LIEUTENANT--GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CURRIE (A brief account of the battle of Passchendaele) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Lieutenant- frequent Sir Arthur Currie was the most(prenominal) undefendable spend that Canada has produced. Certainly, he did non look like the huge pass he had become. A in truth t every last(predicate) man, at six-foot-four, he was also somewhat everywhereweight. Through his successes as the commanding officer of the Canadian Corps, he knew how to delegate authority and stand by the stopping points of his subordinates. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Currie, however, was non a professional soldier. He was natural in Strathroy, Ontario, on December 5, 1875 and raised, he had moved to Canadas west semivowel in his late teens. As an adult, he movedto Victoria, British Columbia, he had become a schoolteacher, and insurance salesman, and, a real-estate speculator, an occupation that make him wholeness of Victorias leash citizens. desire solely niceCanadian busi ness custody at the sequence, he joined the Canadian Militia. In 1897, he had enlisted as a lowly gunner in the 5th Regiwork forcet, Canadian send Artillery; by 1909, he was the lieutenant-colonelcommanding the regiment. In late 1913, Currie true the ch aloneenge of raising and concomitants of life an infantry unit, the 50th Regiment, Gordon exaltedlanders of Canada. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â When the struggle broke out in August 1914, the highly regarded Currie was commanded of an infantry brigade. Currie fought with exceptional composure at second battle of Ypres in 1915 w here(predicate) his min Brigade made a remarkable stand against the envenom gas. Having strike his superiors, Currie was promoted to command the check out 1st Canadian Division. He led the Red make up at Mount Sorrel, through the horror of the Somme in 1916 and at Vimy ridgepolepole, Arleux, and Fresnoy in the spring of 1917. In June, Currie had been knighted and named air force attainicer of t he Canadian Corps, now four divisions stron! g. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â one of Curries most mind-boggling and strategic achievements had come during the hitter or 1919-17, while he was console a divisional commander. By analyzing the fighting he had witnessed on the Western Front, Currie had drawn up what proved to be a blueprint for tactical success. In a paper, Currie synthesized the beaver of British and french concepts, and with legion(predicate) of his own beliefs based on individual(a) companionship. Under Sir Arthur Currie, the Canadian Corps emerged as an outstanding boldness on the Western Front. No force--British, Australian, cut, Ameri bed, of German--could match its marvelous, record, a serial of successes without a single set punt, by the end of the war. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Lieutenant-general Sir Arthur Curries was not blessed at the prospect of going to Passchendaele. Currie, like some Canadian soldiers, had dispirited memories of the Ypres striking, and grim memories to he Ypres salien t, and admitted that his experience in the salient in 1915 and in 1916 were such(prenominal) that I never postulateed to see the place again. Unfortunately, on 3 October, Currie was warned that the Corps might be sent north, to sequester fraction in the offensive in Flanders. Currie could make no soul of Passchendaele, and he was furious. Passchendaele! he raged in front of his staff. Whats the total of it? Let the Germans use up it--keep it--rot in it! Rot in the cocker up! Theres a mis deal somewhere. it immanent be a mistake! It isnt price a crepuscule of blood. Although Currie was not at any happy that the Canadians had been told to take Passchendaele. One of Curries number 1 moves was to assign intelligence information officers to the various home with which the Canadian Corps would be associated: countenance Army, II Anzac Corps, which was responsible for the sector the Canadians would be taking over, and its front-line divisions, the spick-and-s pan Zealand and third Australian. These officers, an! d the global staff were to acquire early and double-dyed(a) information as regards to details of German defenses and dis corrects, and especially for the economic consumption of arranging the mundane programme of bombardment. These preparations was a sparkling success. On the other hand, at the Canadian Corps headquarters, planning for the clutch was well at a lower place way. By 16 October, just three long cadence by and bywards receiving his alleges, General Currie had completed his preliminary plans, which he described in a letter to the Second Armys Sir Herbert Plumer. The hammer will be carried out in three stages, the bearing area of each stage being... The bolshie, BLUE and GREEN lines...It is proposed to make use of the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions for the buzz off of the RED and BLUE lines (4th on the Right--3rd on the Left), keeping the 1st and second Canadian Divisions for the pose of the GREEN line and any sequent operations it whitethorn be decided to undertake. It is considered that a rift of three days will e necessary between the 1st and 2nd stages, and a pause of 4 or 5 days between the 2nd and 3rd stages. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â By 19 October, Currie had tentatively set dates for these operations: 28 and 31 October and 6 November. A fourth phase, if required, could be carried out on 10 November. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The involvement ended with the attempt of November 10th. The Canadians began leaving the salient on Wednesday, 14 November. Four days subsequently, General Currie give over province for the Passchendaele sector to Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston and his VIII Corps. The same day, 18 November, Currie departed for the Vimy Ridge front. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Passchendaele had been a painful experience for all concerned. It will be recalled that General Currie predicted that it would cost the Corps 16,000 casualties to take Passchendaele. His forecast was incredibly accurate; the actual toll was 16,654. Casualties of 50 per cent or! more were not uncommon among the attack battalions, particularly during the first two phases of operations. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Exhaustion was rampant. One can never freeze the haggard looks of the men and officers almost bemused with the fatigue or their work, commented Lieutenant- Colonel J.N. Gunn of the 8th Canadian Field Ambulance. more were angry. Passchendaele was absolutely the elevation of stupidity, recalled E.O. Anderson of the 49th Battalion. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â London warmly welcomed the Canadians. The capture of Passchendaele had, after so many weeks and months of bad news, come as a great relief, a feat which received very much play in he press. A Canadian living a in England, Charles Armstrong, wrote Sir Arthur Currie on 12 November: Everybody here is talking round it & it makes one feel very high-minded of the Corps. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Certainly, no one was prouder than General Currie. The Canadians, he later wrote, had symboliseed Pass chendaele by superhuman essays. His men had never worked so rough or fought with such grim determination. He also confessed that I do not make do which branch of the divine service is entitled the most praise. The Infantry who stormed the hostile trenches and beat off the counterattacks, the Artillery who prepared the way for he Infantry and who back up the attacks, the Engineers and Pioneers who made the roads which enabled the guns to be brought in advance, and on that pointfore made achievement possible, the Medical Services who have unceasingly done so well but who excelled all ancient performances in these battles, the deliver people who never failed once in meetting forward the rations, engineer material and munition of all kinds, all gave tenability of the highest soldierly qualities and the determination to win. Concluded Currie: I firmly believed that the Canadians were the but troops that could have taken the jell at that time of the form and under the conditions under which the attack had to be made! . Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â It was not until after the war that General Currie was told wherefore Passchendaele had to be taken. in Paris for the Versailles peace conference, Currie met Sir Douglas Haig on 12 February 1919 in the solicit of the Hotel Jajestic, the headquarters of the British delegation. Taking Currie aside, Haig explained his reasons for prosecute the Passchendaele opeeration.
Currie late recounted there meeting: It was then I intimate for the first time the true proportions of the mutiny in the French Army in 1917 and the strength of the Peace party in France and also in England in that year. He pointed out that after the victories of Vimy and Messines in April and June the British Army had to continue the offensive, in array to keep the opposite from launching an attack against the French... In order to raise the team spirit of the French Army and the British Army, and the French Government and the British Government, the Chief decided that the Ridge must be captured. Currie was not completely convinced. For years after ward, he continued to wonder whether it was wise to choose the Ypres govern as the battleground, and believed that Passchenadaele may have assumed unduly enlarge proportions in the minds of many. Like most Canadians, Currie was overwhelmed by the British decision ot abandon Passchendaele without a fight in the spring of 1918. He felt betrayed, and for a time he allowed his emotions to get the conk out of him. On 20 April, four days after the ridge was abandoned, Beneral arse J. Pershing, commanding the Amercian Expeditonary Force, came to se e Currie and Canadian Corps headquarters. General Pe! rshing was impress with Curries anger and frustration: General Currie deplored the fact ath the British had so easily given up Passchendaele Ridge, which the year forwards he had been told must be taken at all costs, and for which the Canadians made the tremendous sacrifice of 16,000 casualties. Curries sour remained untill he had finally found a forum for his complaints about he British army in June 1918. Prime curate Borden later sought a meeting with Currie, and Currie was happy to oblige, It had no reclaimable result, as the British Army immediately went on the justificative and the campaign ceased for the year. No advantage in position was gained and the effort was wasted, particularly when the ridge was simply handed back to the confrontation six months later. The venture was by no doer worth the cost; and that is was won to save the face of the British High Command who had understaken all thought he surrender most un favored and highly disastrous attempts. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Prime pastor Lloyd George asked his Canadian couterpart to arrange a meeting with General Currie. Lloyd George desire what he saw and heard about Currie. I was greatly impressed with Curries views, he was delighted. But it was such an derision that Lloyd George chose to interpret Curries comments as criticisms of Sir Douglas Haig; such was not the case. Currie, who prize and value Haig Whether or not Sir Arthur Currie could have been a successful commander in chief of the BEF is a matter of speculation. The odds would have been stacked against him: not only was he a upright colonial, he was a non professional to boot, and he was much jr. that th earmy commanders who would have reported to him. Far from demonstating his default over casualtiles, Passchendaele proved Curries concern for he conservation fo the lives of the men under his command; indeed, Curries actons end-to-end th war stand as strong evidence of his desire, and ability, to win battle s only at the least possible cost. A atomic pile of! Canadians, veterans and conscripts alike, had little regard for General Currie. Passchendaele convinced many of them that achievement was his old consideration. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Charges of this nature dogged Currie for the rest of his life. governmental enemies, took up the cry as the war wound down. He was being accused as a Canadian commander of deliberatley sacrificing the lives of his men in the pursuit of his own personal glory. His decease pentad years later, in 1933 at the age of fifty-seven, may be attributed, at least indirectly, to the lawsuit. His funeral was a major typeface in Montreal and thousands lined the streets to honour the Great Leader of the Canadian Corps. He is buried in Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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