The war
began for the professional British army--the Contemptibles--when it
began its retreat from Mons in 1914; the war ended for the British army
at the very same town four years and three months later, when on the day
the armistice was signed the men from Canada re-entered it. Was it
coincidence, or was it fate?
During the war Canadian troops had sustained 211,000 casualties, 152,000
had been wounded and more than 50,000 had made the supreme sacrifice.
Put into different language this means that the number of Canadians
killed was just a little greater than the total number of infantrymen in
their corps of four divisions.
The extent of the work involved in the care of the wounded and sick of
the Canadians overseas may be gathered from the fact that Canada
equipped and sent across the Atlantic, 7 general hospitals, 10
stationary hospitals, 16 field ambulances, 3 sanitary sections, 4
casualty clearing stations and advanced and base depots of medical
stores: The personnel of these medical units consisted of 1,612
officers, 1,994 nursing sisters and 12,382 of other ranks, or a total of
about 16,000. This will give some conception of the importance of the
task involved in the caring for the sick and wounded of about 90,000
fighting troops, some 60,000 auxiliary troops behind the lines and the
reserve depots in England.
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