World War I

When England went to war in 1914, Canada immediately followed as a British dominion. Despite having a pre-war army of only 3,112 men, over 600,000 men and women participated in the war in many different roles, both as soldiers, sailors and airmen and as support staff.

The Canadian Corps, led by Lieutenant General Sir E.A.H. Alderson, Lieutenant General Sir Julian Byng and, from the summer of 1917, General Sir Arthur W. Currie, became one of the most effective and respected military formations on the Western Front.

Members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force saw action at Neuve Chappelle (March 1915), Second Battle of Ypres (April 1915), the Battle of the Somme (July-November 1916), the Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 1917), the Second Battle of Passchendaele (October-November 1917) and the Hundred Days Offensive (August-November 1918).

Researched and written by John Milner.