Weapons
What rifle did Canada use at the start of the War? What Rifle did the British use?
Canada: Ross Rifle
Britihs: Lee Enfleild
Why Trenches?
Trenches created a physical barrier between opposing sides. By digging into the ground they could better defend thier claimed territory. However, it also resulted in numerous stalemates becasue it was more of a defensive strategy, than offensive apprpach.
Why was posion gas not widely adopted as a battle strategy?
It was indiscriminate and depending on the weather, it could backfire on the side that fired it.
What is a "Stalemate"?
When two sides are fighting against each other, but neither side can win or make every progress.
This happened in WWI because defensive war advancements and offensive war advancments did not progress at the same rate.
Why did Canada enter the war?
Because Canada was a self-governing dominon of the British Empire. When GB declared war, Canada was automatically committed to fighting alongside them.
What type of warfare did they expect for WW1 (1)
What did they actually get (1)
Expected: Calvary and Infantry
Reality: Trenches
Why was " going over the top" seen as a death sentence? (2)
Soldiers were running into enemy Machine Gun and Artillery fire
Soldiers who tried to run back for the trenches would be executed.
Where? When? Why? (3)
Where: Ypres Salient, Belgium
When: April 22 -May 25 1915
Why: Strategic value - protecting French channel and port access (impacts ability to get food, supplies, and troops through via the waterway)
Where is the "Western Front" - why is it important (2)
- we call it the "major theatre" of WWI becasue it's where all the action and DRAMA happens but it's STUCK in place due to the nature of trench warfare
- The name refers to the western side of Germany's controlled territories
What BATTLE is seen as a "nation-building" event for Canadian Identity?
Vimy Ridge
Why were tanks important? (3) Why were they not so great? (1)
- Travelling through No Mans Land
- Able to go over barbed wire
- Could withstand bullets
- Could not get through the trenched terrain very well (they got stuck)
What is a "Creeping Barrage" (2) and in what battle was it a VERY sucessful tactic?
- Artillery shells would be fired in a moving line to clear a path for soliders - "whittle down" the opposing side
- Soldiers on foot would go once the way was "cleared"
- Key Battle: Vimy Ridge
How did solider's combat the effects of poison (chlorine) gas at first? Then later? (2)
First: They soaked cloth in urine or blood.
Laster: They learned that Chlorine was water soluble. There was also the invention of more efective gas masks.
What do we know about the length of battles in WWI? (1) Provide the dates for either the Battle of the Somme OR Passchondaele. (1)
- They were NOT short, they lasted weeks or months due to stalemates and heavy losses
Somme: 1 July 1916 - 18 Nov
Passchondaele: 31 July 1917 - Nov 10
Why is it important we hear Veteran's Stories? (2)
1) They actually lived through - they are a primary source of information
2) Thier stories are getting lost, there are No surviving veterans of WWI, the letters and videos we have of thier stories need to be honoured and protected.
The majority of battlefield casualties were by ..........
Artillery Shelling
In what battle do we see a return to old war tactics? and why?
- Passchendaele
- weather and terrain made tthe success of trench warfare limited. There was mud that reached thier waists and they abanoded trenches and went on foot.
Post 2nd Ypres, how did Canada's reputation change?
It was Canada's first major engagment in the war overseas. They were seen as formidable and depenable - most importantly they were see as a capable force seperate from the British
What battles was remembered as "Pointless Slaughter" or Unecessary until there was triumph?
Passchendaele
What new ideology did Arthur Currie introduce and how did it affect Canadian Troops (Hint: Leadership) (2)
- He insisted all soliders received specific information regarding the battle, the enemy, and the plan
- So that even lower ranked officers could make decisions in battle should command or higher ups be struck down
What was the biggest break through with Aircrafts in WWI
While a newere invention, by 1918 aircraft fighters and bombers were in army fleets in the war. The biggest breakthrough was by far the mounting of machine guns to planes in 1915, allowing for fire from the sky.
What plagued life in the trenches foor soliders besides battle? (4)
- RATS were impossible to get rid of because they were attracted by food and the dead bodies that littered No Man's Land
- Rats also carried LICE (or the "Itchy Koo Koos")
- Trench FOOT and Trench MOUTH killed soliders via flesh eating bacteria or fever from infection
- MEALS were minimal, often scarce in the front lines, and gross to eat
What were the mahor technical challenges of the battle? (3)
- The Ross Rifle started backfiring on Canadains
- Chlorine gas and chemical warefare was introduces
- Heavy artillery usage
When was most of Vimy Ridge capture- and what was Canada's troops role? (2)
- "Easter Monday" April 9, 1917
- All of Canada's divisions faught together in a creeping barrage and is deemed a huge military success but at a great loss.
Who was Robert Borden?
Conservative PM Robert Bordern was who officialy declared war on Germany alongside the British Empire in Aug 1914.