CANADA ENTERS THE

WAR

When Britain declared war on August 4th, 1914, Canada and the rest of the British Empire were automatically at war too. Canada did not yet have control over its own foreign affairs.

Responses to recruitment

Sam Hughes Valcartier Ross Rifle and

MacAdam Shovel

discrimination

RESPONSES TO RECRUITMENT At first, it was easy to get

plenty of volunteers for Canada’s army, called the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Reasons included: Canada’s large, loyal British

population wanted to fight for Britain.

Recruiting posters appealed to feelings of heroism and obligation.

For the unemployed, army life gave wages and three meals a day.

People thought the war would be over quickly.

SAM HUGHES Appointed Minister of

Militia and Defense by Prime Minister Robert Borden.

Ordered to establish, organize, and train a Canadian contingent of 25,000 and send them to Europe’s Western Front (Canada only had an army of 3,000 at this time).

VALCARTIER Hughes began a

massive nation-wide recruitment, seeking single, healthy men.

Campaign was successful: men and boys flooded recruiting offices, willing to fight for $1 a day.

Established a training base at Valcartier, Quebec, which had 32,000 volunteers by September 4th, 1914.

Once troops arrived in Europe, they were put under British command and through training that would prepare them for the type of ground and trench warfare that was occurring.

By the spring of 1915, Canadian soldiers were on the ground fighting in France and Belgium.

THE DOWNFALL OF HUGHES Became the target of criticism:

not listening to the opinions of others insisting on using Canadian-made goods (even

those that didn’t work), including the Ross Rifle, unusable trench equipment, and harsh regulations on soldiers.

1. THE ROSS RIFLE One of the most hated rifles in military

history. Hughes persuaded Ottawa to equip

Canadian soldiers with the Canadian-made rifle, even though the British, US Army, and RCMP stated it was unsuitable for military service.

Was very unpopular among Canadian soldiers.

PROS/CONS OF THE ROSS RIFLE

PROS CONS

very accurate great for target

shooting and hunting

only great in clear, dry conditions

did not work well in situations where it had to be reloaded quickly

jammed and seized up when fired rapidly in muddy and rainy conditions

very long, and heavy to carry

if assembled backwards, it could be fired backwards into the soldiers face

2. RESOURCES FOR THE TROOPS Hughes tried to keep

costs down during the war, but this sometimes led to substandard equipment: Boots had poor lining and

were prone to leaking Vehicles lacked spare parts Meat was substandard Belts were irregular for

normal military usage MacAdam shovel: shovel

with a hole in it so it could also be used as a shield. The holl rendered it useless for shovelling.

DISCRIMINATION At the outset of war,

Aboriginals, black Canadians, Asians and Canadians of German, Ukraine, and Austro-Hungarian descent were not encouraged to enlist. Eventually, Aboriginals

and black Canadians were able to enlist.

Black volunteers were recruited to join a segregated, non-combat construction battalion.

French Canadian soldiers felt discriminated against: no French Canadian

units no French Canadian

soldiers were put in senior positions

led to huge resentment and protests in Quebec

WOMEN Were not

allowed to sign on as soldiers, sailors, or pilots.

More than 3000 enlisted as nurses

Approx. 1000 served as drivers (ambulances etc.)