A World At War

 As the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth, Canada engaged in more and more efforts at home on its own defense, developing a navy, building drill halls across the country, and establishing the foundation of a professional army as opposed to a militia. In 1914, the world went to war, as a combination of nationalism, alliances, and old grudges got set off by the assassination of an Austrian archduke in Sarajevo. Canada would get drawn into the conflict from the start.

The First World War started to see the concept of war art. Lord Beaverbrook, a Canadian-British politician and news publisher, would create a program of war art to document the conflict. Much of that war art ended up in the Canadian War Museum's collection. This is Canada's Answer, by Norman Wilkinson, depicting the first numbers of Canadian soldiers sailing to Britain in the fall of 1914.

The Great War saw the advancement of technology in contrast with tactics that were still dating back to Napoleon's day- massed charges against entrenched positions. With weapons that had become far more accurate than anything Napoleon had dreamed of, it became a recipe for death on a scale far beyond what he could have seen. It would take four years before anyone could break out of that mindset in a way that broke the stalemate.

Here we have The Second Battle Of Ypres, 22 April to 25 May 1915, a dramatic painting by Richard Jack. It has a counterpart across from it which has a no-photos notation, with the effects of a gas attack. Both battles at Ypres consisted of killing on a vast scale for no result. A long line of trenches would soon stretch from north to south across Europe called the Western Front.

John McCrae was a Canadian surgeon, officer, and poet who saw action on the western front and died of illness there later in the war. After the death of a friend, he wrote the poem In Flanders Fields, which has transcended national boundaries since. His service pistol is here.

A section of this area looks at propaganda. Edith Cavell was a British nurse executed by the Germans in 1915. The act outraged the allies, and she was seen as a martyr. The Canadian government later named a particularly photogenic mountain in the Rockies after her.

A story went out that during the Second Battle of Ypres, German soldiers had crucified a Canadian soldier on a barn door. It was not verified, but the story stuck. This is Canada's Golgotha, a sculpture by Derwent Wood,

Military Monuments On The Island

 In June, I headed up to the Rideau Falls for a visit. Here, the Rideau River splits into two channels around Green Island, and spills over to meet the Ottawa River. This is the west channel. Both channels are regulated by dam works, and this one tends to have less flow.

Over on the far shore of the Ottawa River is Gatineau, and the wooded stretch we see is Leamy Lake Park.

There are a number of monuments, most of them military in nature, on Green Island, and on the east shore of the Rideau River. The first we encounter is the National Artillery Memorial, which commemorates the service of the Royal Regiment of Artillery in particular.

Beside it is another monument to the Canadian doctor, poet, and soldier John McCrae, who fought in the South African War and World War One, and whose poem In Flanders Fields lives on, transcending national boundaries.

The statue is by Ruth Abernethy, one of a pair of the man, and larger than life. Its twin is in McCrae's home town of Guelph, at the city's civic museum.

A look across to the far side of the space. More monuments are over there.

One of them is this one. This commemorates the veterans of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, a group of Canadian volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists.

In Flanders Fields And Golgotha

 Canadian soldiers came to the Western Front as part of the greater Allied effort. But outdated tactics would come into play against new weaponry, and lead to four years of hell on earth before anyone really figured out how to break the stalemate. At places like Ypres and the Somme, enormous casualties would be typical.

Another large painting: The Second Battle of Ypres, 22 April to 25 May 1915 is by Richard Jack.

The Canadian doctor, soldier, and poet John McCrae went to war. His service pistol is displayed in the case at below right. His most famous poem is known around the world- In Flanders Fields, inscribed at left. He wrote it after the death of a friend, and he himself would not survive to see the end of the war.

Propaganda became a big thing during the war. The murder of a British nurse, Edith Cavell, sparked outrage. At centre, a grisly sculpture called Canada's Golgotha. A rumour went around that German soldiers had crucified a Canadian soldier to a barn door. And the sinking of the Lusitania also drove outrage at home against the Germans.

This is a model of a typical trench network of that war.

While here, the visitor can walk right into a full scale version.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a pivotal victory for Canadians during the war.

Canadian soldiers were assigned to take the ridge, which was held by German forces. British and French units had failed to do so. The Canadians trained thoroughly in advance, the German lines were pummelled by artillery, and in a matter of a few days in April 1917, the Canadians seized control of the ridge. They did what couldn't be done, but did it anyway, and in doing so developed a reputation as elite shock troopers. A video display lays things out in detail.

This monster is a field gun of the era. Artillery inflicted sixty percent of wounds through the war.

This vividly shows what shrapnel is.

And the display at right vividly displays what it actually does to the human body.

More Canadian artifacts are seen here.

The Global Battlefield

Here we have a model of a Canadian soldier during the South African War, where fighting ended up becoming guerilla warfare. Gone was the red serge of dress uniforms, and in was tan khaki uniforms. 

By and large, the South African War has long been overshadowed by the Great War, which followed only a few years later.

More uniforms and personal artifacts of that war.

This field gun would, a few years later, look like an antique compared to those of the First World War, but it served in the South African War. In the end, 7000 Canadians went to the far side of the world in service to Queen and country.

The First World War would be the great cataclysm, the end result of decades and more of imperialism, nationalism, and entangled alliances. The murder of a minor Austrian royal would drag in the better part of the world, and end with an entire generation dead, wounded, and otherwise forever haunted by its aftermath.

Canada was in it from the start.

Canada's Answer is a large painting by Norman Wilkinson, depicting the first sailing of Canadian soldiers to Europe in October 1914.

Some of the weapons of the time are found here.

John McCrae was a Canadian doctor and veteran of the South African War who served again as an artillery officer in the First World War. His poem In Flanders Fields is his best known around the world, and is inscribed on the wall. His personal revolver is displayed here as well.

Propaganda became a big factor during the war, with incidents including the murder of a British nurse, Edith Cavell. Today a mountain in the Canadian Rockies bears her name.

A story circulated on the western front that German soldiers had crucified a Canadian soldier on a barn door. Whether or not it was true, it had a propaganda value. This sculpture is titled Canada's Golgotha, by Derwent Wood