Canada's Contribution To The Great War

When the Great War broke out, Canada initially joined to help support Britain and show their loyalty to the British Empire. Evidently, Canada gained and contributed immensely to the war effort. Canada’s most important contribution to the World War 1 is the battle of Vimy Ridge. This is demonstrated by examining the new tactics and techniques used in the battlefield, Canada accomplishing more in 4 days than the French and British in two years, and finally, Vimy led Canadians to lead further assaults in many other crucial battles.

Foremost, the use of new effective tactics and techniques made this Canadian battle of Vimy Ridge a massive contribution to the war effort. Lieutenant General Sir Julian Byng set out Sappers, who were military engineers,

to build tunnels to secretly move troops closer to the ridge (Cranny & Moles, 2016). These engineers had dug tunnels kilometers under no man’s land. The tunnels were then filled with ammunition for the heavy guns that we used during the battle. They also built subways, which helped injured soldiers to fight, as well as to protect soldiers from the shelling (Higgins, 2017). General Arthur Currie coordinated the rolling barrage. He created a line of suppressing shellfire just in front of the Canadian troops and moved it forward as the soldiers advanced across the battlefield, creating a first time tactic for Vimy (Ralph, n.d.). As well, two weeks prior to the assault, Canadian troops wore down the Germans by bombarding them with hundreds of heavy guns and artillery, millions of shells flooded the Germans (Higgins, 2017).The achievement of capturing Vimy Ridge is largely due to the success of the tactical innovations, vigorous planning, training, and careful preparation. Arthur Currie’s arguments for smarter tactics and the events at Vimy Ridge provided a model example for future successes in the war effort (Morton, n.d.).

Furthermore, another important Canadian contribution to the Great War was their quick success at Vimy in comparison to the French and British. During 1914, Germans took the vantage point of the seven- kilometre ridge that had an overview of Allied lines (Cook, n.d.). For more than two years British and French forces struggled to take Vimy Ridge but were unsuccessful, every assault failed leaving over 100,000 casualties and 200,000 men lost (Cook, n.d.). In 1916, the Canadian divisions were selected to lead the attack on Vimy, at 5:30 am on April 9, 1917 Canadian troops charged the ridge. In less than two hours they had taken the first objective ( Cranny & Moles, 2016) and by noon the two front lines were captured by the Canadian Corps ( Morton, n.d.). Finally on April 12th after taking hill 145 the highest point of Vimy, the entire ridge was under Allied control. In four short days the Canadians accomplished more than the British and French did in two years. Victory did not come without its cost, although the losses were significantly lower than any prior allied offences, 3,598 Canadian lives were lost and 10,602 casualties resulted from the battle. Additionally, German forces suffered a greater amount of 20,000 casualties. Canadian soldiers were credited for capturing more ground, prisoners, and guns than any previous offences in the war ("The Battle of Vimy Ridge Fast Facts - Canadian National Vimy Memorial - Memorials In France - First World War Memorials Overseas - Memorials Overseas - Memorials - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada", n.d.). Clearly the capture of Vimy was an impressive battlefield victory; Canadian’s successful performance demonstrates that the battle of Vimy Ridge was an important contribution to the WW1.

In addition, not only was the battle of Vimy Ridge a huge Canadian contribution to the war effort, but the events that occurred at Vimy resulted in Canadians to further fighting and gaining victory in many other important battles.

For the first time in World War I, Canadians fought together on the same battlefield and they accomplished a spectacular victory in Vimy. Vimy Ridge was followed by other Canadian victories, some of them even greater feats of arms ( Cook,n.d.). Led by Arthur Currie, Canadian Corps commander after Julian Byng was promoted, Canada went on to win a greater victory at Lens in which Canadians captured Hill 70. Like before the smarter tactics used in Vimy was carried-out in following Canadian battles ( Cook, n.d.). As well Canada’s role in Vimy not only contributed to future battles but also allowed Canada to become more important on a global scale and won Canada a separate seat on the Versailles Treaty ending the War. The overwhelming success of Vimy gave Canada the confidence to partake in other wars, such as World War II ( Markus, n.d.). The Canadian troops had proven themselves as brave soldiers and masters of offensive warfare and overall this accomplishment had a massive effect on Allied planning ("The Battle of Vimy Ridge Fast Facts - Canadian National Vimy Memorial - Memorials In France - First World War Memorials Overseas - Memorials Overseas - Memorials - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada", n.d.). The battle of Vimy Ridge was a great Canadian contribution, but most importantly the events of Vimy resulted in many more important

battles.

To Conclude, it was unexpected that Canada’s entrance into the Great War would indeed affect the war effort. The greatest Canadian contribution to war was the battle at Vimy Ridge, a colossal victory for the Allied Force and could be considered the turning point of WWI ("The Battle of Vimy Ridge Fast Facts - Canadian National Vimy Memorial - Memorials In France - First
"World War Memorials Overseas - Memorials Overseas - Memorials - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada", n.d.). Overall the introduction of smarter, more effective tactics and techniques, achieving more in four days than the British and French did in two years, and the successes of Vimy leading to further significant battles and contributions are all reasons why the battle of Vimy Ridge is Canada’s greatest contribution to War World 1.