Overview Privations at home mix with death and stalemates all along the Western Front, then a Canadian-assisted victory. Home Front Women fill in for men, Canadian industry churns out munitions and a government copes with mounting debt and resentment. Nueve-Chapelle Newly-trained Canadian troops get a baptism of fire in September, 1914, during the harshest bombardment of the war. Ypres Sent into a dangerous bulge in the German frontline, Canadian troops face the first use chlorine gas on the Western Front. The Somme Almost an entire regiment of Newfoundlanders is wiped out in a battle that reveals the limitation of British tactics. Vimy Ridge, Arras After careful planning and rehearsal the Canadian Corps' four divisions take a strategic ridge thought uncapturable. Passchendaele Canadians are mired in a three-month long assault in deadly mud and enemy fire with little gain to show for the deaths. Hundred Days Offensive In the final days of the war, Canadians play a decisive role in battle after battle against an overextended German army.
The War Years The Great War began with Canadian patriotism and enthusiasm. But as thousands upon thousands of Canadian men die in the blood, bombs and fire of battle after battle on the Western Front, the country grows weary and heartsick. Only brilliant strategies by Arthur Currie and Canadian valour bring the war to a close four years later.