Breaking The Deadlock Of War

 The exhibit carries on, looking as well at the war in the air. Planes were a newcomer to war, and young pilots were inventing new tactics of warfare, and dying in large numbers.

There was no Canadian Air Force yet- that was established in 1924- but Canadian pilots flew for the British. This fuselage is a souvenir from one of them, Billy Barker.

William Barker was one of the great aces of the war.

The photograph at top of Canadian soldiers after their victory at Vimy Ridge speaks volumes- soldiers who had done the impossible.

The war hit at home too, and this section of the gallery looks at its impact.

The large painting at top here is Convoy In Bedford Basin by Arthur Lismer. He spent time as a commissioned war artist, and afterwards would be a member of the Group of Seven. Bedford Basin is the location of Halifax, where during the war a collision of two ships, one carrying munitions, led to a terrible explosion that killed many people in the city.

Passchendaele was another bloody victory for Canadian soldiers, who did what others hadn't been able to do at great cost, in a battle that was as close to hell on earth as anything in the history of warfare.

A recreation you can walk through has a particularly harrowing effect.

What finally led to victory? After four years of men being thrown to their deaths by outdated tactics against new technology, the stalemate was broken by what is called combined-arms fighting. This is the coordination of military assets in working together in tandem- infantry, artillery, tanks, and planes. Allied officers finally came to the realization, put it to good use, and the Hundred Days campaign would end the war.

Canadians took full part in the Hundred Days, fighting the Germans and pushing them back time and again along the front, as were the other Allies. A series of bloody battles and victories would lead to the collapse of the German military.