This big, quiet man, whose
consideration, prudence and brilliancy had won the absolute confidence
of Canadian officers and men alike, welded the Canadian corps into a
fighting force of incomparable effectiveness--a force which was set the
most difficult tasks and, as events proved, not in vain.
When Canada entered the war she had a permanent force of 3,000 men. When
hostilities ceased on November 11, 1918, Canada had sent overseas
418,980 soldiers. In addition to this about 15,000 men had joined the
British Royal Air Service, several hundred physicians and veterinarians,
as well as 200 nurses, had been supplied to the British army, while many
hundreds of university men had received commissions in the imperial army
and navy.
In September, October and November, 1916, the Canadian corps of four
divisions, which had been welded by General Byng and General Currie into
an exceedingly efficient fighting machine, took its part in the battle
of the Somme--a battle in which the British army assumed the heaviest
share of the fighting and casualties, and shifted the greatest burden of
the struggle from the shoulders of the French to their own. The British
army had grown vastly in power and efficiency and in growing had taken
over more and more of the line from the French.
The battle of the Somme was long and involved.
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