispositions of the troops
participating in the attack were as follows:
(a) On the right from Moreuil to Thennes (inclusive)--the First French
Army under order of commander in chief British army.
(b) In the center from Thennes (exclusive) to the Amiens-Chaulnes
Railway--the Canadian Corps.
(c) On the left from the Amiens-Chaulnes Railway to the Somme--the
Australian Corps.
(d) The left flank of the Australian Corps was covered by the Third
(British) Corps attacking in the direction of Merlancourt.
The object of the attack was to push forward in the direction of the
line Roye-Chaulnes with the least possible delay, thrusting the enemy
back in the general direction of Ham, and so facilitating the
operations of the French on the front between Montdidier and Noyon.
The battle front of the Canadian Corps extended from a point about 800
yards south of Hourges to the Amiens-Chaulnes Railway. It crossed the
river Luce about 800 yards northeast of Hourges, and remaining well
west of Hangard passed through the western portion of Hangard Wood.
The total length exceeded 8,500 yards in a straight line.
In addition to the four Canadian divisions, the following troops were
placed under Canadian Corps for the operation: Fifth Squadron. R. A.
F.; Fourth Tank Brigade; Third Cavalry Division.
A mobile force was organized consisting of the First and Second
Canadian Motor Machine-Gun Brigades, the Canadian Corps Cyclist
Battalion, and a section of 6-in. Newton Mortars mounted on motor
lorries. This force was named the Canadian Independent Force, placed
under the command of Brigadier General R. Brutinel, and given the task
of cooperating with the cavalry in the neighborhood of the Amiens-Roye
road, covering the right flank of the right division and maintaining
liaison with the French.
Two British divisions were held in army reserve, and were available in
the event of certain situations developing.
The total artillery amounted to seventeen brigades of field artillery
and nine brigades of heavy artillery, plus four additional batteries
of long-range guns.
At 10.00 a. m. on the morning of August 5, 1918, General Sir A. W.
Currie took over command of the battle front, then held by the Fourth
Australian Division. During the hours of darkness on the 4th, 5th,
6th, and 7th the attacking Canadian troops relieved the Australian
troops, with the exception of those holding the outpost line, who
remained in position until the night of August 7-8, 1918.
The dispositions of the Canadian Corps on the morning of the 8th at
zero hour were as follows: On the right, the Third Canadian Division,
in liaison with the French; in the center, the First Canadian
Division; on the left, the Second Canadian Division, in liaison with
the Australians; in reserve, behind the Third Canadian Division, the
Fourth Canadian Division.
Each of these divisions had their allotment of tanks. East of the Noye
River, the Third Cavalry Division. Behind Gentelle Wood, the Canadian
Independent Force.
At 4.20 a. m., August 8, 1918, the initial assault was delivered on
the entire army front of attack, and the First French Army opened
their bombardment.
The attack made satisfactory progress from the outset on the whole
front.
East of Hourges, opposite the Third Canadian Division, the high
ground which dominated the Canadian front and a portion of the French
front had been seized quickly by the Ninth Canadian Infantry Brigade
(Brigadier General D. M. Ormond), and the way was opened for the
Canadian Independent Force and the Fourth Canadian Division.
By the afternoon the Canadian Corps had gained all its objectives,
with the exception of a few hundred yards on the right in the vicinity
of Le Quesnel, where stiff resistance was offered by unexpected
reserves, but this was made good the following morning. The day's
operations in which the four Canadian divisions took part represented
a maximum penetration of the enemy's defenses of over eight miles, and
included the capture of the following villages: Hangard, Demuin,
Beaucourt, Aubercourt, Courcelles, Ignaucourt, Cayeux, Caix,
Marcelcave, Wiencourt, l'Equipée, and Guillaucourt. In addition to
these, the Canadian Independent Forces assisted the French in the
capture of Mezières, which was holding up their advance.
On the following day, August 9, 1918, the advance was continued, with
the Third, First, and Second Canadian Divisions in the line, the
Fourth Canadian Division being held in corps reserve. Substantial
progress was made, and by evening the average depth of advance was
about four miles, with a maximum of six and one half miles at some
points. The following additional villages were captured: Le Quesnel,
Folies, Bouchoir, Beaufort, Warvillers, Rouvroy, Vrely, Meharicourt,
and Rosières.
The infantry and tanks of the Third Canadian Division and the Canadian
Independent Force cooperated with the French in the capture of
Arvillers.
During the day the enemy's resistance stiffened considerably, and
whatever gains were made resulted from heavy infantry fighting against
fresh troops, with only a few tanks available for support.
The attack was continued on the morning of the 10th, with the Third
Canadian Division on the right and the Fourth Canadian Division on the
left, the First and Second Canadian Divisions being held in corps
reserve. After the Third Canadian Division had taken the village of
Le Quesnoy-en-Santerre, the Thirty-second Division, which had come
under the Canadian Corps on the night of the 9th-10th, and had been
ordered to relieve the Third Canadian Division, passed through it and
advanced the line somewhat farther through the old British trenches
west of Parvillers and Damery. The Fourth Canadian Division during the
day succeeded, after very hard fighting, in occupying Fouquescourt,
Maucourt, Chilly, and Hallu.
During the night 10th-11th a strong enemy counterattack developed
against a part of the front of the Fourth Canadian Division east of
Hallu. This counterattack was beaten off, but owing to general
conditions the line at that point was slightly withdrawn to the
railway embankment immediately to the west of Hallu. Subsequent upon
this slight withdrawal, and with a view to reducing the existing
salient forward of Chilly, the line was further withdrawn to the
eastern outskirts of that village.
On August 11, 1918, at 9.30 a. m., the Thirty-second Division launched
an attack against Damery, but was not successful. The Fourth Canadian
Division improved their line by advancing it locally to reduce the
Chilly salient, which was still very pronounced.
During the night of August 12, 1918, the Thirty-second Division and
Fourth Canadian Division were relieved by the Third and Second
Canadian Divisions respectively.
It now became increasingly apparent that strong enemy reserves had
been sent forward to stem the Canadian advance. Six fresh divisions
and a large number of light and heavy batteries had been brought in,
and were fighting hard in a strongly intrenched defensive position.
August 12, 13, 14, 1918, were characterized chiefly by patrol
encounters and local trench fighting. The Third Canadian Division
cleared the network of trenches between Fouquescourt and Parvillers,
and advanced the line as far as the northern and western edge of
Parvillers and Damery. These two villages were captured in the evening
of August 15, 1918, and were held in spite of heavy counterattacks.
Bois de Damery was also taken, and this enabled the French to capture
the important position known as Bois-en-Z.
On the nights of August 15, 16, and 17, 1918, the First Canadian
Division relieved the Third Canadian Division, the latter being
withdrawn to corps reserve.
Progress was made during August 16-17, 1918, the enemy being driven
out of Fransart by the Fourth Canadian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier
General R. Rennie) of the Second Canadian Division, and out of La
Chavatte by the First Canadian Division, the Canadian line on the
right being advanced in cooperation with the French.
The relief of the Second Canadian Division by the Fourth Canadian
Division was carried out on the nights of August 15-16 and 16-17,
1918, the former being withdrawn to corps reserve on the 17th.
August 18, 1918, was quiet along the front, but on the 19th the Fourth
Canadian Division carried out a minor operation near Chilly, which
greatly improved the line in that neighborhood. Four hostile
counterattacks to recover the newly won ground were beaten off during
the night.
In the meantime it had been decided to transfer the Canadian Corps
back to the First Army. On the 19th, the Second and Third Canadian
Divisions started their move to the First Army, and on the night of
the 19th-20th the relief of the First Canadian Division by the French
commenced. This relief was completed on the 22d, and the First
Canadian Division was placed in corps reserve.
On August 22, 1918, General Currie handed over command of the Canadian
Corps front, and of the First and Fourth Canadian Divisions, Second
Canadian Motor Machine-Gun Brigade, the Eighth Army Brigade, C. F. A.,
and the C. C. H. A., to the G. O. C. Australian Corps, and Canadian
Headquarters moved north to Hautecloque (Arras-Lens sector).
Between August 8 and 22, 1918, the Canadian Corps fought against
fifteen German divisions; of these, ten were directly engaged and
thoroughly defeated, prisoners being captured from almost every one
of their battalions; the five other divisions, fighting astride the
Canadian flanks, were only partially engaged.
In the same period the Canadian Corps captured 9,131 prisoners, 190
guns of all calibers, and more than 1,000 machine guns and trench
mortars.
The greatest depth penetrated approximated to fourteen miles, and an
area of over sixty-seven square miles containing twenty-seven towns
and villages had been liberated.
The casualties suffered by the Canadian Corps in the fourteen days'
heavy fighting amounted to--
Officers Other Ranks
Killed 126 1,688
Missing 9 436
Wounded 444 8,659
------ -------
Total 579 10,783
Considering the number of German divisions engaged, and the results
achieved, the casualties were very light.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE ATTACK AGAINST THE HINDENBURG LINE
Canadian Headquarters were moved from Hautecloque to Noyelle Vion on
August 23, 1918, and at noon General Currie assumed command of the
front then held by the Seventeenth (British) Corps, extending from
Neuville-Vitasse to Gavrelle in the Arras-Lens sector. The First and
Fourth Canadian Divisions returned to the corps from the Amiens front
on August 25 and 28, 1918, respectively. The corps thus was again with
the First Army.
The general military situation at this time on the Amiens-Arras front
is described by General Currie in his official report of these
operations as follows:
"In sympathy with the severe reverses suffered on the Marne, and
consequent upon the actions now fully developed in the Somme salient,
signs were not wanting that the enemy was preparing to evacuate the
salient of the Lys. This evacuation began under pressure of the First
Army on August 25, 1918.
"All these attacks and their results, direct or indirect, enabled the
Allies to recover the ground they had lost in the course of the German
offensive operations.
"The recapture of that ground was, however, of secondary importance as
compared to the moral results of these successive victories.
"The German armies had been impressed in the course of these
operations by the superiority of our generalship and of our
organization, and by the great determination of our troops and
subordinate commanders.
"The Hindenburg system, however, was intact, and the enemy Higher
Command hoped and believed that behind this powerfully organized area
the German armies might be collected and reorganized.
"Fighting the most determined rear-guard action in the Somme salient,
they expected that our armies would be tired and depleted by the time
they reached the forward area of the Hindenburg system.
"The Battle of Cambrai, now about to be begun, shattered their hopes.
By breaking through the Drocourt-Queant line, itself but a part of the
Hindenburg system, the Canadian Corps carried the operations forward
to ground that had been in the hands of the Germans since 1914.
"This advance constituted a direct threat on the rear of the German
armies north and south of Cambrai.
"Dominated at all times, paralyzed by the swift and bold strokes on
vital points of their line and by the relentless pressure applied
everywhere, the German Higher Command was unable to take adequate
steps to localize and stop our advance. After the Drocourt-Queant line
was broken, the retreat of the enemy became more accelerated, and our
attacks met everywhere with less organized and determined resistance.
"The moral effect of the most bitter and relentless fighting which led
to the capture of Cambrai was tremendous. The Germans had at last
learned and understood that they were beaten."
The Canadian Corps, on the right of the First Army, was to attack
eastward astride the Arras-Cambrai road, and by forcing its way
through the Drocourt-Queant line south of the Scarpe to break the
hinge of the Hindenburg system and prevent the possibility of the
enemy rallying behind this powerfully organized defended area.
The ground to be attacked lent itself peculiarly to defense, being
composed of a succession of ridges, rivers, and canals, which formed
natural lines of defense of very great strength. These natural
positions, often mutually supporting, had been abundantly fortified.
Their organization was the last work in military engineering, and
represented years of intensive and systematic labor. Barbed-wire
entanglements were formidable, machine-gun positions innumerable, and
large tunnels had been provided for the protection of the garrison.
The four main system of defense consisted of the following lines: The
old German front system east of Monchy-le-Preux, the Fresnes-Rouvroy
line, the Drocourt-Queant line, and the Canal du Nord line. These,
with their subsidiary switches and strong points, as well as the less
organized, but by no means weak intermediate lines of trenches, made
the series of positions to be attacked without doubt one of the
strongest defensively on the western front.
Broad glacis, studded with machine-gun nests, defended the immediate
approaches to these lines, and this necessitated in each case heavy
fighting to gain a suitable jumping-off line before assaulting the
main position.
In addition to these systems, and as a preliminary to the attack on
the old German system east of Monchy-le-Preux, it was necessary to
capture the very well organized British defenses which had been lost
in the fighting of March, 1918.
These defenses were intact to a depth of about 5,500 yards, and were
dominated by the heights of Monchy-le-Preux, from which the Germans
were enjoying superior observation.
Throughout these operations there could not be any element of
surprise, other than that afforded by the selection of the actual hour
of the assaults. The positions to be attacked formed the pivot of the
movements of the German army to the south, and the security of the
armies to the north depended also on these positions being retained.
There was consequently little doubt that the enemy was alert, and had
made every disposition to repulse the expected attacks. Therefore, the
plans necessitated provision for very hard and continuous fighting,
the main stress being laid on the continuity of the operations.
On August 26, 1918, at 3.00 a. m., the attack was launched under the
usual artillery and machine-gun barrages. It made good progress, the
village of Monchy-le-Preux being entered early in the day, after a
very brilliant encircling attack carried out by the Eighth Infantry
Brigade (Brigadier General D. C. Draper). The trenches immediately to
the east of Monchy-le-Preux were found to be heavily held, and were
not cleared until about 11 a. m. by the Seventh Canadian Infantry
Brigade (Brigadier General H. Dyer).
Guemappe was captured by 4 p. m. and Wancourt Tower and the top of
Heninel Ridge were in Canadian hands at 10.40 p. m. The defenders of
the latter feature fought hard but eventually succumbed to a
determined attack delivered by the Sixth Canadian Infantry Brigade
(Brigadier General A. H. Bell), under cover of an extemporized barrage
fired by the Second Canadian Divisional Artillery (Brigadier General
H. A. Panet). During the night this brigade captured, in addition,
Egret Trench, thus securing a good jumping-off place for the
operations of the following day.
The attack was renewed at 4.55 a. m. on August 27, 1918, by the Second
and Third Canadian Divisions, in the face of increased opposition,
under a uniformly good initial barrage.
The Second Canadian Division pushed doggedly forward through the old
German trench system, where very stiff hand-to-hand fighting took
place, and crossed the Sensee River, after capturing the villages of
Chérisy and Vis-en-Artois.
The Third Canadian Division encountered very heavy opposition, but
succeeded in capturing Bois-du-Vert, Bois-du-Sart, and reaching the
western outskirts of Haucourt, Remy, Boiry-Notre-Dame, and Pelves.
The enemy throughout the day pushed a large number of reenforcements
forward, bringing up machine-gun units in motor lorries in the face of
our accurate field and heavy artillery fire. Hostile field batteries
in the open, firing over open sights, showed remarkable tenacity,
several remaining in action until the personnel had been destroyed by
our machine-gun fire.
At 9.00 a. m. on August 28, 1918, the Third Canadian Division resumed
the attack, followed at 12.30 by the Second Canadian Division. The
objective for the day was the capture of the Fresnes-Rouvroy line, the
possession of which was vital to the success of further operations.
On the left, the Third Canadian Division had pushed forward, captured
the Fresnes-Rouvroy line from the Sensee River to north of
Boiry-Notre-Dame, and had secured that village, Jigsaw Wood, and
entered Pelves. They had, however, been unable to clear the village of
Haucourt.
On the front of the Second Canadian Division the fighting was most
severe. The wire in front of the Fresnes-Rouvroy line was found to be
almost intact, and although at some points the Fifth Canadian Infantry
Brigade (Brigadier General T. L. Tremblay) had succeeded in
penetrating the line, the first objective could not be secured, except
one short length on the extreme right. Subjected to heavy machine-gun
fire from both flanks as well as frontally, the attacking troops had
suffered heavy casualties, which they had borne with the utmost
fortitude.
At nightfall the general line of the Second Canadian Division was
little in advance of the line held the night before, although a few
small parties of stubborn men were still as far forward as the wire of
the Fresnes-Rouvroy line.
Enemy reenforcements were seen dribbling forward all day long.
The Second and Third Canadian Divisions were now exhausted, and during
the night of August 28-29, 1918, they were relieved by the First
Canadian Division on the right, the Fourth (British) Division on the
left, and Brutinel's Brigade (formerly the Canadian Independent Force)
on the extreme left flank.
The heavy artillery from now on concentrated on the cutting of the
broad belts of wire in front of the Drocourt-Queant line, and the
engineers prepared the bridging material required for the crossings of
the Sensee River and the Canal du Nord.
During the day (August 29, 1918) the Canadian line had been
considerably improved by minor operations.
On August 30, 1918, the First Canadian Division attacked the
Vis-en-Artois Switch, Upton Wood, and the Fresnes-Rouvroy line south
of the Vis-en-Artois Switch. The attack, a daring maneuver, organized
and carried out by the First Canadian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier
General W. A. Griesbach), under cover of very ingenious barrages
arranged by the C. R. A., First Canadian Division (Brigadier General
H. C. Thacker), was eminently successful, all objectives being
captured and the entire garrison either killed or taken prisoner.
Heavy counterattacks by fresh troops were repulsed during the
afternoon and following night.
On August 31, 1918, the remainder of the Fresnes-Rouvroy line south of
the Arras-Cambrai road, including Ocean Work, was captured by the
Second Canadian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier General F. O. W. Loomis).
In the meantime, the Fourth (British) Division had doggedly pushed
ahead, crossing the valley of the Sensee River and capturing the
villages of Haucourt, Remy, and Eterpigny. This advance was over very
difficult, thickly wooded country, and the fighting was very heavy,
particularly in the vicinity of St.-Servin's Farm, which, after
changing hands several times, remained in possession of the enemy
until September 2, 1918.
On the night of August 31-September 1 the Fourth Canadian Division
came into the line on a one-brigade front between the First Canadian
Division and Fourth (British) Division.
The important strong point known as the Crow's Nest was captured by
the Third Canadian Infantry Brigade on September 1, 1918.
During the afternoon and evening of September 1, 1918, the enemy
delivered violent counterattacks, directed against the junction of the
First and Fourth Canadian Divisions. Two fresh divisions and two
divisions already in the line were identified in the course of this
heavy fighting. The Canadian troops were forced back slightly twice,
but the ground was each time regained and finally held. The
hand-to-hand fighting for the possession of the crest of the spur at
this point really continued until zero hour the next day, the troops
attacking the Drocourt-Queant line, as they moved forward, taking over
the fight from the troops then holding the line.
At 5.00 a. m. September 2, 1918, the major operation against the
Drocourt-Queant line was launched. Preceded by a dense barrage, and
assisted by tanks, the infantry pushed forward rapidly, and the
Drocourt-Queant line (the first objective) and its support line (the
second objective), including the village of Dury, were captured
according to program. With the capture of the second objective the
field artillery barrage was shot out, and the attack farther east had
to be carried forward without its assistance. The enemy's resistance,
free of the demoralizing effect of the barrage, stiffened
considerably, the open country being swept continually by intense
machine-gun fire. In addition, the tanks soon became casualties from
enemy guns firing point-blank, and the advance on the left and center
was held up.
Brutinel's Brigade, reenforced by a regiment of cavalry (Tenth Royal
Hussars) and armored cars, endeavored to pass through to capture the
Marquion Bridge on the Canal du Nord. Wire, trenches, and sunken
roads, however, confined the movements of the force to the
Arras-Cambrai road; and this was rendered impassable by enemy
machine-gun fire and by batteries firing over open sights.
On the right, however, the First Canadian Division pushed forward
despite very heavy machine-gun and direct artillery fire, and captured
the villages of Cagnicourt and Villers-lez-Cagnicourt, the Bois de
Bouche and Bois de Loison to the east of Cagnicourt.
Further progress made by the First Canadian Division in the afternoon
resulted in the capture of the heavily wired Buissy Switch line as far
south as the outskirts of Buissy; this largely outflanked the enemy
still holding out in front of the Fourth Canadian Division, and
compelled their retirement during the night behind the Canal du Nord.
By now the number of unwounded prisoners captured exceeded 5,000, and
Canadian infantry had penetrated the enemy's defenses to a depth
exceeding 6,000 yards.
In the night of September 3-4, 1918, the Second and Third Canadian
Divisions relieved the First and Fourth Canadian Divisions
respectively, and the Fourth (British) Division was relieved by the
First (British) Division, which had come under the Canadian Corps on
September 1, 1918, and had been concentrated after that date in the
Monchy-le-Preux, Vis-en-Artois, Guemappe area.
The next objective on the Canadian front was now the Canal du Nord.
This position, however, was so strongly held and the natural
difficulties of the terrain involved were so great that it was decided
to make further preparations before attempting this operation which,
from its very nature, would have to form part of a larger scheme.
The Canadians now held positions which were defensively very strong.
The line, therefore, was held very thinly in order to gain an
opportunity to rest and refit the divisions. Until September 27, 1918,
no changes developed on the Canadian front. Night patrolling and
sniping, of course, were kept up. There was also continuous night
firing by artillery and machine guns, while the heavy artillery
(Brigadier General R. H. Massie) carried out daily wire cutting,
counterbattery shoots, and gas concentrations.
CHAPTER XIX
CAPTURE OF BOURLON WOOD AND CAMBRAI
The share of the Canadian Corps in the operations in the direction of
Cambrai, toward the preparations of which the best part of September,
1918, was devoted, was at first to be the crossing of the Canal du
Nord and the capture of Bourlon Wood and of the high ground to the
northeast of it. Later during the month the task of the corps was
enlarged to include the capture of the bridges over the
Canal-de-l'Escaut, north of Cambrai, and of the high ground
overlooking the Sensee Valley. The strength of the corps was increased
by attaching to it the Eleventh Division and the Seventh Tank
Battalion.
At 5.20 a. m., September 27, 1918, the attack was successfully
launched, and in spite of all obstacles went well from the first.
The barrage was uniformly good, and the Third and Fourth Canadian
Divisional Artilleries, commanded respectively by Brigadier General J.
S. Stewart and Brigadier General W. B. M. King, were successful in
advancing into captured ground, and continued the barrage as planned.
Early in the afternoon the first phase of the attack was substantially
over, and the readjustments of the fronts preparatory to the second
phase were under way.
On the extreme right, however, the Seventeenth Corps had failed to
keep pace with the Canadian advance, and the latter's right flank,
submitted to severe enfilade machine-gun fire from the vicinity of
Anneux, had to be refused for a considerable distance to retain touch
with the left of the Seventeenth Corps; therefore the encircling
movement which was to have given the Canadians Bourlon Wood could not
be developed.
Fully alive to the gravity of the situation which would be created on
the flank of the Third Army by the failure to capture and hold Bourlon
Wood, the Fourth Canadian Division attacked from the north side of the
wood and captured all the high ground, pushing patrols as far as
Fontaine-Notre-Dame. Bourlon Wood, which is 110 meters high, dominates
the ground as far south as Flequières and Havrincourt; its loss after
very heavy fighting in November, 1917, during the first battle of
Cambrai, caused eventually the withdrawal of the Third Army from a
large portion of the ground they had won by their surprise attack.
A severe counterattack, launched from the direction of Raillencourt
against the left of the Fourth Canadian Division, was repulsed in the
afternoon with heavy losses to the enemy.
The First Canadian Division and the Eleventh (British) Division made
substantial gains, the former capturing Haynecourt and crossing the
Douai-Cambrai road, and the latter pushing on and taking Epinoy and
Oisy-le-Verger by evening.
The attack was continued on September 28, 1918. The Third Canadian
Division captured Fontaine-Notre-Dame (one of the Seventeenth Corps'
objectives) and, penetrating the Marcoing line, reached the western
outskirts of St.-Olle. The Fourth Canadian Division captured
Raillencourt and Sailly, and the Eleventh (British) Division
established posts in Aubencheul-au-Bac and occupied the
Bois-de-Quesnoy. The First Canadian Division, in view of their advance
of the previous day which had produced a considerable salient, did not
push forward.
Heavy fighting characterized September 29, 1918. The Third Canadian
Division, the Fourth Canadian Division, and the First Canadian
Division all made progress in the face of severe opposition. The Third
Canadian Division pushed the line forward to the junction of the Arras
and Bapaume road, the western outskirts of Neuville St.-Remy and the
Douai-Cambrai road. They also cleared the Marquion line from the
Bapaume-Cambrai road southward toward the Canal-de-l'Escaut. The
Fourth Canadian Division captured Sancourt, crossed the Douai-Cambrai
railway and entered Blecourt, but later withdrew to the line of the
railway in the face of a heavy counterattack.
The operation of September 30, 1918, was planned in two phases. In the
first, the Third and Fourth Canadian Divisions were to push forward
across the high ground between the Canal-de-l'Escaut and the
Blecourt-Bantigny Ravine, when Brutinel's Brigade was to pass through
them and secure bridgeheads at Ramillies and Eswars. The second phase,
to take place on the success of the first, provided for the seizing of
the high ground overlooking the Sensee River by the First Canadian
Division and the Eleventh (British) Division. The attack was commenced
well, and the villages of Tilloy and Blecourt were captured by the
Third and Fourth Canadian Divisions respectively. A heavy
counterattack, however, against the Fourth Canadian Division and the
left flank of the Third Canadian Division, assisted by exceptionally
severe enfilade fire from the high ground to the north of the
Blecourt-Bantigny Ravine, forced the line on the left back to the
eastern outskirts of Sancourt. The second phase of the attack was not
carried out, and the net gains for the day were the capture of Tilloy
and some progress made on the right of the Third Canadian Division
from Neuville St.-Remy south. Prisoners taken during the day testified
to the supreme importance, in the eyes of the enemy, of the positions
held by him and the necessity that they be held at all costs.
The tremendous exertions and considerable casualties consequent upon
the four days' almost continuous fighting had made heavy inroads on
the freshness and efficiency of all arms, and it was questionable
whether an immediate decision could be forced in the face of the heavy
concentration of troops which the successful and, from the enemy's
standpoint, dangerous advance had drawn. On the other hand, it was
known that the enemy had suffered severely, and it was quite possible
that matters had reached a stage where he no longer considered the
retention of this position worth the severe losses both in men and
morale consequent upon a continuance of the defense. It was therefore
decided that the assault would be continued on October 1, 1918, the
four divisions in line attacking simultaneously under a heavy barrage,
coordinated by the G. O. C, R. A. During the night the Twenty-second
Corps took over a portion of the front held by the Eleventh Division,
the Fifty-sixth Division becoming responsible for the defense of the
relieved front at 6.00 a. m., October 1, 1918.
The attack made excellent progress in the early stages, and the troops
reached the general line, Canal-de-l'Escaut (east of Neuville
St.-Remy), Morenchies Wood, Cuvillers, Bantigny (all inclusive).
The decision of the enemy to resist to the last quickly manifested
itself. About 10.00 a. m. heavy counterattacks developed up the
Bantigny Ravine from the direction of Paillencourt. These,
supplemented by enfilade fire from the high ground just south of
Abancourt, which still remained in the enemy's hands, due to a certain
extent to the inability of the Eleventh Division on the left to make
progress, were sufficient to press back the more advanced troops.
Pockets of the enemy in Blecourt and Bantigny continued to give
trouble, and the Canadian line was ultimately forced by greatly
superior numbers out of Cuvillers, Bantigny, and Blecourt.
To continue to throw tired troops against such opposition, without
giving them an opportunity to refit and recuperate, was obviously
inviting a serious failure, and the Canadian commander in chief
accordingly decided to break off the engagement. The five days'
fighting had yielded practical gains of a very valuable nature, as
well as 7,059 prisoners and 205 guns.
The Second Canadian Division had been in close support throughout the
day, and during the night of October 1-2, 1918, relieved the Fourth
Canadian Division and parts of the Third and First Canadian Divisions
in the line from the railway south of Tilloy to Blecourt inclusive. On
relief, the Fourth Canadian Division came into corps reserve in
bivouacs in the Inchy-Queant area.
The relief considerably thinned out the infantry and in anticipation
of possible counterattacks a large number of machine-gun batteries
were placed in the line.
October 2, 1918, passed without any substantial change in the
situation. The enemy's artillery was very active throughout the day,
and at 6.15 p. m. he delivered a determined counterattack, with a
force estimated at about a battalion strong, against the ridge
northeast of Tilloy, on the Second Canadian Division front. This
counterattack was repulsed with heavy loss to the enemy.
During the night of October 2-3, 1918, the Eleventh Division extended
its frontage to the right as far as Blecourt (inclusive), relieving
the remainder of the First Canadian Division, who came into corps
reserve west of the Canal on completion of the relief.
The dispositions of the Canadian Corps at noon, October 3, 1918, were
as follows:
In the line--the Third Canadian Division on the right on a one-brigade
front, from the Arras-Cambrai railway to the Cambrai-Douai railway
south of Tilloy; the Second Canadian Division in the center, on a
two-brigade front, extending to the northern outskirts of Blecourt,
and the Eleventh Division on the left continuing the line to a point
1,000 yards south of Aubencheul-au-Bac.
In corps reserve--the First and Fourth Canadian Divisions. The latter
was moved to billets in the Haute Avesnes-Arras area on the night of
October 7-8, 1918, to give more opportunity to rest and refit.
The period from October 3 to 8, 1918, passed without any material
changes on the corps front. An enemy counterattack was beaten off by
the Second Canadian Division, opposite Bantigny, on the morning of
October 4, 1918, and the Eleventh Division considerably improved the
line on the northern flank by successful minor operations on October 5
and 6, 1918.
Many patrol encounters took place, in which some prisoners were
captured, and our artillery and machine guns kept the enemy under
continual harassing fire day and night. In addition, our heavy
artillery carried out a daily program of gas concentrations and
counterbattery shoots.
Orders were received on October 3, 1918, for the relief of the corps
by the Twenty-second Corps. Concurrently with this relief, and as it
progressed, the Canadian Corps was to take over the front of the
Twenty-second Corps.
Plans for further operations having been formulated to take place on
the Third Army front, the Canadian Corps was ordered on October 5,
1918, to cooperate by forcing the crossings of the Canal-de-l'Escaut,
north of Cambrai, and the relief contemplated was, therefore,
postponed.
The Third Army had been successful in crossing the Canal-de-l'Escaut
south of Cambrai between Crèvecoeur and Proville. The operation now
contemplated had for its object the capture of Cambrai by envelopment.
This was to be carried out in two phases.
In the first phase the Seventeenth Corps was to capture Awoignt by
attacking from the south, the Canadian Corps was to cooperate by an
artillery demonstration. In the second phase the Canadian Corps was to
cross the Canal-de-l'Escaut and, advancing rapidly, capture
Escaudoeuvres, joining hands with the Seventeenth Corps northeast of
Cambrai.
The positions occupied by the Third and Second Canadian Divisions were
not favorable for an attack by day; the Third Canadian Division was in
front of Cambrai, and house-to-house fighting was out of the question;
the Second Canadian Division was separated from the Canal by
glacislike slopes, devoid of cover, and on which the enemy had good
observation from the numerous houses on the east side of the Canal as
well as from the high ground east of Escaudoeuvres. In addition,
Morenchies, Pont d'Aire, Ramillies, and the villages to the north were
strongly held by the enemy.
In spite of the difficulties of a night operation it was decided that
the Second Canadian Division would attack by night, and attempt to
seize the bridges before they were blown up by the enemy.
The Third Canadian Division was to cover the right of the Second
Canadian Division by capturing the railway embankment, and entering
Cambrai as soon as possible to prevent any action of the enemy against
the right flank of the Second Canadian Division, which, under the best
circumstances, was bound to be in the air for some time after the
crossing of the Canal.
Brutinel's Brigade was to cross the Canal as soon as possible and
extend the gains of the Second Canadian Division by seizing the high
ground east of Thun St.-Martin. Ten brigades of field artillery were
available for the operation.
At 4.30 a. m., October 8, 1918, the Third Army attacked, and at the
same hour an artillery demonstration was carried out on the Canadian
Corps front.
The Seventeenth Corps on the right did not reach Awoignt, but in the
evening they were ordered to continue their advance on the morning
of October 9, 1918, to capture the town; concurrently with this
advance the Canadian Corps was to secure the crossings of the
Canal-de-l'Escaut.
In spite of the darkness of a rainy night the assembly was completed
and the attack was launched successfully at 1.30 a. m., October 9,
1918. Rapid progress was made, and at 2.25 a. m., the Second Canadian
Division had captured Ramillies and established posts on the Canal
there, and patrols were pushing out to the northeast. On the right the
infantry, assisted by a party of engineers, rushed the crossings at
Pont d'Aire, and, after sharp fighting, captured the bridge intact
with the exception of the western spillway, which had been partially
destroyed. Two cork bridges were thrown across, and by 3.35 a. m. the
infantry were well established on the eastern side of the Canal. The
Third Canadian Division had cleared the railway, and their patrols
were pushing into Cambrai, while the engineers were commencing work on
the bridges.
By 8.00 a. m. the Second Canadian Division had captured Escaudoeuvres,
and had established a line on the high ground immediately to the north
and east. Detachments of the Third Canadian Division had by this time
completely cleared Cambrai of the enemy, and troops of the Third Army
could be seen coming up toward it from the south.
Cambrai was to be deliberately set on fire by the enemy. Huge fires
were burning in the Square when Canadian patrols went through, and
many others broke out in all parts of the city. Piles of inflammable
material were found ready for the torch, but the enemy was unable to
carry out his intention owing to the Canadians' unexpected attack and
rapid progress. A party of one officer and a few men, which had been
left with instructions to set fire to Cambrai, was discovered and
dealt with before it could do any further damage. The fires were
successfully checked by a large detachment of Canadian engineers, who
entered the city with the patrols. A considerable number of road
mines, "booby traps," etc., were also located and removed.
An air reconnoissance at dawn indicated that the enemy had withdrawn
from the area between the Canal-de-l'Escaut and the Canal-de-la
Sensee, and that all bridges over the latter had been destroyed.
Brutinel's Brigade, passing through the infantry of the Second
Canadian Division, seized the high ground at Croix St.-Hubert and
pushed cavalry patrols into Thun Levecque.
The Second Canadian Division east of the Canal progressed toward the
north and occupied Thun Levecque, Thun St.-Martin, Blecourt,
Cuvillers, and Bantigny, and the Eleventh Division occupied Abancourt
and reached the outskirts of Paillencourt.
The Third Canadian Division was withdrawn at 7.10 p. m. when the
Twenty-fourth Division (Seventeenth Corps) passed through and joined
up with the Second Canadian Division, and Cambrai and the positions to
the east were taken over or occupied by the Seventeenth Corps.
The Third Canadian Division was moved on the following day to bivouacs
in the Inchy-Queant area to rest and refit after twelve days of
battle.
The attack was continued at 6.00 a. m., October 10, 1918, by the
Second Canadian and Eleventh (British) Divisions, and good progress
was made. The Second Canadian Division captured Naves, and by
nightfall reached a point one and a half miles northeast on the
Cambrai-Salzoir road. From there the line ran westward to the
Canal-de-l'Escaut, exclusive of Iwuy, where the Canadians had been
held up by machine-gun fire.
In this attack Brutinel's Brigade operated along the Cambrai-Salzoir
road, but finding the bridge over the Erclin River destroyed could not
get their cars farther forward. This bridge, although on the outpost
line under heavy fire, was immediately replaced by the engineers, a
covering party being supplied by Brutinel's Brigade. Machine-gun crews
from the cars went forward on foot, however, and materially assisted
the infantry advancing at this point, and the corps cavalry, by a
brilliant charge, helped in the capture of the ground east of the
Rieux-Iwuy road.
On the left the Eleventh Division cleared the enemy from the area
between the Canal-de-l'Escaut and the Sensee Canal, captured
Paillencourt and Estrun, and reached the outskirts of Hem-Lenglet,
which they occupied during the night.
The Forty-ninth and Fifty-first Divisions were released from army
reserve and transferred to the Canadian Corps on October 10, 1918.
During the night of October 10-11, 1918, the former believed that part
of the Second Canadian Division east of Iwuy, and the Fifty-first
(Highland) Division moved to the Escaudoeuvres area.
At 9.00 a. m., October 11, 1918, the Canadian Corps resumed the attack
with the Forty-ninth Division on the right and the Second Canadian
Division on the left. The enemy laid down a heavy artillery barrage
and both divisions encountered stiff opposition. After fierce
fighting, however, the attack made good progress, the Forty-ninth
Division gaining the high ground east of Iwuy, and the Second Canadian
Division capturing Iwuy and the high ground to the north.
About 10.30 a. m. the enemy delivered a heavy counterattack under an
artillery barrage and supported by seven tanks, from the direction of
Avesnes-le-Sec, against the Forty-ninth and Second Canadian Divisions.
The Canadian line was forced back slightly at first, but six of the
tanks were knocked out by the artillery, the assaulting infantry
dispersed by machine-gun and rifle fire, and the attack repulsed.
Meanwhile, on October 7 and 8, 1918, the First Canadian Division had
relieved the Fourth (British) Division (Twenty-second Corps) on the
frontage between Palluel and the Scarpe River, and passed under the
command of the G. O. C., Twenty-second Corps.
On October 11, 1918, General Sir A. W. Currie handed over command of
the corps front (less the Eleventh Divisional sector) to the G. O. C.,
Twenty-second Corps, and the Second Canadian and the Forty-ninth and
Fifty-first Divisions were transferred to the Twenty-second Corps. At
the same time he assumed command of the former Twenty-second Corps
front, and the Fifty-sixth and the First Canadian Divisions were
transferred in the line to the Canadian Corps. During the night of
October 11-12, 1918, the Second Canadian Division was relieved in the
line east of the Iwuy-Denain railway by the Fifty-first (Highland)
Division, and on completion of the relief, the Canadian commander in
chief assumed command of the remainder of the Second Canadian
Divisional front, extending from the Iwuy-Denain railway exclusive to
the Canal-de-l'Escaut.
The battle of Arras-Cambrai, so fruitful in results, was now closed.
Since August 26, 1918, the Canadian Corps had advanced twenty-three
miles, fighting for every foot of ground and overcoming bitter
resistance. In that period the Canadian Corps engaged and defeated
decisively thirty-one German divisions, reenforced by numerous
marksmen machine-gun companies. These divisions were met in strongly
fortified positions and under conditions most favorable to the
defense.
In the battle 18,585 prisoners were captured by the Canadians,
together with 371 guns, 1,923 machine guns and many trench mortars.
Over 116 square miles of French soil, containing fifty-four towns and
villages and including the city of Cambrai, were liberated.
The severity of the fighting and the heroism of the Canadian troops
may be gathered from the casualties suffered between August 22 and
October 11, 1918, and which are as follows:
Officers Other Ranks
Killed 296 4,071
Missing 18 1,912
Wounded 1,230 23,279
------ -------
Total 1,544 29,262
CHAPTER XX
CAPTURE OF VALENCIENNES AND MONS
The new front of the Canadian Corps on October 11, 1918, extended from
Iwuy-Denain railway, north of Iwuy, to the Canal-de-l'Escaut at
Estrun, thence following the southern bank of the Canal-de-la-Sensee
to Palluel, thence crossing the Sensee River at Hamel to the Scarpe
River east of Vitry. The front was held by the Second Canadian
Division from the right to the Canal-de-l'Escaut; the Eleventh
Division from Estrun (inclusive) to Aubencheul-au-Bac (exclusive); the
Fifty-sixth Division from Aubencheul-au-Bac (inclusive) to Palluel
(inclusive), and the First Canadian Division from Palluel (exclusive)
to the western boundary.
The fronts of the Eleventh and Fifty-sixth Divisions were then
stationary, but on the front of the First Canadian Division crossings
had been forced over the Sensee and Trinquis Rivers that morning, and
the enemy was retiring, closely followed by battle patrols of the
First Canadian Division.
The First Canadian Division had relieved the Fourth British Division
in the line along the south side of the valleys of the Sensee and
Trinquis Rivers, from Palluel exclusive to the Scarpe, during the
nights of October 5-6 and 6-7, 1918, coming under orders of the
Twenty-second Corps. The front had been a quiet one, the river valleys
having been flooded by the enemy to an average width of from 300 to
400 yards, and the bridges destroyed.
On the morning of October 8, 1918, the division carried out a "Chinese
attack" with a view to ascertaining the enemy's probable action if
attacked. Under cover of the barrage, patrols succeeded in enlarging
the small bridgehead across the river at Sailly-en-Ostrevent,
capturing twenty-four prisoners and two machine guns.
The enemy was expected to withdraw shortly, and this barrage was
repeated daily at dawn with the object of harassing the enemy and
testing his strength. At 3.00 a. m., October 10, 1918, battle patrols
were pushed out by the Third Canadian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier
General G. S. Tuxford) from the bridgehead at Sailly, and after
capturing the village they entered the Drocourt-Queant line to the
northeast. Thirty prisoners and six machine guns were sent back from
Sailly at daylight; a strong enemy counterattack (estimated at two
battalions) overran the force in the Drocourt-Queant line and
recaptured Sailly, driving the Canadian line back to the line
previously held.
On October 11, 1918, in conjunction with an attack on the left by the
Eighth Division, Canadian troops forced their way over the narrow
crossings of the Sensee and Trinquis Rivers in the face of
considerable machine-gun fire and pushed northward and eastward,
meeting only resistance from isolated machine-gun nests. The
performance of the first patrols in forcing their way across the
narrow causeways, all stoutly defended by machine guns, was a splendid
achievement.
By the night of October 11, 1918, the First Canadian Division, on the
left, had reached the line Hamel-Estrées-Noyelles (all inclusive), and
at dawn, October 12, 1918, pushed forward, clearing Arleux and
reaching the west bank of the Canal from Palluel to the Scarpe.
On October 12, 1918, the line remained stationary between the Canal du
Nord and the Canal-de-l'Escaut. East of the Canal-de-l'Escaut the
Second Canadian Division attacked at noon in conjunction with the
Twenty-second Corps on the right and captured Hordain. Attempts to
push forward to Basseville were, however, stopped by machine-gun fire.
The restricted area and the inundated conditions of the ground
prevented further progress on this front until the troops on the right
could get forward.
On the Canadian Corps' front, the divisions in the line were
confronted by the Canal-de-la-Sensee, and this in its flooded
condition was a serious obstacle, the few crossings possible being
narrow and easily defended. Orders were issued, however, that a policy
of aggressive patrolling should be adopted to detect at the earliest
possible moment any retirement, and that all preparations should be
made for an immediate and rapid pursuit.
The Canadian patrols were most daring during the next few days, but no
weak spot was to be found along the enemy front, all attempts at
crossing the Canal being stopped by heavy machine-gun and rifle fire.
During the night of October 12-13, 1918, the Second Canadian Division
extended its left to Aubencheul-au-Bac (exclusive), relieving the
Eleventh Division in the line, with the Fourth Canadian Infantry
Brigade (Brigadier General G. E. McCuaig) on the right, and the Sixth
Canadian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier General A. Ross) on the left. At
this stage the G. O. C. Fifty-sixth Division represented that his
troops were too weak and tired to carry out the vigorous pursuit
required in case of an enemy withdrawal. The Fourth Canadian Division
was, therefore, ordered to relieve the Fifty-sixth Division by the
morning of October 16, 1918, and in the meantime to place one brigade
at the disposal of the G. O. C. Fifty-sixth Division to be used in
following up the enemy. On October 13, 1918, the Tenth Canadian
Infantry Brigade, which had been resting in Arras, was accordingly
moved up to Marquion, and came into reserve under the Fifty-sixth
Division.
During the early morning of October 13, 1918, the Fifty-sixth Division
crossed the Canal and succeeded in establishing a bridgehead at
Aubigny-au-Bac, capturing the village with 201 prisoners. At 10.00 p.
m. the following night, however, an enemy counterattack in strength
caused their withdrawal from the village, but the bridgehead was
retained. The relief of the Fifty-sixth Division by the Fourth
Canadian Division was carried out on the nights of October 14-15 and
15-16, 1918, without incident, and the former moved back to rest in
the Arras-Haute Avesnes-Maroeuil area, coming into army reserve.
Patrols of the First Canadian Division succeeded in crossing the Canal
near Ferin, on its left brigade front, during the early morning of
October 14, 1918, but, meeting strong resistance, the parties
withdrew, taking with them some prisoners and machine guns.
Test barrages were carried out on the corps' front each morning to
ascertain the enemy's strength and attitude, and on October 17, 1918,
the enemy was found extremely quiet and did not retaliate to the
artillery fire on the front of the First Canadian Division. Patrols
were, therefore, sent out on that front and succeeded in crossing the
Canal in several places, meeting only slight opposition. Stronger
patrols followed and made good progress.
On the front of the Fourth Canadian Division, however, all attempts to
cross the Canal were still met by machine-gun fire. After the First
Canadian Division had secured crossings, a battalion of the Fourth
Canadian Division was sent up to take advantage of these crossings,
and, working down the east side of the Canal, cleared the enemy on
the Fourth Canadian Division front, and enabled the advance to
commence there.
Farther to the right, at Hem Lenglet, the Second Canadian Division
succeeded in crossing the Canal later in the day, and patrols were
pushed on in the direction of Wasnes-au-Bac. Only enemy rear guards
were encountered during the day, and the opposition was nowhere heavy,
although more organized and stubborn on the right opposite the Second
Canadian Division.
By 6.00 a. m., October 18, 1918, practically all of the infantry of
the First and Fourth Canadian Divisions and several battalions of the
Second Canadian Division were across the Canal, and the following
towns were liberated: Ferin, Courchelettes, Goeulzin, Le Racquet,
Villers-au-Tertre, Cantin, Roucourt, Brunemont, Aubigny-au-Bac,
Fechain, Fressain, Bugnicourt, and Hem Lenglet.
During that day two armored cars, one squadron of the Canadian Light
Horse, and one company of Canadian Corps Cyclists from Brutinel's
Brigade, were attached to each of the First and Fourth Canadian
Divisions to assist in the pursuit of the enemy. These troops rendered
valuable service to the divisions to which they were attached,
although the enemy's very complete road destruction prevented the
armored cars from operating to their full extent.
Throughout the advance now begun a great amount of work was thrown
upon the engineers, and their resources in man and material were taxed
to the utmost. The enemy's demolition had been very well planned and
thoroughly carried out, all bridges over the canals and streams being
destroyed, every crossroad and road junction rendered impassable by
the blowing up of large mines, and the railways--light and
standard--blown up at frequent intervals. The enemy also considerably
impeded the Canadians' progress by his clever manipulation of the
water levels in the canals which he controlled.
Footbridges were first thrown across the Canal, and these were quickly
followed by the heavier types of bridges to carry battalion transport
and artillery, and in addition eight heavy traffic bridges, ranging in
length from 90 to 160 feet, were at once put under way. On the front
of the First Canadian Division on the left the enemy drained the
Canal, and it was found impossible to complete and use the pontoon
bridges first commenced.
The engineers in the forward area concentrated their efforts on road
repair, craters being quickly filled in, for the most part with
material gathered on the spot and found in enemy dumps. In addition,
the whole areas were searched immediately after their occupation, many
"booby traps" and delayed action mines being discovered and rendered
harmless, and all water supply sources being tested.
It was clear from the wholesale destruction of roads and railways that
the reconstruction of communications would be very slow and that it
would be difficult to keep the troops supplied. Canadian railway
troops were brought up, and as soon as the enemy had been cleared away
from the Canal, work was commenced on the repairing of the
standard-gauge railway forward from Sauchy Lestrée. The construction
of a railway bridge over the Canal at Aubencheul-au-Bac was
immediately commenced.
The enemy retirement now extended considerably north of the Canadian
front, and the Eighth Corps on the left began to move forward. During
October 18, 1918, rapid and fairly easy progress was made, and the
following towns and villages were liberated from the enemy: Dechy,
Sin-le-Noble, Guesnain, Montigny, Pecquencourt, Loffre, Lewarde,
Erchin, Masny, Ecaillon, Marquette, Wasnes-au-Bac and the western
portions of Auberchicourt and Monchecourt.
During the day the advance had carried the Canadians into a large
industrial area, and well-built towns became more frequent. It also
liberated the first of a host of civilians, 2,000 being found in
Pecquencourt and a few in Auberchicourt. These people had been left by
the retiring enemy without food, and faced, as the Canadians were, by
an ever-lengthening line of communication, and with only one bridge
yet available for anything but horse transport, the work of the supply
services was greatly increased. This additional burden was, however,
cheerfully accepted, and the liberated civilians, whose numbers
exceeded 70,000 before Valenciennes was reached, as well as the
rapidly advancing troops, were at no time without a regular supply of
food.
On October 19, 1918, the advance was continued on the whole corps'
front, nearly 40 towns and villages being wrested from the enemy,
including the large town of Denain.
The Twenty-second Corps, advancing on the right from the south, gained
touch with the Fourth Canadian Division just east of Denain on the
evening of October 19, 1918, pinching out the Second Canadian
Division, which was then concentrated in the Auberchicourt area, where
good billets were available.
In spite of bad weather and increased resistance more ground was
gained on the 20th, and the villages of Hasnon, Les Faux, Wallers, and
Haveluy, with a large population, were freed.
During the day resistance had stiffened all along the line. The ground
over which the Canadians were advancing was very flat, and there was
no tactical advantage to be gained by pushing forward, and a farther
advance would also increase the difficulties of supply. In addition,
on the left, the Eighth Corps had not been able to cope with the
supply question and had not advanced in conformity with the Canadian
progress. In view of these considerations, orders were issued that
divisions were to maintain touch with the enemy without becoming
involved in heavy fighting.
For a time on October 20, 1918, the Fourth Canadian Division was held
up just east of Denain by machine-gun and artillery fire, and it was
not until late in the afternoon that the troops could make progress
there.
Continuing the advance on October 21, 1918, a footing was gained in
the Forêt-de-Vicoigne, and the following villages were captured:
Aremberg, Oisy, Herin, Rouvignes, Aubry, Petite Forêt, Anzin, Prouvy,
Bellaing, and Wavrechain. As on the previous day, all these villages
contained civilians who subsequently suffered considerably from
deliberate hostile shelling.
The First Canadian Division had now been in the line for two weeks
without having had an opportunity to rest and refit since the
hard-fought battle of the Canal du Nord, and orders were issued for
its relief by the Third Canadian Division. At dawn on October 22,
1918, in order that touch with the enemy be maintained, the First
Canadian Division pushed forward. Following closely, the Third
Canadian Division passed through the First Canadian Division during
the forenoon, on the left brigade front, about 9.00 a. m. on the line
of the St.-Amand-Raismes road, and on the right about 12 noon on the
line of the St.-Amand-Raismes railway, the Forêt-de-Vicoigne having
been cleared of the enemy. On relief the First Canadian Division came
into rest billets in the Somain-Pecquencourt-Masny area.
The Third and Fourth Canadian Divisions pushed on during October 22,
1918, and by nightfall Trith St.-Leger, La Vignoble, La Sentinelle,
Waast-le-Haut, Beauvrages, Bruay, and practically the whole of the
large forest of Raismes, were in their hands. On the left brigade
front of the Fourth Canadian Division the Canal-de-l'Escaut had been
reached in places. A very large area northeast of Valenciennes and a
smaller area to the southwest had been flooded, and to the west of the
city the Canal itself provided a serious obstacle. To the southwest,
beyond the flooded area, Mont Houy and the Famars Ridge made a natural
line of defense.
The divisions continued to push forward in the face of steadily
increasing opposition, and by October 25, 1918, had reached the Canal
and the western edge of the inundated area along the whole corps
front.
The Canadian troops had had a very arduous pursuit and the railhead
for supplies and ammunition was still very far to the rear. It was
therefore decided that they should make good the west bank of the
Canal and stand fast until the flanking corps had made progress.
Attempts to cross the Canal proved that the enemy was holding in
strength a naturally strong position, and it was ordered that no
crossing in force would be attempted without reference to corps
headquarters. The engineers established dumps of material well forward
on selected sites so that the bridges necessary to cross the Canal on
the resumption of the advance could be constructed without delay.
It had become apparent that, unless the enemy withdrew, Valenciennes
could only be taken from the south. The Twenty-second Corps, on the
right, had meanwhile succeeded in crossing the Ecaillon River after a
hard fight and captured the Famars Ridge. They had, however, been
unable to take Mont Houy, which commanded Valenciennes from the south.
On October 27, 1918, the First Army commander outlined the plans for
operations to be carried out in conjunction with attacks on a large
scale by the Third and Fourth Armies to the south, as follows:
The First Army was to capture Valenciennes; the operation to be
carried out in three phases, as follows:
(a) The capture of Mont Houy and Aulnoy--to be carried out by the
Twenty-second Corps on the morning of October 28, 1918.
(b) The capture of the high ground overlooking Valenciennes from the
south--to be carried out by the Canadian Corps on a subsequent date,
probably October 30, 1918.
(c) The capture of high ground east of Valenciennes--to be carried out
after (b) above, probably on November 1.
Valenciennes would thus be outflanked from the south. The Canadian
Corps would take over, probably on the night of October 28-29, 1918,
the left brigade frontage of the Twenty-second Corps (approximately
2,500 yards) in order to carry out phases (b) and (c) of this
operation. The above attacks were to be carried out simultaneously
with the attacks of the Third and Fourth Armies.
In accordance with the above, instructions were issued to the Third
Canadian Division to take over the frontage of the left brigade of the
Fourth Canadian Division. The Fourth Canadian Division was, in turn,
ordered to relieve the left brigade of the Twenty-second Corps
(Fifty-first Division), both side slips to take place on the night of
October 28-29, 1918, subsequent to the capture of Mont Houy by the
Twenty-second Corps.
[Illustration: At the left is Major General Sir Frederick Oscar Warren
Loomis, who commanded the Third Canadian Division in the latter half
of 1918; at the right is Brigadier General Raymond Brutinel, who
commanded the Canadian Motor Machine Gun Corps.]
The attack of the Fifty-first Division on Mont Houy on October 28,
1918, was not successful. In the first rush the troops succeeded in
gaining a foothold on the objective, but were subsequently driven out
by repeated counterattacks. In view of this, the relief of the left
brigade of that division by the Fourth Canadian Division was
postponed. During the night of October 28-29, 1918, however, the Third
Canadian Division relieved the left brigade of the Fourth Canadian
Division.
Orders were received that the Canadian Corps was to carry out all
three phases of the operations against Valenciennes in conjunction
with attacks of the Twenty-second Corps. Accordingly, the Fourth
Canadian Division was ordered to relieve the left brigade of the
Fifty-first Division during the night of October 29-30, 1918, on the
line then held, and to be prepared to carry out the attack on the
morning of November 1, 1918.
In conjunction with the attack the Third Canadian Division was ordered
to cross the Canal and the inundated area on its front, and establish
a bridgehead to enable the engineers to reconstruct the bridges
leading into the city.
In the short period available, elaborate preparations were made for
the support of the attack. The position was eminently suitable for the
use of enfilade as well as frontal fire, the general direction of the
attack on Mont Houy being parallel to our front, and full advantage of
this was taken in arranging the artillery and machine-gun barrages.
The application of heavy artillery fire was restricted because the
enemy had retained many civilians in Valenciennes and the adjoining
villages. Strict orders were issued that the city and villages were
not to be bombarded, with the exception of a row of houses on the
eastern side of the Canal which were occupied by a large number of
machine guns. To hinder the good observation which the enemy would
otherwise have been able to enjoy from the city and villages, very
elaborate arrangements were made to place heavy smoke screens along
certain areas.
Despite great difficulties of transport, the supplies of ammunition,
bridging material, etc., moved forward were sufficient, and before
dawn on November 1, 1918, all preparations were completed.
At 5.15 a. m., November 1, 1918, the attack was launched, and from the
first went entirely according to plan on the Canadian Corps front. The
enemy barrage dropped quickly and was very heavy, but shortly
afterward slackened down under the influence of efficient
counterbattery fire. In the meantime the attacking infantry got well
away, advancing under a most excellent barrage and reaching their
objective, the line of the Valenciennes-Maubeuge railway, on time
right behind the barrage.
The fighting during the advance was heavy, especially around the
houses along the Famars-Valenciennes road and in Aulnoy.
The thoroughness of the preparations made for this small but important
battle is better illustrated by the following striking figures:
Number of enemy dead buried, over 800
Prisoners captured, over 1,300
(Exceeding the number of assaulting troops.)
Canadian casualties (approximate), 80 killed and 300 wounded.
On the left, the left brigade of the Fourth Canadian Division and the
Third Canadian Division had, in the meantime, succeeded in crossing
the Canal. Bridgeheads were established north of the city, the station
and railway yards were seized, and the engineers commenced the
construction of bridges.
The enemy did not counterattack against the Canadian Corps during the
day, but continued to hold out strongly in the southern outskirts of
Valenciennes and Marly, and in the steel works to the southeast until
dark. Two counterattacks against the Twenty-second Corps front on the
right caused some anxiety, but that flank was strengthened and no
trouble developed.
During the night the Fourth Canadian Division took over an additional
brigade frontage from the Forty-ninth Division (Twenty-second Corps)
on the right preparatory to the capture of the high ground east of
Marly.
Patrols of the Fourth Canadian Division pushed forward during the
night and ascertained that the enemy was withdrawing. In the early
morning the Canadian troops had completely cleared Valenciennes and
Marly, and patrols had entered St.-Saulve.
The advance was continued in the face of stubborn resistance from
enemy rear guards throughout November 2, 1918, on the whole corps
front, and by nightfall had reached the line Marly-St.-Saulve-Bas
Amarais-Raucourt Château, all inclusive. On the front of the Third
Canadian Division the advance was particularly difficult, the country
being under water except where railway embankments, slag heaps, and
houses stood up out of the flood and afforded excellent cover for
enemy machine gunners and riflemen.
Some stiff fighting took place when the advance was continued on
November 3, 1918, but in spite of this good progress was made,
especially on the right on the front of the Eleventh Canadian Infantry
Brigade (Brigadier General V. W. Odlum), where the line was advanced
3,000 yards and the village of Estreux captured. Progress on the left
was necessarily slower owing to the flooded nature of the ground.
The front of the Third Canadian Division had now become very extended,
and on the night of November 3-4 a portion of it, from Odomez to
Fresnes--about a mile in extent--was handed over to the Fifty-second
Division of the Eighth Corps.
On November 4, 1918, the line was carried forward about two miles on
the front of the Fourth Canadian Division. The Third Canadian Division
was still forcing its way through marsh and water, and made good the
Vicq-Thiers railway. On the extreme left of the Third Canadian
Division a strong point east of the Canal-de-l'Escaut was captured and
the Escaupont-Quievrechain railway bridge was taken. The village of
Onnaing and the western part of Rombies fell into their hands during
the day.
During the early hours of November 5, 1918, the Third Canadian
Division entered the town of Vicq, following the capture of two points
of local tactical importance west of the town. A large portion of the
line of the Escaupont-Quievrechain railway was also made good, and the
northern part of Quarouble captured during the day.
The Fourth Canadian Division attacked on November 5, 1918, and
clearing Rombies and the southern part of Quarouble, crossed the river
Aunelle between Rombies and Marchipont, the enemy fighting very
stubbornly to prevent their crossing. By this advance the first troops
of the Canadian Corps crossed into Belgian territory, the Aunelle
River being the boundary at that point.
The advance was resumed on November 6, 1918, and important progress
was made. The villages of Marchipont, Baisieux, and the southern
portion of Quievrechain were taken by the Fourth Canadian Division
while the Third Canadian Division took the railway station and
glassworks at Quievrechain and the northern part of the village, and
also captured Crespin farther north.
The enemy's resistance was very stubborn. The Twenty-second Corps on
the right were forced to give up a portion of the ground gained and to
withdraw to the west bank of Honelle River at Angre, in the face of
severe counterattacks.
The Second Canadian Division relieved the Canadian Division during the
night of 6-7, and the latter was withdrawn to rest in the Anzin-Aubry
area, just west of Valenciennes.
On their right the Canadians were now getting into the heart of the
Belgian coal district--a thickly populated area--where the numerous
towns and villages, the coal mines, and the commanding slag heaps
complicated the task.
The Second and Third Canadian Divisions attacked on the morning of
November 7, 1918, and, although by this time the weather had broken
and the country was rapidly becoming thoroughly water-logged, good
progress was made during the day, the enemy showing increasing signs
of demoralization.
The Second Canadian Division, on the right, cleared the remainder of
Baisieux, captured the sugar refinery northeast of that town, the town
of Elouges, and the many small settlements that surrounded it. In
conjunction with the Third Canadian Division Quievrain was taken, and
an advance of about two and a half miles was made. On the left the
Third Canadian Division, in addition to cooperating with the Second
Canadian Division in the capture of Quievrain, pushed along the Mons
road for about 4,000 yards and took La Croix and Hensies, north of the
road.
When the advance was continued on November 8, 1918, the Third Canadian
Division pushed troops to the north, and by noon had secured the
villages of Thievencelle and St.-Aybert. Later in the day a footbridge
was constructed across the Conde-Mons Canal, and under cover of
darkness patrols crossed and a bridgehead was established.
Farther south the Third Canadian Division had surprised the enemy in
the village of Montreuil-sur-Haine and Thulin at an early hour, and
these towns were quickly captured. Pushing on from here the village of
Hamin was taken, and by nightfall the troops were on the western
outskirts of Boussu.
The Second Canadian Division met with strong opposition. Good progress
was, however, made, and by midnight the important village of Dour and
the smaller villages of Bois-de-Boussu, Petit Hornu, Bois-de-Epinois,
and a portion of the Bois-de-Leveque was cleared.
Resuming the advance on November 9, 1918, the Second Canadian Division
captured Warquignies, Champ-des-Sait, Petit Wasmes, Wasmes-Paturages,
La Bouverie, Lugies, Frameries, and Genly with little opposition. The
advance made by this division was over four miles through densely
populated areas, the twin towns of Wasmes-Paturages combined having a
population of about 30,000. By nightfall the Second Canadian Division
was clear of the main mining district.
The Third Canadian Division had on its left front crossed the river
Haine during the night, north of Montreuil-sur-Haine, and later
secured a further hold on the north bank of the Conde-Mons Canal near
Le Petit Crepin. During the afternoon, further troops were sent across
the Canal, and the villages of Petit Crepin, Ville Pommereuil,
Hautrage, and Terte were taken. Farther west the patrols which had
crossed the Canal on the previous day entered Pommereuil and
Bernissart.
The Third Canadian Division had also occupied Boussu, on its right,
before daylight on the 9th, and rapid progress eastward was made
during the day toward Mons, the villages of Cuesmes, Jemappes, Flenu,
Hornu, Wasmes, Quaregnon, Wasmuel, and St.-Ghislain all being
captured. The rapidity of this advance had evidently surprised and
disorganized the enemy, although some opposition was met.
By the morning of November 10, 1918, the Fifty-second Division (Eighth
Corps) had advanced and relieved that part of the Third Canadian
Division operating north of the left boundary of the Canadian Corps.
The Third Canadian Division's advance on November 10, 1918, brought
the Canadian troops to the southwestern outskirts of Mons, while the
Second Canadian Division had reached the Mons-Givry road, outflanking
the city from the south, but, owing to the large number of civilians
still in the city, it was not possible for us to bombard the town. To
the north of the Conde-Mons Canal, a further advance was made and the
village of Ghlin secured.
During the night of November 10-11, 1918, the divisions resumed their
advance, and immediately after dark the troops of the Seventh Canadian
Infantry Brigade (Brigadier General J. A. Clark) commenced to close
in. The villages of Nimy and Petit Nimy were quickly captured and an
entry into Mons by way of the railway station was effected before
midnight. By 6.00 a. m. on November 11, 1918, the stubborn machine-gun
resistance had been broken and the town cleared of the enemy.
The Second Canadian Division had, during the night, taken the
Bois-le-Haut, a wood crowning a large hill on the southeastern
outskirts of Mons, thus securing the right flank of the Third Canadian
Division. The capture of this high ground forced upon the enemy a
further retirement, and the Canadian troops, still pressing on,
reached and captured St.-Symphorien and Fbg. Barthelmy by 8.00 a. m.
In the meantime, word had been received through the First Army that
hostilities would cease at 11.00 a. m. on November 11, 1918, the
armistice having been signed in acceptance of the Allied terms.
To secure a satisfactory line for the defense of Mons, the Canadian
line was further advanced, and the Bois-d'Havre, Bois-du-Rapois and
the town and villages of Havre, Bon Vouloir, La Bruyère, Maisières,
St.-Denis, and Obourg were captured before hostilities ceased.
Between October 11 and November 11, 1918, the Canadian Corps had
advanced to a total depth exceeding ninety-one thousand yards (91,000
yards) through a country in which the enemy had destroyed railways,
bridges, and roads, and flooded large areas to further impede our
progress.
To the normal difficulties of moving and supplying a large number of
men in a comparatively restricted area were added the necessity of
feeding several hundred thousand people, chiefly women and children,
left in a starving condition by the enemy. Several deaths by
starvation, or through suffering consequent to privation, were
experienced in villages or towns which, being kept under hostile shell
fire and defended by machine guns, could not be captured rapidly by
our troops.
The fighting was light up to the Canal-de-l'Escaut, but stiffened
perceptibly from there on until the capture of Mons, and added a great
deal to the physical exertion caused by such a long advance in adverse
weather. The following table shows the average daily advances made by
the Canadian Corps in that period:
Yards
From October 11 to October 12 4,000
" " 12 " 17 7,000
" " 17 " 18 5,000
" " 18 " 19 12,000
" " 19 " 20 2,500
" " 20 " 21 5,000
" " 21 " 22 6,000
" " 22 " 23 3,000
" " 23 " 24 1,000
" " 24 to November 1 3,500[9]
From November 1 " 2 3,000
" " 2 " 3 2,000
" " 3 " 4 3,000
" " 4 " 5 1,500
" " 5 " 6 4,000
" " 6 " 7 4,000
" " 7 " 8 3,500
" " 8 " 9 11,000
" " 9 " 10 1,500
" " 10 " 11 9,000
------
Total 91,500
Between August 8 and November 11, 1918, the following had been
captured:
Prisoners 31,537
Guns (heavy and field) 623
Machine guns 2,842
Trench mortars (heavy and light) 336
Over 500 square miles of territory and 228 cities, towns, and villages
had been liberated, including the cities of Cambrai, Denain,
Valenciennes, and Mons.
[Footnote 9: Held up in front of Valenciennes till after the
capture of Mont Houy.]
When it is recalled that since August 8, 1918, the Canadian Corps had
fought battles of the first magnitude, having a direct bearing on the
general situation, and contributing to an extent difficult to realize
to the defeat of the German armies in the field, this advance under
most difficult conditions constitutes a decisive test of their
superior energy and power of endurance.
It was befitting that the capture of Mons should close the fighting
records of the Canadian troops, in which every battle they fought is a
resplendent page of glory.
The Canadian Corps was deeply appreciative of the honor of having been
selected among the first for the task of establishing and occupying
the bridgeheads east of the Rhine.
A long march of 170 miles under difficult conditions was ahead of
them, but they ungrudgingly looked forward to what had always been
their ultimate objective--the occupation of German soil.
CANADA'S TOTAL CASUALTIES IN THE GREAT WAR
Officers Other Ranks Total
Killed in action and died of wounds 2,559 48,557 51,116
Accidentally killed 5 8 13
Died of disease 292 4,613 4,905
Wounded 5,349 143,510 148,859
Presumed dead 187 4,915 5,102
Missing -- 57 57
Deaths in Canada -- 2,633 2,633
----- ------- ------
8,392 204,293 212,685[10]
Total prisoners of war 236 3,493 3,729
Repatriated 204 3,086 3,290
C. E. F.--Siberian force--
Accidentally killed 4
Died of disease 13
Wounded 1
Enlistments up to November 15, 1918 595,441[11]
Sailings to England 418,052
Sailings to Siberia 4,214
-------
422,266[12]
[Footnote 10: Represents nearly 3 per cent of Canada's total
population of 8,000,000.]
[Footnote 11: Over 7 per cent of population.]
[Footnote 12: Five per cent of population.]
PART III--CANADA AT HOME
CHAPTER XXI
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH THE EMPIRE
While the enlistment and equipment of the first contingent proceeded
apace, all political ranks united for the war. Militarists and
pacifists, fathoms apart in times of peace on the question of a
Dominion navy, joined hands. Party lines, as in Great Britain, were
instantly obliterated. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, former Prime Minister, and
leader of the opposition in the Canadian Parliament, who, at the
Imperial Conference of 1911, advocated the doctrine of colonial
neutrality, declaring that Canada would not necessarily consider
herself bound to take part in wars in which Great Britain might become
involved, immediately threw the weight of his influence behind the
Government. When the Dominion Parliament met August 19, 1914, to
indorse Great Britain's participation in the war, Sir Wilfrid, after
announcing that for the present all party lines had been abolished,
said:
"So long as there is danger at the front it is our duty, more pressing
than all other duties on this first day of debate, to let Great
Britain, to let all the friends and foes of Great Britain, know that
there is in Canada but one mind and one heart, and that all Canadians
stand behind the mother country, conscious and proud that she did not
engage in war from selfish motives or for aggrandizement, but to
maintain untarnished the honor of her name, to fulfill her obligations
to her allies, to maintain her treaty obligations, and to save
civilization from the unbridled lust of conquest and power."
Of the Canadian contingent he said it was the opinion of the British
Government that the assistance of Canadian troops, humble though it
might be, would be appreciated for their material and moral help, and
would show the world that Canada, daughter of England, intended to
stand by her in the conflict.
Canada's Governor General, the Duke of Connaught, had opened
Parliament wearing a general's field uniform in khaki, and reminded
the legislators that England was asking for their help. Sir Wilfrid
Laurier, in the speech he made, presented a motion proposing that the
Dominion be prepared to carry out the duke's suggestion. The motion's
seconder was the Premier, Sir Robert Borden, who said:
"We stand shoulder to shoulder with the mother country. With firm
hearts we abide the issue. The men who are going to the front from
Canada are going as freemen from a free country to serve this Dominion
and the Empire. We are giving our best to our country, and we are
proud to do it." The press of Canada ardently indorsed the decision.
The Canadian Parliament immediately voted a war credit of $50,000,000,
the minister of finance declaring that Canada was prepared to spend
her last drop of blood and her last dollar in the defense of the
country. This measure, the first contribution from Canada's war chest
on behalf of the Empire, signalized an outpouring of gifts in kind,
official or private, in rich profusion. From its storehouses the
Government presented Great Britain with 98,000 bags of flour; the
Provinces thereupon followed with individual gifts of supplies.
Ontario gave 250,000 bags of flour; Manitoba, 50,000 bags; Quebec,
4,000,000 pounds of cheese; New Brunswick, 100,000 bushels of
potatoes; Saskatchewan, 1,500 horses, valued at $250,000; Alberta,
500,000 bushels of oats; Prince Edward Island, 100,000 bushels of
oats; British Columbia, 25,000 cases of salmon; while Nova Scotia at
first offered 100,000 tons of coal, a cumbrous contribution, which was
later converted to its cash equivalent. These governmental offerings
evoked no less handsome responses to the call of the mother country
from many cities and towns, corporations, and individuals. Great
Britain's sinews of war were further reenforced by $100,000 from the
Bank of Montreal; $500,000 from Mr. J. K. L. Ross of Montreal; a
battery of machine guns from Mr. J. C. Eaton of Toronto; while Mr.
Hamilton Gault of Montreal equipped and raised at his own expense a
crack regiment composed entirely of men possessing war medals, and
known as the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, or more
properly as "Princess Pat's Pets." Having outfitted this force at a
cost of $1,500,000, Mr. Gault did not take command, but joined it as
one of its officers, while Mrs. Gault closed her home and left for the
front as a nurse. Corporations also contributed funds for the war, and
many employees gave a percentage of their salaries.
The women of Canada raised a fund of $285,960, one hundred thousand of
which was for military hospital purposes, and the remainder for a
naval hospital. The Canadian Red Cross sent a fully equipped field
hospital and $50,000 to the British Red Cross Society. The Dominion
Government provided $100,000 for a Canadian hospital in France.
Farmers in different districts gathered vast stocks of flour and
farming produce and sent them to England. The Canadians also raised
their own Patriotic Relief Fund, devoted to caring for dependents of
Canadians fighting at the front and providing a subsistence for their
future. Eighteen cities raised considerably over $5,000,000 for this
fund within ten weeks of the outbreak of the war. Montreal leading
with $2,000,000, and Toronto with nearly $1,000,000.
In the wake of this munificence came an increased depression. Before
the war a temporary check had come to a long and unexampled era of
prosperity in Canada. An industrial crisis had set in, and the war
brought it to an acute point. There had been an overstimulation of
industrial enterprises; land values had been artificially inflated in
the Northwest; and capital had been too easily raised. Capital now
became scarce; Canadian promotions were viewed with suspicion; and
some foreign investments were withdrawn. With the war many Canadians,
who were working and giving whole-heartedly for the Empire, saw their
enterprises facing ruin for want of capital they could not obtain.
The stock exchanges were closed. Shares in some of the soundest
industrial concerns were almost unsalable; others were offered for
little more than half their market price of a few months before.
Canadian Pacific shares, as an example, fell to $157-1/2; a little
over a year previous to the war they had reached $254. Government and
municipal undertakings found difficulty in obtaining funds to continue
public works, and in consequence had to discharge hundreds of men. A
number of establishments closed altogether; others continued on
curtailed time and staffs.
Montreal felt an immediate depressing tendency on the outbreak of the
war. In Toronto the financial stringency caused by the war brought a
more serious phase to the labor situation in that city than had ever
before been encountered. All lines of industry were affected, and
thousands of men and women paid off. The enlistment of several
thousands of Canadians did not appreciably relieve the congestion in
the labor market. The building trade was suddenly paralyzed owing to
the inability of contractors to obtain advances from banks and loan
companies. The same check to all manner of business enterprises and
construction work was felt in Port Arthur, Fort William, Sault Ste.
Marie, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Prince Rupert, and
Victoria. In all these cities the numbers of unemployed grew to
extraordinary proportions. So, while military preparations were
proceeding without pause, the Dominion, Provincial, and municipal
authorities and business interests had to wrestle with the industrial
situation. In due time distress was relieved, new enterprises were
initiated, wholesale economies instituted, and vigorous efforts made
to restore financial stability.
Canada looked suspiciously at the migratory Germans within her gates
when the war broke out, but more assuringly at her settlers of German
descent, who were not only domiciled but rooted on her soil. Of these
Sir Wilfrid Laurier spoke thus in the Canadian House of Parliament:
"They have shown more than once their devotion to British
institutions, but they would not be men if they did not in their
hearts have a deep feeling for the land of their ancestry. Nobody
blames them for that. There is nothing, perhaps, so painful as a
situation in which the mind and heart are driven in opposite
directions. Let me tell my fellow countrymen of German origin that
Great Britain has no antagonism to the German people. We respect and
admire them, but in the struggle for constitutional liberty which has
been universal in Europe the German people have not made the same
advances as some other nations. I am sure they will agree with me that
if the institutions of the land of their ancestors were as free as
those of the land of their adoption, this cruel war would never have
taken place."
This sentiment brought a ready echo from Berlin, Ontario, which at
least showed that that German colony shared the common aspirations of
the Dominion. In a cablegram sent to Lord Kitchener the citizens of
this Ontario German settlement said:
"Berlin, Ontario, a city of 18,000, of which 12,000 are German or of
German descent, proposes to raise $75,000 or more for the National
(Canadian) Patriotic Fund. The German people want to see militarism in
Germany smashed for good, and the people set free to shape a greater
and better Germany."
Pro-German sentiment undoubtedly lurked in these German Canadian
communities, but it was quiescent and therefore harmless. Hence
anti-German sentiment, which became demonstrative and dangerous upon
the declaration of war by Great Britain, did not direct its attention
to the German settlements, but to the consulates. Those at Vancouver
and Winnipeg were stoned by mobs, and the German and Austrian consuls
were requested to leave the country. There was a fear of spies, and a
number of unaffiliated Germans were arrested and interned.
Then the popular imagination became scared by the remote possibility
of an invasion of Canada by German and Austrian Americans. A feeling
of nervousness over the supposed danger was reported along the
Canadian frontier, though the fears of the border communities were
accounted as groundless. The Government was fully cognizant of
conditions along the border and military activities kept at least
40,000 men either mobilized or under arms in various parts of the
country, composed of 10,000 as guards for home defense and 30,000 in
training for oversea service. The danger, fanciful or not, caused
extra precautions to be taken against any invasion across the Niagara
River. Guards were stationed at Fort Erie, directly opposite Buffalo,
and the whole river front from there to Niagara Falls and Queenstown
was patrolled day and night by between 500 and 600 members of the
newly organized home guards--in automobiles or on motorcycles. The
guard on the Welland Canal was doubled.
There had been occasional trouble with alien workmen at munition
factories, some of which, incidentally, were hemmed in by three
successive fences of barbed wire, outside of which marched armed
sentries. A railroad bridge in the Northwest had been blown up. Later
a sentry on guard at a lock in the Soulanges Canal, near Montreal, had
been shot.
Then followed an attempt to blow up the international bridge between
Maine and New Brunswick. Here were sporadic manifestations which
called for the services of the new home guards to protect railroads
and canals, not only to safeguard Canadian commerce, but because any
destruction of canals and bridges might seriously hamper the work of
forwarding supplies to England. Much of England's food passed through
the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence, and the wreck of one lock by
explosion during the navigation season would be a serious disaster.
After navigation closed the means of forwarding supplies and troops
became even more limited. The Intercolonial Railroad, which is owned
by the Government, was the only line extending to the Atlantic
seaboard without crossing American territory, and for that reason was
the sole artery available for the transport of troops. The entire 700
miles of its main line therefore had to be patrolled.
When found, however, alien enemies were well treated in Canada. They
were but little molested, and unless under actual suspicion were
allowed comparative freedom, being only required to register and
report at certain intervals. Detention camps were subsequently
established for those suspected of plotting and spying and for those
in want. Some Germans and Austrians succeeded in fleeing the country
when the war broke out. A ticket agent at Montreal was tried for
treason--an offense punishable by death--on a charge that he had
assisted them to leave Canada. German and Austrian workmen who did not
leave were not permitted to depart, even to the United States, lest
they should find means of returning to their own countries to join
their armies. Most of them were unemployed; and as alien enemies were
not supposed to be provided for by charitable organizations, they were
assembled in camps to protect them from starvation.
Germany's attitude toward Canada was indicated in a statement credited
to Count von Bernstorff, the German ambassador in Washington,
regarding the scope of the Monroe Doctrine. The curious contention was
therein made that Canada, by sending troops to fight against Germany,
had violated that doctrine. The alleged violation was not very clear,
unless, from the German viewpoint, it consisted in giving Germany
cause for attacking Canada, which would at once test the effectiveness
of the Monroe Doctrine. But this, the statement said, Germany had no
intention of doing, nor of attempting to colonize Canada after the war
if she were victorious.
Canada refused to take seriously this promise of Germany not to annex
her. Most of the Canadian press waxed sarcastic, and those who dealt
seriously with the German statement seized upon it as an excuse to
beat the recruiting drum for the British army, especially the
implication that, because Canada had sided against Germany, there was
nothing in the Monroe Doctrine to prevent her landing an armed force
in Canada. "Possibly he" (Count von Bernstorff), commented the
Montreal "Herald," "expects the United States will now go out of its
way and tell him how cordially they would welcome such delightful
neighbors on the Canadian side of 3,000 miles of unfortified
territory."
The unexampled conditions created by the war with Canada, of which the
foregoing is a survey--her activities, turmoil, welding of political
cleavages, industrial sacrifices, benevolences, and needless
precautions against unsubstantial dangers--merely featured her real
achievement. This was the creation of an army in being for the
European battle field.
PART IV--CANADIAN WAR INDUSTRIES
CHAPTER XXII
BEHIND THE GUNS AT HOME
When the war broke out in 1914, Great Britain looked to Canada for a
supply of munitions as well as men. Not a shell, cartridge, nor fuse
had ever before been made by a Canadian manufacturer. A new industry
immediately sprang into being, assuming quite large proportions by the
middle of 1915, by which time there were approximately over 400
establishments in full blast. From a modest output in 1914
representing a value of $28,164, the Canadian munitions factories
piled up a record of production which stood at over $1,000,000,000 in
value with the war's close in November, 1918.
The Imperial Ministry of Munitions, which threw out its lines from
London to obtain munitions whence it could, asked much of Canada and
got much. "Who would have dreamed," said a member of the British
Government in 1915, "that Canada would have produced more munitions
than any country in the world except Germany prior to the war?" Of the
projectiles used by all the British armies in the third year of the
war, Canada was producing 55 per cent of the shrapnel shells; 42 per
cent of the 4.5-inch shells; 27 per cent of the 6-inch; 15 per cent of
the 8-inch; and 16 per cent of the 9.2-inch. In fact, when the Germans
complained that the Allied armies were being munitioned by the United
States, they lost sight--or did not know--of the fact that many of the
shells they objected to as American really came from Canada. In
addition to shells and fuses and related products, there were vast
exports of explosives and chemicals, metals, and spruce and fir for
airships and other purposes. The war contracts which started all this
activity were spread over a thousand contractors and called for the
employment of from 200,000 to 300,000 workers.
The table of achievement, as it stands in the Government records, was
as under
VALUE OF MUNITIONS AND MATERIALS EXPORTED FROM CANADA
1914 to December 31 $ 28,164
1915 " 57,213,688
1916 " 296,505,257
1917 " 388,213,553
1918 " 260,711,751
--------------
$1,002,672,413
QUANTITIES EXPORTED
Shells 65,343,647
Fuses 29,638,126
Fuse parts 16,174,073
Cartridge cases 48,627,673
Percussion primers 35,386,488
Exploder containers 13,285,000
Shell and adapter forgings 6,412,115
Explosives and Chemicals-- Lbs.
T. N. T. 14,754,950
Cordite 28,542,157
Other (more than) 41,000,000
Metals and Compounds--
Steel bars 43,077,923
Zinc 35,412,413
Nickel 1,792,000
Other (more than) 27,000,000
Lumber for Aeroplanes-- Feet
Spruce 16,289,227
Fir 6,801,324
Other Lumber--
Douglas fir 11,530,315
Pine--various kinds and qualities 10,360,566
Spruce 8,345,675
This table bears a little amplification, more especially as to the
disposition of the huge volume of lumber logged. Much of it, as will
be seen, went into the manufacture of aeroplanes. A plant at Toronto,
financed with British capital, but organized and operated by
Canadians, manufactured 2,050 complete machines, turning out 350 a
month. The airships represented a value of $6,700,000, and required
over 2,000 workers in their construction. The plant also provided a
number of flying boats for the United States Navy.
Canada's shipbuilding record was no less notable. Her yards turned out
103 vessels (45 steel, 58 wooden) with an approximate dead-weight
carrying capacity of 367,367 tons. In addition, the Department of
Naval Service undertook to build a number of small warcraft for
various Allied governments. These little vessels were produced at
various points on the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes. For the
British Government Canadian yards supplied 12 submarines, 60 armed
trawlers, 100 armed drifters, 550 coastal patrol motor boats, and 24
steel lighters for use in Mesopotamia; for the French Government, 6
armed trawlers and 36 coastal patrol motor boats; for the Italian
Government, 6 submarines; and for the Russian Government one large
armed ice breaker and some submarines.
The outstanding feature of all the munition making was, as the table
shows, the production of shells. It needed nimble feminine fingers to
turn out the very nub of a shell, namely, the fuse. Consider the
record of a huge factory near Montreal, which engaged in loading and
assembling time and percussion fuses, completing in all 8,400,000. The
work involved the blending of fast and slow burning powders; forcing
the powder into the time rings under a pressure of 68,000 pounds per
square inch; assembling the fifty-two component parts which made up
the complete fuse; the packing, checking, and shipping the completed
product. Women became expert in the work of fuse making, which meant
being careful even to the 1-1000th of an inch.
"A shell with a defective fuse," wrote one observer of their work, "is
worse than no shell at all. It may fail to explode, it may explode in
the wrong place, at the wrong time, or in the wrong way." Canadian
women made fuses that made the perfect shell. Not only in fuse making
did they excel; heavy work became easy when machines, at the
suggestion of the women themselves, were changed in position. Finally
there was no difference in the work done by men and women. Within five
weeks of the time they first heard of a 9.2-inch shell 400 women in
one factory were successfully turning them out, performing every
operation from that subsequent to the fabrication of the metal to and
including that of shipping.
Before October, 1916, no women had ever worked in Canada as producers
in a metal plant. There was a prejudice against employment of women.
The need of shells and the need of shell makers dissipated prejudice
and put women into Canadian munitions plants. At first they were given
the light work to do and were set to tending a machine; work that
required little intelligence on the part of the operator, but was
extremely trying on the nerves. It soon became apparent that women
excelled in work that required accuracy and delicate handling.
Women worked cheerfully and long. In the time of greatest need there
were 35,000 women at work in the munitions factories of Canada; after
the first call there was no shortage of women help. For various good
reasons it was decided to give a badge without charge to any woman who
worked for thirty days continuously. For each additional six months'
service a bar was added. In all, 18,999 badges and 8,032 service bars
were used in Canada. They were earned as follows: One bar, 4,003; two
bars, 1,135; three bars, 447; four bars, 84; five bars, 16; six bars,
2.
In addition a commemorative badge was awarded to all workmen in the
various plants who served continuously for a year or more. Far from
disturbing labor conditions the entry of women into munitions plants
aroused the most wonderful cooperation and enthusiasm and actually
dispelled what might have been a serious drawback in "serving the man
who serves the gun."
It began with a Shell Committee, composed of honorary members, which
was formed when the British Government decided that Canada was a good
field for producing shrapnel shells, especially as basic steel--the
only steel Canada turned out--proved serviceable for shell making.
The Shell Committee placed contracts on behalf of the British War
Office, but the volume of business expanded to such a degree that the
committee only gave place to a board directly responsible to the
Imperial Ministry of Munitions. The work of this Munitions Board
developed a number of auxiliary departments, directed by business men
located in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria, who handled
enormous purchases of materials for use in munition making, supervised
construction, conducted logging operations, and checked and rectified
all engineering gauges. The forging of steel had to be arranged and
the forgings and components distributed to the machining plants
situated in the various Provinces. Shipbuilding required the
acquisition of much timber and supplies for the hulls and the
construction of engines and boilers.
These national plants were erected at Trenton, Renfrew, and Nobel for
producing nitrocellulose, cordite, and T. N. T., with acid plants, and
a factory for turning out acetone and methyl-ethyl-ketone. In the
forging operations steel turnings had to be melted in electric
furnaces, the steel thus subsequently produced being converted into
forgings. The manufacture of aeroplanes for the Royal Air Force
included a constructional section which built all aerodromes, machine
shops, barracks, and officers' quarters at the various camps. The
logging operations, which were conducted in British Columbia, produced
spruce and fir for aeroplanes, and called for fleets of tugs which
delivered the logs to cutting mills. Every kind of material that could
be made available for war purposes was explored for by the Munitions
Board in areas of natural resources hitherto undeveloped, with the
result that industries new to Canada were established. One development
was an extensive production of alloys used in the manufacture of
high-speed cutting tools. Another achievement was the creation of the
explosive and propellent industry.
The manufacture of munitions spread over the whole of Canada, with the
exception of Prince Edward Island--which is exclusively
agricultural--and even invaded the island of Newfoundland. From the
first factory in the east to the last factory on the Pacific coast was
a journey of 4,500 miles.
"Steel," it was recorded, "was purchased wherever it could be
obtained. It was shipped 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 miles to have it
forged. From the forging plant it was shipped back again 500 or 600
miles or forwarded 2,000 miles to machining plants. Other component
parts were purchased from manufacturers as far south as Florida. They
were sent to remote points in order that every Canadian manufacturer
engaged in munitions contract might sustain delivery of finished
shells."
The policy pursued in all the complex operations thus briefly outlined
aimed at the elimination of the middleman and dealing direct with
those who performed the work. Raw materials of every description were
purchased and passed on from one contractor to another, saving the
contractor large investments of capital otherwise necessary to produce
complete shells, and enabling a proper distribution of the materials
available to insure maximum production. Subsequently the war munitions
business was placed on a competitive basis.
All the work accomplished was due to the initiative of the Imperial
Munitions Board, which was presided over by Sir Joseph Flavelle. There
was, of course, a governing stimulus in all it did, namely, the needs
of the war, which evolved the board's creation on broad lines when, in
November, 1915, the British Government placed munition contracts in
Canada amounting to $300,000,000. Manufacturers adapted their plants
to munition making; thousands of men and women toiled at the lathe and
in places of great responsibility and danger; patriotic Canadians
freely gave their services when called upon with no other reward than
the satisfaction of serving the state. The board's administrative
staff numbered close to a thousand men and women, and of them Sir
Joseph Flavelle declared that no body of men charged with serious duty
ever received more loyal and efficient support. The same tribute was
bestowed on the great home army of eager participants in munition
making of all ranks, though, like the good workers they all were, they
found duty its own reward.
An important factor in the manufacture of munitions was the work of
the Canadian War Trade Board. Its functions braced the supervision
and control of the Dominion's industries, and the direction of all
essential trades, occupations, and materials to the conduct of the
war. It was especially valuable in reaching outside of Canada for
needed materials for munitions, particularly from the United States.
The War Trade Board was born of a crisis. Until the United States
entered the war Canada had been able to obtain raw materials and
half-finished products necessary in the munitions industry without
difficulty from her southern neighbor. The situation changed when the
United States began to conserve every raw material and product which
could be used in the war. To present her case effectively Canada had
to organize on national lines. The two countries were not independent,
American industries needing nickel matter, asbestos, pulp, and power
from Canada, and Canadians requiring pig iron, iron ore, steel sheets,
coal, cotton, etc., from the United States. By both countries
appointing a War Trade Board composed of outstanding business men in
both countries, and by means of a Canadian War Mission established in
Washington, the two countries were able to present a solid industrial
front to the enemy and still preserve their respective national
interests intact.
Drastic elimination of nonessentials was the first essential so that
the railroads of the continent and the shipping of the world could
devote their energies to carrying necessaries for sustaining the
Allied war effort. The Canadian Board saw that no company imported any
material when stocks in Canada could be utilized for its needs. This
was not only to fulfill its obligations to the United States War Trade
Board, but to keep down imports to the lowest possible figure so that
Canada's trade balance with the United States should be as little
adverse as possible. For the same reason a number of imports were
placed on the restricted list.
Every day from all over Canada came anxious men and constant streams
of letters and telegrams informing the board as to stocks of raw
materials on hand, and explaining the needs. The War Trade Board
undertook to see that the materials were forthcoming, if possible, and
to secure them from within Canada or from the United States or
elsewhere. It purchased and distributed tin plate in Canada,
negotiated for the reopening of dormant blast furnaces and the
construction of new undertakings for the production of pig iron, and
obtained huge supplies required from the United States. It controlled
the sale, purchase, and use of platinum. It financed the purchase and
allotment through the Wool Commission of 46,208 bales of Australian
wool weighing 15,573,542 pounds and valued at ten and a half million
dollars, as well as five and a half million dollars' worth of tops and
noils from the United Kingdom. It had power to pay bounties on the
production of linen yarns in Canada. It also controlled the production
and distribution of iron and steel and their products in Canada, and
was empowered to take over and carry on the management of chrome
ore-producing properties for a period of five years.
The Board also served as a clearing house for industrial information
to manufacturers, keeping in constant touch with the various
industries, either individually or through such bodies as the Imperial
Munitions Board, the Canadian Wool Commission, the War Purchasing
Commission, the Canadian Tanners' Council, the Canadian Pulp and Paper
Association, and the Canadian Wool Growers' Association.
Had it not been for the existence of such a body, there were many raw
materials and products which Canadians could not have secured at all,
as the British, United States, and Australian Governments would not
have permitted their shipment but for assurances as to the use to
which they would be put or of a substantial cash advance. The shortage
of shipping made it necessary in some cases to secure a vessel to go
to South America or some other country to get materials urgently
needed in Canada, and only a government body could have induced the
admiralty to permit it.
The securing of steel plates for Canadian shipbuilding industries was
one of the board's most arduous and continuous tasks. Profiteering in
steel-plate and boiler-tube stocks was sternly checked in the cases
where complaints were well founded. Canadian steel companies were
induced to make all the car plates necessary for the Government's car
program. The pyrites exports were increased to meet the needs of the
sulphuric acid makers in the United States. Nitroglycerine was
conserved by restricting the content in commercial explosives.
The commandeering powers of the board were not often exercised, its
authority to do so alone being amply sufficient to obtain the ends for
which it was created. Most of the money made by the board was in
connection with its wool purchases. The money obtained for the tops
and noils from the United Kingdom it sent to the British Treasury.
With the proclamation of peace the board passed out of existence.
CHAPTER XXIII
FROM TRENCHES TO FARMS
The war left Canada, as it did other countries, with an army of
demobilized men, able and disabled, who needed Government help to
reestablish themselves in civilian life. For soldier citizens who were
attracted by farming, an extensive land settlement policy was devised,
and to a large extent its application solved one of the Government's
problems in affording thousands of ex-soldiers the means of settling
on the land, of which Canada had more to offer than anything else.
"The corner stone of Canada's industrial fabric is and must continue
to be the land," said Arthur Meighen, M. P., the Minister of the
Interior, "and to utilize this heritage to the best advantage--to
build into it and upon it as large a proportion as possible of the
best blood and spirit of our country, thus solving a problem of
reconstruction than which none is more vital in its bearing on
national well-being--is what is sought to be achieved."
The war, in effect, had created an opportunity for land development by
producing a colony of soldier settlers who readily turned to farming
after their open-air life in the battle areas. But the Government was
careful not to subject them to the hazards and isolation which the
ordinary, prewar settler had to face. Only land of good value, well
located, and of such fertility as to insure profitable returns, was
allocated among them. A search was made through the prairie Provinces
for areas suitable for soldier settlement contained in forest reserves
or held under grazing leases. The Government held a number of these
reserves so that men whose demobilization was deferred could have an
equal opportunity with those who were discharged first. Inadequate
means of communication affected the disposition of immense areas of
arable land, which would otherwise have been available for soldiers.
But it was decided to develop and close in settlement only those areas
that were contiguous to existing or promoted railroad lines. The
Government considered it inadvisable to encourage the veterans of the
Great War to settle on free homesteads at a greater distance than
fifteen miles from market facilities. This policy was especially
designed for soldiers who labored under some physical disability and
who were in receipt of pensions, and for such settlers small holdings,
close to large centers of population, were selected.
Canada had early anticipated the problem of rehabilitating her
returned soldiers. The Soldier Settlement Board was created long
before the Armistice, and was in good working order when the time for
demobilization arrived. Hence, when the stream of returned soldiers
began to flow toward the fertile farm lands which the Dominion
Government opened to them for ownership and development, the machinery
for so settling the incomers was ready for operation.
The Government not only settled soldiers on homesteads, but lent them
money to stock and equip their farms and afforded them training
knowledge. They could borrow up to $4,500 on the purchase of land; up
to $2,000 on the purchase of live stock, implements, and other
equipment; and up to $1,000 on the erection of buildings and other
permanent improvements. This made a total of $7,500, all of which,
except the $2,000 for equipment, was repayable in twenty-five years on
the amortization plan. The acquisition of farm equipment was rendered
easier by an arrangement with agricultural implement firms, who
undertook to charge specially low prices to soldier settlers. The
Government also employed experts to purchase horses, cattle, sheep,
and swine at the best prices obtainable, and resold them to settlers
at the price paid for them. Lumber dealers in the western Provinces
undertook, by arrangement with the Government, to provide lumber at
prices considerably below those charged the public. A soldier settler
had similar facilities for erecting a home on his land, the Government
providing plans for standard houses of four types, ranging from a
modest dwelling suitable for a bachelor settler to more commodious and
convenient six-roomed houses.
Before the stage of actual occupation was reached in the case of
settlers lacking sufficient farming experience, they were placed in
agricultural training centers, especially equipped, where they
obtained a practical knowledge of farm work, or else with selected
farmers throughout the Dominion, who regarded them as students eager
to know how to run a farm rather than as mere farm hands. The
prospective farmer's womankind, if likewise unversed in farm work and
house management, received the needful instruction from the home
branch of the Soldier's Settlement Board. In order to enable him to
tide over his non-productive period of training, the Government made
allowances to a returned soldier both for himself and for the support
of any dependents he might have. He likewise received free board as
well as free tuition, and if engaged with a farmer was entitled to
retain any remuneration his services yielded. While on a farm,
representatives of the board visited him to ascertain his progress, so
that they could determine when he was qualified to take over a farm of
his own.
The railroads, like the farmers and agricultural firms, cooperated
with the Government in assisting returned soldiers to settle upon the
land. A special low transportation rate of one cent per mile, applying
to the whole of Canada except northern Alberta, was fixed, but the
prospective farmer was not entitled to the reduction for ordinary
journeys. The rate only applied to the soldier's first trip to work
with a farmer, or to attend an agricultural school or to look for
land, or for a return journey home to transport his family and
chattels to his homestead. Choice of land and location lay wholly with
the soldier, but was subject to the judgment of the board's land
inspectors, who passed upon its value, and determined whether it was
suitable for the purchaser and was worth the price. When an inspector
approved the soldier's selection, the land was purchased by the board
and sold to the applicant.
Once established in his new environment, the ex-soldier was not left
to his own devices. The board's inspectors and supervisors regularly
visited him--to give any practical guidance he might require, while
local agricultural bodies and individual farmers volunteered their aid
to assist him and smooth his path to success. But a condition
precedent to his establishing himself on the land with Government aid
was that he must first prove his military eligibility and also reveal
a capacity, during his tenure at a training college or with a farmer,
for owning and operating a farm of his own. That done, the Government
lost no time in smoothing the way for him.
As to his army qualifications, an applicant must either have been a
discharged member of the expeditionary forces of Canada, Great
Britain, or of any of the self-governing Dominions, or a resident of
Canada--who had joined the Allied forces at the time of enlistment. In
either case he must have served outside the country in which he
enlisted or in a theater of actual war; but he was also eligible as a
discharged member of the Canadian expeditionary forces who had not
served overseas, but who had become incapacitated from military
service and entitled to a pension. Widows of members of both forces
who had died in actual service were entitled to the same facilities to
settle on the land.
The Government's land scheme for soldiers proved a great success. By
November 1, 1919, over 40,000 men had applied for the benefits of the
Government's offer, and over 30,000 had obtained qualification
certificates after receiving tuition at training centers or with
farmers. The scheme as a whole involved an expenditure of upward of
$100,000,000.
Canada has regarded her returned soldiers as her wards, especially
the disabled. Governmental guardianship could go no further. Her
scale of pensions, for example, is more than one-third higher than
that paid by any other nation. Any soldier or sailor disabled in the
service of the Empire became entitled to a pension if medical
attention failed to restore his normal capacities for earning a
livelihood. The pension was neither a gift, a gratuity, nor a reward
for service. The Government called it "compensation for disability
suffered through the war," and its amount bore no relation to the
calling previously followed by the recipient. A man totally disabled
received $720; if married, the amount was $900, with $144 for the
first child and $96 for subsequent children. Men totally helpless
could also receive a special allowance of $450. The disabled received
most of the pension fund, fully three-fourths going to them, while the
remaining fourth went to the dependents of deceased service men.
There were twenty classes of disability pensions, according to the
degree of the disability, which was the decisive factor in each case.
No reduction was made because of the recipient's earning powers or
because of his actual earnings. His physical disability, whatever it
was--not his ability to support himself--determined the amount. He
became a pensioner because of the loss or the lessening of a natural
function of the body, and the pension lasted as long as the disability
did. When the disability ceased, the pension also ceased. Medical
reexaminations were made periodically so that pensions could be
adjusted in accordance with the developments in a soldier's condition.
The payment of pensions, which was undertaken by the Board of Pension
Commissioners, involved an annual expenditure of $30,000,000. It
developed a largely and highly complex business machine; which had its
beginnings early in the war period, growing from a small staff of 34
members, handling 2,700 pensions, to a clerical force of 1,300 and a
pension roll of 80,000. District offices were established in the large
centers of the Dominion to afford discharged men convenient bureaus of
information. Medical officers were attached to each office, also
Government visitors, who were detailed to call on a pensioner at least
once annually. A pensioner's fitness to remain a pensioner was thus
ascertained, in order to prevent any improper expenditure of pension
money.
Then there was the war-service gratuity to which members of all ranks
in the Canadian army were entitled upon discharge, after being in
active service outside the Dominion. The payment covered six months
and served as a send-off to each demobilized man to enable him to live
in comfort pending his settling down to a civil occupation by his own
efforts or through Government aid. The gratuities were based on a
sliding scale, dependent on length of service; but a minimum payment
was also determined on. It was fixed at $70 a month for the service
men without dependents and $100 a month for those who had any. Thus,
sergeants, corporals, lance corporals and privates without dependents
received $420 for six months, or $70 monthly, and those with families,
$600 for six months, or $100 monthly. Where the scale of pay was
higher than this minimum it was based on the rate of pay of rank and
the length of service. The war gratuity was really a continuation of
army pay for six months after discharge.
CHAPTER XXIV
KEEPING THEIR HOME FIRES BURNING
Among the various voluntary war organizations working in Canada, or
among the Canadian troops overseas, the most extensive in its scope
was the Canadian Patriotic Fund. It was a form of war relief peculiar
to Canada, a product of public initiative, entirely unrelated to the
Government, being inspired by individual sympathy with the individual
needs of service men and by the intimate and old-fashioned neighborly
spirit that made all men brothers in an emergency. As a Canadian
innovation, arising from the Dominion's own particular problems, and
reflecting in a tangible form her characteristics as a nation, the
fund was nation-wide in its workings, both in the source of its
contributions and their distribution. It represented a voluntary
"drive" for money which continued throughout the war period, and its
administration was no less notable than its collection. Throughout the
Dominion there was a coordination of effort and sympathies on the part
of the fund's dispensers, with a complete elimination of overlapping
and its attendant waste of time, money, and energy.
The Fund in every respect was a national organization covering all the
Provinces except Manitoba (which created a fund of its own), and its
object was to assist, wherever necessary, the dependent relatives
resident in Canada of Allied soldiers and sailors serving in the war.
It was administered locally through committees serving gratuitously,
who, while they acted on general instructions from headquarters, also
had discretionary powers in approving applications and naming the
amount to be granted. As to the service of the Fund, from June, 1916,
to November, 1918, it yielded an average amount of $900,000 a month
for relief work and provided assistance to between 50,000 and 60,000
families. The Fund represented voluntary contributions from everybody
in the Dominion and reached the impressive figure of nearly
$43,000,000.
The dispensers of the Fund had one thought in mind. It was the _home_
the service man had left behind him, with special recognition of the
size of a man's family and local conditions affecting the cost of
living, both being determining factors in the budget making necessary
for the right and equitable distribution of such a fund. It was an
additional prop for the support of soldiers' families in the absence
of the breadwinner, in that it provided a supplementary income to that
allowed by the Government.
On enlistment the wife of every soldier received from the War Ministry
a separation allowance, originally of $20, later increased to $25. She
also received a part of her husband's assigned pay, which differed
according to rank. The two payments averaged $35 a month, a sum
inadequate for the upkeep of a home, and hence the beneficence of the
work of the Fund in augmenting the income of a soldier's wife or other
home folks to the level of the cost of living became apparent. It
supplemented the home income at the point of deficiency, adding to the
Government allowance a sufficient sum to overcome difficulties of
living due to local conditions and to the size of the families.
Instead of $35 a month, a typical Canadian soldier's family,
consisting of a wife and two children, received about $51.25 a month
from all sources with the help of the Patriotic Fund's disbursements.
One of its prime objects lay in inspiring the sympathetic atmosphere
and attitude so necessary in war times. This object was achieved by
reason of the character of the Fund's personnel, especially in local
branches, where much, if not all, of the executive work was in the
hands of warm-hearted, patriotic women, who did not spare themselves,
but gave of their best to the cause they had made their own.
"Keeping the home fires burning" had an appealing sound. The
neighborly spirit which animated the giving of contributions kept the
home fires burning in that the giving was not spasmodic but sustained,
enabling a continuous expansion of the Fund. It was this "touch of
nature that makes the whole world kin"--that made all Canada
kin--which endeared the Fund to every Canadian, rich and poor alike,
and alone accounted for the great response made to every appeal for
contributions. Every Canadian regarded his participation in the fund
as a personal promissory note; he felt that he was "backing" the
service man in a very near and individual sense.
Once the monthly output exceeded the income. In 1915 the monthly
output increased from $175,000 to $325,000, which showed how Canadians
regarded the Fund. These were anxious times for the Fund executive,
and it was at this time that the value of making the appeal
Dominion-wide became apparent. Reviewing the difficulties of this
period in handling the Fund, Sir Herbert Ames wrote:
"As a rule recruiting was greatest in Provinces least favorably
situated financially. Common service, common sacrifice, the principle
of giving money or men saved the day. By 1916 the needs of the fund
were placed at $8,000,000. 'Give till it hurts,' became the slogan. A
systematic allotment of each Province's share of the total
contribution was made. Ontario was asked for $4,500,000; Quebec,
$1,500,000; Maritime Provinces, $700,000; and Saskatchewan, Alberta,
and British Columbia, $500,000. Every Province was subdivided; each
city or town was asked to assume its share. Publicity was given the
campaign through newspapers, posters, leaflets, buttons, the Speakers'
Patriotic League, and skilled organizers of campaigns. The close of
the year showed an increase of 20 per cent in demands on the Fund and
an increase of 50 per cent in the amount contributed over the amount
asked in the campaign. On New Year's Day the Governor General, the
Duke of Connaught, asked for $8,000,000; Canada's answer was
$11,375,345. Since June, 1916, the fund has expended an average of
$900,000, which is quite timely help to 165,000 individuals."
Following the campaign of 1916 the responses became more and more
generous. The Provinces and the larger cities reached great heights in
giving. But while individuals contributed checks for princely amounts,
the bulk of the Fund was provided by the small wage earners. "This
showed," said Sir Herbert Ames, "how thoroughly the Fund represented
Canada's war spirit."
British Columbia led all other Provinces in recruiting according to
population. It was essentially a Province of wage earners; yet its
contributions to the Fund, sustained year after year, were remarkable.
In the mountain districts it was the established practice among miners
and smelters to contribute "a shift a month" to the fund. The town of
Trail, with a population of 4,000, contributed $50,000 a year, or
$12.50 per capita. Rossland, with a similar population, gave $36,000 a
year. Headly, with a population of 400, gave $9,000 a year or $22.50
per head. Greenwood, numbering 600, donated $15,000, or $25 per head;
Phoenix, with 1,200, yielded $18,000, while Silverton, with 800,
produced $16,000 a year. In some districts the workmen instructed the
superintendents to deduct 3-1/2 per cent, or one day's pay, per month,
from their wages.
The response from sparsely settled districts was no less generous;
but there was a difficulty in gathering collections over scattered
rural communities. They did not, however, allow this obstacle to
deprive them from sharing in the good work, and accordingly requested
their councils to levy assessments for the fund, whereby rural
contributions could be gathered and equalized. The contribution of
such rural council, thus obtained, represented the various individual
contributions of the constituents and was voluntary. In this way the
rural communities contributed in 1917 the sum of $3,000,000.
Besides these collective efforts, there was scarcely a community that
did not furnish examples of self-denying generosity by individuals or
groups, some of whom could not afford the sacrifice. The shareholders
of an Ontario fire insurance company voted its entire dividend of
$50,000 to the Patriotic Fund. Near Vancouver an old lighthouse keeper
raised flowers and sold them to tourists, raising therefrom nearly
$1,000, which he presented to the Fund. Among contributors who found
their highest gratification in denying themselves in order to help the
Fund were the Gaspe fishermen, lumberjacks from the Quebec bush,
cheese makers, road makers, Indians, and an Eskimo. Nearly $12,500 was
sent in by Indians on the reserves. From Herschell's Island, within
the Arctic Circle came a gift of $20 from the Eskimo Chikchagalook.
Canadianized people of German birth and descent were equally liberal.
The "million a month" which the Fund organizers aimed at was
approached by voluntary individual generosity like the instances cited
and countless others. The nation-wide support given to the Fund
constituted a free-will offering of the whole people standing behind
its soldiers. It was a people's own movement, close to their hearts,
and was successfully conducted without Government control or
participation, an achievement in which the Fund's executives took
pride, as efforts had been made to bring it under federal supervision.
CHAPTER XXV
REMAKING MEN
By the close of 1919, Canada had 20,000 ex-soldiers--blind or maimed
or otherwise disabled--under training in the arts of peace. They were
mostly men who labored under such handicaps from the effects of wounds
and other ordeals of war that they could not resume their former
occupations. The Department of Soldiers' Civil Reestablishment took
them in hand after their discharge from hospital treatment and fitted
them, by vocational training, for new callings that made them
economically independent. Meantime, the men drew pay and allowances
from the Government ranging from $60 to $150, according to the number
of their dependents. The expenditure on this work of rehabilitating
damaged men was regarded as a national investment, as it encouraged
the disabled soldier to become a worker and producer.
Every ex-soldier, burdened with a disability to follow the calling he
pursued before he joined the colors, became entitled to vocational
training, free of charge, in any trade or profession of his own choice
in which his disability would not be a handicap. Universities,
technical and agricultural schools, and plants of leading
manufacturers--where industrial training could be acquired under
actual shop conditions--became centers of instruction. Provision was
then made for both theoretical and practical knowledge, which was
imparted in conjunction. Similar training was also carried on in
hospitals and convalescent homes where the condition of the patients
permitted.
Vocational training was a new field of Government work, a sort of
uncharted sea, and until disabled men began to flow back from the
battle front the Canadian Government had little information upon which
to build a working policy. But the situation suggested its own
solution. The first obvious need was convalescent hospitals, and a
chain of such institutions duly appeared from coast to coast. Then the
employment bureaus came into being, and the recovering patients,
equipped with the vocational reeducation which the Government
instituted, made the hospitals sources of supply for the labor market.
What was the status of a disabled man during the stage of
convalescence and rehabilitation? He was taken in hand to be refitted
for civil life. The Canadian Government therefore decided that he was
no longer a soldier, to be supported with his dependents during his
period of training on military pay and allowance. He became a
discharged man and his maintenance was provided for as a civilian. The
Government recognized that the duty of replacing a man in civil life
as a useful member of the community was not a military function. To
succeed as a civilian he had to be demilitarized, for the reason that
while in service a soldier or sailor sank his individuality and lived
under orders; his return to civil life required his restoration as an
individual subject to the obligation, like other civilians, of making
his way by his own initiative. The demilitarization of a disabled
ex-service man, who, anyway, had only belonged to the army during the
war period, was therefore regarded as an important duty of Government.
In undertaking his reeducation, it "staked" him for resuming a
civilian pursuit, and in doing so placed him on a footing very
different from his previous army status. The course of reeducation
given to a disabled man nevertheless remained a reward of valor, but
it was also a recognition of the needs of a nation at peace, which
required that discharged men should be restored as far as possible to
the fullest usefulness as civilians.
Another element in vocational retraining was its formative purpose. A
man was not "made over" in the sense of giving him a new occupation.
His tuition was not complete enough for that. It rather directed him
toward a new field of industry by equipping him with the groundwork,
and he had to have the will to succeed and to overcome his handicap if
his actual reeducation and replacement in a suitable civilian position
was to be accomplished. The way was smoothed for his doing so by the
avoidance of any compulsory scheme of reeducation. A man himself
"elected" his course, though many disabled men needed guidance to
protect them from choosing some line of work by caprice or impulse. In
such cases a disabled man's vocational advisers endeavored to direct
his choice in the light of all the information that could be drawn
from his educational and industrial history. The essential thing kept
in mind was that a man's previous education and experience should not
be "scrapped" but rather made to form a foundation or background for
his new occupation. Hence, a disabled man was trained when practicable
for some new branch of his former occupation or for some allied or
related occupation.
The problem was not confined to rehabilitating a man lacking a limb or
eyesight. The blind, in fact, were few, compared with men suffering
from other injuries, while the war cripple for the most part was a
sound man in other respects. His physique survived his deficiency of
limb; hence he was not broken in health and his condition revealed
nothing of the invalid. More than that, only a small proportion of the
disabled men invalided home were suffering from the loss of a limb.
Out of nearly 30,000 who returned to Canada up to June, 1918, less
than 1,500 had undergone a major amputation.
A survey of the first groups of returned disabled men, moreover,
revealed that most of them were able to return to their former
occupations.
The difficulty was not one of numbers; it related to the individual.
From the point of view of its complexity, the success of the project
of providing vocational reeducation for new occupations was dependent
on the disabled men's response to the service proffered. Their
immediate need was interesting occupation, as far as medical
requirements allowed, while undergoing convalescent treatment in a
hospital. A wide range of opportunities for occupational work
developed during this hospital period, and its value to the patient
was manifold. From the therapeutic standpoint alone, any kind of
occupation was serviceable to the mind and body. It was also
disciplinary in that it protected disabled men from moral and social
deterioration--a danger always present during long periods of
idleness--and it was of additional value to the institution itself as
a check on the tendency to spoil returned men by overattention, active
and interesting pursuits having been found to be the best antidote to
such an inclination.
The field of diversions was wide; a patient could easily absorb
himself in some task to the extent of his energies. The hospitals
provided classrooms for general educational work; commercial training
workshops for arts and crafts; a variety of mechanical and other
occupations, outdoor work in gardening and poultry-keeping.
A number of men who started training courses in new callings did not
continue them. Some were ambitious men whom the new training had
readily stabilized for civil life and who had found positions before
completing their courses. Others were released during the summer
months for intensive farming to meet the urgent demand for greater
food production. The clerical work of the military department also
absorbed a large number, interrupting the pursuit of their commercial
studies. A recurrence of their malady invalidated others and
necessitated hospital attention, and beyond these were a proportion of
unstable men of restless temperament who could not readily resume
civilian occupation.
Over and above these were disabled men here and there who displayed an
unwillingness to study for new callings, fearing that overcoming their
handicap would mean a curtailment of pension by increasing their
earning power. Injured French and German soldiers had revealed a
similar indisposition to undergo vocational retraining lest their
pensions be withdrawn. The Canadian Government took an indulgent view
of this feeling and adopted a new army regulation providing that no
deductions should be made from the amount of pension awarded owing to
a pensioner undertaking work or qualifying himself in a new industry.
As already indicated, a man was pensioned because of his disability in
the open labor market, and was not determined by his earning capacity.
As it worked out, his earning power in many cases was greatly improved
by his vocational reeducation--to his own advantage, but even more so
to the advantage of his country.
The Canadian Government was early in the field in taking steps for the
rehabilitation of the disabled, having provided working solutions to
the problem long before the Interallied Conference considered the
subject in 1918. The task grew beyond the scope of the Military
Hospitals Commission, and a permanent ministry was found necessary.
Especially as the work, following demobilization, also embraced caring
for the undisabled discharged soldier in search of opportunity for
reemployment. Free employment offices were opened in every center from
the Atlantic to the Pacific and thither thousands of requests came
from ex-soldiers for information as to channels open for obtaining
positions. The result was some 200,000 or more interviews, and the
reinstating of nearly 35,000 men up to September, 1919, out of 53,000
applicants. This scheme of reestablishing uninjured men in civil
occupation following their demobilization had its beginning in a
questionnaire sent to all Canadian troops abroad, asking them to state
their intentions regarding employment on their return to Canada. The
questionnaires were distributed from Ypres to the Vosges Mountains,
from the Rhine to the English Channel, and throughout England and
Scotland. Within two weeks of the signing of the Armistice a complete
survey of the employment situation was obtained and transmitted to
Government agencies in charge of the dispersal areas in Canada.
It was all part of a publicity campaign for enlightening the troops as
to what the Government was prepared to do for them to facilitate their
reinstatement in civil life. Lectures were delivered to them in camp,
thousands of specially prepared pamphlets were distributed among them,
while the Government's plans were otherwise made known through
advertisements in newspapers and periodicals which circulated among
the troops, as well as by means of moving pictures. Government
representatives also accompanied men on homeward transports and
dispensed information regarding the outlook for employment in the
field that appealed to them.
With the help of the Labor Department the free employment offices
were established in eighty-nine cities and towns. Each office had a
special representative of the Information and Service Branch of the
Department of Soldiers' Civil Reestablishment, who was at the service
of all demobilized soldiers seeking employment. He "connected the
wires," opening up communications with employers of labor and inducing
them to favor ex-soldiers in filling vacancies on their staffs. Once
in employment, the demobilized soldier was not lost sight of. The
department kept in touch with him, in order to be assured that every
man had been satisfactorily reestablished in civil life. The governing
element behind these endeavors to restore every ex-soldier to the
place where he belonged as a civilian was to make him again a
producing power in the national life of the Dominion. Success could
not have been achieved without public cooperation.
Another function of the department was the tendering of free medical
service. All ex-soldiers who fell ill from any cause, within a year
after their discharge from the army, received free treatment. Any
recurrence of illness arising from war injuries entitled ex-soldiers
to the same aid. Maimed men needed artificial limbs; they got them
free. The disabled, returning from the front, required further
treatment; the Government hospitals gave it. There were tubercular and
insane patients; many medical and surgical cases of other categories;
while other patient were treated in clinics. Patients under treatment
in hospitals for disabilities due to war service always received
adequate pay and allowances for their dependents.
The postwar calls on the medical service of the department were very
great. In June, 1918, the number of military patients numbered only
1,200. By September it had reached over 10,000.
As to the provision of artificial limbs, the Government undertook
their manufacture, in order to forestall the temptation to profiteer
by private firms at the expense of men who had lost limbs in war
service. The Government also made orthopedic boots and surgical
appliances.
Perhaps the most notable feature of the educational work was the
establishment of the Khaki University. This project differed from the
vocational training of disabled men for new pursuits. It aimed at
reaching all Canadian troops overseas who had interrupted their
studies at school or college to join the colors. It gave them an
opportunity to employ their spare hours in continuing the course of
study for a professional or business career which had been broken by
the war. Otherwise the time that would elapse, dependent on the war's
duration, before they could resume training for their various
callings, would make such a gap in their lives that with the war's
close they would be completely severed from their former plans for
intellectual careers. They would have to begin all over again.
The foresight of the Canadian Y. M. C. A. brought the Khaki University
into being. But it had its real inspiration in the officers and men
themselves. The "Y" officers were always receiving requests from them
for books and reading material of the kind required by students. There
were also many inquiries from the men as to what life they should
adopt on their return home. The Canadian Y. M. C. A. thereupon
perceived a need. Men who had mapped careers for themselves,
especially in the teaching and other cultured professions, not to
mention those whose future lay in technical and commercial fields,
must be saved for Canada. The men were keenly anxious to resume
contact with the problems of civilian life. They had their spare
moments, and there was much lost time to be made up. They had lived
down the early excitements of army life, and their social and civic
instincts dominated them when they were not fighting. So the Canadian
"Y" personnel took occasion by the hand, and, with the cooperation of
the military authorities, brought the Khaki University of Canada into
being. It obtained official recognition by becoming a branch of the
General Staff, and started out on its novel educational scheme under
the guidance of President H. H. Torry, head of the University of
Alberta, who acted as Director of Educational Services of the Canadian
oversea forces.
It was a simple scheme, though its operation called for much
preparation, especially in securing the assistance of Canadian and
English universities. In brief, it continued a soldier's schooling,
where he had left off, by class work and lectures. Apart from its
service in providing practical education to enable him to resume his
life's work, it greatly contributed as a sustaining factor to military
efficiency and the general morale. In many cases the Khaki University
determined the future plans of men who had no fixed and satisfactory
occupation, for by offering tuition it enabled them to choose and
secure a definite calling in life. It so worked out that the
educational work conducted in war time--there was a Khaki college on
the fighting front and local classes known by the same name in
England--created an interest which during the demobilization period
that duly came intensified and enabled the men's readjustment to civil
life in Canada an easier matter to control.
The Canadian universities formed an advisory board which supervised
the entire work, besides providing teaching facilities and personnel,
while the Canadian Y. M. C. A., having started the Khaki University
movement on its way, undertook to finance it to the utmost after
transferring its control to the Universities. The scheme came before
the Canadian Government in October, 1917, and at once received the
hearty support of the Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet. It
obtained a support as valuable from the Canadian people, who, when
asked by the Y. M. C. A. to subscribe a million dollars to finance the
work, promptly responded by giving a great deal more.
In France what became known as the Khaki University of Vimy Ridge was
established, but at the beginning of 1918 the spring offensive stopped
further progress in the fighting areas until after the Armistice was
signed. The main educational work was conducted in England, where
campaign exigencies did not interfere with the movement. In fact, the
demand for instruction was so great among the Canadian troops there
that the work could not be discontinued. In 1918 fourteen Khaki
colleges came into existence, established at various points, with a
central college at Ripon for advanced instruction, while battalion
schools taught educational rudiments, including elementary agriculture
and commercial subjects. The college courses covered the higher
branches of agriculture, applied science, commerce, art, and
theology. Students of advanced grade also had the advantage of
completing their courses after demobilization at the chief British
universities.
The work in France was successfully continued during demobilization,
though with difficulty. The number of students who registered during
December, 1918, will serve as a criterion of its popularity, the four
Canadian divisions mustering 8,352 registrants. For the benefit of men
who could not attend class courses, a correspondence department was
organized which reached Canadians in hospitals, forestry and railroad
camps, and other places where local organizations were not
practicable.
As to general results, the grand total of registration for the final
six months of 1918, during which the Khaki colleges got into their
working stride, was 34,768, while over 100,000 books and 750,000
educational brochures and pamphlets were circulated among Canadian
oversea forces. The teaching was almost entirely performed by
voluntary instructors, chaplains, Y. M. C. A. secretaries, and by army
officers, noncommissioned officers, and privates, who had previously
belonged to the teaching profession.
CHAPTER XXVI
SERVICE TO THE TROOPS
The Canadian Y. M. C. A. early made its presence felt as an auxiliary
in the war. It penetrated Valcartier camp at the first call to arms in
Canada in August, 1914, and with the first contingent that went
overseas, sent six officers with the honorary rank of captain. Thus
began the "service to the troops"--the motto of the Canadian Military
Y. M. C. A.--which extended from Valcartier to the Rhine, and from
Archangel to Palestine. In Canada it had thirty-eight centers of
operation, including camps, barracks, red triangle clubs, hospitals,
naval stations, and troop trains. In England it had seventy-six
centers--regular camps and units, base camps, convalescent camps, and
hospitals.
The "Y" officers had some difficulty in becoming affiliated with the
British military establishment, where, being concerned with the
Canadian contingent, their work lay. The British system did not
provide for "Y" officers as army units. They acquired some sort of
military status by their activities in the Canadian training camps in
England; but there were army obstacles to their following Dominion
troops to France. The British War office at length recognized them,
but declined to admit them in the military organization. Nevertheless
they got there. Each Canadian division was allowed a number of "Y"
officers and aides, and the services they rendered duly drew an
admission of their value from the British military authorities, the
effect whereof was to endow them with all the privileges of the army
establishment. The British were chary of "outsiders" in the army, but
the Canadian "Y" officers soon proved that they were indispensable
"insiders," and were recognized accordingly.
In the field the Canadian "Y" service became an enterprise on wheels.
Consider its main purpose at the battle front. It was to feed, amuse,
comfort, and succor the Canadian soldier. The Y. M. C. A. had ever to
be at his heels. It served, among other things as a dispenser of
morale. It was concerned about keeping the Canadian trooper braced up
by supplying him with physical comforts and luxuries, and, when
acceptable, with spiritual help. The "Y" contingents, therefore, had
to keep on the track of the Canadian divisions, and were as much a
mobile organization as the army it served.
"Everything," said a government report on their work, "turned toward
the fighting machine facing the Germans. Over there, in France, was
the real struggle to keep the advantages offered by the organization
at the elbow of the soldier. Growing weekly with the increase of
funds, the opportunities afforded, and the knowledge of the work
required, the organization might easily have become too unwieldy for
the rapid moves which have taken the Canadian Corps from Ypres to the
Rhine in the course of its career.
"It was the solution of that problem, added to the lack of transport
consequent on the requirements of immense armies, which taxed the
ingenuity and resources of the 'Y'. It was a simple enough matter in
general to provide for the needs of a corps at rest. That was merely a
question of huts, marquees, tents, and determination. But when the
Canadian corps moved--as it did from Ypres to the Somme, from the
Somme to Lens, from Lens to Passchendaele, from Passchendaele back to
Arras, from Arras to Amiens, from Amiens to Arras again, and
thereafter advanced, guns, horse, and foot, miles a day at times--it
tested the personnel, equipment, endurance, and ingenuity of the 'Y'
to the utmost. It was not merely the closing in one place and the
opening in another. There were always immovable huts in the old place,
and nothing but ruins in the new. The huts had to be left--for some
other organization to make use of for the incoming troops--but the
provision left by the predecessors of the Canadians in the new area
was naturally insufficient to the needs of the Canadian 'Y'."
Every army unit of sufficient size was reached in some way despite
obstacles. The "Y" organization adopted a regular scheme of service by
providing huts, entertainments, and reading and writing facilities,
except in the few cases where detached units were constantly on the
move. In running its canteens it conducted an immense retail business
under all the disadvantages of instability. Stock had to be moved; new
housing found, and fresh supplies were always subject to uncertain and
irregular delivery. In 1918 this vast enterprise on wheels, pitching
its moving tent, everywhere where Canadian troops (it might almost be
said), stayed longer than five minutes, did $5,000,000 worth of
business in its canteens; but to do so the "Y" headquarters' stores--a
huge quantity of goods with corresponding equipment--had to be moved
seventeen times. It had to keep pace with an army equipped with
everything requisite to secure mobility.
Imagine, for example, a "Y" officer with his stock of comforts and
luxuries trying to keep pace with a Canadian cavalry brigade. Yet the
service was so successful and appreciated that the cavalry canteens
were handed over to "Y" management. An outstanding incident turned on
a "Y" officer's lack of a conveyance to transport his stock so as to
keep in touch with the moving brigade. The commanding officer came to
his rescue by finding him a horse, an old buggy, and a man, and with
this outfit he trundled along with a case of tea, two cases of milk,
two bags of sugar, a tea urn, and some cigarettes. He would set out
well ahead in order to be in at the finish, but could not choose his
routes, the cavalry having to move at night to conceal its operations,
and smooth going was accordingly not easy.
The success of the "Y" men, in fact, was largely due to the facilities
willingly afforded by the army authorities to enable them to keep pace
with the troops, and the army's cooperation, it must be added, was a
recognition of the value of the "Y" service in sustaining morale. Both
the British and Canadian military establishments perceived that the
"Y" was needed.
The men themselves took an occasional hand in an emergency to assist
the movement of the "Y" service, an example of which occurred at Arras
in August, 1918. The "Y" officer at the base was warned only a few
hours ahead of the impending German attack, but had no supplies on
hand for the free distribution of food and comforts to the wounded a
"Y" service rendered after every battle. The supplies needed were at
Boulogne. The drivers of the only two army lorries available had been
on duty for twenty-four hours without rest, and the commanding officer
refused to order them out to get the supplies in from that port,
though he was willing for the drivers to go if the "Y" officer could
prevail on them to go as a voluntary task. The exhausted men were
undressing, apart, to retire, when the "Y" officer told them of the
approaching battle.
"We've neither cigarettes, chocolate, hot coffee, nor biscuits for the
boys," he said, "but there's any amount at Boulogne."
It was enough; to Boulogne, instead of to bed, went the tired drivers
and their assistants, leaving the port at midnight with the needful
supplies, and they were back in Arras at 4 a. m., a few minutes before
the attack began. So that the "Y" could have the stores for which the
fighting troops would be in urgent need, they sacrificed their rest
and toiled forty-eight hours at one stretch.
The Arras operations were typical of the steady fighting of 1918, when
the Canadian "Y," like the troops it cared for, had little rest. They
kept right up to the front lines, always on hand with free comforts at
those points where the troops could be best served, the "Y" officers
at times even going over with the attack bearing chocolate and
cigarettes. Some were officially rewarded by the bestowal of medals
and orders; but their real reward lay in the unofficial thanks
tendered them by the men themselves.
The "Y's" activities on the western front, both in the fighting and
rear zones, were far-flung, but they extended farther--everywhere, in
fact, where there were Canadians. Its brotherly hand reached Dominion
railway troops in Palestine. Isolated Canadians with the mixed Allied
forces operating at Archangel and on the Murman Coast in northern
Russia also found "Y" officers at hand, the latter carrying on their
Samaritan mission under the most trying conditions of climate and
distance.
In the rear areas, away from the excitement of battle, the scope for
the Canadian "Y" service was as great as on the fighting front and as
equally needed. At base camps the "Y's" presence was conspicuous and
its social-religious activities widespread. The familiar huts were
there, with their canteens, entertainments, and reading and writing
facilities. At the base camp of Aubin St.-Vaast was a Canadian "Y"
athletic ground--one not to be equaled in Canada--an ambitious
enterprise built with the invaluable cooperation of the Canadian
engineers. It contained, in one area, a football field, an outdoor
baseball diamond, a running track of a quarter of a mile, three
quoiting pitches, five tennis courts, a tug-of-war ground, a boxing
and wrestling ring, a jumping pit, and fields for lacrosse, cricket,
badminton, and gymkhana or mounted horse events.
Behind the lines, too, were the railway troops and the forestry corps
units--the latter being scattered over France from Bordeaux on the
southwest to the Jura Mountains in Switzerland--who were not
overlooked by the Canadian "Y" in the bestowal of its many-sided
services. Units of the forestry corps were also scattered over Great
Britain, from the south of England to the north of Scotland. Many were
isolated from the entertainments and social diversions afforded by
towns, and their situation accordingly gave the Canadian "Y" great
scope for rendering the brotherly service to which its personnel were
devoted. Their enterprise in installing rooms and canteens in
thirty-eight scattered locations compensated for many of the
deprivations incidental to such lone camps.
Perhaps the most concentrated work performed by the "Y" behind the
lines was not in France at all, but in England. It gave itself the
task of keeping in close touch with the Canadian soldier during the
months of his stay there. He might be in training or wounded or
convalescent or on leave, or in stationary units such as the London
permanent force and the forestry corps. Whatever his status, he was
looked after.
In the training camps, where the "Y" work grew rapidly, more than
keeping pace with the extension of enlistments and arrivals, and where
recruits, fresh from Canada, were isolated in segregation for several
weeks, the Canadian "Y" provided the only facilities available for
amusement to the immured men, as well as enabling them to buy things
they needed. Their morale and spirits were braced by entertainments.
The camps were located at Witley and Bramshott. At the former three
concerts a week were given by professional entertainers in eight
different huts.
Similar provision was made for the wounded in the Canadian hospitals
throughout England. Concerts were given in wards, while at one
establishment--the Canadian military hospital at Orpington--the
authorities placed a theater seating 550 at the service of the "Y".
The Canadians on leave made London their Mecca. Into London they
poured, and they needed a rendezvous, a club, a home-from-home, and
wholesome diversions. The Canadian "Y" personnel undertook the task;
that was what they were there for. The Beaver Hut, situated in the
Strand, in the heart of the metropolis, and the most famous hut
overseas, was the outward and visible expression of their activities.
It became the center of Canadians. There the soldier's every want
could be gratified; there he left his kit in safety; there he dined,
slept, played billiards, bought his Canadian titbits or his theater
tickets (at about half the regular prices), read the papers and
current periodicals, listened to an orchestra, or saw a play or moving
picture, exchanged his French money for English without loss, obtained
information about a multitude of things of which he was ignorant as a
newcomer, and obtained facilities for sightseeing trips about London
or in the provinces. Most important of all, there he ate. The Beaver
Hut had a spacious dining room, which provided as many as 4,800 meals
in a day, served in relays, at a price well below that charged by the
most moderate of London restaurants. The meals were cooked and served
by over 800 well-known Canadian and English women, who gave their
services. More than that, the Canadian soldier could sleep there,
though the space was limited to 180; but when the Hut lacked a bed for
him the Canadian "Y" got him quartered elsewhere. Then if he was in
want he was cared for.
With the Armistice and the demobilization period that followed the "Y"
work was rather amplified than lessened. The troops had less to do;
the "Y" officials had more. The American movement up the Rhine called
for the provision of entertainments on an extensive scale, the troops
having more time on their hands. There were theaters, and light and
heat, and German orchestras to be requisitioned. Three large units
were entertained in Germany--two divisions and the corps troops.
Twelve theaters and fifteen canteens were provided for one division
alone. For one brigade four moving pictures were nightly in operation,
the men being entertained in relays of 2,500. Suppers and vaudeville
were also among the diversions provided, while the canteens were so
well patronized that in thirteen days the takings amounted to over
$50,000. In Belgium a striking feature of the Armistice period was the
free entertainment by the Canadian "Y" of an entire division at Liege,
extending over two days.
[Illustration: At the left is Major General Hon. Sydney Chilton
Mewburn, who became Canadian Minister of Militia and Defense in 1917;
at the right is Major General Sir Edward Whipple Bancroft Morrison, G.
O. C., Canadian Corps Artillery from 1917 to 1919.]
Amusements were also furnished on an extensive scale for the
Canadians in process of demobilization in England. New camps were
taken over in Rhyl, Liverpool, and Ripon, and a wider organization for
entertainments was developed in sections not hitherto touched.
The funds that provided such a colossal service came from two
sources--Canadian contributions and canteen profits. Canadians at home
gave liberally; but the scope of the work, even with the great help
afforded by their generosity, would have been restricted but for the
aid derived from canteen sales profits. It was decided that no better
way of applying the "Y's" profits could be found than in employing it
to procure additional necessities, comforts, and entertainments for
the Canadian soldier, and in providing him with physical, mental, and
spiritual help which no other organization was able to give.
CHAPTER XXVII
SUCCOR AND SOLACE
Primarily the Canadian Red Cross Society set out to augment the work
of the military establishment in caring for the sick and wounded. It
acted as a voluntary auxiliary organization to the Canadian Army
Medical Corps, and as such furnished all manner of comforts, over and
above the supplies issued by the Government, to military hospitals and
other units. It also held itself in readiness to assist the Medical
Service in times of emergency by providing at a moment's notice any
supplies which might be needed.
But its help was not confined to Canadians only. British and French
institutions were assisted. The needs of the civil population whom the
enemy had driven from French and Belgian areas were not overlooked.
Old and feeble men and women, suffering mothers and emaciated
children, whom the Germans had deprived of the necessities of life,
were among the afflicted who were comforted by its timely succor and
sympathy. It took care not only of the wounded and sick, but of the
tired and weary. The Canadian prisoners of war were among its
beneficiaries, as well as the refugees in the devastated areas of
Europe, who needed assistance, especially clothing, in becoming
repatriated after being freed of the German oppressor. Thus were many
lives saved, breakdowns averted, much discomfort removed, and much
suffering relieved by the aid of the Canadian Red Cross.
The society had eight Provincial centers in Canada, and about 1,200
local branches, and these formed its home organization. It collected
$7,771,083 in money, and gifts to the value of more than $13,500,000.
Its overseas organization at first was of modest dimensions. One
warehouse with unpretentious headquarters in France sufficed in
November, 1916, and there was only one Canadian hospital to supply in
the early months of August, 1915. Then the organization, like
everything else produced by the war, rapidly developed and became
far-reaching in its scope.
The French were early recipients of Canadian bounty through the Red
Cross. Money and hospital supplies went from the Dominion to the
French sick and wounded, and a depot was opened in Paris for receiving
and distributing Canadian supplies to French hospitals. This was
merely a beginning of the practical sympathy Canada was eager to show
to France. The Red Cross subscribed upward of $100,000 for various
French war charities. It presented a hospital to France located at
Joinville-le-Pont, Vincennes, at a cost of $370,000, equipped with
medical supplies and staffed by Canadian surgeons and nurses, and
provided a service of motor lorries and motor ambulances for the
benefit of other French hospitals.
Money and supplies were bestowed on other Allied countries. The total
grants made to the various Allies, including France, amounted to more
than $500,000. Substantial help, embracing 21,000 cases of supplies,
was also furnished to the Belgian, Italian, Russian, Serbian, and
Rumanian Red Cross societies and to the Wounded Allies Relief Fund.
A glimpse of the activities of the Canadian Red Cross is afforded by
these extracts from the record of its principal work overseas during
the war period:
1914--Canadian Red Cross supplies given to the following hospitals in
France: Two casualty clearing stations with 200 beds each; four
stationary hospitals with 200 beds each; four general hospitals with
1,040 beds each; six field ambulances with 50 beds each; and in
England, the opening of the Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital
with 1,000 beds, besides the sending of comforts to Canadians in other
hospitals.
1915-16--Assistance given to the Canadian Army Medical Corps in
England on behalf of 16,000 to 18,000 sick and wounded Canadians
monthly.
Aid given in the erection and equipping of huts and other buildings
for five Canadian hospitals in England and five in France.
Recreation huts erected, equipped, and maintained in the Canadian hut
hospitals.
1916-17--Assistance given in France to five general and three
stationary hospitals, four casualty clearing stations, thirteen field
ambulances, and fourteen small hospitals attached to forestry,
tunneling and other companies.
Comforts distributed to 20,000 sick and wounded Canadians throughout
Great Britain and to 21 Canadian and 130 British hospitals.
The transfer to the military authorities of four hospitals in England
opened by the Canadian Red Cross Society.
1918--Opening of Canadian Rest Homes for nurses and officers'
hospitals in England.
The society had its fount and inspiration in Canada and its supply
clearing houses, stores, and hospitals in England. In France it
maintained an advance supply store at the Canadian Corps headquarters,
whence its special transports carried what was needed to the fighting
front, and, to facilitate the distribution, stores were also attached
to every Canadian hospital. It built large recreation huts as annexes
to the Canadian general and stationary hospitals, as well as special
wards for pulmonary cases. It supplied Christmas gifts to all Canadian
soldiers in every hospital in France. It furnished musical
instruments for hospital orchestras, provided special furniture and
fittings where required, and opened a Canadian Rest House at Boulogne
for nursing sisters passing through, which afforded repose and shelter
to 6,859 nurses.
As a source of field supplies, the Canadian Red Cross was a dependable
dispenser which the military hospitals, dressing stations, and
regimental aid posts always turned to for their requirements, knowing
that what they needed was not only waiting to be forwarded at the
first call for help, but would frequently be sent in anticipation of
the need. When a severe action was in progress the Red Cross always
had on hand the articles for which there was a constant demand by
field ambulances and aid posts, such as dressings, special foods,
instruments, socks, scissors, chocolate, pajamas, and even comfort
bags into which wounded men put their small personal comforts. Even
before troops entered the trenches their needs were considered, the
battalion medical officers receiving a parcel of comforts from the Red
Cross advance store.
A notable feature of the hospital work was in gratifying the desires
of Canadian patients who asked for various articles they needed.
Nearly half a million parcels were sent to every hospital which cared
for wounded Canadians in the course of the war. The parcels contained,
among other articles, toilet requisites, cigarettes, stationery,
games, books, sweets, fruit, and materials for work. It needed
wholesale purchasing to supply this demand. Cigarettes in millions
were bought, not to speak of eight tons of tobacco, 40,000 shaving
brushes, five tons of fruit drops, and ten tons of eating chocolate.
Those in hospital who were homesick were cheered by the arrival
monthly of seventy-nine sacks of Canadian newspapers.
Thus the Canadian soldier received tangible evidence that the people
at home were ever giving and working in order that he might not be
denied comforts in his need. Whether he was in action, or in a
hospital at the base, or in England, or returning to his reserve unit,
or taking his discharge on his native soil, he was the recipient of
benefits from the Canadian Red Cross, though he might not always be
aware of the tireless rôle it undertook as his good angel.
1. AWARDS OF THE VICTORIA CROSS (V.C.) FOR CONSPICUOUS BRAVERY
INSTITUTED JANUARY 29, 1856
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME | NUMBER | RANK | UNIT | WON | WHERE WON
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Algie, Wallace Lloyd | |Lieutenant |20th Battalion |Oct. 11, 1918 |Cambrai
Barker, William George | |Major |R. A. F. |Oct. 27, 1918 |Forêt de Morma
Barren, Colin | 404017 |Corporal |3d Battalion |Nov. 6, 1917 |Passchendaele
Bellow, Edward Donald | |Captain |7th Battalion |April 24, 1915 |Ypres
Bishop, William Avery | |Lieut. Colonel |R. A. F. | |Near Cambrai
Brereton, Alexander | 830651 |Acting Corp. |8th Battalion |Aug. 9, 1918 |East of Amiens (Warvillers)
Brillant, John | |Lieutenant |22d Battalion |Aug. 8,9, 1918 |East Meharicourt
Brown, Harry | 226352 |Private |10th Battalion |Aug. 16, 1917 |Hill 70 near Loos
Cairns, Hugh | 472168 |Sergeant |46th Battalion |Nov, 1, 1918 |Valenciennes
Campbell, Frederick William | |Lieutenant |1st Battalion |June 15, 1915 |Givenchy
Clark, Leonard | 73182 |Acting Corp. |2d Battalion |Sept. 10, 1916 |Pozières
Clarke-Kennedy, William H. | |Lieut. Colonel |24th Battalion |Aug. 27, 1918 |Arras
Combe, Robert Grierson | |Lieutenant |27th Battalion |May 3, 1917 |South of Acheville
Coppins, Frederick George | 1987 |Corporal |8th Battalion |Aug. 9, 1918 |Near Beaufort
Croak, John Bernard | 445312 |Private |13th Battalion |Aug. 8, 1918 |Amiens
Dinesen, Thomas |2075467 |Private |42d Battalion |Aug. 12, 1918 |Parvillers
Fisher, Frederick | 24066 |Lance Corp. |13th Battalion |April 23, 1915 |St. Julien
Flowerdew, Gordon M. | |Lieutenant |L. S. H. |March 30, 1918 |Northeast of Bois de Mereuil
Good, Herman James | 445120 |Corporal |13th Battalion |Aug. 8, 1918 |Hangard Wood
Gregg, Milton Fowler | |Lieutenant |R. C. R. |Oct. 1, 1918 |Cambrai
Hall, Frederick William | 1539 |Color Sergt. |8th Battalion |April 24, 1915 |Ypres
Hanna, Robert | 75361 |Co. Sgt. Maj. |29th Battalion |April 21, 1917 |Lens
Harvey, Frederick N. W. | |Lieutenant |L. S. H. |March 27, 1917 |Guyencourt
Hobson, Frederick | 57113 |Sergeant |20th Battalion |Aug. 15, 1917 |Northwest of Lens
Holmes, Thomas William | 838301 |Private |4th C. M. R. |Oct. 26, 1917 |Near Passchendaele
Honey, Samuel Lewis | |Lieutenant |78th Battalion |Sept. 29, 1918 |Bourlon Wood
Hutcheson, Bellenden Seymour | |Captain |75th Battalion |Sept. 2, 1918 |Queant-Drecourt Line
Kaeble, Joseph | 889958 |Corporal |22d Battalion |June 8, 1919 |Neuville-Vitasse
Kerr, George Fraser | |Lieutenant |3d Battalion |Sept. 27, 1918 |Bourlon Wood
Kerr, John Chipman | 101465 |Private |49th Battalion |Sept. 16, 1916 |Courcelette
Kinross, Cecil John | 437793 |Private |49th Battalion |Nov. 10, 1917 |Passchendaele Ridge
Knight, Arthur George | 426402 |Acting Sgt. |10th Battalion |Sept. 2, 1918 |Villers Les-Cagnicour
Konowal, Filip | 144039 |Acting Corp. |47th Battalion |Aug. 22, 1917 |Lens
Learmonth, O'Kill Massey | |Acting Capt. |2d Battalion |Aug. 18, 1917 |East of Loos
Lyall, Graham Thompson | |Lieutenant |102d Battalion |Sept. 2, 1918 |Bourlon Wood
MacDowell, Thain Wendell | |Capt. Act. Maj. |38th Battalion |April 9, 1917 |Vimy Ridge
MacGregor, John | |Captain |2d C. M. R. |Oct. 3, 1918 |Cambrai
McKean, George Burdon | |Lieutenant |14th Battalion |April 28, 1918 |Cavrelle Sector
McKenzie, Hugh | |Lieutenant |7th M. G. C. |Oct. 30, 1917 |Meetcheele Spur
| | | | | near Passchendaele
McLeod, Allan Arnett | |Second Lieut. |R. A. F. | |
Merrifield, William | 8000 |Sergeant |4th Battalion |Oct. 1, 1918 |Abancourt
Metcalf, William Henry | 22614 |Lance Corp. |16th Battalion |Sept. 4, 1918 |Arras
Milne, William Johnstone | 427586 |Private |16th Battalion |April 9, 1917 |Near Thelus
Miner, Harry G. B. | 823028 |Corporal |58th Battalion |Aug. 8, 1918 |Demuin
Mitchell, Coulson Norman | |Captain |4th Battalion |Oct. 9, 1918 |Canal de L'Escaut
Mullin, George Harry | 51339 |Sergeant |P. P. C. L. I. |Oct. 30, 1917 |Passchendaele
Nunney, Claud J. P. | 410935 |Private |38th Battalion |Sept. 2, 1918 |Queant-Drecourt
O'Kelly, Christopher Patrick | |Acting Capt. |52d Battalion |Oct. 26, 1917 |Southwest Passchendaele
O'Rourke, Michael James | 428545 |Private |7th Battalion |Aug. 15, 1917 |Hill 60 near Lens
Pattison, John George | 808887 |Private |50th Battalion |April 10, 1917 |Vimy Ridge
Pearkes, George R. | |Major |5th C. M. R. |Oct. 30, 1917 |Near Passchendaele
Peck, Cyrus Wesley | |Lieut. Colonel |16th Battalion |Sept. 2, 1918 |Cagnicourt
Rayfield, Walter Leigh |2204279 |Private |7th Battalion |Sept. 2, 1918 |Arras
Richardson, James | 28930 |Piper |16th Battalion |Oct. 8, 1916 |Regina Trench
Robertson, James Peter | 552665 |Private |27th Battalion |Nov. 6, 1917 |Passchendaele
Rutherford, Charles Smith | |Lieutenant |5th C. M. |Aug. 26, 1918 |Monchy-le-Preux
Scrimger, Francis Alexander | |Captain |14th Battalion |March 25, 1915 |Near Ypres
Shankland, Robert | |Lieutenant |43rd Battalion |Oct. 26, 1917 |Passchendaele
Sifton, Ellie Wellwood | 531730 |Lance Sergt. |18th Battalion |April 9, 1917 |Neuville St. Vaast
Spall, Robert L. | 475212 |Sergeant |P. P. C. L. I. |Aug. 12, 1918 |Parvillers
Strachan, Marcus | |Lieutenant |F. G. H. |Nov. 20, 1917 |Masnières
Tait, James Edward | |Lieutenant |78th Battalion |Aug. 8, 1918 |Amiens
Young, John Francis | 177239 |Private |87th Battalion |Sept. 2, 1918 |Arras
Zengel, Raphael Louis | 424252 |Sergeant |5th Battalion |Aug. 9, 1918 |East Warvillers
CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD WAR
1914
June 28. Archduke Francis Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo, Bosnia.
July 23. Austria presented an ultimatum to Serbia.
July 28. Austria declared war on Serbia.
July 30. Austrians bombarded Belgrade, and Russia began mobilization.
July 30. Germany made demand for the cessation of Russian
mobilization.
August 1. Germany declared war upon Russia, and France declared
mobilization. Italy notified Germany that she would remain neutral.
August 2. German troops entered the duchy of Luxemburg, and German
forces appeared before Liege, Belgium. Belgium refused the passage of
German troops through its territory.
August 3. The German Ambassador to Paris demanded his passports and
the French Ambassador to Berlin was recalled. War was declared between
France and Germany. German troops invaded Belgium.
August 4. Great Britain declared war on Germany, and the House of
Commons voted a war credit of $525,000,000. Germany notified Belgium
of the existence of a state of war between the two countries. The
United States proclaimed its neutrality.
August 5. The Germans attacked Liege. Earl Kitchener was appointed
British Secretary of State for War.
August 6. Austria-Hungary declared war upon Russia, and the English
Parliament voted an additional $500,000,000.
August 8. British troops landed in Belgium. Portugal declared herself
an ally of Great Britain. French troops entered Alsace-Lorraine.
French and German troops met in their first clash in the Vosges.
August 10. France declared war on Austria-Hungary.
August 12. Great Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary. The Germans
were temporarily repulsed at Haelen.
August 13. Japan sent an ultimatum to Germany.
August 16. German cavalry appeared before Brussels.
August 18. The Belgian Government left Brussels for Antwerp.
August 20. The Germans, unopposed, entered Brussels.
August 22. Namur was besieged by the Germans.
August 23. The Emperor of China declared war upon Germany.
August 23. The Great Retreat of the English and French armies from
Mons began.
August 27. Namur was captured by the Germans. The _Kaiser Wilhelm der
Grosse_, formerly North German Lloyd liner, was sunk off the west
African coast by the British cruiser _Highflyer_.
August 30. The Allied forces continued to retire in the direction of
Paris.
September 3. The French Government moved from Paris to Bordeaux.
September 6. The Germans reached the high tide of invasion in France.
September 12. The Germans continued their retreat from the Marne.
September 14. Germans reached the Aisne and the Allied armies
attempted to cross, in the face of bitter resistance.
September 14. The Allies crossed the Aisne near Soissons.
September 16. The Russian northern army was forced behind the Niemen.
September 22. The Germans retired to Noyon. British cruisers
_Aboukir_, _Cressy_, and _Hogue_ were sunk in the North Sea by
submarines.
September 24. The Russian forces passed the fortress of Przemsyl.
September 28. Japanese and British forces attacked the fortress of
Tsingtau.
September 29. German forces invested Antwerp.
October 8. Germans entered Antwerp. The garrison escaped.
October 15. The British cruiser _Hawke_ was sunk by a German submarine
in the North Sea.
October 17. Russian armies resumed offensive operations in the east.
October 20. The bloody battle of the Yser followed the attempt of
German forces to reach the Channel ports.
October 22. The German forces bombarded Lille, France.
October 25. Germans crossed the Yser River near the coast.
October 26. Gavrilo Prinzep and twenty-three accomplices were found
guilty of the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his
wife.
October 28. The German cruiser _Emden_ sank the Russian cruiser
_Zhemtchug_ in the harbor of Penang. Germans were forced to evacuate
the southern branch of the Yser.
November 1. Five German cruisers defeated the British fleet under
Admiral Cradock off the Chilean coast.
November 2. Great Britain declared the North Sea closed to commerce.
November 5. Great Britain and France declared war on Turkey.
November 7. The Japanese forces captured Tsingtau.
November 9. The German cruiser _Emden_ was destroyed by the Australian
cruiser _Sydney_.
November 10. The struggle along the Yser River continued. Serbians
defeated the Austrian army, capturing 2,000 prisoners. Russian forces
resumed the offensive around Warsaw.
November 15. The Serbians were defeated by the Austrian army.
November 16. Belgians flooded the coast lands in order to prevent the
advance of the German forces.
November 19. German forces advancing into Poland were driven back.
November 29. The Russians continued success against Germans in Poland.
December 1. General De Wet, leader of the rebellion in South Africa,
was captured, practically ending the rebellion.
December 2. Belgrade was captured by the Austrians.
December 6. Battle of Lodz in Russian Poland, which began on November
19, was ended with an inconclusive German victory.
December 8. The British fleet near the Falkland Islands met and
destroyed the German squadron which sank two British warships on
November 1, off the coast of Chile.
December 10. A German submarine raided the harbor of Dover, England.
December 13. British submarine _B-11_ entered the Dardanelles under
the mine fields and torpedoes and sunk the Turkish battleship
_Messudiah_.
December 14. Russians defeated the German forces at Mlawa. Belgrade
was recaptured by the Serbians.
December 18. The German army approached Warsaw.
December 19. The Germans were forced to evacuate Dixmude.
December 23. The Turkish army began an advance on the Suez Canal.
December 24. The Germans defeated the Russian army at Mlawa in
northern Poland. The entire Russian army began a retreat.
December 29. Russian forces were forced to retire in Galicia.
1915
January 1. British battleship _Formidable_ was sunk by a German
submarine in the English Channel.
January 3. The Russian army defeated the Turkish forces in the
Caucasus.
January 6. The Germany army continued to advance in Poland.
January 16. The Russian army of invasion captured one of the passes
over the Carpathian Mountains.
January 21. Austrian forces in northeastern Hungary were shattered by
attacks. General von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff,
resigned the office of minister of war, and was succeeded by General
von Hohenborn.
January 24. A naval engagement between British and German fleets.
German armored cruiser _Blücher_ was sunk. Other German vessels fled.
January 29. The Germans assumed the offensive in the forest of the
Argonne.
January 31. German submarines made a second raid in the British
Channel and destroyed several British merchant ships.
February 2. Wiener von Horn, a German-American, unsuccessfully
attempted to dynamite the bridge across the St. Croix River.
February 3. The Turkish forces attempted to force a passage over the
Suez Canal and were repulsed by the British troops.
February 4. Germany declared a war zone of the waters around Great
Britain and Ireland, to go into effect on February 18.
February 8. Russian forces were obliged to evacuate a large part of
the territory held in the province of Bukowina.
February 10. Russian army suffered a disastrous defeat in East
Prussia.
February 18. German decree creating a war zone in the waters around
Great Britain and Ireland went into effect.
February 24. Germans captured Przasnysz, in Russian Poland.
February 27. The _William P. Fry_, an American sailing vessel, was
sunk by a German cruiser.
March 1. Great Britain and France announced their intention to prevent
commodities of any kind from reaching or leaving Germany.
March 2. Germany offered to modify her submarine warfare if Great
Britain would also make concessions.
March 6. Premier Venizelos resigned his office on account of the
decision of King Constantine to the entrance of Greece on the side of
the Allies.
March 14. The German cruiser _Dresden_ was sunk off the Chilean coast.
March 19. The French battleship _Bouvet_ and two British battleships
were sunk by floating mines in the Dardanelles.
March 21. Major General Sir William Robert Robertson was appointed
Chief of the General Staff of the British army.
March 22. Austrian fortress of Przemsyl surrendered to the Russian
army.
March 25. French achieved success in upper Alsace.
April 4. German forces in Russia prepared for a great offensive.
April 22. The second battle of Ypres began.
April 25. The battle of Ypres continued.
April 26. The German cruiser _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ was interned at
Newport News.
April 27. The battle of Ypres continued with heavy losses on both
sides.
May 1. Fierce fighting went on in the Gallipoli peninsula. The
American tank ship _Gulflight_ was sunk by a German submarine.
May 6. The Russian forces on the eastern front were routed by Germans
under General Mackensen.
May 7. The transatlantic liner _Lusitania_ was sunk by a German
submarine, with a loss of 1,150 persons, including over 100 Americans.
May 13. The Bryce Commission on Belgian atrocities made public its
report. The American Government protested to Germany over the sinking
of the _Lusitania_.
May 14. Fierce fighting continued in the Ypres sector. The Russian
armies retreated before the Germans, barely escaping a rout.
May 23. Italy declared war against Austria-Hungary.
May 28. Germany replied to the American note on the _Lusitania_.
June 1. Przemsyl was recaptured by the Austro-German forces.
June 9. Italian troops defeated Austrians on the Isonzo River.
June 20. Mackensen defeated Russians at Rawa-Russka.
July 9. The German forces in German Southwest Africa surrendered to
General Botha.
July 12. The German cruiser _Königsberg_ was destroyed by British war
vessels off East Africa.
August 5. Warsaw was captured by Austro-German forces.
August 10. The training of reserve officers was begun at Plattsburg.
August 17. London was raided by a Zeppelin, killing ten persons.
August 19. The liner _Arabic_ was sunk by a German submarine.
August 21. Italy declared war against Turkey.
September 1. The German Ambassador declared that no more passenger
ships would be sunk without warning.
September 2. President Wilson received a message from the Pope in
relation to peace.
September 9. United States Government asked Austria-Hungary to recall
Ambassador Dumba.
September 25. The French and British began offensive in Champagne.
September 29. British forces defeated the Turks in Mesopotamia.
October 4. British and French troops landed at Saloniki aid Serbia.
October 5. Premier Venizelos of Greece resigned after King Constantine
refused to support the Allies.
October 6. The French launched a successful attack in Champagne.
October 9. Belgrade was captured by the Austro-German forces.
October 13. Edith Cavell was shot by the Germans as a spy.
October 14. Bulgaria declared war on Serbia.
October 19. Major General Monro succeeded Sir Ian Hamilton in command
of operations in the Dardanelles.
October 22. The Germans inflicted a severe defeat on the Russian
armies.
October 25. The French made gains in Champagne.
November 18. The British resumed advance at Gallipoli.
November 25. The British retired to Kut-el-Amara.
December 3. The American Government demanded the recall of Captains
Boy-Ed and Von Papen, German diplomats.
December 15. Sir Douglas Haig was appointed Commander in Chief of the
British forces in France.
December 19. The British evacuated Anzac and Suvla Bay, Gallipoli.
December 29. Austria met American demands in regard to the _Anoona_.
1916
January 1. Fighting was renewed at the Dardanelles.
January 7. German Ambassador notified the American Government that
submarine operations in the Mediterranean would be conducted according
to international law.
January 8. Germany notified the United States that vessels would be
sunk only when carrying contraband of war and that the safety of crews
would be provided for.
January 9. British forces successfully evacuated Gallipoli.
January 25. The French carried on successful operations around
Nieuport.
January 29. Paris was attacked by Zeppelins.
February 6. Field Marshal von Mackensen assumed command of the
Austro-German army opposing the Allies at Saloniki.
February 9. The Russians began a new offensive in Galicia.
February 16. The city of Erzerum was captured by the Russians. The
British declared that they had completed the conquest of Kamerun, a
German colony in Africa.
February 24. The great German drive at Verdun was repulsed.
February 26. The Germans captured important points about Verdun.
February 28. Turks evacuated Trebizond and other Black Sea ports.
March 8. The German Government presented a memorandum stating its
attitude on the submarine boat controversy.
March 16. Terrific fighting went on around Verdun.
March 18. Germans occupied part of the town of Vaux.
March 24. The English steamship _Sussex_ was sunk by a German
submarine; many passengers killed.
April 18. Secretary Lansing declared to Germany that relations would
be severed if submarine attacks on steamships continued.
April 19. President Wilson addressed Congress on the submarine issue.
April 22. Sir Roger Casement was captured on the Irish coast.
April 24. A revolt broke out in Dublin.
April 25. A squadron of German cruisers raided the English coast.
April 27. Martial law was declared throughout Ireland.
April 29. Surrender of British at Kut-el-Amara was announced.
May 3. Several leaders of the Irish rebellion were executed for
treason.
May 5. Activity was renewed along the entire Eastern front.
May 10. Germany admitted that the _Sussex_ was sunk by a German
submarine.
May 31. The British and German fleets met at Jutland; after a fierce
engagement the German fleet fled.
June 5. Earl Kitchener and many others were lost when the British
cruiser _Hampshire_ went down off the Orkney Islands.
June 17. The Russian army entered Czernowitz.
July 6. David Lloyd George was appointed Secretary of War for Great
Britain.
July 7. The British resumed the offensive on the Somme.
July 11. The Germans advanced east of the Meuse at Verdun.
July 22. Russian forces achieved successes in the Riga district.
July 27. Captain Charles Fryatt was executed by the Germans for
attempting to ram a submarine.
August 4. The French gained successes at Verdun.
August 9. Italian forces occupied the Austrian city of Goritz.
August 27. Rumania declared war on Austria-Hungary.
August 30. Field Marshal von Hindenburg succeeded General von
Falkenhayn as Chief of Staff of the German armies.
September 3. Allies renewed their offensive north of the Somme River.
Bulgarian and German troops invaded Rumania in Dobrudja.
September 14. The Fourth Greek Army Corps, with headquarters at the
port of Kavala, was placed in the hands of the Germans.
October 7. British and French troops in the Somme district advanced on
a front of ten miles.
October 23. Constanza, Rumania, was captured by the
Bulgar-Turco-German army.
October 24. At Verdun, French penetrated German lines to a depth of
two miles, winning back the fort and village of Douaumont, the
Thiaumont field work, Haudromont Quarries, and Caillette Wood.
November 2. The Germans at Verdun evacuated Fort Vaux.
November 6. British steamer _Arabia_ torpedoed and sunk in the
Mediterranean; passengers rescued.
November 13. British launched a new offensive against German line in
France on both sides of the Ancre Brook.
November 21. The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gottlieb von
Jagow, resigned. Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of
Hungary, died at Schönbrunn Castle, near Vienna, at the age of
eighty-six. His nephew, Archduke Charles Francis Joseph, succeeded.
November 29. Admiral Sir David Beatty was appointed to command the
British grand fleet, succeeding Sir Jellicoe.
December 5. Herbert H. Asquith resigned as Prime Minister of England.
December 7. David Lloyd George accepted the British post of Prime
Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.
1917
January 10. The Allied Governments stated their terms of peace; a
separate note from Belgium included.
January 22. President Wilson addressed the Senate, giving his ideas of
steps necessary for world peace.
January 31. Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare in
specified zones.
February 3. United States severed diplomatic relations with Germany;
German Ambassador von Bernstorff was dismissed.
February 24. Kut-el-Amara taken by British, under General Maude
(campaign begun December 13).
March 4. Announced that the British had taken over from the French the
entire Somme front.
March 11. Bagdad captured by British under General Maude.
March 11-15. Revolution in Russia, leading to abdication of Czar
Nicholas II.
March 15. Russian Provisional Government formed by Constitutional
Democrats under Prince Lvoff and M. Milyukoff.
March 17-19. Retirement of Germans to "Hindenburg Line"; evacuation of
1,300 square miles of French territory on front of 100 miles from
Arras to Soissons.
March 27. United States Minister Brand Whitlock and American Relief
Commission were withdrawn from Belgium.
April 2. President Wilson asked Congress to declare the existence of a
state of war with Germany.
April 6. United States declared war on Germany.
April 8. Austria-Hungary severed diplomatic relations with the United
States.
April 9-May 14. British successes in Battle of Arras (Vimy Ridge taken
April 9).
April 16-May 6. French successes in Battle of the Aisne between
Soissons and Rheims.
April 20. Turkey severed relations with United States.
May 15-September 15. Great Italian offensive on Isonzo front (Carso
Plateau); capture of Gorizia, August 9; Monte Santo taken August 24;
Monte Gabriele, September 14.
May 15. General Pétain succeeded General Nivelle as commander in chief
of the French armies.
May 17. Russian Provisional Government reconstructed. Kerensky (former
Minister of Justice) became Minister of War. Milyukoff resigned.
May 18. President Wilson signed Selective Service Act.
June 7. British blew up Messines Ridge, south of Ypres, and captured
7,500 German prisoners.
June 12. King Constantine of Greece forced to abdicate.
June 26. First American troops reached France.
June 29. Greece entered war against Germany and her allies.
July 4. Resignation of Bethmann-Hollweg as German Chancellor. Dr.
George Michaelis, Chancellor (July 14).
July 20. Drawing at Washington of names for first army under selective
service.
July 20. Kerensky became Russian Premier on resignation of Prince
Lvoff.
July 31-November. Battle of Flanders (Passchendaele Ridge); British
successes.
August 15. Peace proposals of Pope Benedict revealed (dated August 1);
United States replies, August 27; Germany and Austria, September 21;
supplementary German reply, September 26.
August 20-24. French at Verdun recaptured high ground lost in 1916.
September 8. Luxburg dispatches ("spurlos versenkt") revealed.
October 24-December. Great German-Austrian counterdrive into Italy;
Italian line shifted to Piave River, Asiago Plateau, and Brenta River.
October 26. Brazil declared war on Germany.
October 27. Second Liberty Loan closed ($3,000,000,000 offered;
$4,617,532,300 subscribed).
November 7. Overthrow of Kerensky and Provisional Government of Russia
by the Bolsheviki.
November 13. Clemenceau succeeds Ribot as French Premier.
November 18. British forces in Palestine take Jaffa.
November 22-December 13. Battle of Cambrai; successful surprise attack
near Cambrai by British under General Byng on November 22 (employs
"tanks" to break down wire entanglements in place of the usual
artillery preparations); Bourlon Wood, dominating Cambrai, taken
November 26; surprise counterattack by Germans, December 2, compels
British to give up fourth of ground gained.
November 29. First plenary session of the Inter-Allied Conference in
Paris; sixteen nations represented; Colonel E. M. House, Chairman of
American delegation.
December 5. President Wilson, in message to Congress, advised war with
Austria.
December 6. United States destroyer _Jacob Jones_ sunk by submarine.
December 6-9. Armed revolt overthrew Administration in Portugal.
December 7. United States declared war on Austria-Hungary.
December 9. Jerusalem captured by British advancing from Egypt.
December 13. Berlin announced armistice negotiations with Russia;
began December 16. German aerial bombs kill several United States
railway engineers, and two engineers died from gunshot wounds.
December 15. Inter-Allied Economic Council, Great Britain, France, and
Italy represented, organizes in London, elects Assistant Secretary of
United States Treasury, Oscar T. Crosby, president. Armistice
agreement between Bolshevik Government and Central Powers signed at
Brest-Litovsk.
December 18. Sixteen to twenty large German Gothas raid London, kill
ten, injure seventy; two of the raiders are brought down.
December 23. General Guillaumat succeeded Sarrail as commander in
chief of Allied forces at Saloniki.
December 27. Turkish army defeated by British in attempt to retake
Jerusalem.
1918
January 5. Between Lens and St. Quentin, German raids on British lines
were repulsed with heavy enemy losses.
January 7. In mutiny at Kiel, German naval base, submarine crews
killed thirty-eight of their officers.
January 14. Attempt was made to shoot Russian Premier Lenine.
January 28. In Italian offensive east of Asiago Plateau, Italian
forces captured Col del Rosso and Col d'Echele, and 1,500 prisoners.
Rumanians captured Kishineff, capital of Bessarabia. Allied aviators
attacked Zeebrugge. German airplanes raided London, killed 47, injured
169. Germans made air raid on Paris, killed 36, injured 190.
January 31. It was for the first time announced that the United States
troops were occupying first-line trenches. Germans raided American
line, killed two, wounded four, one missing.
February 1. Major General Peyton C. March made Chief of General Staff.
Italians advanced to head of Melago Valley. Rumanians occupied
Kishineff. Bolsheviki seized Rumanian ships in Black Sea; captured
Odessa and Orenburg.
February 5. United States transport _Tuscania_ torpedoed off Irish
coast; loss, 101.
February 21. British troops occupied Jericho, fourteen miles from
Jerusalem.
February 22. United States troops were in the Chemin-des-Dames sector,
the Aisne, France.
February 27. Japan proposed joint military operation with Allies in
Siberia to save military and other supplies.
March 1. Generals Kaledine and Korniloff defeated by Bolsheviki near
Rostof-on-Don.
March 2. Kieff, held by Bolsheviki since February 8, was occupied by
German and Ukrainian troops.
March 3. By treaty of peace with four Central Powers signed at
Brest-Litovsk, Bolsheviki agreed to evacuate Ukrainia, Esthonia, and
Livonia, Finland, the Aland Islands, and Transcaucasian districts of
Erivan, Kars, and Batum.
March 4. Germany and Finland signed treaty.
March 8. In the Ypres-Dixmude sector Germans attacked on mile front;
English counterattacked. Leon Trotzky resigned as Russian Foreign
Minister.
March 9. Russian capital moved from Petrograd to Moscow.
March 10. British occupied Hit, in Mesopotamia.
March 12. In Toul sector United States artillery discovered and blew
to pieces German gas projectors, upsetting plans for gas attack.
March 13. German troops entered Odessa and gained control of Black
Sea, with fifteen Russian warships.
March 18. Great Britain and United States took over Dutch shipping in
United States and British ports.
March 21. Beginning of "Big Drive" on 50-mile front, from Arras to La
Fère. On Luneville sector United States artillery fire destroyed
first-and second-line positions. Canadians made gas attack between
Lens and Hill 70. British monitors bombard Ostend. German long-range
gun bombarded Paris.
March 26. Battle continued on whole front south of Somme.
March 27. General Pershing offered all United States forces for
service wherever needed.
March 28. Heavy fighting along 55-mile front, from the southeast of
Somme to northeast of Arras. Entire Turkish force in area of Hit, in
Mesopotamia, was captured or destroyed; 3,000 prisoners taken
(including German officers), 10 guns, 2,000 rifles, many machine guns,
600 animals. British forces crossed the River Jordan.
March 29. The French General, Ferdinand Foch, chosen commander in
chief of all Allied forces in France (British, French, American,
Italian, Belgian, and Portuguese). The German long-range gun killed
seventy-five worshipers at Good Friday services in a Paris church, and
wounded ninety.
April 1. Long-distance bombardment of Paris continued; four were
killed, nine injured.
April 3. War Council at Washington, D. C., announced that all
available shipping would be used to rush troops to France.
April 5. United States army at end of the first year of the war
totaled more than 1,500,000 men.
April 7. United States troops in Toul sector repelled two German
raids. Turks took Ardahan from Armenians; Constantinople reported
Turkish troops advancing over wide area in the Caucasus.
April 10. British and Portuguese, on line from La Bassée Canal to
Armentières, were forced back six miles; at Messines Ridge, south of
Ypres, British retired two miles. In a counterattack on Givenchy,
British took 750 prisoners.
April 12. Field Marshal Haig issued a special order of the day: "All
positions must be held to the last man."
April 13. Germans captured Rossignol, advanced to border of Nieppe
Wood; took 400 prisoners. French held Hangard against repeated
counterattacks and repulsed German raids between the Ailette and the
Aisne. The British and French Governments agreed to confer on General
Foch title of Commander in Chief of Allied armies in France.
April 15. Count Czernin, Austro-Hungarian Minister, resigned.
April 22. Baron von Richthofen, the leader of the German flyers, with
eighty victories, was brought down behind the British lines.
April 24. Germans attacked the whole front south of the Somme, but
were repulsed; in later attacks gained Villers-Bretonneux, east of
Robec.
April 25. Germans assaulted from Wytschaete to Bailleul; in Lys
salient, French and British lost ground. Germans captured Hangard.
April 28. The loss of Kemmel Heights forced British to retire. Locre
changed hands five times; Germans got footing there, but were driven
from Voormezeele.
May 6. Treaty of peace was signed at Bucharest by representatives of
Rumania and the four Central Powers.
May 19. Australians captured Ville-sur-Ancre, a mile from Morlancourt;
360 prisoners, 20 machine guns; German raids in Picardy and Lorraine
are repelled by United States troops.
May 21. President Wilson named Peyton C. March, Chief of Staff, with
rank of General.
May 25-June 14. German submarines sank nineteen ships off coasts of
New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
May 27. Big drive begun on western front; Germans drove Allies across
the Aisne-Marne Canal; Germans attacked British at Berry-au-Bac and
the French by the Chemin-des-Dames Ridge; near Dickebusch Lake,
Germans penetrated French positions, advanced in Aisne Valley, reached
Pont-Arcy.
May 30. Germans advanced to within two miles of Rheims.
May 31. German forces north of the Aisne advanced to Nouvron and
Fontenoy, but failed to cross the Marne.
June 1. Germans attacked on whole front between the Oise and the
Marne, advanced as far as Nouvron and Fontenoy; attack on Fort de la
Pompelle drove out French, who counterattacked, regained positions,
and took 400 prisoners and four tanks.
June 5. Germans advanced on south bank of Aisne, took Dommiers; United
States troops penetrated enemy positions in Picardy and Lorraine;
French counterattack regained ground near Vingre.
June 6. West of Château-Thierry, United States troops drove Germans a
mile on two-mile front, took 270 prisoners; United States and French
troops advanced in region of Neuilly-la-Poterie and Bouresches; German
attacks at Champlat, heights of Bligny, southwest of Ste. Euphraise
and between the Marne and Rheims, were repulsed: French took Le Port,
west of Fontenoy and north of the Aisne, village of Vinly, and
regained Hill 204.
June 7. United States and French troops took villages of
Neuilly-la-Poterie and Bouresches and Bligny, between the Marne and
Rheims, and 200 prisoners.
June 8. By attacks on the Marne, Franco-American troops put Germans on
defensive; United States forces, under General Pershing, captured and
held Bouresches.
June 11. Allies in counteroffensive advance on seven-mile front
between Montdidier and Noyon retook much ground; took 1,000 prisoners.
June 16. On Italian front Allies regained all ground lost in first
Austrian rush, except a few places on Piave River.
June 19. 40,000 Germans attacked Rheims from three sides; repulsed.
June 23. Italian forces drove the Austrians across the Piave River,
with a loss of 180,000 men.
June 25. American marines and regulars cleared Belleau Wood.
June 29. Italian forces continued successes.
June 30. France recognized the Czecho-Slovaks as a separate nation.
July 1. American forces landed at Kola, Finland.
July 9. The French armies advanced on a wide front.
July 12. The Austrian armies were badly beaten by the Italians at
Berat. French troops continued advance on western front.
July 13. The former Czar Nicholas of Russia was assassinated.
July 15. Germans began fifth drive on a fifty-mile front.
July 18. French and German troops began great counteroffensive.
July 19. Germans began retreat from the Marne.
July 21. Château Thierry was occupied by French and American forces.
July 25. Allies continued to close the pocket of the Aisne-Marne
salient.
August 3. The Allies advanced on a wide front.
August 4. The German retreat in the Aisne region continued.
August 7. American and French troops crossed the Vesle River in
pursuit of the Germans.
August 8. New French and British offensive in the Somme region.
August 17. American troops took back several villages.
August 23. The British continued to advance in the Somme region.
August 25. The British advanced ten miles on a thirty-mile front,
taking nearly 20,000 prisoners.
August 29. The British captured Bapaume.
August 31. The British, aided by the 27th and 30th American Divisions,
captured Mount Kemmel.
September 5. The Allies advanced on a ninety-mile front.
September 7. The Germans began retreat on a 100-mile front.
September 11. British, French, and American forces closed in on the
Hindenburg line.
September 13. American forces cleared the St. Mihiel salient and took
12,000 prisoners.
September 22. General Allenby defeated Turks in Palestine.
September 27. The British advanced on the Cambrai front.
September 29. British and American forces pierced the Hindenburg line.
September 30. The Belgians captured Roulers.
October 1. French reentered St. Quentin.
October 2. American troops forced back Germans in Argonne Forest.
October 5. Germans abandoned Lille.
October 6. Prince Max, the German Chancellor, proposed a suspension of
hostilities.
October 7. The German retreat continued.
October 8. President Wilson asked Germany's intentions in regard to
peace.
October 9. The British took Cambrai.
October 18. Many towns in Belgium recaptured by Allies.
October 24. Allies continued to advance on all fronts.
October 28. Hungary accepted terms offered by Allies.
October 30. Italians advanced north of the Piave.
November 1. American troops advanced to Grandpré.
November 4. Austria accepts terms of truce.
November 5. The American first army advanced on both sides of the
Meuse.
November 8. General Foch received German armistice delegates. Republic
proclaimed in Bavaria.
November 9. Socialists took over government in Berlin.
November 10. Kaiser Wilhelm fled to Holland.
November 11. German envoys signed armistice terms.
November 20. French entered Buda-Pesth. German submarines surrendered
to British. American troops crossed the Lorraine frontier.
November 21. The entire German fleet surrendered to Allies.
November 22. King Albert makes triumphal entry into Brussels.
December 1. American troops crossed the frontier of Prussia.
1919
January 7. The Spartacides in Berlin started a revolutionary outbreak.
January 9. The Government troops in Berlin defeated the Spartacides.
January 12. The Supreme War Council met in Paris.
January 15. The Berlin Government announced the completion of a newly
drafted constitution covering the union of fifteen states.
January 17. Jan Ignace Paderewski was agreed upon by the Polish
factions as the first premier of Poland.
January 18. The Peace Conference held its first session in Paris.
Clemenceau was chosen president.
January 19. General election was held in Germany.
January 25. The Peace Conference adopted a resolution creating a
League of Nations.
February 6. The German National Assembly convened at Weimar. Friedrich
Ebert was elected president.
February 14. President Wilson read before the Peace Conference the
summary of the Covenant of the League of Nations.
February 21. Kurt Eisner, Socialist Premier of Bavaria, was
assassinated.
March 13. The German Government executed over 200 Spartacides in
Berlin.
March 25. A new Socialist cabinet was installed in Prussia.
April 15. Communists again captured Munich.
April 23. The Italian delegation to the Peace Conference announced
their withdrawal as a result of President Wilson's declaration that
Italy should not have Fiume.
April 25. The German couriers in advance of the peace delegates
arrived in Paris.
April 28. The Covenant of the League of Nations was adopted by the
Peace Conference.
May 6. The terms of the Peace Treaty were presented to all the powers
represented at the conference.
May 19. The Austrian peace delegates arrived at St. Germain.
May 21. An extension of one week was granted to the Germans for
consideration of the Peace Treaty.
May 26. The Council of Four declared in favor of recognizing the
Kolchak Government in Russia.
May 29. The German delegates presented counterproposals.
June 14. The Council of Four finished revisions to meet the German
protests.
June 16. The German delegates were handed the revised treaty.
June 22. German men and officers sank the vessels interned at Scapa
Flow.
June 25. General von Hindenburg resigned as commander in chief of the
German armies.
June 28. The Treaty of Peace was signed by the German, Allied, and
associated delegates, thus ending the World War.
INDEX
Abyssinia, Italian defeats in, I, 192
Achiet-le-Grand, VIII, 28
Adige River, fighting along, V, 280
Adige Valley, operations in, VI, 460
Aerial raids, VI, 492
Aerial warfare, VII, 260-268
Aerodromes, British, IV, 473
Aerodromes, German, IV, 470
Aeroplane improvements, V, 418
Aeroplane operations around Constantinople, IV, 475
Aeroplane warfare on submarines, V, 414
Aeroplanes and submarines, I, 23
Aeroplanes, increase in, VI, 485
Aeroplanes, losses in, April, 1917, VI, 255
Africa, British possessions in, I, 181
African coast, III, 493
Agadir, I, 140
Agar Khan, III, 24
Ailette River, advance on, VIII, 39
Ailette Valley, VIII, 28
Aircraft, loss of, IV, 479
Aire River, VIII, 173
Air fighting, tactics of, IV, 459
Aisne, French attack on, VII, 47
Aisne-Marne Canal, VIII, 53
Aisne, operations along, in March, 1916, V, 66
Aisne-Vesle front, VIII, 11
Albania, Austrians in, IV, 366
Albania, withdrawal of Serbian forces from, IV, 337
Albanian uprising, I, 247
Albert I, I, 199
Albert, captured, VIII, 28
Albert, King, commands battle in Flanders, VIII, 59
Albert sector, gain in, VIII, 11
_Alcantara_, British merchantman, sinking of, V, 59
Alderson, General, commands Canadian troops, VIII, 303, 340
Alderson, General, at St. Julien, VIII, 316
Alexandretta, III, 503
Alexeieff, General, ability of, V, 121
_Algonquin_, submarined, VI, 317
Allenby, General, commands cavalry division, II, 60
Allenby, General, directs offensive in Holy Land, VIII, 116
Allenby, General, in Battle of the Marne, II, 135
Allenstein, capture of, II, 437
Allied demands on Greece, V, 224-229
Allied offensive, March, 1915, IV, 45
Allied offensive in August, 1915, postponement of, IV, 49
Allied war conference, VII, 80
Allies, condition of, in 1917, VIII, 153
Allies' losses in aircraft, VI, 51
Alsace and Lorraine, campaigns in, II, 38-45, VII, 56
Alsace, German activities in, V, 70
Alsace-Lorraine, conditions in, I, 138
Alsace-Lorraine, restored to France, VIII, 226
Altkirch, captured by French, IV, 70
Amara, surrender of, III, 502
American Army, necessary strength of, I, 11
American Army, scope of operation, VII, 81
American Army, transportation overseas, VII, 344
American aviators, VI, 173-174, 181
American battleships at naval surrender, VIII, 147
American coast, German submarines along, VII, 464
American Congress, resolution on armed merchantmen, IV, 502
American cooperation with French, VII, 407
American declaration of war with Austria-Hungary, VII, 105
American destroyer flotilla, VI, 357
American engineers, VII, 94, 368
American engineers, deeds of, at Cambrai, VII, 94
American Expeditionary Force, VIII, 151
American Expeditionary Force, Service of Supply, VIII, 153
American Expeditionary Force to France, VII, 83
American First Division, VIII, 155-156, 159, 186
American forces in France, VII, 351
American 42d Division, VIII, 156, 159
American Fourth Division, VIII, 163
American fronts, VII, 96, 373
American Independence Day, celebration of, by Allies, VII, 321
American losses on sea, VII, 463
American merchant marine, losses of, by German submarines, VI, 477
American Navy, work of, in foreign waters, VI, 357
American negotiations over _Ancona_ sinking, IV, 490-496
American note to Austria on _Ancona_ issue, character of, IV, 492
American participation in Siberia, VII, 449
American preparations for war, VI, 328
American prisoners first taken by Germans, VII, 88
American-Prussian treaties, 1799-1828, attempts to renew, VI, 298
American Red Cross in Serbia, II, 354
American response to German note on _Sussex_, V, 458
American Second Division, VIII, 156, 159
American 77th Division, VIII, 163
American soldiers first killed in battle, VII, 91
American Third Division, VIII, 159, 162
American 30th Division, VIII, 183
American 32d Division, VIII, 162
American troops in Italy, VIII, 97
American troops, on Lorraine-Alsace front, VII, 358
American troops, training of, in France, VII, 84-85
American troops, transportation of, to France, VI, 358
American 26th Division, VIII, 156, 162
American 27th Division, VIII, 183
American vessels sunk by German submarines, VI, 202
Amiens, Allied advance, VIII, 16
Amiens, April offensive, VII, 289
Amiens, Battle of, VIII, 384
Ammunition, conservation of, I, 68
Anafarta Ridge, attack on, IV, 352
_Ancona_, Austro-Hungarian explanation of sinking of, IV, 490
Ancre, British successes in, February, 1917, VI, 223
Andoye, taken by Belgians, VIII, 60
Anglo-French agreement of 1904, I, 136
Anglo-French forces in Italy, VII, 207
Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907, I, 136
Anti-Bolshevists, cooperate, VIII, 87
Antwerp, fall of, II, 167
"Anzacs," heroism of, III, 460-462
_Appam_, British steamship, capture of, IV, 160
Arabia, campaigns in, VII, 238
_Arabic_, British steamship, sinking of, IV, 150, 480-490
Arabs, confederation of, IV, 429
Arabs, in Great War, VIII, 118
Arbitration, failure of, I, 14
Archangel, Allies at, VIII, 89
Archibald papers, V, 11
"Archibalds," III, 94
Argonne, activity in, III, 158
Argonne, campaign in, II, 193-194
Argonne Forest, VIII, 171
Argonne-Verdun sector, fighting in, in March, 1916, V, 71
_Argyll_, loss of, IV, 154
Arleux-en-Gohelle, VIII, 48
Arleux-en-Gohelle, taken by the Canadians, VIII, 362
Armancourt, VIII, 19
Armed neutrality, address of President Wilson, VI, 304
Armenians, massacre of, IV, 378
Armies of Occupation, VIII, 79
Armistice, German delegates leave Berlin, VIII, 74
Armistice, November 11, 1918, VIII, 78
Armistice, with Austria-Hungary, VIII, 134
Armistice, with Turkey, VIII, 136
Armor for battleships; for battle cruisers, I, 22
Arnim, General von, II, 31
Arras, British operations around, VI, 38; VII, 281
Arras, British operations at, VIII, 362
Arras-Cambrai, battle, results of, VIII, 405
Arras-Cambrai road, VIII, 44
Arras-Cambrai road, Canadians on, VIII, 390
Artillery operations on the eastern front, V, 141-143
Artois, British successes in, IV, 85
Artois, fighting in, III, 121-128
Artois, French attack in, IV, 46
Artois sector, V, 373
Asfeld-la-Ville, VIII, 59
Asiago and Brenta front, VIII, 98
Asiago Plateau, fighting on, VIII, 100
Asiago Plateau, French troops on, VIII, 103
Asiago sector, operations in, VII, 213
Asia Minor, Germany in, I, 50
Asiatic Turkey, disorders in, IV, 377
Asphyxiation from gas, I, 53
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, I, 258
Aubers Ridge, VIII, 323
Aubers Ridge, attacks on, III, 128
Aubigny-au-Bac, taken by Canadians, VIII, 409
Audacious, sinking of, II, 235
August 8, 1918, British victory on, VIII, 13, 384
Australian Army Corps, in battle of August 8, 1918, VIII, 384
Australians, gallantry of, at Suvla Bay, IV, 356
Australians storm Mont St. Quentin and Feuilleucourt, VIII, 38
Australians, successes of, VII, 329
Australians, take Cateau Wood, VIII, 21
Australians, take Villers-Bretonneux, VII, 299
Austria and Prussia, I, 127
Austria-Hungary, American declaration of war with, VII, 105
Austria-Hungary, area of, I, 286
Austrian armies in Poland and Galicia, command of, IV, 181
Austrian army in Serbia, strength of, IV, 259
Austrian circular note of July 27, 1914, I, 270
Austrian defenses in the Alps, IV, 394
Austrian, demands on Serbia, I, 261
Austrian fleet in the Danube, VI, 97
Austrian forces along the Italian front, increase of, V, 245
Austrian losses, II, 405
Austrian losses in Serbia, II, 343
Austrian naval strength, II, 206
Austrian note to Serbia, I, 261
Austrian offensive of 1918, VIII, 96
Austrian offensives, V, 138, 245
Austrian prisoners taken by Italians, VII, 189
Austrian proposals to Rumania, III, 377
Austrian raids on Italian coast, III, 394
Austrian retreat in Italy, VII, 458
Austrian rupture with the United States, VI, 328
Austrians, retreat of, VIII, 128
Austro-German invasion of Serbia, IV, 263
Austro-German offensive in Italy, VII, 200-213
Austro-Hungarian press, alleged misrepresentation by, I, 351
Austro-Italian front, operations on, in spring of 1916, V, 133
Austro-Russian front, summary of conditions, III, 236
Austro-Russian operations, resumption of, V, 133-141
Autrèches, French attack near, VIII, 23
Aviation, aeroplane saves British detachment, VIII, 31
Aviators, American, VII, 120
Avlona, battle between Austrians and Italians near, V, 120
Avocourt Wood, German occupation of, V, 351
Avre, crossed by French, VIII, 15
Avre marshes, VIII, 32
Avrincourt, stormed, VIII, 43
Ayesha, voyage of, III, 196
Azerbaijan, Turks fail in, III, 477
Babuna Pass, defended by Serbians, IV, 278, 283
Bagdad, British operations around, IV, 419-425
Bagdad, expedition against, I, 62
Bagdad, operations around, VII, 242
Bagdad, Russian advance toward, V, 330
Bailleul, capture of, by Germans, VII, 295
Balkan League, formation of, I, 248
Balkan Sea, naval operations in, III, 192
Balkan War, I, 252
Balkans, conditions in, in spring of 1916, V, 212
Balkans, countries and peoples, II, 275-286
Balkans, diplomacy in, I, 59
Balkans, summary of first year's conditions, IV, 255
Baltic Provinces, VIII, 95
Ban-de-Sapt, attacks on, III, 164
Bantigny Ravine, VIII, 399
Bapaume, British objective, VIII, 30
Bapaume, capture of, by British, VI, 232
Bapaume, taken by British, VIII, 37
Basra, and Turkish attempts on, III, 498
Basra, capture of, II, 508
Battle cruisers, importance of, I, 21
Battle line in eastern front, II, 262
Battleships, advantages of, I, 21
Battleships and land fortifications, I, 24
Battleships at Jutland naval battle, V, 80
Battleships, surrendered by the Germans, VIII, 149
Bazentin-le-Grand, taken, VIII, 34
Beatty, Admiral, movements of, at Jutland naval battle, V, 75-78
Beaucamp, taken, VIII, 48
Beaucourt, VIII, 22
Beaumont-Hamel, VIII, 20
Behagnies, taken, VIII, 31
Beirut, occupied by the British, VIII, 120
Belgian coast, bombardment of, by British fleet, IV, 60, 112
Belgian envoys, visit of, to United States, VI, 352
Belgian neutrality, I, 276
Belgian neutrality, I, 476
Belgian territory, alleged violation of, I, 283
Belgium, deportations in, VIII, 72
Belgium, financial condition of, I, 418
Belgium, gains of, VIII, 226
Belgium, German attacks in July, 1917, VI, 250
Belgium, German deportations in, VI, 260
Belgium, German proposals, I, 281
Belgium, German war levies in, IV 109
Belgium, invasion of, II, 9
Belgium, results of geographical location, I, 197
Belgrade, bombardment of, IV, 265
Belgrade, capture of, II, 347, 353
Bell, General, VIII, 392
Belleau Wood, American marines in, VII, 381, 384
Bellenglise, taken, VIII, 51
Bellicourt, taken by Americans, VIII, 50
Below, General Fritz von, commands Germans near Rheims, VII, 327
Below, General von, VIII, 27
Below, General von, in Battle of the Somme, V, 395
Berlin, treaty of, I, 228
Berry-au-Bac, taken, VIII, 56
Berthelot, General occupies Ville-en-Tardenois, VIII, 9
Berthelot, General, takes Cæsar's Camp, VIII, 59
Beseler, General von, besieges Antwerp, II, 163
Bessarabia, annexation to Rumania VII, 438
Bethmann-Hollweg, circular letter to Powers, I, 368
Bethmann-Hollweg's statement in Reichstag, I, 498
Bexhill Salient, Canadians at, VIII, 330
Beyers, General, III, 70
Bieberstein, Marshal von, II, 496
Bight, battle of, II, 208
Bismarck Archipelago, II, 243
Bitlis, occupation of, by Russians, V, 293
Blind soldiers, care of, in Canada, VIII, 450
Blockade against Germany, III, 181
Blücher, sinking of, II, 255
Blue Line, VIII, 377
Board of Pension Commissioners, in Canada, VIII, 442
Boehm, General von, commands Germans on the Marne, VII, 327
Boehm, General von, retreat specialist, VIII, 23
Boiry, taken by Canadians, VIII, 35
Bois-des-Loges, VIII, 19
Bois du Sart, occupied, VIII, 33
Bois-en-Hache, VIII, 361
Bois Normand, Canadian Forestry Corps in, VIII, 289
Bolimow, fighting around, II, 470
Bolsheviki, emergence of, VII, 135
Bolsheviki, negotiations with Germany, VII, 155
Bolshevist revolution, VII, 142
Bombs in trenches, I, 74
Bordeaux district, Canadian Forestry Corps in, VIII, 289
Borden, Sir Robert, Canadian premier, VIII, 264
Bosnia, annexation of, I, 147
Bosnia, fighting in, II, 360
Botha, General, III, 74, 488
Bouguignon, taken, VIII, 28
Bourlon Wood, VIII, 397
Bourlon Wood, British withdrawal from, VII, 67
Bourre River, VIII, 16
Boyadjieff, General, commands Bulgarian First Army, IV, 270
Boyle, Colonel, killed at Ypres, VIII, 311
Braches, taken, VIII, 15
Bray, captured, VIII, 30
Bray-Corbie road, British retake position, VIII, 12
Bregalnitza, battle of, I, 257
Bremen, exploits of, VI, 190
Brenta River, fighting along, V, 278
Breslau, II, 494
Brest-Litovsk, II, 447
Brest-Litovsk, capture of, by Germans, IV, 196
Brest-Litovsk conference, VII, 418, 420
Briey, American troops pass through, VIII, 79
British armies, mobilized, I, 304
British assault at Ypres in October, VII, 43
British attack near Lens, IV, 82
British blockade, effect of, on Austria-Hungary, III, 181
British commerce, II, 456
British declaration of war against Germany, I, 283
British East Africa, I, 180
British Empire, area of, I, 286
British Expeditionary Force, II, 34
British Expeditionary Force, enters Jerusalem, VIII, 113
British Expeditionary Force landing in France, IV, 40
British front, VIII, 304
British gain on Somme, VI, 14
British Grand Fleet, at naval surrender, VIII, 147
British, in Italy, VIII, 134
British losses at Jutland naval battle, V, 94-98
British losses to December, 1915, IV, 117
British navy, effect on war, I, 18
British offensive in Artois, IV, 82
British operations in Flanders in 1917, VII, 30
British possessions in Africa, I, 181
British seizure of ships of American registry, V, 49
British squadron bombards Belgian coast in November, 1915, IV, 112
British successes between Ancre and Somme Rivers, VII, 304
British successes in Artois, IV, 85
Brown, General Preston, VIII, 186
Bruges, occupation of, II, 169
Brussels, surrender of, II, 31
Brussilov, General, operations of, V, 156
Brutinel, General R., VIII, 385
Bryan, William Jennings, connection with peace propaganda, VI, 295
Buchanan, Sir George, I, 376
Bucharest, capture of, VI, 119
Buissy Switch Line, taken by Canadians, VIII, 395, 396
Bukoba, capture of, III, 494
Bukowina, operations in, IV, 227
Bukowina, Russian occupation, III, 238
Bukowina, Russian reconquest of, V, 162-172
Bulgaria, conditions for neutrality, IV, 257
Bulgaria, attacks Serbia, I, 330
Bulgaria, history of, I, 224
Bulgarian advances in Serbia, IV, 273
Bulgarian declaration of war on Serbia, IV, 269
Bulgarian demands, III, 378
Bulgarians, defeat of, in November, 1916, VI, 138
Bullard, General, VIII, 156, 167, 178
Bullard, General Robert, commands American Second Army, VIII, 189
Bullecourt, German counterattacks at, VIII, 37
Bülow, General, in Battle of Marne, II, 94
Bülow, General von, commands German Second Army, II, 10
Bundy, General, VIII, 156
Burian, Baron, letter of Ambassador Dumba proposing munition strikes
in United States, V, 9
Burrel, Martin, Canadian Minister of Agriculture, VIII, 265
Burstall, Colonel E. H., at Valcartier Camp, VIII, 268
Burstall, General, commands Canadian Second Division, VIII, 358
Burstall, General, directs bombardment, VIII, 329
Butte de Mesnil, VIII, 47
Buzancy, objective of the Americans, VIII, 176
Byng, General, commands Canadian troops, VIII, 253, 357
Byng, General Sir Julian, on Ancre front, VIII, 27, 29
Byng, General Sir Julian, on Cambrai front, VIII, 47
Byng, General Sir Julian, succeeds Alderson, VIII, 349
Bzura, battle along, II, 492
Cachten, taken by Belgians, VIII, 60
Cadorna, General, strategy of, III, 404
Caillette Wood, German repulse at, V, 354
Calais, air raids on, IV, 24
Calais, bombardment of, by destroyer flotilla, VI, 482
Calthrop, Vice Admiral, negotiates armistice with Turkey, VIII, 136
Cambon, J., report on German conditions in 1913, I, 328-330
Cambrai, advance toward, VIII, 49
Cambrai area, German gains in, VII, 66
Cambrai, Canadian and English troops in, VIII, 57
Cambrai, deeds of American engineers at, VII, 94
Cambrai, fired by Germans, VIII, 52, 403
Cambrai salient, German assaults against, VII, 285
Cameron, General, in Meuse-Argonne offensive, VIII, 178
Cameroons, campaign in, III, 62-68
Canada, at beginning of war, VIII, 259
Canada distributes questionnaires to soldiers, VIII, 452
Canada, economically independent, VIII, 261
Canada, financial depression in, VIII, 426
Canada's gifts to Great Britain, VIII, 424
Canada, military policy in, VIII, 249
Canada, national loans in, VIII, 252
Canada, rapid enlistment in, VIII, 250, 270
Canada, ships war material overseas, VIII, 267
Canadian Air Force Section of Canadian General Staff, VIII, 296
Canadian Army Corps, advance in October and November, 1918, VIII, 421
Canadian Army Corps in battle of August 8, 1918, VIII, 384
Canadian Army Corps, casualties of, VIII, 406, 422
Canadian Army Corps, casualties in battle of August, 1918, VIII, 389
Canadian Army Corps, April 8, 1918, VIII, 378
Canadian Army Corps, length of front in German offensive, 1918, VIII, 381
Canadian Army Corps, October 3, 1918, VIII, 400
Canadian Army Corps, October 11, 1918, VIII, 406
Canadian Army Dental Corps, VIII, 300
Canadian Cavalry Brigade, VIII, 286
Canadian Conscription Bill, VIII, 273
Canadian Flying Corps, equipment and formation of, VIII, 296
Canadian Expeditionary Force, VIII, 304, 308
Canadian Expeditionary Force, mobilization camps, VIII, 274
Canadian Expeditionary Force, numbers at the front, VIII, 367
Canadian Expeditionary Force, occupations represented, VIII, 284
Canadian Expeditionary Force, officers of, VIII, 274, 367
Canadian Expeditionary Force, reaches England, VIII, 303
Canadian Expeditionary Force, return of troops, VIII, 258
Canadian First Division, June, 1916, VIII, 349
Canadian First Division, VIII, 339, 355, 409, 410, 412
Canadian First Division, how constituted, VIII, 285
Canadian First Division, in 1918 battles, VIII, 372, 374, 376, 381,
383, 386
Canadian First Division organized, VIII, 267
Canadian First Division relieves Australians at Pozières, VIII, 357
Canadian Forestry Battalion, VIII, 288
Canadian Forestry Corps, VIII, 287, 288, 290
Canadian Fourth Division, VIII, 409, 410, 412, 417
Canadian Fourth Division, in 1918 battles, VIII, 372, 376, 381, 383, 387
Canadian Fifth Division, VIII, 377
Canadian Headquarters Staff in England, VIII, 302
Canadian hospitals, VIII, 299
Canadian Independent Force, VIII, 385
Canadian Lumber Battalion, VIII, 288
Canadian Machine-Gun Battalion, VIII, 379
Canadian Medical Corps, VIII, 298
Canadian military establishment in England, VIII, 302
Canadian Militia Council, members of, VIII, 266
Canadian mobilization camps, VIII, 268
Canadian Motor Machine-Gun Brigade, VIII, 380
Canadian National Service Board, VIII, 271
Canadian Patriotic Fund, VIII, 443
Canadian Railway Corps, VIII, 287
Canadian Railway Corps, contingent reaches France, VIII, 293
Canadian Railway Corps, honors received by, VIII, 295
Canadian Railway Corps, send contingent to Palestine, VIII, 294
Canadian Railway troops, lay tracks to top of Vimy Ridge, VIII, 293
Canadian Railway troops, lines under fire at Ypres, VIII, 294
Canadian Red Cross, VIII, 425, 463
Canadian Second Division in Battle of the Somme, VIII, 357
Canadian Second Division, in 1918 battles, VIII, 374, 376, 382, 383,
389, 404, 408, 418
Canadian Second Division, June, 1916, VIII, 349
Canadian Second Division, reaches England, VIII, 339
Canadian Tank Battalion, VIII, 297
Canadian Third Brigade, at second battle of Ypres, VIII, 309
Canadian Third Division, VIII, 413, 417
Canadian Third Division in Battle of the Somme, VIII, 357
Canadian Third Division in 1918 battles, VIII, 349, 372, 375, 376,
378, 381, 383, 387, 392, 402, 413, 417
Canadian Training Depot, in England, VIII, 304
Canadian War Trade Board, VIII, 435
Canadians at Arras, VI, 56
Canadians, capture of Passchendaele by, VII, 55
Canadians, from Arras to Cambrai, VIII, 40
Canadians take Wancourt, VIII, 33
Canal de l'Escaut, VIII, 398
Canal du Nord, crossed by the British, VIII, 41
Canal du Nord, enemy retires behind, VIII, 395
Canopus, sinking of, II, 223
Cantigny, VIII, 159
Cantigny, capture of, by Americans, VII, 374
Cantonments and camps in the United States, VII, 345
Carency, surrender of, III, 125
Carey, General, with Scratch Division, VII, 277
Carnic Alps, conditions in, V, 289
_Carpathia_, sinking of, VII, 467
Carpathian Mountain passes, advance of Russians toward, V, 207
Carpathian Mountains, II, 275
Carpathians, campaign in, III, 235-241
Carpathians, fighting in, VI, 91, 442
Carso Plateau, attack on, by Italian artillery, VI, 155, 464
Castelnau, General de, II, 43
Castelnau, General, commander French Second Army, II, 76
Casualties, of Allies, VIII, 18
Catillon, taken by British, VIII, 67
Cattaro, bombardment of, II, 359
Caucasus, campaign in, IV, 380
Caucasus, operations in, III, 9
Caucasus, the, II, 286
Cavell, Edith, case of, IV 98-101
Celtic, sinking of, VII, 464
Central Powers, population of, I, 291, 295
Challerange, occupied, VIII, 54
Champagne, campaign in, March, 1916, V, 68
Champagne, French activities in, VII, 34
Champagne, French progress in, VI, 249
Champagne, German attacks in, VIII, 57
Champagne, Germans give way in, VIII, 55
Champagne offensive, opening of, IV, 61
Charleroi, Battle of, II, 54-59; IV, 40
Charleroi, French withdraw from, II, 59
Charles Francis Joseph, Archduke, V, 249
Château-Thierry, VIII, 159
Château-Thierry, Americans at, VII, 378, 380
Château-Thierry, name given to American engagements in Second Battle
of the Marne, VIII, 160
Chaulnes, capture of, VIII, 34
Chaulnes-Roye Road, VIII, 21
Chavigny, in counteroffensive, VII, 335
Cheluwe, taken by British, VIII, 52
Chemin-des-Dames, VIII, 51, 58
Chemin-des-Dames, Americans on, VII, 365
Chemin-des-Dames, German assault upon, VII, 307
Chemin-des-Dames, taken by the French, VI, 363; VII, 54
Chérisy, occupied by British, VIII, 33
Chiese River, crossed by Italians, VIII, 99
China, in Treaty of Peace, VIII, 231
Chipilly Spur, VIII, 18
Church and state, I, 169
"Circular Note" to European Powers, I, 270
_City of Memphis_, sinking by German submarine, VI, 317
Claude Farm, taken, VIII, 21
Clemenceau, president, presides at the Peace Conference, VIII, 195
Coal, embargo on, VII, 131
Coblenz, British air raids on, VII, 482
Cochrane, Hon. F., Canadian Minister of Railways, VIII, 265
Coderre, Hon. Louis, Canadian Secretary of State, VIII, 266
Col di Lana, Italian attack on, V, 231
Collo, Italian successes in, IV, 413
Cologne, occupied by British, VIII, 79
Colonial possessions of Great Britain, I, 174
Combles, repulse of German attack on, VI, 18, 25
Concentration camps, construction of, VI, 350
Concilles-Epayelles, VIII, 17
Confederation of North German states, I, 128
Congress, American, McLemore resolution in, IV, 505
Congress, war appropriations by, VII, 111
Congress war discussion in, V, 433
Connaught, Duke of, VIII, 424
Conspiracies in the United States, V, 13-28
Constantine, King, forces Venizelos to resign, IV, 264
Constituent Assembly, dissolution of, VII, 183
Cooper, Colonel John A., VIII, 249
Coronel, Battle of, II, 222
Cossacks, rebellion of, VII, 160
Cossacks, repulse of Turkish troops by, V, 303
Coucy-le-Château, VIII, 28
Council of Workingmen and Soldiers, VI, 405-410
Counteroffensive of the Allies, VII, 325, 328
Courcelette, taken by Canadians, VIII, 357
Courland coast, bombardment of, by Russian torpedo boats, V, 194
Courland, invasion of, III, 337
Courland, operations in, IV, 185
Cracow, attacks on, II, 414-416
Cradock, Admiral, in Battle of Coronel, II, 222
Cramaille, taken by French, VIII, 9
Cramoiselle, taken by the French, VIII, 9
Craonne, capture of, VI, 256
Craters, Canadians battle for, VIII, 344-349
Craters, Canadians abandon, VIII, 349
Crèvecoeur, VIII, 52
Croisilles and La Fère, German attack between, VII, 275
Croisilles, taken, VIII, 30, 35
Cromie, Captain, murder of, in Russia, VIII, 93-94
Crothers, Hon. T. W., Canadian Minister of Labor, VIII, 265
Crown Prince, Bavarian, II, 10
Crown Prince, German, II, 10
Cruisers, battle, importance of, I, 21
Ctesiphon, battle of, IV, 437-443
Cumières, German attempts to retake, V, 347
Curly, taken by British, VIII, 35
Currie, General, at second battle of Ypres, VIII, 315
Currie, General, at Valenciennes, VIII, 71
Currie, General, commands Canadian First Division, VIII, 340
Currie, General, reports on August 1918, battle, VIII, 389
Currie, General Sir Arthur, VIII, 385
Currie, General Sir Arthur, commands Canadian Corps, VIII, 364, 367, 368
Cuvilly, taken by French, VIII, 18
Cyril, Grand Duke, II, 486
Czarina, influence of, VI, 373
Czechoslovak army, VIII, 86
Czechoslovak State, VIII, 228
Czechoslovaks in Italy, VIII, 105
Czechoslovaks in Russia, VIII, 80
Czechoslovaks in Siberia, VII, 444
Czernowitz, capture of, V, 169
Czernowitz, Russian retreat at, II, 413
Dankl, retreat of, II, 392
Dardanelles, aeroplanes at, I, 23
Dardanelles campaign, abandonment of, reasons for, IV, 363
Dardanelles, reenforcements, IV, 345
Danzig, to be a free city, VIII, 225
Dead Man Hill, capture of, by France, VII, 26
Deaths' Head Hussars, II, 154
Debeney, General, VIII, 46, 59, 65
Debeney, General, captures Roye, VIII, 33
Debts, prewar, VIII, 242
Delarey, General, III, 73
Demery, taken, VIII, 21
Demobilization, in Canada. VIII, 438
Deniécourt, capture of, VI, 26
Denmark, German boundary to be determined, VIII, 230
Destroyers, achievements of, I, 17
Destroyers, employment of, VII, 120
_Deutschland_, German merchant submarine, V, 111, 112
De Wet, General, III, 70
Diaz, General, plans Italian counteroffensive, VIII, 96
Dickman, General, VIII, 159, 189
Dickman, General, commands American Army of Occupation, VIII, 79
Diplomatic exchanges, first, prior to war, I, 322
Diplomatic notes, before beginning war, I, 270
Diplomatic papers, comparative number of, I, 313
Dixmude, British and French attacks at, VI, 287
Dixmude, German attack on, IV, 87
Dixmude-Ypres front, VIII, 49
Djemel Pasha, II, 500
Dobrudja, Germans retire, VI, 111
Dodo Woods, taken by the British, VIII, 15
Doherty, Hon. C. J., Canadian Minister of Justice, VIII, 265
Dolomite passes, III, 393
Domaine Wood, occupied by the French, VIII, 33
Dominion Day, July 1, 1918, VIII, 383
Douai, invested by British, VIII, 59
Douaumont, French attempts to retake, V, 363
Douaumont, French recapture of, VI, 34
Douaumont, German attack at, V, 344
Draper, General, VIII, 392
_Dresden_, German raider, III, 182
Drocourt-Queant line, objective of Canadians, VIII, 391
Dubail, General, commander French First Army, II, 76
Dubno Fortress, capture of, by Russians, V, 161
Dubno Fortress, strength of, IV, 210-211
Dukhonin, General, murder of, VII, 160
Dukla Pass, fighting at, III, 261
Duma, defiance of Czar by, VI, 389
Duma, meeting of, in 1916, VI, 383
Dumba, Dr., recall by Austro-Hungarian Government, V, 11
Dunajec, Battle of, III, 267-273
Dunkirk, bombardment of, by German destroyers, VI, 482
Durazzo, Austrian capture of, IV, 328
Dvina, crossed by Russians, VI, 80
Dvinsk, fighting around, IV, 213
Dyer, General, VIII, 392
East Africa, conquest of, VII, 244
Eastern battle front, conditions on, spring of 1916, V, 116
Eastern front, summary of first year's operations, IV, 174-178
Eastern front, winter on, IV, 250-254
East Prussia, devastation in, III, 313, 317
Eaucourt, l'Abbaye, British capture of, VI, 28
Ebert, Friedrich, VIII, 111
Ecouvillon, VIII, 21
Edea, capture of, III, 67
Edward VII, I, 182
Edwards, General, VIII, 146
Egypt, Abbas II deposed, III, 21
Egypt, attack on, III, 15
Egypt, Germany recognizes British protectorate, VIII, 232
Egypt, Turkish attack on, III, 507
El Kantara, fighting at, IV, 10
Elmsley, General J. H, VIII, 358
_Emden_, career of, II, 226
_Emden_, story of, III, 193-205
Emmich, General von, II, 18
Engineers, American, deeds of, at Cambrai, VII, 94
Engineers, American, with General Carey, VII, 369
England air raids on, IV, 21
England, east coast, attacked by German Zeppelins, II, 460
England, political tendencies of, I, 172
Enver Pasha, II, 499
Erzerum, evacuation of, IV, 389
Erzerum, operations around, III, 9
Erzerum, Turkish losses at, IV, 391
Erzingan, capture of, by Russians, V, 339
Escaudoeuvres, taken by Canadians, VIII, 403
Esperey, General Franchet d', commander French Fifth Army, II, 77
Espionage Bill, divisions of, VI, 338
Exports, embargo on, VI, 341
Eydtkuhnen, attack on, III, 317
Falkenhayn, General, operations in Transylvania, VI, 113
Falkenhayn, General von, in Rumania, V, 109
Falklands, battle off, II, 230
Far Eastern problem in 1910, I, 140
Farquhar, Colonel Francis, killed in action, VIII, 307
Farquhar, Lieut. Col., commands Princess Pats, VIII, 285
Fashoda, I, 166
Faverolles, taken by French, VIII, 18
Fayolle, General, holds 30-mile gap, VII, 277
Federal control for militia, I, 13
Ferdinand, King, decision to join Central Powers, IV, 257
Ferdinand, King of Bulgaria, I, 234
Fère Champenoise, maneuvers of, II, 129
Fère-en-Tardenois, German dynamite houses in, VIII, 10
Festubert, battle of, III, 128-134
Festubert, battle of, VIII, 322
Fifth British Army, retires in German offensive, VII, 276
Fifth Canadian Mounted Rifles, VIII, 353
Finland, agitation for separate government, VII, 140
Finland, attitude toward the Germans, VII, 431
Finland, German operations in, VII, 431
Finnish Government, aims of, VII, 431
First Canadian contingent embarks, VIII, 269
First Canadian Mounted Rifles, VIII, 351
First Ontario Regiment, work of, III, 143
First year's operations on eastern front, summary of, IV, 174-178
First year's operations on western front, summary of, IV, 39-46
Fiset, Colonel E., Canadian Deputy Minister, VIII, 266
Fismes, Americans reach, VII, 416
Fismes, capture of, VIII, 11
Flags, neutral, use of, III, 173
Flame jets, German use of, on the Somme, VI, 20
"Flaming bullets," use of, by Germans, VII, 38
Flanders, Belgian and British advance, VIII, 51
Flanders, Franco-British offensive, VII, 9
Flanders, German raids in, March, 1918, VII, 272
Flanders sector, V, 376
Flers, captured by British, VI, 23
Fleury, German repulse at, V, 368
Floods on the eastern front, effect of, V, 141
Foch, General, II, 122
Foch, General, commander French Ninth Army, II, 94
Foch, General Ferdinand, appointment as Generalissimo, VII, 283
Foch, General Ferdinand, career of, VII, 284
Foch, General, in Battle of the Somme, V, 388
Foch, General, strategy of, in Battle of the Marne, II, 122, 129
Foch, General, success of, at the Marne, I, 89, 92
Foch, Marshal, first part of the program accomplished, VIII, 42
Folies, taken by the British, VIII, 18
Fontaine-les-Croisilles, taken by Canadian and Scottish, VIII, 33
Fontaine-Notre-Dame, VIII, 398
Food control, governmental, VII, 125
Ford peace expedition, V, 53, 55
Ford permanent peace board, V, 55
Forges, German occupation of, V, 345
Fort Loncin, surrenders, II, 21
Foster, Sir George E., Canadian Minister of Trade and Commerce, VIII, 265
Fouquescourt, VIII, 19
"Fourteen Points" of President Wilson, VIII, 108
Fourth Canadian Mounted Rifles, VIII, 351
France, expansion of, I, 29
Francilly-Silency, VIII, 44, 47
Francis, David R., American Ambassador to Russia, VIII, 91
Francis Ferdinand, assassination of, I, 260
Franco-British offensive in Flanders, VII, 9
Franco-Bulgarian operations, IV, 317-318
Franco-Prussian War, I, 129
Franz Ferdinand, diplomatic exchanges in regard to assassination I, 341
French advance in Flanders in October, 1917, VII, 51
French and British envoys, visit of, VI, 351
French armies, mobilization of, I, 297-303
French attack on Douaumont, account of, V, 342-344
French attacks north of the Aisne, VII, 47
French attacks in the Vosges in July and August, 1915, IV, 51
French battle plane, V, 429
French colonial expansion, I, 164
French, General Sir John, attacks Lens, IV, 82
French, General Sir John, commander British forces, II, 61
French, General Sir John, order of, at Marne, II, 105
French in Alsace, IV, 70
French offensive on Somme, VI, 13
French offensive at Verdun, renewal of, VII, 28
French, Sir John, II, 34, 115
French victories at Rheims, VI, 241
French victories at Verdun, VI, 52
French victories between Soissons and Rheims, VI, 240
Fresmières threatened, VIII, 25
Fresnoy, French attack on, VIII, 32
Fresnoy-le-Grand, VIII, 55
Fresnoy, taken by the Canadians, VIII, 56, 363
Fricourt, British attack upon, V, 393
Freya Line, broken by the Americans, VIII, 72
Galatz, bombardment of, by Bulgarians, VI, 121
Galicia, operations in, IV, 185
Gallipoli, concentration of Turkish troops at, IV, 357
Gallipoli, conditions in August, 1915, IV, 345
Gallipoli, landing on, III, 429-469
Gallipoli, peninsula of, II, 285
Gallipoli, withdrawal from, description of, IV, 366
Garua, capture of, III, 483
Gas attack at Hooge, III, 148
Gas, mustard, VII, 353
Gas, use and effects of, I, 53
Gas warfare, British use masks at Loos, IV, 94
Gas Warfare at second Battle of Ypres, VIII, 309
Gauche Wood, VIII, 44
Gault, Major A, Hamilton, with "Princess Pats," VIII, 285
George, Lloyd, statement in relation to peace, VII, 103
Gerard, Ambassador, VI, 297
Gerard, Ambassador, experiences of, in Germany, VI, 297
German advance in Russia, VII, 422
German air raids on Saloniki, V, 216
German armies in Poland, command of, IV, 181
German armies, mobilization of, I, 292
German army in Belgium, composition of, II, 10
German artillery, II, 264
German assaults on American lines, VII, 356
German attacks against Americans in Lorraine, VII, 347
German attacks at Verdun, VI, 58
German attacks in Rumania, cessation of, VI, 120
German attacks near Dvinsk, V, 184
German claims of losses by submarines, VI, 478
German colonies, VIII, 231
German comments on American troops, VII, 89
German counteroffensive, VIII, 372
German declaration of intentions toward Belgium, I, 487
German declaration of war, I, 278
German defeat by Americans in Lorraine, VII, 355
German destroyers, raid of, VII, 468
German East Africa, German strength in, V, 335
German edict against armed merchantmen, V, 378
German Empire, I, 126
German fleet, surrender of, VIII, 147
German forces, disposition of, in the Somme sector, V, 378
German interned vessels, taken over by the United States, VII, 123
German invasion, plan for, II, 10
German losses at Jutland naval battle, V, 94-98
German losses in Artois, III, 121
German losses in Champagne, IV, 78-79
German losses in great defensive, VII, 355
German losses in retreat across the Marne, VII, 404
German losses in Russo-German campaign, II, 482
German navy league, I, 141
German navy, to be demobilized, VIII, 234
German offensive around Cambrai, VII, 69
German offensive, breakdown in Champagne, IV, 78
German offensive in Artois and Champagne, October, 1915, IV, 105, 125
German peace proposals, rejection of, by Trotzky, VII, 181
German peace terms, acceptance of, by Russia, VII, 425
German plots in United States in 1915, V, 12
German preparations for attack on Verdun, IV, 132
German prisoners taken at Ypres, VII, 41
German prisoners taken by French, VII, 53
German proposals to Belgium, I, 280
German raiders, damage by, III, 188
German raids on the English coast, VI, 482
German reenforcements from Russia, VII, 282
German reply to Pope, VII, 100
German repulse by Americans at Jaulgonne, VII, 379
German retreat, beginning of, VII, 330
German retreat from Château-Thierry, VII, 381; VIII, 11
German rupture with the United States, VI, 205-216
German Samoa, II, 242
German ships in American ports, VI, 329
German ships seized by America, VII, 123
German Southwest Africa, campaign in, III, 68
German strategy, I, 34
German submarine campaign, IV, 166
German submarine decree in the United States, VI, 291
German submarine war zone, of February 1, 1917, VI, 208
German terms of peace with Russia, VII, 176-179
German third offensive, beginning of, VII, 325
German troops from Russia, VII, 76
Germans, counterattack, VIII, 28
Germans, hatred of, in Russia, VII, 443
Germans, retreat of, VIII, 58
Germany, air forces of, VIII, 234
Germany, conditions in, VIII, 106
Germany, Japanese declaration of war against, I, 284
Germany, must reduce military force, VIII, 232.
Germany, new boundaries, VIII, 225
Germany's declaration of war on Russia, I, 282
Germany's letter to Mexico, VI, 312
Ghent, air raids on, IV, 34
Ghent, occupied by Belgians, VIII, 78
Givenchy, Canadians at, VIII, 334
Givenchy, operations around, III, 187
Goeben, German cruiser, II, 494
Gomiecourt, stormed, VIII, 29
Goritz bridgehead, Austrian attack on, V, 231
Goritz, capture of, VI, 149
Gorizia, attacks on, III, 408
Gough, General Hubert, commands Reserve Army, V, 393
Gouraud, General, VIII, 59
Gouraud, General, enters Sedan, VIII, 76
Gouraud, General, in Champagne, VIII, 47, 53
Gouraud, General, on Hindenburg Line, VIII, 48, 50
Gouy, taken, VIII, 53
Gouzeaucourt, German attack near, VIII, 44
Government, reorganization of, in Russia, VI, 395
Grand Pré, fighting at, VIII, 63
Graves, General William S., VIII, 86
Graves of soldiers, to be respected and maintained, VIII, 234
Great Britain, geographical position of, I, 289
Great War, causes of, I, 258
Greece, attitude of, IV, 280
Greece, British statement in regard to, IV, 313
Greece, conditions in, VII, 369
Greece, political conditions in, VI, 126
Greek fleet, seized by Allies, VI, 137
Greek Forces, demobilization of, V, 223
Greek frontier, Bulgarians cross, V, 214
Greek Government, attack by Venizelos, IV, 311
Greek Provisional Government declares war on Germany, VI, 144
Grey, Sir Edward, declaration in regard to neutrality, I, 281, 316
Grey, Sir Edward, note to American Government on British blockading,
V, 30
Guillemat, General, in drive on Hindenburg position, VIII, 69
Guns, long-range, bombard Paris, VII, 277
Guynemer, George, death of, VII, 39
Gwatkin, Colonel W. G., Canadian Chief of Staff, VIII, 266
Haig, Field Marshal, attacks army of Prince Rupprecht, VIII, 12
Haig, Field Marshal, launches offensive of 1918, VIII, 49
Haig, Field Marshal, wins victory of August 8, 1919, VIII, 13
Haig, General Sir Douglas, in Battle of the Aisne, II, 144, 146
Haig, General Sir Douglas, at Battle of Mons, II, 60
Haig, General Sir Douglas, in 1915 offensive, VIII, 323
Haig, Sir Douglas, message of King George to, V, 389
Haig, Sir Douglas, promoted to Commander in Chief, VI, 59
Haig, Sir Douglas, report of, on Canadian operations, VIII, 362
Haig, Sir Douglas, succeeds Sir John French, IV, 116
Haldane, General, takes Flesquières, VIII, 48
Halicz, battle of, III, 249
Hamel, Americans with Australians, VII, 399
Hamel Woods, taken, VIII, 15
Hamilton, Sir Ian, plans of, III, 437
Hamilton, Sir Ian, report of Gallipoli operations, IV, 362
_Hampshire_, loss of, V, 108
Harbord, General, VIII, 159, 167
Hardecourt, taken by British, VIII, 35
Hartmannsweilerkopf, III, 115
Hartmannsweilerkopf, operations at, in January, 1916, IV, 123
Hansen, General von, II, 56, 94
Haute Deule Canal, crossed by British, VIII, 60
Havrincourt, captured, VIII, 44
Hazen, J. Douglas, Canadian Minister of Marine, Fisheries, and Naval
Affairs, VIII, 265
Hedjaz, operations in, VII, 240-242
Heeringen, General von, II, 10
Hendecourt, German counterattacks at, VIII, 37
Hermannstadt, attack on, by Germans, VI, 105
Hertling, Chancellor von, resignation of, VIII, 108
Herzegovina, annexation of, I, 147
Hewlett, Francis E. T., II, 244
Hill, General F. W., VIII, 358
Hill 62, Canadians at, VIII, 353
Hill 70, taken by the Canadians, VIII, 365
Hill 204, capture of, by Americans, VII, 401
Hill 304, battle of, V, 361-371
Hill 304, captured by French, VII, 28
Hindenburg, Field Marshal von, IV, 181; V, 164
Hindenburg, General von, II, 439
Hindenburg Line, British attacks on, VIII, 363
Hindenburg Line, British offensive against, VII, 58
Hindenburg Line, broken, VIII, 54, 56, 57
Hindenburg Line, positions occupied by the Allies, VIII, 33
Hipper, Admiral von, in Battle of Jutland Bank, V, 75
Hirson, occupied by the French, VIII, 75
Hohenzollern Redoubt, V, 373
Holland and Belgium, I, 283
"Holy War," danger of, III, 21
Home Battalions in Canada, VIII, 253
Home Rule Bill in Ireland, I, 43
Hooge, fight for, VIII, 354
Hooge, loss of, VIII, 355
Hooge, operations around, III, 140
Hoover, Herbert C., VII, 125
Hoover, Herbert C., named Food Administrator by President Wilson, VI, 335
Horne, General Sir Henry, on Cambrai front, VIII, 47
Hughes Brigade, VIII, 380
Hughes, General Garnet B., VIII, 355, 358
Hughes, General W. St. P., VIII, 358
Hughes, Hon. Sir Sam, Canadian Minister of Militia and Defense,
VIII, 252, 265
Hulluch, operations around, IV, 92
Humbert, General, VIII, 20
Humin, battle of, II, 470
Hungarian frontier, operations along, VI, 470
Hutier, General von, in retreat, VIII, 19, 25, 65
Immelmann, Lieutenant, death of, V, 431
Imperial Munitions Board, VIII, 252
"Infiltration" of troops, employment of, VII, 401
Inter-Allied Naval Council, VII, 81
Intercolonial Railroad, in war, VIII, 428
Intrenchment, value of, I, 67
Ireland, situation in, I, 43
Irkutsk incident, VIII, 83
Isonzo, battles of, VI, 470
Isonzo front, offensive movement along, V, 230
Isonzo frontier, battle on, IV, 394
Ispaha, capture of, V, 334
Isvolsky, A. P., I, 320
Italian aeroplane service, development of, IV, 469
Italian Alpine troops, V, 268
Italian attacks on Monte Rombon, V, 230
Italian coast cities shelled by Austrian squadron, IV, 168
Italian drive for Trieste, VI, 469
Italian front, conditions along, in the spring of 1917, VI, 452
Italian landing at Avlona, IV, 327
Italian losses in Austrian offensive, V, 257
Italian naval bases, IV, 413
Italian navy, operations of, IV, 168
Italian objective in Istria, IV, 417
Italian offensive, VII, 456
Italian offensive, stopped, VI, 473
Italian strategy, problems of, IV, 404-408
Italian war loans, IV, 411
Italians, victories of, VIII, 105, 130
Italy, American troops in, VII, 346
Italy, area of, I, 288
Italy, declares neutrality, I, 281
Italy, history of, I, 188
Italy, revival of military strength, VII, 450
Ivangorod, capture of, III, 365
Ivangorod, fighting around, II, 458
Jablonitza, evacuation of, by Russians, VI, 75
Jagow, Von, G., I, 323
Japan; action of, in Siberia, VII, 432
Japan and Russia, friendly relations between, V, 61
Japan, in siege of Kiao-Chau, II, 221
Japan, modern history of, I, 200
Japan, reasons for entering the war, II, 445
Japanese, at Vladivostok, VIII, 86
Jaroslav, recapture of, II, 411
Jaulgonne, VII, 327, 402
Jellicoe, Admiral, movements at Jutland naval battle, V, 73-108
Jellicoe, Admiral, official report of Jutland battle, V, 90
Jerusalem, capture of, VII, 223-232
Jerusalem, surrender of, VIII, 113
Jewish persecutions in Russia, I, 153
Jews in the Balkans, I, 221
Joffre, General, II, 38
Joffre, General, appointed Commander in Chief of all French armies,
IV, 115
Joffre, General, campaign plan, I, 89
Joffre, General, gives orders of August, 25, 1914, II, 78
Joffre, plan of retreat to the Marne, IV, 41
Jura Mountains, Canadian Forestry Corps in, VIII, 289
Jutland Bank, battle of, V, 70-108
Jutland, naval engagement off, IV, 150
Juvigny, in counteroffensive, VII, 335
Juvigny Plateau, won by Mangin's troops, VIII, 30
Kaiser and King of Belgium, interview between, I, 341
Kaledine, General, VII, 139, 167
Kalkfield, capture of, III, 489
Kamimura, Admiral Hilkonijo, commander Japanese fleet, III, 52
Kamio, General Mitsuomi, commander expedition against Kiao-Chau, III, 52
Kantara, German aeroplane raid on, V, 431
Kara-Argan, battle of, III, 12
Kars, attacks on, III, 471
Katshanik Pass, Serbian resistance at, IV, 293
Katshanik Pass, Serbian stand at, IV, 272
Kemp, Hon. A. E., Canadian Minister without portfolio, VIII, 265
Kemp, Rear Admiral, VIII, 89
Kemp, Sir Edward, VIII, 253, 255
Kensington Territorial Battalion, III, 131
Kerensky, Alexander, in Russian Revolution, VI, 393, 419, 497
Kerensky, downfall of, VII, 137, 146
Kermanshah, capture of, by Russians, V, 332
Ketchen, General H. D. B., VIII, 358
Khaki University, VIII, 454, 455
Kiao-Chau, a German concession, III, 46
Kiao-Chau, German Emperor commands to resist, I, 285
Kiel Canal, to be free and open, VIII, 245
Kimpolung, capture of, by Russians, V, 187
_King Edward VII_, British dreadnought, loss of, IV, 164
Kitchener, Earl, II, 34, 47, 305
Kluck, General von, commander German First Army, II, 9, 86, 87
Kluck, Von, retreat of, II, 12
Königsberg, fighting around, II, 479
Kornilov, General, rebellion against Soviets, VII, 137
Kossovo Plain, IV, 297, 298
Kovel, German resistance near, V, 167
Kovess, General, in invasion of Serbia, IV, 276
Kovno, attack on, IV, 182
Kovno, battles around, III, 342
Kovno, capture of, IV, 183
Koziowa, attacks on, III, 246
Kragujevatz, capture of, IV, 280
Krasnik, battle of, III, 348
Krithia, attacks on, III, 454
Krithia, attacks on, by Turkish forces, III, 454
_Kronprinz Wilhelm_, cruiser, II, 226
_Kronprinz Wilhelm_, raider, III, 187
Kronstadt, mutiny of Russian fleet of, VI, 414
Kum Kale Fort, III, 438
Kurna, capture of, II, 509
Kut-el-Amara, battle of, IV, 425-436
Kut-el-Amara, British stand at, IV, 444
Kut-el-Amara, surrender of, III, 502
La Bassée, attacks on, II, 178-192
La Bassée Canal, German retreat on, VIII, 53
La Bassée, operations around, IV, 44
La Boisselle, British attack upon, V, 385
La Boisselle, mine explosion, III, 151
Labor, International, VIII, 245
Labor Peace Council, organization of, V, 24
Labyrinth, attacks on, III, 122-123
Labyrinth, the, IV, 108
La Carlotte, taken by the Canadians, VII, 364
La Cateau, taken, VIII, 58
Lafayette Escadrille, VI, 490
Laffaux Mill, taken, VIII, 43
Lake Nyassa, battle in, II, 243
Langle de Gary, General, II, 55
La Neuville, taken, VIII, 15
Lansing, Secretary, answer to German proposals, VI, 294
Lansing, Secretary, conversations with Count von Bernstorff, on
Lusitania, IV, 497
_La Provence_, sinking of, IV, 172
Lassigny, VIII, 19, 26
Laurezac, General, commander French Fifth Army, II, 77
Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, on the war, VIII, 423
La Vacquerie, taken, VIII, 51
Lawe River, VIII, 16
League of Nations Covenant, adopted, VIII, 221
League of Nations, plan adopted, VIII, 200
Leckie, General, at second Battle of Ypres, VIII, 310
Lehaucourt, taken, VIII, 51
Le Jeune, General, VIII, 184
Leman, General, defender Liege, II, 15, 19
Lemberg, capture of, II, 387
Lemberg, drive against, summer of 1916, VI, 70-78, 84
Lemberg, threatened capture of, by Russians, V, 163
Le Mesnil sector, movements in, IV, 107
Lempire, VIII, 44, 46
Lenine, arrives in Russia, VI, 408
Lenine, declaration on peace, VII, 154
Lenine, influence of, VI, 408
Lenine, Russian Premier, attempt to assassinate, VIII, 93
Lens-Armentières front, German retreat on, VIII, 55
Lens, attack around, IV, 82
Lens, attack on Aubers Ridge, VIII, 323
Lens, British successes at, VII, 13
Lens, British reach outskirts, VIII, 39
Lens, Canadian successes at, VII, 32
Lens, conditions in, VI, 245
Lens front, activity on, VIII, 364
Lens, result of German bombardment of, VII, 18
Les Eparges, fighting at, III, 118
Les Eparges, French capture of, IV, 43
Leveque Wood, machine-gun nests in, VIII, 68
Liberia, in Treaty of Peace, VIII, 231
Liberty Loans, VI, 344; VII, 112
Lichnowsky, I, 323
Liege, capture of, II, 22
Liege Forts, fall of, IV, 39
Liege, siege and capture of, II, 12
Liggett, General Hunter, VIII, 167, 178
Liggett, General Hunter, commands American First Army, VIII, 189
Lihons, capture of German division at, VIII, 18
Lille, evacuated, VIII, 55
Linsingen, General von, V, 190, 198
Lipa River, crossing of, by Russians, V, 207
Lipsett, Colonel, at second Battle of Ypres, VIII, 315
Lipsett, General L. J., VIII, 355, 372
Lipsett, General, commands Canadian Second Brigade, VIII, 340
Lipsett, General, commands Canadian Third Division, VIII, 358
Liquid fire, employment of, against Americans, VII, 350
Lloyd-George, David, I, 185
Lloyd-George, Prime Minister, at Peace Conference, VIII, 195
Locon, taken by the British, VIII, 16
Lodz, fighting around, II, 465
Lodz, occupation of, II, 454
Lombaertzyde, bombarded, III, 156
London, air attacks on, VI, 174
London attacked by Zeppelins, IV, 29
London, Zeppelin raid on, in October, 1915, IV, 32
Longueval, British recapture of, V, 408
Longwy, American troops pass through, VIII, 79
Loomis, General, F. O., VIII, 358
Loos, battle of, IV, 23; II, 90-98
Loos, Hill 70, taken by the Canadians, VIII, 365
Loos, operations around, VI, 52
Losses, of Allies, VIII, 35
Lorraine, American operations in, VII, 347
Lorraine, German successes in, VI, 219
Lougheed, Hon. J. A., Canadian Minister without portfolio, VIII, 265
Louvain, capture of, II, 28
Lowestoft, air raid on, IV, 22
Lowestoft, raids on, II, 246
Lowitz, fighting around, II, 465-467
Ludendorff, General, retirement of, VIII, 70
Lukoff, capture of, IV, 194
Luneville, bombardment of, by German aeroplanes, IV, 54
_Lusitania_ crisis in Congress, IV, 496, 502-503
_Lusitania_, sinking of, III, 185, 222
Lutsk, capture of, IV, 202; V, 158
Luxemburg, bombardment of, by aeroplanes, IV, 466
Luxemburg, invasion of, I, 280
Luxemburg, occupation of, by Germans, II, 10
Lvov, Prince George, in Russian revolution, VI, 398, 418
Lys, Battle of, VIII, 378
Lys Canal, crossed by Belgians, VIII, 67
Lys region, fighting in, VII, 297
Lys Salient, British in, VIII, 25
_L-19_ Zeppelin, loss of, V, 424
McAdoo, Wm. G., appointed Director General of Railroads, VII, 131
McBain, Lieut. Col. W., at Valcartier Camp, VIII, 268
MacBrien, General J. H., VIII, 358
MacDonald, Major General D. A., Canadian Quartermaster General, VIII, 266
Macdonell, General A. C., VIII, 349, 368, 372
Macdonell, General A. C., commands Canadian First Division, VIII, 364
Macdonell, General A. H., VIII, 368
MacDougall, Brigadier General, commands Canadian training division,
VIII, 304
Macedonia, Allies in, VI, 124
Macedonia, Bulgarian invasion of, IV, 277
Macedonia, conditions in, V, 214
Macedonia, reforms in, I, 238
Macedonia, Serbian advance in, VI, 132
Macedonian Bulgars, II, 280
McGill University, Canada, number enlisted from, VIII, 284
Machinery in the war, I, 66
Mackensen, General von, attack by, in Dobrudja, VI, 109
Mackensen, General von, begins invasion of Serbia, IV, 263
Mackensen, General von, in Galicia, I, 96
Mackensen, General von, takes Pinsk, IV, 206
McLemore Resolution, IV, 505; V, 440
McNeely, Robert N., death of, IV, 157
McPhail's Brigade, VIII, 380
Magny-la-Fosse, taken, VIII, 51
Mainz, British air raids upon, VII 481
Malassise Farm, VIII, 46
Maldon, air raid on, IV, 22
Malmaison Fort, taken, VIII, 49
Malmaison Plateau, VIII, 51
Mangin, General, on way to Mayence, VIII, 79
Mangin, General, strategy of, VIII 25, 26, 59
Mangin, General, takes Soissons VIII, 9
Manoury, General, in Battle of the Aisne, II, 134
Manoury, General, in Battle of the Marne, II, 99
Marcelcave, taken, VIII, 15
Marcoing-Masnières line taken VIII, 51
Marcoing, taken, VIII, 48
Margate, air attack on, VI, 171
Mariakerke, bombardment of, aerodromes at, V, 431
Marine Corps, exploits of, VII, 395
Marines, American, success in Belleau Wood, VII, 384
Marne, Americans on, VII, 407
Marne, Battle of the, II, 88-138
Marne, counterattack on, VII, 406
Marne district, Canadian Forestry Corps in, VIII, 289
Marne salient, German strength in, VII, 333
Marqueglise, taken, VIII, 18
Marwitz, General von der, in attack on British Fifth Army, VII, 276
Marwitz, General von der, in retreat VIII, 19
Massiges, German attack at, IV, 124
Massiges sector, IV, 76
Matz River, VIII, 17, 20
Maude, General, death of, VIII, 114
Maurepas, French capture, VI, 15
Maximalists, activities of, in Russia VI, 418
Max, Prince of Baden, made German Chancellor, VIII, 108
Mayence, occupied by French, VIII, 79
Mazurian Lakes, battles of, II, 439; III, 313
Medeah Farm, VIII, 54
Medical Corps of Canadian Overseas Force, VIII, 297
Memel, raid on, III, 334
Menin Road, Canadians fight on, VIII, 355
Menin Road--Hill 60, VIII, 354
Mercer, General, VIII, 338
Mercer, General, death of, VIII, 351
Merchantmen, armed, German edict against, V, 60
Merchantmen, submarine warfare on I, 20; IV, 499; V, 60
Messines Ridge, attempts of Germans to capture, VII, 293
Messines Ridge, German defenses on, VI, 264
Messines Ridge, taken by British, VIII, 52
Metzeral, capture of, III, 165
Meuse-Argonne offensive, VIII, 170
Meuse, battles on the left bank of, V, 345-348
Meuse, French successes on the left bank, January, 1917, VI, 64
Mewburn, General, the Hon. S. C., VIII, 253
Mexico. German intrigues in, VI, 312
Mézières, deluged with gas and explosives, VIII, 78
Microphone, I, 21
Milan, patriotic demonstrations, III, 379
Military league in Balkans, I, 250
Military plans of Central Powers, I, 33
Military tribunals, VIII, 235
Milukov, Paul, appointed Minister of Foreign Relations, VI, 398, 413
Minneapolis, British liner, sinking of, V, 64
Miraumont, VIII, 28
Mitrovitza, capture of, IV, 300
Mlawa, movements before, III, 324
Mobilization, diplomatic papers on, I, 405
Modern warfare, methods of, I, 66
Moeuvres, taken by British, VIII, 45
_Moewe_, German raider, achievements of, IV, 159
_Moldavia_, transport, sunk, VII, 464
Monastir, capture of, by Allies, VI, 141-143
Monchy-le-Preux, taken by Canadians, VIII, 392
_Monmouth_, cruiser, II, 223
Monolithe Farm, taken by the French, VIII, 22
Monoplanes, V, 420
Mons, battle of, II, 60-68
Mons, taken by the British, VIII, 78, 420
Montauban, captured, VIII, 34
Mont Blanc, taken by French and Americans, VIII, 54
Mont des Singes, taken by French, VIII, 43
Montdidier, capture of, VIII, 17
Montdidier, French successes at, 1918, VII, 314
Monte Altissimo, seizure of, by Italians, IV, 396
Monte Ancora, Italian attack on, V, 243
Monte Grappa, VIII, 125
Montenegrin army, II, 359
Montenegrin nationality, I, 259
Montenegrin surrender, criticism of, IV, 336
Montenegro, conquest of, IV, 329
Montenegro in the war, II, 358-361
Monte Sisemol, French troops on, VIII, 99
Montmédy, American soldiers welcomed, VIII, 79
Mont St. Eloi, III, 121
Mont St. Simeon, occupied by the French, VIII, 37
Moreuil, taken by French, VIII, 15
Morlancourt, Germans at, VIII, 15
Mormal Forest, British in, VIII, 73
Morocco, French annexation, I, 138
Morocco, in Treaty, VIII, 232
Morrison, Colonel, at second Battle of Ypres, VIII, 312
Mortemer, taken by the French, VIII, 17
Mort Homme, battle of, V, 345, 354, 369
Motor cars, work of, VIII, 31
Motor Zeppelins, V, 418
Mount Lovcen, effect of capture of, on Italian campaign, IV, 399
Mount Sorrell, Canadians at, VIII, 353
Mucke, captain of _Ayesha_, III, 193
Mülhausen, capture of, by French, IV, 40
Müller, Captain von, II, 229
Munitions, work of Canadian factories, VIII, 430
Murman coast, American forces on, VII, 441
Murmansk Peninsula, Allies on, VIII, 89
Mush, Armenian massacre at, IV, 378
Mush, fighting around, V, 294
Mush, Russian capture of, III, 479
Mustard Gas, VIII, 21
Mustard Gas, in ruins of Roye, VIII, 35
Namema, capture of, V, 360
Namur, capture of, II, 53
Nantel, Hon. W. B., Canadian Minister of Inland Revenue, VIII, 266
Narotch Lake, Russian attack around, V, 124
Nasiriyeh, Turkish defeat at, IV, 422
Natal, destruction of, IV, 163
National Army, composition of, IV, 423
National Army, training of, VII, 116
National Society, I, 287
Nationality, growth of, I, 258
Nationality in Serbia, I, 259
Nauroy, taken, VIII, 50
Naval aeroplanes, British raids by, VI, 280
Naval battle of Jutland, V, 70-108
Naval Conference, VII, 81
Naval engagements, VII, 468
Naval losses, IV, 143-144; V, 113-115
Naval losses at the end of the third year of the war, VI, 484
Naval losses in two years, V, 113-115
Naval policy, German, I, 44
Naval situation beginning with the second year, IV, 143
Naval strength of Austria, II, 206
Naval strength of Germany, II, 204
Naval strength of Great Britain, II, 197
Naval warfare, surrender of the German Fleet, VIII, 147
Navy, American, I, 11; VII, 119
Navy, Canadian, VIII, 301
Neidenburg, capture of, II, 437
Neutral flags, use of, III, 173
Neutral shipping, loss of, IV, 170
Neutral vessels in American ports, VII, 128
Neuve Chapelle, battle of, III, 83-92
Neuve Chapelle, Canadian artillery engaged at, VIII, 306
Neuve Eglise, taken by the British, VIII, 40
Neuville St. Remy, VIII, 52
Neuville St. Vaast, III, 127
New Zealanders between Croisilles and Bapaume, VIII, 34
New Zealanders, gallantry of, at Suvla Bay, IV, 356
New Zealanders take La Vacquerie, VIII, 51
Nicholas II, abdication of, VI, 403
Nicholas II assumes command of Russian army, IV, 188
Nicholas II, murder of, VII, 447
Nicholas II, reply to Kaiser's message, I, 440
Nicholas II, reply to Serbian Crown Prince, I, 417
Nicholas, Grand Duke, II, 373; VI, 490
Nicholas, Grand Duke, farewell to his army, IV, 189
Nicholas, King of Montenegro, IV, 330
Nicholas, Russian Czar, abdicates, VI, 404
Niemen, operations along, III, 330
Nieuport, German attack on, III, 269
Nigeria, fighting in, III, 482
Nish, fall of, IV, 288
Nivelle, General, VI, 246, 349
Northcliffe, Lord, appointed Commissioner to United States, VI, 355
North Sea, battle of, II, 252
Notre Dame de Lorette, attacks on, III, 155
Notre Dame de Lorette, operations around, IV, 88
Novo Georgievsk, capture of, III, 364; IV, 184
Noyon, Allies control roads, VIII, 20
Noyon, taken by French, VIII, 36
Nuredin Pasha, commander of Turks in Mesopotamia, IV, 426
_Nürnberg_, II, 224
Nyassaland, fighting in, III, 495
Odessa, bombardment of, by aeroplanes, VI, 493
Odlum, General V. W., VIII, 358, 376
Oise, operations along, VII, 308
Oise River, VIII, 20
Oise-Sambre Canal, French force passage of, VIII, 73
Oise Valley, French victories in, VIII, 25
Olti, battle of, III, 478
Orchard, Canadian attack on, VIII, 325
Ortelsburg, capture of, II, 437
Oslavia Heights, capture of, by Italians, IV, 408
Ossowetz, bombardment of, III, 329
Ostend Harbor, blocking of, VII, 473
Ostend, King Albert and Queen Elizabeth enter, VIII, 62
Ostend, raids on, by French and British aviators, IV, 56; VI, 173
Ostrolenka, capture of, III, 360
Otani, General Kikugo, VIII, 86
Otavi, battle of, III, 490
Pachitch, Serbian Premier, declaration of intention of, IV, 289
_Palembang_, V, 62
Panet, General, VIII, 392
Pan-Slavism, I, 151
Paris, air raids on, IV, 19, 463
Paris, bombarded by long-range guns, VI, 278
Paris-Plage, headquarters of Canadian Forestry Corps, VIII, 289
Parvillers, taken by Australians, VIII, 21
Pashitch, N. P., the Serbian premier, I, 321
Passchendaele, VIII, 365-366
Passchendaele-Gheluvelt Ridge, capture of, by British, VII, 43
Passes, battle of, III, 241-244
Paterson, General R. W., VIII, 367
Peace Conference, VIII, 193
Peace Conference, representation at, VIII, 193
Peace negotiations of Bolsheviki and Germany, VII, 156-157
Peace, Russia's efforts for, I, 483
Pégoud, Alphonse, French aviator, death of, IV, 50
Pelletier Hon. L. P., Canadian Postmaster General, VIII, 266
Pelves, taken by Canadians, VIII, 35
Pensions, in Canada, VIII, 441
Perly, Sir George H., VIII, 302
Péronne, British air raids, on, VII, 278
Péronne, captured by Australians, VIII, 38
Péronne, French advance upon, V, 390
Pershing, General John J., commander of the American Expeditionary
Force, VI, 356
Pershing, General John J., commands at St. Mihiel, VIII, 43
Pershing, General John J., reaches France, VIII, 152
Pershing, General John J., at Souilly, VIII, 180
Persia, British position in, IV, 419
_Persia_, British steamship, sinking of, IV, 157
Persia, campaign in, III, 474
Persia, Russian advance in, V, 331
Persian Gulf, strategic importance of, II, 505
Perthes, movement around, III, 79
Pétain, General, VII, 322
Pétain, General, attacks on Ailette River, VIII, 43
Pétain, General, report of operations at Verdun, V, 358
Pétain, Marshal, enters Metz, VIII, 79
Peter, King of Serbia, IV, 290
Petit Vimy, token by Canadians, VIII, 362
Petrograd Council, reaction in, VII, 139
Piave, Italian halt at, VII, 208
Picardy battle, American operations in, VII, 372
"Pimple, The," VIII, 359, 361
Pinsk, capture of, IV, 206
Pinsk Marshes, Russian successes in, V, 197
Plumer, General, in advance to Cologne, VIII, 79
Poincaré, President, opens Peace Conference, VIII, 193
Poison gas, employment of, by British, VII, 35
Poland, acquisition by Treaty of Peace, VIII, 228
Poland, Austrian, II, 272
Poland, southern, campaign in, III, 345
Poland, winter campaign in, II, 463
Pontruet, captured VIII, 47
Pope Benedict, efforts at peace, VII, 97
Pope, temporal power of, I, 189
Poperinghe, Canadians buried at, VIII, 351
_Portugal_, Russian hospital ship, sinking of, V, 64
Portuguese seizure of German ships, V, 60
Portuguese troops, achievements of, VII, 291
Preparedness, naval, I, 19
President Wilson's note on American rights, IV, 503-504
Pressburg, Treaty of, I, 84
Press organizations, I, 117
Price, Captain William, at Valcartier Camp, VIII, 268
Prince, Norman, death of, in air battle, VI, 181
Princess Patricias, VIII, 352
"Princess Pats," VIII, 321
"Princess Pats" at St. Eloi, VIII, 307
"Princess Pats," first fight of, VIII, 305
"Princess Pats" joins Twenty-seventh British Division, VIII, 304
"Princess Pats" leaves England for the front, VIII, 304
"Princess Pats" Regiment, VIII, 285, 352
_Prinz Eitel Friedrich_, German raider, III, 179
Prinzip, Gabrilo, I, 261
Pripet Marshes, character of, IV, 209
Pripet Marshes, operations in, V, 152
Prisoners and guns, taken by Canadians, VIII, 396, 406, 421
Prisoners and guns, taken by Canadians in August, 1918, VIII, 389
Prisoners of Allies, VIII, 35
Prisoners, repatriation of, VIII, 235
Prisoners, taken by the Allies, VIII, 16, 20, 31, 39, 51, 60, 69
Pristina, capture of, IV, 300
Pro-German propaganda in United States, IV, 505
Protopopoff, opposes Duma, VI, 488
Provisional Government of the Country of the North, VIII 89
Proyart, VIII, 19
Prussian Guards, defeat of, by Americans, VII, 412
Prussia's increase in power, I, 161
Przasnysz, battles of, III, 324
Przemysl, recapture, III, 301-305
Przemysl, Russian capture of, III, 348
Przemysl, siege of, II, 405
Puisieux-au-Mont, VIII, 22
Putnik, General, commander Serbian Army, II, 322; IV, 274
Queant-Drocourt "switch line" carried by the British, VIII, 39
_Queen Elizabeth_ at naval surrender, VIII, 147
Quesnoy Wood, taken, VIII, 36
Quincy, taken, VIII, 28
Radoslavov, Premier of Bulgaria, III, 372
Radziviloff, Austrian victory at, IV, 204
Ramsgate, air raids on, IV, 26
Ramillies, taken by Canadians, VIII, 402
Rancourt, capture of, by the French, VI, 27
Rasputin, assassination of, VI, 221
Rawlinson, General, attack by Germans, VIII, 21
Rawlinson, General, in advance to Cologne, VIII, 79
Rawa-Russka, battle of, II, 395
Read, General George, VIII, 183
Red Cross in Serbia, II, 354
Reichstag, Bethmann-Hollweg's statement in, I, 502
Reid, Hon. J. D., Canadian Minister of Customs, VIII, 265
Rennenkampf, General, II, 443
Rennie, General R., VIII, 358, 388
Rennie, General, attacks machine-gun position, VIII, 331
Rensburg, Van, II, 577
Reparations, VIII, 236
Respirators, use of, I, 53
Ressons-sur-Matz, taken by French, VIII, 17
Rheims, bombardment of, II, 146-153; III, 152, 154; VI, 237
Rheims, German attack upon, VII, 317
Rhine bridgeheads, to be held by the Allies, VIII, 246
Rhodesia, border fighting in, III, 495
Ribécourt, taken by the French, VIII, 20
Rifles used in different armies, I, 26
Riga-Dvinsk sector, German offensive against, V, 125, 128
Riga, Gulf of, Russian torpedo boats in, V, 151
Riga, Russo-German operations around, V, 204
Rights at sea, assertion of, by United States Government, IV, 480
Rizeh, Russian occupation of, V, 294
Roche, Hon. W. J., Canadian Minister of the Interior, VIII, 265
Rockwell, Kiffin, death of, in air battle, VI, 181
Redman, Roar-Admiral Hugh, VIII, 147
Rodzianko, President of Duma, VI, 394
Roeux, taken, VIII, 33
Rogers, Robert, Canadian Minister of Public Works, VIII, 265
Roosevelt, Theodore, efforts to command troops in France, VI, 335
Root, Elihu, arrival of, in Russia as American Commissioner, VI, 417
Roubaix, taken by the Allies, VIII, 63
Roulers, attack on, II, 183
Roulers, taken by Belgians, VIII, 52
Rovereto, Italian advance toward, V, 244
Rovereto, Italian attack on, IV, 396; V, 244
Rovno Fortress, strength of, IV, 212
Royal Canadian Navy, VIII, 301
Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, VIII, 301
_Royal Edward_, British troopship, sinking of, IV, 149
Royal Flying Corps, British, activities of, V, 425
Royal Military College, Kingston, Canada, VIII, 266
Roye, capture of, VII, 280
Roye, investment of, VIII, 32
Roye, taken by the French, VIII, 33
Rozan, capture of, III, 361
Rozières, taken by British, VIII, 18
Ruffey, General, II, 55
Rumania, conditions in, VII, 250, 252
Rumania, military strength of, VI, 185-186
Rumania, neutrality of, IV, 256
Rumanian raid across the Danube, VI, 106-111
Rumilly, VIII, 52
Rupprecht, Crown Prince, in battle with British, VIII, 29
Russia, area of, I, 286
Russia, Allied military intervention in, VIII, 85
Russia and Great Britain in Persia, I, 185
Russia, Czechoslovaks in, VIII, 80
Russia, German advance in, VII, 436
Russia, German peace with, VII, 420
Russia, in Treaty of Peace, VIII, 230
Russia, advance on the eastern front, V, 120
Russian advance on Trebizond, IV, 389
Russian armies, mobilization of, I, 309
Roman army, characteristics of, I, 55
Russian artillery activity, V, 134
Russian defeat, effect of, on Dardanelles campaign, IV, 364
Russian disorganization, attempts by Germans, VI, 422
Russian foreign policy, I, 151
Russian grand dukes, arrest of, VII, 137
Russian losses in August, 1915, IV, 202-203
Russian losses in Russo-German campaign, II, 488
Russian mobilization, I, 405
Russian note to Great Powers, July 25, 1914, I, 271
Russian offensive against Caucasus, reasons for, IV, 383
Russian offensive in the east, beginning of, V, 154
Russian peace terms with Germany, VII, 424
Russian Poland, II, 268
Russian pursuit of Turkish forces, V, 292
Russian retreat, IV, 229, 239
Russian retreat in Persia, V, 336
Russian revolution, foreshadowing of, VI, 363-365
Russian rout in Galicia, VI, 445-447
Russian torpedo boats in the Gulf of Riga, V, 147
Russia's attitude on coercion of Serbia, I, 377
Russia's strategy in the East, II, 483
Russky, General, II, 377
Russky, General, retires from command, IV, 254
Saarbrücken, bombardment of, by French aeroplanes, IV, 48
St. Eloi, British attack at, V, 72
St. Eloi, Canadian Second Division at, VIII, 342
St. Eloi, "Princess Pats" at, VIII, 307
St. Eloi Sector, VIII, 355
St. Gobain Forest, VIII, 59
St. Julien, assaults on, III, 102
St. Julien, taken by the Germans, VIII, 316
St. Mard, taken, VIII, 32
St. Mihiel, French successes at, VI, 231
St. Mihiel salient, American operations in, VII, 349
St. Mihiel Salient, VIII, 163
St. Mihiel salient, attacks on, VII, 349
St. Mihiel Salient, taken, VIII, 43
St. Nazaire, Canadian troops arrive at, VIII, 304
St. Paul-aux-Bois, taken by French, VIII, 28
St. Quentin-Cambrai, British attack, VIII, 53
St. Quentin Canal, American attacks on, III, 116
St. Quentin, operations around, VI, 236
St. Quentin, taken by the French, VIII, 52
Saloniki, Allied forces at, V, 211
Saloniki, bombardment by aeroplanes, V, 429
Saloniki, fortification of, IV, 321
Saloniki, German air raid on, V, 212
Salonika, importance of, I, 61
Saloniki Railway, importance of, I, 100
Samogneux, abandonment of, by French, IV, 137
Samsonoff, General, II, 436
San, battle of, III, 297, 301
San, battles of the, II, 398
Sanctuary Wood, Canadians fight in, VIII, 354
Saponay, taken by French, VIII, 9
Sapignies, taken, VIII, 31
Sarajevo, I, 260; II, 277
Sari Bair, attack on, IV, 348
Sarrail, General, commands French Third Army, II, 76
Sarrail, General, commands French troops in Serbia, IV, 279
Sarrail, General, offensive by, VI, 124-126
Sarre Basin, French rights in, VIII, 227
Scarborough, raids on, II, 247
Scarpe River, VIII, 30
Scheer, Admiral von, in Battle of Jutland Bank, V, 76
Scheldt Canal, crossed by British, VIII, 56
Scheldt Canal, Germans blow up bridges, VIII, 75
Scheldt Canal, passage forced, VIII, 53
Scheldt River, Germans retreat on, VIII, 67
Scotch, on Ancre, VI, 43
Scotland, Zeppelin attacks on, V, 428
Sea combats, fatalities in, I, 25
Sea command and troop transportation, I, 24
Seaplanes in attack on merchantmen, IV, 471
Sea power as a factor in war, I, 18
Sea power, importance of, I, 41
Second Canadian Division, VIII, 286
Second Canadian Infantry Brigade, VIII, 353
Second Liberty Loan, VII, 112, 113
Sedan, entered by General Gouraud, VIII, 76
Seeley, Major General J. E. B., commands Canadian Cavalry Brigade,
VIII, 286, 332, 367
Seicheprey, VII, 359
Seicheprey, attacks on Americans at, VII, 359
Selective Draft Law, VI, 346
Semendria, bombardment of, IV 269
Semenov, General, VIII, 87
Serbia advised to seek British mediation, I, 408
Serbia, area of, I, 286
Serbia, invasion of, II, 301; IV, 177
Serbia, northern, conquest of, by Germans, IV, 277
Serbia, offers of peace, III, 376
Serbian advance in Macedonia, VI, 132
Serbian Allies retreat to Albania, IV, 303
Serbian army, strength of, in November, 1915, IV, 293, 294
Serbian invasion of Austria II, 323
Serbian nation, flight of, IV, 301
Serbian propaganda in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I, 259
Serbian reply to Austrian note, I, 265-270
Serbian resistance at Babuna Pass, IV, 283
Serbian troops, transport of, across Greek territory, V, 218
Sereth River, crossing of, by Russian forces, V, 178
Sergy, capture of, by Americans, VII, 413
Seringes, capture of, by Americans, VII, 414
Shabatz, battle of, II, 317
Shantung, Japan acquires German rights, VIII, 232
Shipbuilding, in Canada, VIII, 432
Shipbuilding program, VI, 343
Shipping, neutral, loss of, IV, 170
Ships of American registry, seizure by British, V, 49
Shumadia Division of Serbian army, heroism of, IV, 275
Siberia, American participation in, VII, 449
Sibert, William, active commander of American expeditionary force,
VI, 357
Simonds, Frank H., summary of two years of war, V, 461, 502
Sims, Admiral, commander of American destroyer flotilla, VI, 357
Sinai Peninsula, invasion of, II, 501
Sixth French army at the Marne, IV, 41
Smith-Dorrien, General, II, 60
Soissons, operations around, V, 376; VII, 311
Soissons, Rheims front, VIII, 9
Soissons-Rheims salient, Allied progress in, VII, 332
Soissons, taken by the Allies, VIII, 9
Soldau, capture of, II, 437
Soldiers' and Workmen's Council, VII, 141
Soldiers' Civil Reestablishment, VIII, 448
Soldier Settlement Board in Canada, VIII, 439
Somme Canal, crossed, VIII, 39
Somme, battles of, beginning, V, 377
Somme, British and French offensive on the, VI, 27
Somme offensive, object of Allies in, V, 377
Somme offensive, preparations for, V, 384
Somme offensive, spring of, 1916, VI, 9
Somme, second phase of battle, V, 403
Sophia, Queen of Greece, intrigues of, VII, 248
Souain sector, movements in, IV, 71-72
Souchez, attacks on, III, 124, 125
Souchez, Canadian raids at, VI, 222
Souchez, French attack on, IV, 84
Souchez River, VIII, 361
Southwest Africa, British conquest of, III, 484, 493
Soviets, President Wilson's message to, VII, 428
Spee, Admiral von, II, 230
Speed plane, use of, in warfare, V, 421
Spies in warfare, I, 71
Stallupöhnen, battle of, II, 435
Steele, General, VIII, 339
Steele, Major General S. B., commands Second Canadian Division, VIII, 281
Stepanovitch, Marshal, directs Serbian retreat, IV, 29
Stewart, Major, death of, VIII, 354
Stokhod, operations around, VI, 73
Stokhod River, battle on, VI, 76-81
Stony Mountain, VIII, 335
Stony Mountain, work of Canadians at, III, 145
Strategic advantages of Central Powers, I, 32
Strypa River, fighting along, IV, 223
Strypa River, Russian artillery attacks along, V, 138
Stuttgart, bombardment of, by French aviators, IV, 61
Styr River, IV, 223-229
Submarine attacks on American transports, VI, 358
Submarine campaign, German, IV, 166
Submarine, effectiveness of, I, 19
Submarine, evidence for detecting, I, 21
Submarine, German efficiency of, IV, 187
Submarine negotiations between Germany and United States, VI, 194
Submarine warfare, III, 209, 222; VI, 182, 188
Submarine warfare, attitude of Grand Admiral von Tirpitz toward, IV, 499
Submarine warfare in the spring of 1917, VI, 475
Submarine, when dangerous, I, 20
Submarines, aeroplane warfare on, V, 414
Submarines and battleships, I, 19, 20
Submarines and merchantmen, I, 20
Submarines, destroyed by United States naval vessels, VII, 467
Suez Canal, attacks on, III, 509
Suez Canal, defenses of, III, 18, 19; IV, 11
Summerall, General, VIII, 159
Summary of first year's operations on the western front, IV, 39, 46
Summary, Two Years of the War, V, 461
Supreme War Council, VII, 81
_Sussex_, Channel steamer, sinking of, V, 63
Suvla Bay, fighting at, IV, 355
Suvla Bay, plan of attack, IV, 347
Suwalki, occupation of, II, 448
_Sydney_, victorious over Emden, II, 229
Talaat Bey, orders Armenian massacre, IV, 378
Tank, first employment of, VI, 45
Tanks, cooperation of, VIII, 31
"Tanks," employment of, by British, VII, 59
Tanks, first employment of, by Germans, VII, 298
Tanks, in British advance of 1918, VIII, 27
Tanks, transformed into forts, VIII, 45
Tanks, with Canadian Corps, VIII, 380
Tannenberg, battle of, II, 438
Tergovistea, capture of, by Austro-Germans, VI, 117
Terrorism in Russia, I, 153
Thiepval, British successes around, VI, 17
Thiepval Ridge, VIII, 31
Thiescourt, taken, VIII, 29
Thiescourt Wood, occupied, VIII, 25
Third British Army, advance of, VIII, 26
Third Corps, on the west bank of the Meuse, VII, 408
Third Toronto Regiment, work of, III, 143
Tigris River, conditions in, IV, 426
Tilleloy, VIII, 19
Time limit for opening hostilities, controversy over, I, 369
Todoroff, General, IV, 272
Todoroff, General, commands Bulgarian Second Army, IV, 270
Togoland, campaign in, III, 62
Torpedoes, effectiveness of, I, 23
Toul sector, American operations in, VII, 353, 354
Tournai, captured, VIII, 75
Townshend, General, in campaign against Bagdad, IV, 422
Townshend, General, sent by Turks to ask armistice, VIII, 136
Trade, foreign, of Germany, I, 49
Training, military, importance of, I, 14
Transit, through Germany, VIII, 244
Transloy, British at, VI, 65
Transports, protection of, I, 18
Trans-Siberian railway, I, 153
Transylvania, operations of General Falkenhayn in, VI, 108
Treaty of Peace, VIII, 221
Trebizond, occupation of, V, 297
Trebizond, Russian advance on, IV, 390
Trench bombs, I, 75
Trench fighting, I, 68
Trentino front, activities along, VI, 452
Trieste, Italian drive for, VI, 463
Trieste, Italians land at, VIII, 135
Triple Alliance, renewal of, I, 141
Triple Entente, formation of, I, 158
Trotzky, Leon, attitude toward Germany, VII, 183
Trotzky, Leon, career of, VII, 152
Trugny, American struggle for, VII, 409
Turkey and the war, I, 62
Turkish accounts of abandonment at Gallipoli, IV, 371
Turkish attack on Russians, IV, 256
Turkish booty at Trebizond, V, 304
Turkish defeat at Kut-el-Amara, IV, 422
Turkish defeat at Nasiriyeh, IV, 422
Turkish flight from Erzerum, IV, 389
Turkish navy, operations of, IV, 170
Turner, General R. E. W., commands Second Canadian Division,
VIII, 286, 339, 340
Turner, General R. E. W., at second battle of Ypres, VIII, 309
Turner, General Sir R. E. W., in charge of administration of Canadian
troops in England, VIII, 252
_Tuscania_, sinking of, VII, 461
Tuxford, General, VIII, 355, 358
Typhus, epidemic of, II, 356
Typhus in the Caucasus, III, 475
_U-53_, exploits of, VI, 194
Uganda protectorate, I, 180
Ukraine, agitation for separate government, VII, 140
Ukrainia, condition in, VII, 185
Ukrainia, invasion of, by Germans, VII, 429
Ukrainia, martial law in, VII, 435
Ultimatum, American, to Germany, V, 449
Unification of Germany, I, 130
United Siberian Government, VIII, 87
United States, German propaganda in, IV, 505
United States, Government and _Sussex_, V, 443
University of Toronto, number enlisted from, VIII, 284
Ussuri River, Japanese defeat Bolsheviki on, VIII, 87
Valcartier Camp, VIII, 268
Valenciennes, Germans flood country around, VIII, 68
Valenciennes, objective of British First Army, VIII, 414
Valenciennes, taken by Canadians, VIII, 71, 421
Van, Russian successes in, III, 477
Vauquois, attacks on, III, 157
Vauvillers, taken by British, VIII, 18
Vauxaillon, French advance toward, VIII, 40
Vaux Fort, French recapture of, VI, 37-39
Vaux, French defense of, V, 351, 367
Vaux, German attacks on, V, 363
Vaux, German counterattacks at, VII, 398
Vendhuile, Germans evacuate, VIII, 46
Venice, air raids on, III, 426; VI, 169
Venizelos, attacks of, on Greek Government, IV, 311
Venizelos, E., I, 60; V, 217
Venizelos, statement on conditions in Greece, V, 317
Verdun, attack on, I, 64
Verdun, bombardment of, IV, 131
Verdun, effect of siege, V, 371
Verdun, French victories at, VI, 54
Verdun, German attacks northwest of, VII, 52
Verdun, preparation in, IV, 133
Verdun, struggle for, IV, 131, 142
Vesle River, Americans on, VII, 416
Vesle River, crossed by Allies, VIII, 11
Vesle River, floods hamper German retreat, VIII, 12
Victor Emanuel III, I, 194
Ville-en-Tardenois, taken by Allies, VIII, 9
Villeneuve, entered by French, VIII, 10
Villers-aux-Érables, taken by French, VIII, 15
Villers Bretonneux, taken, VII, 299
Villers-Cotterets Wood, VII, 319
Villers-Guislain, taken, VIII, 51
Vilna, campaign against, IV, 187, 192
Vimy front, VIII, 368, 369
Vimy Ridge, VIII, 357, 370
Vimy Ridge, capture of, by Canadians, VI, 239
Vimy Ridge, taken by Canadians, VIII, 360, 362
Vis-en-Artois, occupied, VIII, 33
Viviani, Rene, I, 318
Vladivostok, occupation of, by Czecho-Slovaks, VII, 446
Volhynia, Austrian offensive, V, 138
Von Bernstorff, Count, propaganda in United States, IV, 485
Von Bethmann-Hollweg, attitude on submarine issue, IV, 485
Von der Goltz, Baron, military governor of Belgium, II, 53
Von Jagow, interview with Sir E. Goschen, I, 502
Von Mackensen, commands German forces in Serbia, IV, 258
Von Papen, recall demanded, V, 26
Von Rintelen, Franz, activities of, V, 22, 28
Von Tirpitz, Grand Admiral, attitude toward submarine warfare, IV, 484
Vouziers, occupied, VIII, 59
Vrely, taken by the British, VIII, 18
Vukotich, General, II, 360
War and machinery, I, 66
War debt, German, IV, 433
War, German declaration of, VI, 103
War service gratuity, VIII, 442
War Trade Board, VIII, 436
Warsaw, attack on, II, 450
Warsaw, capture of, III, 366-368
Warsaw, movements upon, III, 346
Warsaw, occupation of, by Germans, IV, 178
Warspite, Jutland, V, 89
Warvillers, taken, VIII, 18
War zone, establishment of, III, 170
Watson, Colonel, VIII, 317
Watson, General, VIII, 347, 372
Watson, General, commands Canadian Fourth Division, VIII, 358
Weapons of the Allies, VIII, 42
Wemyss, Rear Admiral Rosslyn E., commands convoy of Canadian troops,
VIII, 269
Western front activity in, in January, 1916, IV, 121
Western front on February 1, 1916, IV, 126
Western front, situation in, on August 1, 1915, IV, 46
Western front, summary of the first year's operations on, IV, 39-46
Wheat requirements, VII, 127
Whitby, raids on, II, 247
White, Sir Thomas, Canadian Minister of Finance, VIII, 265
Whitehaven, raids on, IV, 119
Whitlock, Brand, efforts to aid Miss Cavell, IV, 100, 101
Wilhelm II, abdication of, VIII, 112
Wilhelm II, address to army and navy, VIII, 106
Wilhelm II, arraigned for war responsibility, VIII, 235
William II, accession of, I, 134
Williams, Colonel V. A. S., Canadian Adjutant General, VIII, 266
Williams, General Victor, VIII, 349, 351
Wilson, President, address before Congress, April, 1917, VI, 320-326
Wilson, President, addresses Congress on armed neutrality, VI, 304
Wilson, President, addresses Congress on issues with Germany, V, 448
Wilson, President, addresses Congress on peace, VII, 103
Wilson, President, address of, April, 1918, VII, 349
Wilson, President, and Congress, V, 434
Wilson, President, at Peace Conference, VIII, 195
Wilson, President, letter to Congress, IV, 503
Wilson, President, proclamation convening Congress, VI, 319
Wilson, President, reads draft of constitution of the League of
Nations, VIII, 208
Wilson, President, reply to Pope Benedict, VII, 99
Wilson, President Woodrow, suggests armed neutrality, VI, 304
Wilson, President, suspicion of pro-German propaganda in Congress,
IV, 505
Wilson, President Woodrow, war message of, VI, 320-326
Windhoek, capture of, III, 489
Wirballen, attacks on, III, 317
Wire, barbed, and shrapnel, I, 73
Women, in Canadian munition works, VIII, 433
Württemberg, Duke Albert von, II, 10
Xivray, German attack upon, VII, 363
Yani Sandanski, I, 245
Yarmouth, raids on, II, 246
_Yarrowdale_, prisoners in Germany, VI, 297
Younghusband, General, IV, 446
Y. M. C. A., Canadian, VIII, 454, 456
Young Turks, I, 243
Yperlee Canal, III, 107
Ypres, attack on, II, 171, 172, 174
Ypres, bombardment of, III, 95
Ypres, bombardment of, by Germans, VII, 301
Ypres, British retire from, VII, 297
Ypres, first battle of, IV, 44
Ypres, German success at, in February, 1916, IV, 122
Ypres-Roulers Railway, VIII, 366
Ypres, second battle of, III, 99, 106; VIII, 308
Ypres, second British line readjusted, VIII, 318
Ypres sector, operations in, in March, 1916, V, 372, 373
Yser, battle of, II, 168
Yser, movements at, III, 167
Yser region, flood in, IV, 117
Zaimis, Alexander, Greek Premier, V, 227
Zanzibar, I, 180
Zeebrugge, British attacks on, VI, 482
Zeebrugge Harbor, blocking of, VII, 470, 473
Zeebrugge, occupied by the Allies, VIII, 63
Zeebrugge, shelling of, by British fleet, V, 66
Zeppelin attack on Warsaw, IV, 19
Zeppelin, Count Ferdinand, death of, VI, 494
Zeppelin raid on London in October, 1915, IV, 466
Zeppelin raids on England, IV, 16, 466; V, 422; VI, 494
Zeppelin raids over the British Isles, IV, 467
Zeppelins, destruction of, IV, 468
Zeppelins, losses of, numbers destroyed, VI, 179
Zollern Redoubt, VIII, 357
Zungar Valley, Austro-Italian operations in, V, 235
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