Arras To Cambrai

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo: the theme day for December is Joy.

The Battle of Arras followed Amiens, and here in this part of the exhibit, a life sized mock-up was set up with a Canadian soldier readying a grenade.

Across from him was a German pillbox, with a cut out in the side allowing visitors to look inside.

The wall nearby featured this quote and photograph- a stark reminder of the war: could you really trust someone who was surrendering to you, particularly given the way your fellow soldiers had been treated by their side?

Throughout this exhibit- and indeed throughout the permanent galleries of the Museum- panels can be found showing individuals of the period. Some of them are officers, others enlisted men. In this case it was a medical officer, Captain Frederick Banting, who served with his fellow Canadians throughout the Hundred Days. The doctor and his colleagues would discover insulin after the war.

Nurses served at the front, exposed to much the same dangers as the soldiers. This panel tells of Lillian Galbraith, and includes service medals.

Arras, like the other battles of the Hundred Days, continued to carry the momentum forward for the Allies, but it was a hard victory.

This painting was part of the exhibit, and is part of the museum's collection of war art. Frederick Varley painted German Prisoners after the war, depicting German soldiers in custody. As the war drove towards its close, demoralized soldiers were captured or gave themselves up to Allied soldiers. After the war, Varley would join the Canadian artists called The Group Of Seven.

This map gave the status quo for the Allies as late September 1918 fell over the front. 

For the Canadians, the next battle would be at Cambrai.