CANADA HISTORY - War-WWI

To France

In December 1914, as the First World War entered its fifth brutal month, the decision was made to integrate Canada's fledgling military forces into the broader British Expeditionary Force. At this stage of the war, the organization of Canadian troops was still in its infancy. Although thousands of Canadians had rushed to enlist, there were not yet enough units to form full Canadian divisions or corps. The logical solution was to attach individual Canadian regiments to British formations, ensuring that these newly trained soldiers would be thrust into the fight as quickly as possible. One of the first Canadian units to be deployed was Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). After rigorous training on the cold and rain-soaked Salisbury Plain in southwestern England, the PPCLI was assigned to the British 27th Division, marking the beginning of Canada’s active participation in the fighting on the Western Front.

By February 1915, just a few months after their arrival in Europe, the Canadian forces were ready for the next phase. The 1st Canadian Division, a fully mobilized division of Canadian troops, was deemed prepared for deployment to France. Under the command of Lieutenant-General Edwin Alderson, this division represented the first significant, self-contained Canadian military unit to enter the war. It consisted of three infantry brigades and three artillery brigades, along with essential support units: engineers, mounted troops, ammunition columns, and a divisional train to ensure the flow of supplies to the front lines. In a symbolic moment, the soldiers of the 1st Canadian Division were inspected by King George V on the Salisbury Plain. For these men, many of whom had never left Canada before the war, this royal inspection underscored the importance of their role in the defense of the British Empire. After the ceremony, the division left Salisbury Plain, boarded trains, and began their journey to the battlefields of France.

The first leg of this journey took the division to Avonmouth, a port near Bristol, where they embarked on ships bound for France. After crossing the English Channel, they landed at St. Nazaire, a French coastal city, on February 16, 1915. From there, the division began the long, grueling journey northward towards the front. Traveling by train, the men of the 1st Canadian Division covered nearly 500 miles of French countryside before arriving at their destination, a position approximately 20 miles from the city of Ypres. Here, they were placed under the command of Sir Douglas Haig as part of the British IV Corps. Their assignment was to take up defensive positions on the left wing of the British line, in the small town of Fleurbaix, not far from the Belgian border. This was the moment they had been training for—the beginning of their true combat experience.

Although the Canadians had arrived in France with little fanfare, their presence would soon be felt on the battlefield. Just a few weeks after their arrival, on March 10, 1915, they were thrust into the thick of the action with the outbreak of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. This battle, one of the first major offensives undertaken by the British and their allies in 1915, marked Canada’s official entry into the war. The Canadians had arrived, and now they were about to be baptized by fire in the harsh realities of modern warfare.

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle was intended to be a bold stroke that would break through the German defenses and give the Allies control of the town of Neuve Chapelle, an important objective in northern France. The battle plan called for a heavy artillery bombardment followed by an infantry assault, a tactic that would become standard practice as the war progressed. For the soldiers of the 1st Canadian Division, this battle was their first taste of the full horrors of trench warfare—the deafening roar of artillery, the suffocating mud of the battlefield, and the deadly rattle of machine-gun fire.

Though Neuve Chapelle was primarily a British-led offensive, the Canadians played a supporting role, helping to secure the flanks and protect the larger British forces from counterattacks. In the chaos of the battlefield, the Canadians learned quickly that war was not the grand adventure many had envisioned when they enlisted. The mud, barbed wire, and constant threat of artillery fire created a hellish landscape in which progress was measured in yards, not miles. The human cost of the battle was staggering, with over 11,000 British casualties in just three days of fighting. The Canadians, too, suffered losses, but they emerged from the battle with a greater understanding of what awaited them in the months and years to come.

For the men of the 1st Canadian Division, Neuve Chapelle was both a sobering introduction to the grim realities of trench warfare and a formative experience. It was during this period that they began to develop a reputation for toughness and resilience, characteristics that would come to define the Canadian Corps as a whole. In the months following Neuve Chapelle, the Canadians would face even greater challenges, particularly during the Second Battle of Ypres, where they would distinguish themselves by holding the line against the first major gas attack in the history of warfare.

As more Canadian troops continued to arrive from training camps in England, the framework for a larger Canadian fighting force was taking shape. The soldiers who remained on the Salisbury Plain after the departure of the 1st Division continued their training, preparing for their eventual deployment to the front. These men would form the basis of additional Canadian divisions, and by the end of 1916, the Canadian Corps would consist of four full divisions, fighting as a unified national force under Canadian leadership.

The early months of 1915 marked the beginning of a long and brutal journey for Canada’s soldiers. From the muddy trenches of Fleurbaix to the shattered fields of Neuve Chapelle, they were learning, adapting, and growing into a formidable fighting force. Though their journey was just beginning, the men of the 1st Canadian Division had already proven themselves capable and willing to fight in defense of the British Empire. Over the course of the next three years, their role in the war would expand, and by the time the war ended in 1918, the Canadian Corps would be regarded as one of the most effective and elite fighting units on the Western Front. The experiences of 1915, from the fields of Neuve Chapelle to the trenches near Ypres, were the foundation on which that legacy was built.