CANADA WWI- CONSCRIPTION

75 Interesting Facts About . . .

World War I

Germans were the first to use flamethrowers in WWI. Their flamethrowers could fire jets of flame as far as 130 feet (40 m).^c
More than 65 million men from 30 countries fought in WWI. Nearly 10 million died. The Allies (The Entente Powers) lost about 6 million soldiers. The Central Powers lost about 4 million.^f
There were over 35 million civilian and soldier casualties in WWI. Over 15 million died and 20 million were wounded.^f
Nearly 2/3 of military deaths in WWI were in battle. In previous conflicts, most deaths were due to disease.^a
During WWI, the Spanish flu caused about 1/3 of total military deaths.^b
Russia mobilized 12 million troops during WWI, making it the largest army in the war. More than 3/4 were killed, wounded, or went missing in action.^e
In August 1914, German troops shot and killed 150 civilians at Aerschot. The killing was part of war policy known as Schrecklichkeit (“frightfulness”). Its purpose was to terrify civilians in occupied areas so that they would not rebel.^b
During WWI, British tanks were initially categorized into “males” and “females.” Male tanks had cannons, while females had heavy machine guns.^h
“Little Willie” was the first prototype tank in WWI. Built in 1915, it carried a crew of three and could travel as fast as 3 mph (4.8 km/h).^c

Artillery barrage could be heard for hundreds of miles

Artillery barrage and mines created immense noise. In 1917, explosives blowing up beneath the German lines on Messines Ridge at Ypres in Belgium could be heard in London 140 miles (220 km) away.^c
The Pool of Peace is a 40-ft (12-m) deep lake near Messines, Belgium. It fills a crater made in 1917 when the British detonated a mine containing 45 tons of explosives.^a
During WWI, dogs were used as messengers and carried orders to the front lines in capsules attached to their bodies. Dogs were also used to lay down telegraph wires.^c
Big Bertha was a 48-ton howitzer used by the Germans in WWI. It was named after the wife of its designer Gustav Krupp. It could fire a 2,050-lb (930-kg) shell a distance of 9.3 miles (15 km). However, it took a crew of 200 men six hours or more to assemble. Germany had 13 of these huge guns or “wonder weapons.”^c

Tanks were first used during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (1916)

Tanks were initially called “landships.” However, in an attempt to disguise them as water storage tanks rather than as weapons, the British decided to code name them “tanks.”^c
The most successful fighter of the entire war was Rittmeister von Richthofen (1892-1918). He shot down 80 planes, more than any other WWI pilot. He died after being shot down near Amiens. France's René Fonck (1894-1953) was the Allies’ most successful fighter pilot, shooting down 75 enemy planes.^c
Margaretha Zelle (1876-1917), also known as Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer accused of being a double agent. Though she always denied being a spy, the French executed her in 1917.^h
French Second Lieutenant Alfred Joubaire wrote in his diary about WWI just before he died that “Humanity is mad! It must be mad to do what it is doing. What a massacre. What scenes of horror and carnage! I cannot find words to translate my impressions. Hell cannot be so terrible! Men are mad!”^b
Some Americans disagreed with the United States’ initial refusal to enter WWI and so they joined the French Foreign Legion or the British or Canadian army. A group of U.S. pilots formed the Lafayette Escadrille, which was part of the French air force and became one of the top fighting units on the Western Front.^g
In early 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann to Germany's minister in Mexico. The telegraph encouraged Mexico to invade U.S. territory. The British kept it a secret from the U.S. for more than a month. They wanted to show it to the U.S. at the right time to help draw the U.S into the war on their side.^d
Woodrow Wilson’s campaign slogan for his second term was “He kept us out of war.“ About a month after he took office, the United States declared war on Germany on April 6th 1917.^d
To increase the size of the U.S. Army during WWI, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which was also known as the conscription or draft, in May 1917. By the end of the war, 2.7 million men were drafted. Another 1.3 million volunteered.^a
During WWI, people of German heritage were suspect in the U.S. Some protests against Germans were violent, including the burning of German books, the killing of German shepherd dogs, and even the murder of one German-American.^b

“Victory Gardens” were also called “War Gardens”

Herbert Hoover, who would become president in 1929, was appointed U.S. Food Administrator. His job was to provide food to the U.S. army and its allies. He encouraged people to plant “Victory Gardens,” or personal gardens. More than 20 million Americans planted their own gardens, and food consumption in the U.S decreased by 15%.^f
The total cost of WWI for the U.S. was more than $30 billion.^f
The term “dogfight” originated during WWI. The pilot had to turn off the plane’s engine from time to time so it would not stall when the plane turned quickly in the air. When a pilot restarted his engine midair, it sounded like dogs barking.^c
The war left thousands of soldiers disfigured and disabled. Reconstructive surgery was used to repair facial damage, but masks were also used to cover the most horrific disfigurement. Some soldiers stayed in nursing homes their entire lives.^h
WWI is the sixth deadliest conflict in world history.^e
British author T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935), also known as Lawrence of Arabia, worked for Allied intelligence in the Middle East. He also led an Arab revolt against the Turks and wrote about it in his book The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.^e
Four empires collapsed after WWI: Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, German, and Russian.^e
While the first military submarine (named the Turtle) was first used by the Continental Army during the American Revolution, submarines only made a large military impact during WWI when Germany launched its fleet of U-boats. Its submarines mostly stayed on the surface and submerged only to attack ships with torpedoes. Germany’s indiscriminate submarine warfare was a primary reason the U.S. joined the war.^c
World War I was also known as the Great War, the World War, the War of the Nations, and the War to End All Wars.^b
WWI was fought from 1914-1918 on every ocean and on almost every continent. Most of the fighting, however, took place in Europe.^b

Over 15 million people died in WW I

WWI began on June 28, 1914, when a Serbian terrorist shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. Russia and France sided with Serbia, and Germany supported Austria-Hungary. Other countries around the world were soon pulled into the fighting. WWI officially ended 4 years later on November 11, 1918.^b
The terrorist group responsible for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was called Black Hand, Sarajevo.^b
The United Sates joined WWI during the final year and half of fighting.^g
The trench network of World War I stretched approximately 25,000 miles (40,200 km) from the English Channel to Switzerland. The area was known as the Western Front. British poet Siegfried Sassoon wrote, “When all is done and said, the war was mainly a matter of holes and ditches.”^h
For the span of WWI, from 1914-1918, 274 German U-boats sank 6,596 ships. The five most successful U-boats were U-35 (sank 224 ships), U-39 (154 ships), U-38 (137 ships), U-34 (121 ships), and U-33 (84 ships). Most of these were sunk near the coast, particularly in the English Channel.^c
German trenches were in stark contrast to British trenches. German trenches were built to last and included bunk beds, furniture, cupboards, water tanks with faucets, electric lights, and doorbells.^c
France, not Germany, was the first country to use gas against enemy troops in WWI. In August 1914, they fired the first tear gas grenades (xylyl bromide) against the Germans. In January 1915, Germany first used tear gas against Russian armies, but the gas turned to liquid in the cold air. In April 1915, the Germans were the first to use poisonous chlorine gas.^c
During WWI, the Germans released about 68,000 tons of gas, and the British and French released 51,000 tons. In total, 1,200,000 soldiers on both sides were gassed, of which 91,198 died horrible deaths.^c

Tear gas was first used in WW I

Approximately 30 different poisonous gases were used during WWI. Soldiers were told to hold a urine-soaked cloth over their faces in an emergency. By 1918, gas masks with filter respirators usually provided effective protection. At the end of the war, many countries signed treaties outlawing chemical weapons.^c
During the war, the U.S. shipped about 7.5 million tons of supplies to France to support the Allied effort. That included 70,000 horses or mules as well as nearly 50,000 trucks, 27,000 freight cars, and 1,800 locomotives.^c
WWI introduced the widespread use of the machine gun, a weapon Hiram Maxim patented in the U.S. in 1884. The Maxim weighed about 100 pounds and was water cooled. It could fire about 450-600 rounds per minute. Most machine guns used in WWI were based on the Maxim design.^c
The French had what German soldiers called the Devil Gun. At 75 mm, this cannon was accurate up to 4 miles. The French military commanders claimed that its Devil Gun won the war.^c
During U.S. involvement in WWI, more than 75,000 people gave about 7.5 million four-minute pro-war speeches in movie theaters and elsewhere to about 314.5 million people.^f
“Hello Girls,” as American soldiers called them, were American women who served as telephone operators for Pershing’s forces in Europe. The women were fluent in French and English and were specially trained by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. In 1979, the U.S. Army finally gave war medals and veteran benefits to the few Hello Girls who were still alive.^a
During WWI, American hamburgers (named after the German city of Hamburg) were renamed Salisbury steak. Frankfurters, which were named after Frankfurt, Germany, were called “liberty sausages," and dachshunds became “liberty dogs.” Schools stopped teaching German, and German-language books were burned.^b
Millions of soldiers suffered “shell shock,” or posttraumatic stress disorder, due to the horrors of trench warfare. Shell-shocked men often had uncontrollable diarrhea, couldn’t sleep, stopped speaking, whimpered for hours, and twitched uncontrollably. While some soldiers recovered, others suffered for the rest of their lives.^f
Even though the U.S. government didn’t grant Native Americans citizenship until 1924, nearly 13,000 of them served in WWI.^g
More than 200,000 African Americans served in WWI, but only about 11 percent of them were in combat forces. The rest were put in labor units, loading cargo, building roads, and digging ditches. They served in segregated divisions (the 92nd and 93rd) and trained separately.^b
The Germans were skilled at intercepting and solving Allied codes. Germans also captured one out of four paper messengers. However, when a U.S. commander used Choctaw tribe members form the Oklahoma National Guard unit, they used an extremely complex language that the Germans could not translate. The eight Choctaw men and others who joined them became known as the Choctaw Code Talkers.^a
More than 500,000 pigeons carried messages between headquarters and the front lines. Groups of pigeons trained to return to the front lines were dropped into occupied areas by parachutes and kept there until soldiers had messages to send back.^a
On Christmas Eve in 1914, soldiers on both sides of the Western Front sung carols to each other. On Christmas Day troops along 2/3 of the Front declared a truce. In some places the truce lasted a week. A year later, sentries on both sides were ordered to shoot anyone who attempted a repeat performance.^a

Cavell became a popular propaganda figure

Edith Cavell (1865- October 12 1915) was a British nurse who saved soldiers from all sides. When she helped 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium, the Germans arrested her and she was executed by a German firing squad. Her death helped turn global opinion against Germany.^f
The Harlem Hell Fighters were one of the few African American units that saw the front lines. For their extraordinary acts of heroism, the soldiers received the French Croix de Guerre, a medal awarded to soldiers from Allied countries for bravery in combat. However, in the U.S their deeds were largely ignored.^a
The most decorated American of WWI was Alvin Cullum York (1887-1964). York led an attack on a German gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers, and capturing 132 more. He returned home with a Medal of Honor, a promotion to Sergeant, the French Croix de Guerre, and a gift of 400 acres of good farmland.^f
U.S. troops fought their first battle of World War I on November 2, 1917, in the trenches at Barthelemont, France.^g
The greatest single loss of life in the history of the British army occurred during the Battle of Somme, when the British suffered 60,000 casualties in one day. More British men were killed in that one WWI battle than the U.S. lost from all of its armed forces and the National Guard combined.^g
WWI transformed the United Stated into the largest military power in the world.^d
Although Germany may have forced the hand of the European powers in the summer of 1914, it did not cause war. Germany was not responsible for creating the atmosphere in which war was a probability. WWI broke out against a background of rivalry between the world’s great powers, including Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Austria-Hungry, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan. The previous 40 years were characterized by increasing nationalism, imperialism. militarism, and various alliances.^d
The long-term effects of WWI include the formation of the League of Nations, which laid the groundwork for the United Nations and a worldwide arms race. Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles imposed severe sanctions on Germany, which drove the country into a deep recession, setting the groundwork for WWII.^d
WWI helped strengthen the power of central government in the United States and Europe, which meant that 19th-century liberalism that emphasized individual responsibly was gone forever. In fact, one of the chief legacies of the war is the lasting power of the state over its citizens.^d
WWI increased people’s suspicions of minority groups. All outsiders were considered a potential threat, especially the Jews, who were seen as sleek profiteers of the armaments industry.^d
During WWI, the Turks slaughtered approximately 1.5 million Armenians. This act of genocide would later attract the attention of Hitler and was partly responsible for sowing the seeds of the Holocaust.^d

Britain and France were “joyless victors” after WW I

After WWI, Britain’s leadership in the world economy was gone forever. It had huge debts, high unemployment, and slow growth. France suffered as well. Most of the loans it had made to czarist Russia were never repaid, inflation was rampant, and large parts of the country were ruined.^d
WWI brought a new era of warfare. The most significant development was air power, which brought civilians in the line of fire. By 1918, it was clear that the days of cavalry as a realistic fighting force were over with the introduction of poisonous gas. Tanks heralded a new era of offensive war. Finally, the Nazi blitzkrieg tactic of WWII grew out of the final Allied offensive of 1918 in which tanks, aircraft, artillery, and men were carefully coordinated.^d
Because mustard gas was unpredictable, it was never the war-winning weapon its users hoped it would be in WWI. Neither side used it in WWII.^c
WWI helped bring about the emancipation of women. Women took over many traditionally male jobs and showed that they could perform them just as well as men. In 1918, most women over the age of 30 were given the vote in the British parliamentary elections. Two years later, the 19th amendment granted American women the vote.^d
WWI helped bring about the emancipation of African Americans. For example, Henry Ford recruited black people from the South to work in his factories. The migration of African Americans from the South to the North during WWI was one of the most significant population shifts in the 20th century.^d
WWI helped hasten medical advances. Physicians learned better wound management and the setting of bones. Harold Gillies, an English doctor, pioneered skin graft surgery. The huge scale of those who needed medical care in WWI helped teach physicians and nurses the advantages of specialization and professional management.^d
Post-WWI literature includes T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1923), Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, and Wilfred Owen’s tragic poem, “Anthem for Doomed Youth.”^d
WWI was the catalyst that transformed Russia into the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). It was the creation of the world’s first communist state and ushered in a new phase in world history. Historians note that this was the most startling and important consequence of WWI.^d
After WWI, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland emerged as independent nations.^d
The collapse of the Ottoman Empire after WWI helped the Allies extend their influence into the Middle East. Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine were declared “mandates” under the League of Nations. France essentially took control of Syria and Britain took control over the remaining three mandates.^d

The Treaty of Versailles stated that Germany had started WWI. It gave Alsace and Lorraine back to France. Poland picked up German territory in the east, and other territories were given to Belgium and Lithuania. The treaty also transferred the Hultschin area of Upper Silesia to Czechoslovakia. The eastern part of Upper Silesia was assigned to Poland. Lower Silesia, meanwhile, was left entirely to Germany. The key Baltic port of Danze, the industrial region of the Saar Basin, and the strategically important Rhineland were also taken from Germany. Its armed forces were strictly limited and its colonies were made League of Nations mandates. A 1921 Reparations Committee decided that Germany should pay $33 billion in compensation to the Allies for the damage it caused. The Treaty left Germany humiliated and impoverished, which left the world vulnerable to another world war.^d

10 Bloodiest Battles of World War I ^e

Battle	Total Casualties
1. Hundred Day Offensive	1,855,369
2. Spring Offensive	1,539,715
3. Battle of the Somme	1,219,201
4. Battle of Verdun	976,000
5. Battle of Passchendaele	848,614
6. Serbian Campaign	633,500
7. First Battle of Marnes	483,000
8. Battle of Gallipoli	473,000
9. Battle of Arras	278,000
10. Battle of Tannenberg	182,000

List of Casualties in WWI ^e

Countries	Total Mobilized	Killed / Died	Wounded	Prisoners and Missing	Total Casualties	Percent of Casualties
Allies
Russia	12,000,000	1,700,000	4,950,000	2,500,000	9,150,000	76.3%
France	8,410,000	1,357,800	4,266,000	537,000	6,160,800	73.3%
British Empire	8,904,467	908,371	2,090,212	191,652	3,190,235	35.8%
Italy	5,615,000	650,000	947,000	600,000	2,197,000	39.1%
United States	4,355,000	116,516	204,002	4,500	323,018	7.1%
Japan	800,00	300	907	3	1,210	0.2%
Romania	750,000	335,706	120,000	80,000	535,706	71.4%
Serbia	707,343	45,000	133,148	152,958	331,106	46.8%
Belgium	267,000	13,716	44,686	34,659	93,061	34.9%
Greece	230,000	5,000	21,000	1,000	17,000	11.7%
Portugal	100,000	7,222	13,751	12,318	33,291	33.3%
Montenegro	50,000	3,000	10,000	7,000	20,000	40.0%
Total	42,1888,810	5,152,115	12,831,004	4,121,090	22,104,209	52.3%
Central Powers
Germany	11,000,000	1,773,700	4,216,058	1,152,800	7,142,558	64.9%
Austria-Hungary	7,800,000	1,200,000	3,620,000	2,200,000	7,020,000	90.0%
Turkey	2,850,000	325,000	400,000	250,000	975,000	34.2%
Bulgaria	1,200,000	87,500	152,390	27,029	266,919	22.2%
Total	22,850,000	3,386,200	8,388,448	3,629,829	15,404,477	67.4%
Grand Total	65,038,810	8,538,315	21,219,452	7,750,919	37,508,686	57.6%

Leading Fighter Aces ^c

Name	Country	Number of “Kills”
Manfred Von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”)	Germany	80
René Fonck	France	75
Mick Mannock	U.K.	73
William Bishop	Canada	72
Robert Little	Australia	47
Edward (Eddie) Rickenbacker	United States	26

Word War I Timeline ^g,h

1914

June

Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated by a Serbian nationalist

July

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

Russia mobilizes its troops to defend Serbia

August

Germany declares war on Russia

Germany declares war on France and invades Belgium

WWI breaks out when Britain declares war on Germany

Japan joins the Allies

November

Turkey joins Germany and Austria-Hungry

1915

February

Germany beings unrestricted submarine warfare

May

Italy joins the Allies

1916

The Arabs revolt against their Turkish overlords

Woodrow Wilson is re-elected U.S. President

1917

January

Germany introduces unrestricted submarine warfare

The Bolshevik Communists come to power in Russia after overthrowing the government of the czar

April

The United States declares war on Germany

June

The first U.S troops arrive in Paris, France, on June 13

1918

January

Woodrow Wilson announces his 14 Points

March

Russia and Germany sign the Treat of Brest-Litovsk

October

Germany asks President Wilson to begin peace negotiations; Wilson rejects Germany’s request for peace talks

The U.S. Army begins its final advance on November 1

November

Germany requests an armistice on November 6

Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates on November 9; Germans revolt and take over government

Germany sings the armistice on November 11, which ends WWI

1919

The countries that ratify the Treaty of Versailles on June 28 become the original members of the League of Nations

The U.S. Senate rejects the Treaty

-- Posted June 3, 2012

References
^a Adams, Simon. 2007. World War I (DK Eyewitness Books). New York, NY: DK Publishing.
^b Feldman, Ruth Tenzer. 2004. World War I (Chronicles of America’s Wars). Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company.
^c Hamilton, John C. 2004. Weapons of World War I. Edina, MN: ABDO Publishing Company.
^d Ross, Stewart. 1998. Causes and Consequences of World War I. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn.
^e Taylor, David. 2001. Key Battles of World War I. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library.
^f Turner, Jason. 2008. World War I: 1914-1918 (Wars Day by Day). Mankato, MN: Brown Bear Books.
^g Vander Hook, Sue. 2010. The United States Enters World War I. North Mankato, MN: ABDO Publishing Company.
^h Wilmott, H. P. 2003. WW I. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley.

http://facts.randomhistory.com/world-war-i-facts.html

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Canada's Role in WWI

About 110,000 Canadians died in the 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 Wars (65,000 and 45,000 respectively); some were interred in Canada, but the vast majority lie buried abroad.

Contribution on Land

Canadian infantrymen were on the Western Front in January 1915 and in March the 1st Canadian Division took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. In April Canadians fought in the Second Battle of Ypres, where they were subjected to the Germans' first use of gas.
When the 2nd Division arrived in France, the Canadian Corps was formed, later expanded by the addition of the 3rd Division. From April to August 1916 the corps fought in the defence of Ypres, until it moved to fight in the Battle of the Somme. On 9th April 1917 it captured Vimy Ridge, which had withstood all attacks for two years. Though this victory cost the Canadian Corps 10,000 casualties, it was certainly a great military success, and ensured that Vimy Ridge would later be chosen as the site of Canada's National Memorial.
Canadian soldiers met with success in August 1917, taking Hill 70, north of Arras. After being transferred to the Ypres front, the Canadians took the previously impregnable objective of Passchendaele on 6th November 1917 suffering 15,000 casualties in the process. In March 1918 cavalry and motorized machine-gun units of the Canadian Corps helped hold the line at Amiens, when the Germans launched their last big offensive. Then the Canadians formed the spearhead of the thrust between Hourges and Villers-Bretonneux, afterwards returning to the Arras area.

On 2nd September 1918, seven Canadians earned the Victoria Cross in exceptionally fierce fighting. The corps attacked across the Canal du Nord, forcing the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line, which was broken on the 27th of that month. On 9th October they took Cambrai. During the period between mid-August to mid October, the Canadians had suffered over 30,000 casualties killed, wounded, or captured.

Contribution in the Air

As events soon proved, Canadians excelled in aerial combat. In providing many members of the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Naval Air Service and later the Royal Air Force, Canada made a great contribution in this field. More than 23,000 Canadian airmen served with British Forces and over 1,500 died. The Commonwealth's highest scoring airman to survive the war was a Canadian: Lieutenant Colonel W.A. Bishop VC, with 72 victories.

Contribution on the Sea

Canadian naval participation in the 1914-1918 War was limited, as its newly formed navy possessed only two old cruisers. However, many thousands went to serve with the Royal Navy. Fleets of Canadian trawlers and small craft carried out mine-sweeping and anti-submarine operations in coastal waters.

The text on this page has been taken from Courage Remembered, by Kingsley Ward and Major Edwin Gibson.

World War I--A Brief History | World War II--A Brief History

http://www.mta.ca/library/courage/canadasroleinwwi.html

blogged:

COMMEMORATING CANADA'S GREAT WAR- WWI -2014- Rommel/Hitler called Canada Britain's best kept secret- Vimy Ridge -NOW BRITAIN WANTS 2 PRETEND WHITE MEN DID NOT FIGHT IN THE WAR OF FREEDOM- AUSSIES/KIWIS/CANADIANS Why ?

http://nova0000scotia.blogspot.ca/2014/01/commemorating-canadas-great-war-wwi.html

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CANADA: World War II Internment Camp Archaeology Project

Photograph courtesy Parks Canada

About the Project

It may be among the least studied aspects of World War II: the fate of German soldiers captured by Allied forces.

Archaeologist Adrian Myers is hoping to fill in part of this historical gap with his World War II Internment Camp Archaeology Project.

With an NGS/Waitt grant, Myers and his team have begun researching a World War II prisoner of war camp in Manitoba, Canada. Occupied from 1943 to 1945, the camp, at its peak, held about 400 German soldiers captured in North Africa after the Second Battle of El Alamein, an important victory for the Allies. In July 2009, with help from Jerram Ritchie, Adrian completed the first phase of fieldwork.

None of the original buildings at the Canadian POW camp still stand, but many signs of its existence remain visible. Myers and his team used basic equipment, such as GPS, tape measures, digital cameras, and weatherproof notebooks, to record the site. Earth and concrete foundations could be seen where the buildings had once stood. They also discovered the camp's concrete incinerator, two garbage dumps, and a decaying wooden canoe carved by the POWs in their spare time. There were POW-built gardens with walls made of cobblestones. Many of these are still visible. The team also discovered many smaller reminders of the prisoners' daily lives, including a broken mug and saucer and even beef bones leftover from one of their meals.

In summer 2010, Myers plans to return to the site with an expanded research agenda and more team members. They will start with comprehensive and precise digital mapping of all the remains, from large foundation walls down to individual fragments of broken glass. They will collect a sampling of the surface artifacts and then excavate in a few small test areas. This will determine where larger excavations will be carried out in 2011. Any artifacts discovered will be carefully labeled, packaged, and transported to the Historical Archaeology Laboratory at the Stanford Archaeology Center for further study.

Myers hopes his team's investigation of this historical site will contribute to a greater understanding of this time in history.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/projects/world-war-two-project/

World War one - Canada's heroes

by fred_grizzlington in History, March 11, 2007

When Britain declared war against Germany on august 4, 1914, Canada as a part of Britain was also at war…

Canada At War

When Britain declared war against Germany on august 4, 1914, Canada as a part of Britain was also at war. On October 3, 1914 after months of training, 32,000 volunteered soldiers of the First Division set sail for England. Canadian corps got outstanding reputation as one of the most effective military formations on the Western Front, making immense contribution to the Allied victory. Soldiers would spend months in the trenches battling only for a few meters of land. It was cold, wet and death was in the air as the soldiers risked their lives. Canadians earned the respect of the Allies in the battles at Ypres, Mount Sorrel, the Somme, Passchendale Ridge, and the capture of Vimy Ridge which is considered their greatest achievement in the First World War.

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is an award given to a person who shows an act of great heroism. It is the highest award that can be given to a person. The Victoria Cross was created by Royal Warrant Queen Victoria in 1854 to recognize acts of heroism during the Crimean War of 854-1855. The Victoria Cross is made from two pieces of bronze from the cannons retrieved during the Crimean War. The medal is a Maltese cross, bearing a crown surmounted by a lion, and the inscription “For Valour”. The ribbon’s color is a deep crimson.

Passchendale

In fall of 1917, for the first time in the war Canadian soldiers were under command by a Canadian, General Arthur Currie. They were instructed to retrieve targets outside of Passchendale. The ground was wet and marshy but they still completed the task. The mud was hard to dig through so the Canadians had small trenches and poor protection against the enemy. They got to the outskirts of Passchendale gaining 8 km of land but lost it to the Germans in a matter of months. Canadian soldiers suffered immense casualties. After the battle, 9 Canadians won the Victoria Cross.

Victoria Cross Winners

Algie, Wallace Lloyd (1891-1918)
Barker, William George (1894-1930)
Barron, Colin Fraser (1893-1958)
Bellew, Edward Donald (1882-1961)
Brent, Philip Eric (1891-1917)
Bishop, William Avery (1894-1956)
Bourke, Rowland Richard Louis (1885-1958)
Breton, Alexander Picton (1892-1976)
Brillant, Jean (1890-1918)
Brown, Harry (1898-1917)
Cairns, Hugh (1896-1918)
Campbell, Frederick William (1867-1915)
Clark, Leo (1892-1916)
Clark-Kennedy, William Hew (1880-1961)
Combe, Robert Grierson (1880-1917)
Coppins, Frederick George (1889-1963)
Croak, John Bernard (1892-1918)
De Wind, Edmund (1883-1918)
Dinesen, Thomas (1892-1979)
Fisher, Fred (1894-1915)
Flowerdew, Gordon Muriel (1885-1918)
Good, Herman James (1887-1969)
Gregg, Milton Fowler (1892-1978)
Hall, Frederick William (1885-1915)
Hanna, Robert (1887-1967)
Harvey, Frederick Maurice Watson (1888-1980)
Hobson, Frederick (1875-1917)
Holmes, Thomas William (1898-1950)
Honey, Samuel Lewis (1894-1918)
Hutcheson, Bellenden Seymour (1883-1954)
Kaeble, Joseph (1893-1918)
Kerr, George Fraser (1894-1929)
Kerr, John Chipman (1887-1963)
Kinross, Cecil John (1896-1957)
Knight, Arthur George (1886-1918)
Konowal, Filip (1887-1959)
Learmonth, Okill Massey (1894-1917)
Lyall, Graham Thomson (1892-1941)
MacDowell, Thain Wendell (1890-1960)
MacGregor, John (1888-1952)
McKean, George Burdon (1888-1926)
MacKenzie, Hugh (1885-1917)
McLeod, Alan Arnett (1899-1918)
Merrifield, William (1890-1943)
Metcalf, William Henry (1885-1968)
Milne, William Johnstone (1892-1917)
Miner, Harry Garnet Bedford (1891-1918)
Mitchell, Coulson Norman (1889-1978)
Mullin, George (1892-1963)
Nunney, Claude (1892-1918)
O’Kelly, Christopher Patrick John (1895-1922)
O’Leary, Michael (1889-1961)
O’Rourke, Michael James (1878-1957)
Pattison, John George (1875-1917)
Pearkes, George Randolph (1888-1984)
Peck, Cyrus Wesley (1871-1956)
Rayfield, Walter Leigh (1881-1949)
Richardson, James Cleland (1895-1916)
Ricketts, Thomas (1901-1967)
Robertson, James Peter (1883-1917)
Rutherford, Charles Smith (1892-1989)
Scrimger, Francis Alexander Caron (1881-1937) .
Shankland, Robert (1887-1968)
Sifton, Ellis Wellwood (1891-1917)
Spall, Robert (1890-1918)
Strachan, Harcus (1889-1982)
Tait, James Edward (1886-1918)
Train, Charles William (1890-1965)
Young, John Francis (1893-1929)
Zengel, Raphael Louis (1894-1977)

John Kerr

The Unsung Heroes Who Had No Choice: The War Horses of WWI

Horses & History | November 1, 2011

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The Animals in War Memorial in Hyde Park, London.

As November 11th approaches, we will reflect, recall and remember our fallen soldiers. However, as animal lovers we would be remiss not to think of the unsung horse and mule heroes, those who had no choice and were suddenly involved in the unspeakable horrors of war.
Trench warfare, machine guns, trench complexes and barbed wire made cavalry charges all but impossible, and the charge at Mons, in 1914, was the last employed in WWI. Motor vehicles were still unreliable at that time, so horses and mules were needed to pull guns, supplies and weapons to the front lines. Initially, horses were conscripted from families, mines and yards in England and in the first 12 days of war, 165,000 horses were bought. While this seems like a huge number, little did anybody know that this was just the start. As the war went on, thousands more horses from Canada and the United States also entered the fray.
Food, Water, Shelter and Care
Supplies for the horses and fresh water were always a problem. Many died of starvation despite the efforts of their handlers, who often went out into nearby fields and beat corn and oats for fodder; one soldier recalls horses eating their blankets in starvation and choking on the buckles. Desperate efforts to get water from streams and rivers often only helped half the horses as the command to ‘move forward’ was heard. Shelter was nonexistent and while this was fine in good weather, the wet, cold months saw horses up to their fetlocks or worse in mire.
The care of the horses and mules was given priority and those who were in real need of some R and R were sent to Convalescent Home Depots, where they could enjoy the peace and quiet of a grassy field and good food and water for a brief spell. The veterinary care that all horses got was also superb and in 1918, the Veterinary Corps were given the prefix “Royal” in recognition of their extraordinary efforts for the war animals. There was a chief horse master assigned to every corps and they gave expert advice to the troops regarding the care of the horse so that minor issues remained so, parasitic conditions were controlled and diseases like Glanders were treated.
The loyalty that developed between horse, mule and man over the course of the war has led to many stories, poems and pictures that demonstrate the true affection between a soldier and his horse. J.M Breeton who wrote ‘The Horse in War’ summed it up well when we wrote: ‘the solider came to regard his horse almost as an extension of his being.’

Goodbye Old Man...a famous WWI picture.

Artist Fortunino Matania painted the best selling picture titled ‘Goodbye Old Man’, depicting a soldier saying a sad farewell to his equine partner, clearly moments from death. A poem by Henry Chappell titled a ‘Soldier’s Kiss’ went along with the picture and these were used together to raise awareness of the plight of the war horses.
• 8 million horses and countless donkeys and mules died on all sides fighting on the Western front from exhaustion, starvation, drowning in mud and water, falling in shell holes, being shot and blown up.
• Mules were shown to have incredible stamina in the cold and heat. They played a huge part in the war efforts in Burma, Eritrea and Tunisia. Often their vocal chords were cut to keep them quiet.
• While the better bred horses suffered more from shell shock, the less well bred horses often learned how to lie down and take cover at the sound of fire.
• After the war, some of the best horses were kept by the British Army. Sadly, the ‘standard’ horses were often sold to French butchers for horsemeat or left to a life of hard labour in a foreign land, a terrible fate after serving their country so valiantly.
A Soldier’s Kiss
by Henry Chappell

Only a dying horse! pull off the gear,
And slip the needless bit from frothing jaws,
Drag it aside there, leaving the road way clear,
The battery thunders on with scarce a pause.
Prone by the shell-swept highway there it lies
With quivering limbs, as fast the life-tide fails,
Dark films are closing o’er the faithful eyes
That mutely plead for aid where none avails.
Onward the battery rolls, but one there speeds
Needlessly of comrades voice or bursting shell,
Back to the wounded friend who lonely bleeds
Beside the stony highway where he fell.
Only a dying horse! he swiftly kneels,
Lifts the limp head and hears the shivering sigh
Kisses his friend, while down his cheek there steals
Sweet pity’s tear, “Goodbye old man, Goodbye”.
No honours wait him, medal, badge or star,
Though scarce could war a kindlier deed unfold;
He bears within his breast, more precious far
Beyond the gift of kings, a heart of gold.

Jilly Cooper’s book: Animals in War. Note the Jack Russell on the saddle.

An animal war memorial opened in Hyde Park, England in 2004. Read about it and about some of the amazing animals who were true heroes of the war. At the same site check out Jilly Cooper’s moving book ‘Animals in War’, published by Corgi.
http://www.animalsinwar.org.uk/index.cfm?asset_id=1389

1 Comment Leave a comment

Jim Nichols

6:46 pm on January 29, 2012

I remember Fortunino Matania’s “Goodbye Old Man” so very well. I am now 85-years young. When I was a small boy we had a very large framed copy in our house at 32 Danbury St, Islington, London,N1. My Father, maternal grandfather and his son Alex were all in the RHA in the Great War. Alex won the Military Medal in 1917 but was was Killed in Action winning it.

Link |

http://www.horse-canada.com/horses-and-history/the-unsung-heroes-who-had-no-choice-the-war-horses-of-wwi/

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World War I Underground

Picture of the carving of a French soldier from a trench on the western front of World War I

The Hidden World of the Great War

The Lost Underground of World War I

By Evan Hadingham

Photograph by Jeffrey Gusky

The entrance is a wet hole in the earth little bigger than an animal burrow, obscured by thorny brush in a secluded wood in northeastern France. I’m following Jeff Gusky, a photographer and physician from Texas who has explored dozens of underground spaces like this one. Together we slither through the muddy hole into the darkness below. Soon the passage opens up, and we crawl forward on hands and knees. The glow from our headlamps wavers along the dusty chalk walls of the century-old tunnel, which slopes away from us down into the shadows. After a few hundred feet the tunnel ends at a little cubicle hewed out of the chalk, reminiscent of a telephone booth.
Here, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War—which began a hundred years ago this summer—German military engineers would take turns sitting in total silence, listening intently for the slightest sound of enemy tunnelers. Muffled voices or the scraping of shovels meant that a hostile mining team might be only yards away, digging an attack tunnel straight toward you. The danger grew if the digging stopped and you heard the sound of bags or cans being quietly stacked, one on top of another. It signaled that the enemy was laying high explosives at the end of the tunnel. Most nerve-racking of all was the silence that followed. At any moment the charges might detonate and blow you apart or bury you alive.
Nearby, on one of the tunnel walls, our headlamps illuminate graffiti left by the German engineers who manned this listening post. Their inscribed names and regiments are crowned by a motto: “Gott für Kaiser! (God for the Kaiser!).” The pencil marks appear fresh, as if they were written yesterday. In fact, the soft chalk and limestone bedrock of France’s Picardy region was ideal not only for mining operations but also for World War I soldiers to record their presence in penciled signatures, sketches and caricatures, carvings, and even intricate relief sculptures. This underground art is relatively unknown beyond a circle of World War I scholars and enthusiasts, as well as village mayors and landowners, many of whom Gusky has spent years getting to know.
His images bring to light the subterranean world soldiers endured while sheltering from constant shellfire. They left names, images of women, religious symbols, cartoons, and more. These traces, Gusky says, illuminate a forgotten world of World War I, connecting us to the individual soldiers, many of whom would not survive the nightmare of trench warfare.
The conflict began with mounted cavalry and confidence on all sides that it would all be over by Christmas. By the end of 1914 the German advance had stalled, the armies had dug in, and an extensive network of trenches stretched from the North Sea coast to the Swiss border. An arms race led to the first mass use of poison gas, air warfare, and tanks. On the western front, millions of troops died in largely futile offensives and counterattacks.

UNDER THE FRONT LINES OF WWI
The 1914 stalemate led both sides to deploy legions of engineers to tunnel under the western front, recalling medieval siege tactics.

Pre-WWI boundaries shown.

Alexander Stegmaier, NGM Staff; Springer Cartographics.

Source: Pierre Purseigle, Yale University

In the grip of this deadly stalemate, the Germans and their French and British adversaries resorted to siege-warfare techniques that had changed little over the centuries. The goal was to dig under key enemy strongpoints and blow them up; counterattacks were thwarted by setting off charges to destroy their own tunnels. At the height of the underground war, in 1916, British tunneling units detonated some 750 mines along their hundred-mile sector of the front; the Germans responded with nearly 700 charges of their own. Hills and ridges that provided vital lookout points became riddled like Swiss cheese, while the biggest mines blew out huge craters that still scar the landscape to this day. Even a single small mine could wreak havoc: In the tunnel complex we crawled into, a charge set off by the Germans on January 26, 1915, killed 26 French infantrymen and wounded 22 more.
But the underground war was not confined to narrow tunnels. Beneath Picardy’s fields and forests are centuries-old abandoned quarries, some of which could shelter thousands of troops. On a misty morning we explore one such site, located along a cliff edge overlooking the Aisne Valley. We’re led there by the owner of the ancestral property, which we agree not to name to protect the quarry from vandals.
He proudly shows us a monumental carving of Marianne, the classic French symbol of liberty, guarding the entrance to the quarry. Beyond, in the gloom of the man-made cavern, we peer at an array of finely engraved badges and memorials proclaiming the French regiments that had sheltered here. And we come upon several chapels elaborately carved and painted with religious symbols, army insignia, and the names of notable French victories. The landowner shows us a stone stairway that led from one of the chapels to the fury of exploding shells and machine-gun fire in the front lines above. “My heart stirs when I think of all the men who climbed these steps and never came back,” he says.
Life in the quarries was vastly preferable to the muddy hell of the trenches above. A journalist visiting one of the caverns in 1915 noted that “a dry shelter, straw, some furniture, a fire, are great luxuries for those returning from the trenches.” They kept an even temperature year-round, but as one French soldier wrote home, “vermin devour us, and it’s teeming with lice, fleas, rats and mice. What’s more, it’s very humid and a lot of the men fall sick.” To pass the time, the exhausted men would daydream. Images of women proliferate on the quarry walls, including many sentimental and idealized portraits.
Both sides converted the largest quarries into underground cities, many of them remarkably intact today. Not far from the landowner’s property, we hike across the potato fields of a farm owned by his cousin. A young man in his 20s, he had reclaimed the land by personally collecting dozens of unexploded mortars, grenades, and shells, some containing still lethal poison gas, which the army took away and detonated.
Beneath his potato field, we find ourselves in an astonishing labyrinth, a medieval quarry that stretches for more than seven miles, with twisting passageways and high ceilings reminiscent of a subway station. In 1915 the Germans connected this vast warren to their frontline trenches. They installed electric lights and telephones, command posts, a bakery and butcher’s, a machine shop, a hospital, and a chapel. Although thick with rust, the original diesel generator and barbed wire defenses are still in place. So are dozens of street signs neatly stenciled on every corner, essential reference points in the disorienting maze of passages. On the cavern walls German troops have inscribed their names and regiments, religious and military icons, elaborately sculpted portraits and caricatures, and sketches of dogs and other cartoons.
Among the most prolific decorators of the underground cities was the 26th “Yankee” Division, one of the first U.S. units to reach the front following America’s entry into the war in April 1917. To visit the quarry where they were billeted at Chemin des Dames, we climb down two wobbly ladders into a cavern 30 feet below. We spend hours exploring a hundred-acre complex. Our headlamps reveal an extraordinary time capsule of the war: passageways strewn with countless bottles, shoes, shell cases, helmets, beds made of rusted chicken wire, even an entire cooking range with pots and pans still in place.
For six weeks beginning in February 1918, these passages were filled with the sounds and smells of hundreds of American men. Mostly raw recruits, they were rotated in and out of the quarries to their first experience in the trenches above. The men spent hours decorating every square inch of certain walls. We pick out dozens of religious and patriotic symbols: insignia of the Freemasons and Knights of Columbus; portraits of Uncle Sam, Buffalo Bill; and caricatures of the kaiser. Among the penciled names my eye falls on is “Earle W. Madeley,” a corporal from Connecticut who notes he is “aged 20 years.” Records show Madeley was killed on July 21, 1918, one of 2,000 deaths inflicted on the Yankee Division before the November armistice.
Safe underground from the inhuman chaos of the battlefield above, the men of the First World War left these personal expressions of identity and survival. But this unique heritage from the war is under threat. When vandals tried to saw off the image of Marianne, the outraged landowner fitted metal bars on all of his quarries. At the Yankee Division quarry, a retired auto mechanic dedicated to safeguarding it built hefty metal gates and installed padlocks. But many other sites remain at risk from vandals and thieves.
The auto mechanic secures the lock, and we walk back to the car. As the bitter January wind blows across the battlefield, I ask him why a quarry filled with American names is so important to him. He reflects for a second, then replies, “By reading the names of the men down there, we make them live again, for a moment.”

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/ww1-underground/hadingham-text

For all the sheeeet we can't change.... and the little bit we can.... here's 2 animals, and kids... and watermelon wine....

...2 all those waiting.... we'll see ya soon.... and Rita MacNeil ... looking 4ward 2 some kitchen music with Johnny, Waylon, Keith Whitley and the boys.... and Stomping Tom... behave yourself... just cause u can outdrink God don't mean u got to...

... and 2 all the soldiers, friends, tramps and thieves and families.... which includes most of ya.... 2 day we are holding our soldiers of suicide real close and hugging our wounded and loving our children a whole lot...

have a great week.... have been blogging and writing since 2001 because of September 11, 2001- and am still here.... now our brave hearts are almost home.... and we are thankful.... it's time 2 build up our Canada and make her strong and educate our children and fix our own.... imho... have a great week...

... an old song my Uncle - that old war dog used 2 love especially when he was in his cups....

OLD DOGS AND CHILDREN AND ... WATERMELON WINE

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COMMEMORATING CANADA’S GREAT WAR- WWI -2014- Rommel/Hitler called Canada Britain’s best kept secret- Vimy Ridge -NOW BRITAIN WANTS 2 PRETEND WHITE MEN DID NOT FIGHT IN THE WAR OF FREEDOM- AUSSIES/KIWIS/CANADIANS Why ?

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CANADA WWI

CANADA: True Patriot Love Foundation launches Highway of Heroes concert tour

Monday, July 21, 2014

CANADA MILITARY NEWS: Commemorating WWI- Honour-Freedom- Camp Aldershot Nova Scotia-WWI CONSCRIPTION CRISIS- WWII prisoner Camps Canada- As victors of WWII we asked uncle Harold- as we were surrounded in horrid poverty- are u sure we won Uncle Harold- thank u 4 our freedoms/posted JULY 21 2014-