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losses, took Cambrai and made large captures of men and mate-
rial. In the final stage of the fighting Denain was taken by the
Canadians on Oct. 20, Valenciennes on Nov. 2, and Mons at
4 A.M. on Nov. n, the day on which the Armistice came into
force at ii A.M. The Canadian troops captured 45,000 prisoners,
850 artillery guns, and 4,200 machine-guns, retook 130 towns
and villages, liberated 310,000 French and Belgian civilians.
Canadian units also served in Palestine, Macedonia and Russia.
The Canadian cavalry fought, for the most part, separately
from the Canadian Army Corps. They distinguished themselves
in March 1917 by the capture of six villages in two days, and in
Dec. gave valuable help in the attack on Villers-Guislains. In
the German offensive of March and April 1918 the Canadian
Cavalry Brigade was actively engaged and suffered heavy casual-
ties at Bois Moreuil, Rifle Wood and elsewhere. The brigade
fought as part of the Canadian Corps in the second battle of
Amiens, and, in the great advance at the end of the fighting,
captured the town of Le Cateau on Oct. 9. Canadian railway
units were attached to all the British armies; these troops
were responsible for the whole of the construction of light
railways and 60% of the standard-gauge railways in the area
occupied by the British forces. In addition to the units of the
Canadian Forestry Corps in France, a number of Canadians were
engaged in Great Britain in cutting and milling timber.
During the war 1,617 medical officers, 2,002 nursing sisters and
12,382 other ranks of the Canadian Army Medical Corps went
overseas from Canada. There were in Canada at the end of the
war 913 medical officers, 527 nursing sisters, 182 V.A.D. nurses,
and 4,oi 2 other ranks. The Medical Corps had in France 6 general
hospitals, 6 stationary hospitals, 6 casualty clearing stations, and
13 field ambulances, and in England 9 active treatment hospitals,
5 special hospitals, 5 convalescent hospitals, and a special
sanatorium. In Canada there were 65 military hospitals, with
11,786 beds. Some 22,300 patients were brought back to Canada
in 1917 and 1918 on 35 passages of hospital ships. On 27 of these
passages the C.A.M.C. provided the staffs of the ships. The
" Llandovery Castle " was sunk by a submarine while returning
from Canada to England.
About 12,000 troops were required in Canada for home defence
as garrisons for fortresses and guards for internment camps,
canals, etc. Canada also furnished a garrison for the important
post of St. Luciainthe Westlndies. There were 12,902 Canadians
in the Royal Air Force, and its predecessors the Royal Naval
Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps. In addition, a number of
Americans were trained in Canada by the instructional staff of
the Royal Air Force. Some 4,701 men were furnished from
Canada for the Imperial Service known as the Inland Waterways
and Docks. About 710 Canadians joined the Imperial Motor
Transport Service, and several hundred Canadians, mostly from
the universities, received commissions in the British army.
Canada also furnished several hundred doctors and veterinarians
and about 200 nurses to the British army. Some 200 Canadian
officers were lent, as instructors, to the United States.
As regards the naval service, at the outbreak of the war in 1914
the Canadian Government possessed only two naval vessels the
" Niobe," a cruiser of n,ooo-tons displacement, with a main
armament of 16 6-in. guns, stationed at Halifax, and the " Rain-
bow," a small cruiser of 3,6oo-tons displacement, armed with 2
6-in., 6 4-7-in. and 4 i2-pounder guns, stationed at Esquimalt,
on the Pacific. The " Rainbow," which was ready for sea, pa-
trolled, with other ships on the Pacific stations, as far south as
Panama, and captured several ships carrying contraband of war.
After the entry of the United States into the war she became dep6t-
ship on the Pacific coast. The " Niobe " was made ready for sea
in Sept. 1914 and remained in commission one year, during which
she steamed over 30,000 m. on patrol duty. She afterwards
became depot-ship at Halifax.
At the beginning of hostilities various small craft were taken
over by the Naval Department from the Departments of Marine
and of Customs, and were armed and manned by the R.C.N.V.R.
for the performance of patrol duties off the Atlantic coast. Two
submarines, which were bought just before the declaration of war
patrolled the approaches to Victoria and Vancouver and helped
in keeping Adml. von Spec's squadron away from the Pacific
ports. H.M. sloop " Shearwater " was taken into the Canadian
service as mother-ship to these submarines and, in the summer
of 1917, these three vessels went, by way of the Panama Canal,
to Halifax. A patrol and mine-sweeping service was carried on
after the outbreak of war. The vessels used at first were Govern-
ment and privately owned vessels which were taken over and
equipped for the purpose. Some of these were placed at the
disposal of the Government free of charge. Early in 1917 the
Department of Naval Service undertook to have 60 trawlers and
100 drifters built in Canada for the Imperial Government. These
vessels were built at various places on the St. Lawrence and the
Great Lakes, many of them were in service in Canadian and
European waters in the year 1917 and all were in service in 1918.
The area patrolled under the Department stretched from the
Straits of Belle Isle to the Bay of Fundy, and from Quebec to east
of the Virgin Rocks. Within this area the Department had con-
trol of patrols, convoys, mine-sweeping, the protection of fishing
fleets, etc. Only one large vessel was lost by enemy attack.
At the date of the Armistice the vessels in the Canadian naval
service were as follows. In the Pacific: H.M.C.S. " Rainbow,"
depot and training ship; H.M.S. " Algerine," sloop; auxiliary-
patrol ship " Malaspina "; several motor-launches for harbour
defence. In the Atlantic: H.M.C.S. "Niobe, " depot and training
ship; H.M.C.S. " Shearwater," submarine depot ship, and 2 sub-
marines; H.M.C.S. " Grilse," torpedo-boat destroyer; 9 auxiliary
patrol ships, 47 armed trawlers, 58 armed drifters, 1 1 armed mine-
sweepers and tugs, and a large flotilla of motor-launches. The
crews of these vessels consisted of men from all parts of Canada,
principally members of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer
Reserve. At the date of the Armistice the personnel of the service
was: officers and men of the Royal Canadian Navy, 749; officers
and men of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, 4,374.
In addition to the men serving in Canadian vessels, over 1,700
men were recruited in Canada for the Imperial navy, 73 surgeon
probationers and a number of hydrographic survey officers were
sent from Canada and 580 Canadians enrolled as probationary
flight lieutenants in the Royal Naval Air Service, before recruit-
ing for the Royal Air Force began in Canada. More than 500
Canadians holding commissions in the Royal Naval Volunteer
Reserve were in the British Auxiliary Patrol and similar services.
The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service was established in the
summer of 1918, with stations at Halifax and North Sydney.
It cooperated with the U.S. Naval Aviation Corps in patrolling
the coast and escorting convoys through the danger zone.
The Canadian Radiotelegraph Service controlled about 200
stations ashore and afloat. Several new stations were erected or
taken over by the Department of Naval Service, and there was
an unbroken chain of radio communication from St. John's,
Newfoundland, to Demerara. The Department opened a training
school for wireless operators, from which about 200 men were
sent out for service in all parts of the world.
Important refitting, repairing and supply work was done by the
Canadian dockyards. Large refits of Imperial and other ships
were made at Esquimalt, including H.M.S. " Kent " after the
battle of the Falklandls., and the Japanese battleship " Asama,"
after grounding on the coast of Lower California. Several large
cruisers were refitted at Halifax and Montreal. Other work in-
cluded the defensive armament of merchant ships, the refitting
of transports for troops, horses and special cargo, and the loading
and securing on ships' decks of 600 large launches, tugs, etc.
The Canadian Naval Service provided supplies for the ships
of the Royal Canadian Navy and for a number of Imperial and
Allied ships in Canadian waters, as well as many of the require-
ments of H.M. dockyards at Bermuda and Hong-Kong. Large
supplies were shipped from Halifax dockyard for provisioning the
fleets in European waters. A large coaling depot was established
at Sydney for the use of patrolling vessels and of all convoys
leaving the St. Lawrence.
In shipbuilding Canada had a splendid war record. Nearly
1,000 vessels of one kind or another were turned out for the van-<noinclude></div></noinclude>