The Wars Essay, Research Paper

Robert Ross was a fictional character, but one who could be viewed a representative of how earnestly the horrors of World War One affected waxy immature Canadian soldiers. Canada & # 8217 ; s engagement in the First World War was one of huge proportions. However, this enormous committedness introduced many battle-unsullied Canadians to the horrors of war. The Dominion of Canada sent over 625,000 work forces and several thousand adult females to the forepart from the old ages 1914-1918. & # 8221 ; This was the beginning of the 2nd stage of a conflict that the Canadians had thought was already over? In it 30,000 work forces would decease and non a inch of land would be won. & # 8221 ; ( 1 ) This was an tremendous part for a state with a entire population of merely 8 million. Of all the Canadians that went to contend in the Great War, 1 out of every 10 died, and many of those who returned place were maimed either mentally or physically. During the war attempt, Canadian solders gained celebrity for their assault capablenesss on the Western forepart. For this ground, Canadian soldiers were frequently the 1s that had to confront the brunt of many conflicts in which they were pitted against immense odds, introduced to chemical warfare, and expected all the clip to cover with the horrors of trench warfare. & # 8220 ; Raid this forenoon. Two moving ridges of gas at 3:00 and 5:00 ante meridiem Our guns took portion in bombardment to cover foot. Fired for 10 proceedingss. No.4 gun hit direct and Sergeant Knox, Welsh and Naffis ( ? ) killed. Retaliation heavy and gas non a success and plunderers suffered reasonably to a great extent. Fritz seemed to be ready. Rest of twenty-four hours reasonably quiet. During dark enemy made a direct hit on our Head Living quarterss with high explosive. No 1 hurt. & # 8221 ; ( 2 )

Many of the names, topographic points, people and events that Findley refers to in & # 8220 ; The Wars & # 8221 ; , have existent historical significance. The Ypres Salient ( 3 ) & # 8220 ; These two thousand work forces, armed with rifles, were thrust into the spread between the British and Gallic, along with the last regular supports, two composite battalions, and a Canadian motorized machine-gun battery. & # 8221 ; ( 4 ) , for illustration, is the site of an existent conflict in which the Canadians gained celebrity for their epic action against the Germans in April 1915. Verdun is another conflict which was mentioned in the Wars ; this was a hideous conflict in which half a million work forces were killed in less than eight months & # 8220 ; The cost of Verdun are best recapitulated in cold, unit of ammunition figures, no exact statistics being possible, due to the conflicts confusions. & # 8221 ; ( 5 ) It was besides another case in which the Canadian military performed at high criterions. In Verdun many Canadians lost their lives. The town of Verdun, Quebec, is named after this celebrated battlefield. Tom Longboat ( 6 ) was mentioned in the novel and he is a important character in Canadian history. Longboat was an Onondaga Indian from a reserve near Hamilton Ontario. He was a distinguished Canadian endurance contest smuggler. Kingston, Ontario, is where Robert Ross went to analyze military jurisprudence and trajectory mathematics at The Royal Military College. In the novel the infirmary where Canadian Soldiers were taken for medical services was Bois de Madelaine. This was an existent infirmary located in France, located 4 stat mis from Bailleul which was a battlefield referred to as & # 8220 ; the last topographic point in civilization. & # 8221 ; The Somme offense ( 7 ) was besides mentioned in the Wars. This was an existent offense in which the Canadians floundered in the clay and biting wire ; The Canadians chief function in this operation was the astonishing ictus of Vimy Ridge ( 8 ) . & # 8221 ; The lone bright topographic point for the Allies that spring was the gaining control of Vimy Ridge on April 9 by the Canadians. & # 8221 ; ( 9 ) On Easter Monday, 1917, Canada won its greatest triumph

. 100000 Canadians ( all 4 Canadian divisions together ) forced their manner up the hill, and in a few hours the ridge had been captured. It had been the most successful twenty-four hours in the first two and half old ages of the war. 4 Canadians won the Victoria Cross ( 10 ) and, King George V. granted Major-General Currie, whom led the First Division, knighthood. However, 11000 Canadians died in the conflict, in which some say that Canada was made into a state.

On April 15 soldiers of the Canadian ground forces saw action in their first major conflict of World War One. On the 22nd of April the German ground forces advanced in the Ypres sailent. The Germans advanced towards the allied lines behind xanthous multitudes of Chlorine gas. This gas suffocated the Gallic division, which were placed to the left of the Canadians. The Gallic forces retreated and a big hole was created in the allied forepart. What is so important is that, while the Gallic military personnels fled, the military personnels of the Canadian Dominion stood strong. They thinned out their division in order to make full the spread left by the vacant Gallic military personnels. The German offense was halted but at an tremendous cost. Over 6,000 Canadians lost their lives, many from take a breathing in Cl gas. Those who survived were introduced to the true horrors of war.

In many respects Robert Ross could so be considered a theoretical account Canadian soldier during the First World War. The Canadians who fought in the war, particularly those who saw action in the early conflicts were introduced to a state of affairs that could merely be described as snake pit on Earth. The work forces of the Canadian military saw the horrors of war, the likes of which the universe had ne’er seen and have since ne’er been seen once more. Robert Ross was a immature adult male from a immature state, a state that prior to World War One had ne’er engaged in a major war. Robert is a representative Canadian in the sense that he fits the cast of many of the Canadian soldiers that went overseas to contend, & # 8221 ; go forthing to-day for the & # 8216 ; Great Adventure & # 8221 ; ( 11 ) , and wholly nescient of what he was acquiring involved in. When Robert, found himself among the trenches of Europe, surrounded by decease and devastation, & # 8220 ; pg. 72- Houses, trees and Fieldss of flax one time flourished here. Summers had been bluish with flowers. Now it was a shallow sea of stinking grey from terminal to stop. And this is where you fought the war & # 8221 ; ( 12 ) , where he was introduced to an wholly new universe filled with stupidity and consumed by decease. Robert went through indefinable conditions, conditions that non merely affected work forces physically but mentally. The Gas onslaught by the enemy was the most feared arm by far, & # 8220 ; The gas was now two pess above their caputs? His musculuss gave off similar spots of narration and he fouled himself as he peed. How could it count? They were all traveling die. & # 8221 ; ( 13 ) Any immature adult male who was lucky plenty to return place from World War One was non the same adult male as when he left. The experience of WWI was more than a batch of work forces could manage. This was surely the instance with Robert Ross, but it was besides the instance with many other Canadian soldiers. Many Canadians returned place from the war disheartened and disenchanted with the universe.

The decision of World War One saw the creative activity of infirmaries for veterans for soldiers for the first clip in Canada. The First World War was the most tragic subdivision of all time in Canadian history. Departed were the old, half-somnolent attitudes which most Canadian communities were accustomed to. A sum of 61,326 Canadians had been killed and over 172,950 had been wounded. Robert Ross was a fictional character, but one who could be viewed a representative of how earnestly the horrors of World War One affected waxy immature Canadian soldiers.