2009

Written &
Illustrated by
Sally Xie
03/01/09

[THE LIFE & CONTRIBUTIONS

OF SIR ARTHUR CURRIE: A
VISUAL TIMELINE]
A biography and tribute to one of the greatest Canadian generals of WWI, who
helped shape Canada into the nation it is today.
EARLY YEARS

On December 5th, 1875 in the quaint town of

Napperton, Arthur William Currie (formerly Curry)
was born. A talented tactician and strategist, he
was arguably the best Canadian general to ever
fight on the battlefield. He had lived in his parents'
family home with William Garner Curry and Jane
Patterson, and the dwelling – albeit in dire need of
repair –still stands to this day.

Currie had been educated at various local

public schools before enrolling in the Strathroy
Collegiate Institute just east of his hometown, and
for a brief while, even attended the University of
Toronto.

LIFE BEFORE THE WAR

In 1894, Currie moved to

British Columbia and taught in
public schools around Sidney and
Victoria for five years. It was
during this time that he changed
the spelling of his surname to
'Currie'.

He was twenty-two years of

age when he enlisted in the non-
permanent army as a lowly-
ranked gunner in the fifth
Regiment, Canadian Garrison
Artillery. By 1900 (twenty-five years old) he had risen in rank to become
 corporal, and was offered an officer's commission (a
higher rank and better social standing within
Victoria). Once he had been commissioned, Currie
was expected to supply his own tailored uniforms
and contribute part of his income to the officer's
mess (a community residence where the soldiers
socialized, ate, and sometimes lived). Currie knew
he would not be able to afford all this on a teacher's
salary, and decided to go into business. He became
involved with insurance and invested heavily in the
real estate market, until his mass investment went
awry and he was severely bankrupt. Currie then transferred around $11,000
dollars from regimental funds into his personal bank account to pay off his
debts, and was actually liable to be prosecuted until World War I broke out in
1914. He was sent to Europe in command of the second Brigade, and
although Prime Minister Robert Borden eventually realized Currie should have
went to court for embezzlement, he did nothing about it because he didn't
want to bring his men home.

In a sense, World War I actually saved Currie from his financial plight.

CURRIE'S FIRST GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT IN WORLD WAR I

Currie led his troops to France on February 19th, and they took control
of a position in Ypres on April 17th. Five days later, for the very first time on
the Western front – the Germans attacked with lethal gas. Faced with an
unprecedented situation that ordinarily would have panicked commanders
and troops alike, Currie did not falter; he threw the tactical rulebook out the
window and came up with a strong defense and effective counterattack. After
several days of standing their ground, the Canadians established a stable
defense line, and emerged victorious.

It was at the second battle of Ypres that Arthur Currie's tactical ability
was finally recognized by his superiors. He was promoted to major-general
and now had command of the entire First Canadian Division.
ARTHUR CURRIE, AS SEEN BY HIS TROOPS

Currie had a nickname among his troops: "Guts and Gaiters". He was
stern and aloof, but the Canadians knew he was good at what he did and
could be trusted; unlike some of the other commanders (notably General
Douglas Haig) who sent wave after wave of men charging across No Man's
Land in certain death, Currie did not waste any soldiers' lives. He tried his
best to win each battle with as few casualties as possible.

VIMY RIDGE, 1916

In 1914, the Germans had captured the

high ground of Vimy Ridge and completely
fortified it. Both the French and the British had
failed to take Vimy – and now, possibly because
neither country wanted to lose any more of its
men on Vimy, the Canadians were sent in to
finish the job.

Both Arthur Currie and Julian Byng

valued their troops and knew they would not be
able to take Vimy without a proper strategy. On
January 20th, 1917, Currie began a series of
lectures on what he believed would be the key
to winning the battle:

 The Platoon System of Attack: instead of

just sending waves of men over No Man's
Land, the troops would charge at
different times and cover each other's attacks; also, there were various
specialists in each group
 The Creeping Barrage: done properly, it would allow soldiers to march
across No Man's Land while artillery fire shielded them
 Intelligence: spotting and silencing enemy artillery
  Training: instead of sending the soldiers in blindly, each one had to be
trained specifically for their role; all of them were given maps, and
knew what to do in the event that their commander was killed in action

With Currie's tactical research, the Canadians had succeeded where

both the British and the French failed: taking Vimy Ridge.

PASSCHENDAELE, 1917

Before he sent his troops to the Third Battle of Ypres (also known as
Passchendaele), Currie estimated a total casualty count of sixteen hundred
casualties and insisted that taking Passchendaele would be strategically
useless. However, Sir Douglas Haig ignored Currie's warnings and carried on
with the attack.

Currie, being of lower rank, could not do much. He insisted on taking

his time with the preparations, and the Canadian offensive only began on
October 20th of 1917. The Germans withdrew from battle on November 11th,
but as Currie had predicted, there were nearly 16,000 casualties and the
attack was entirely futile – it was the Germans' policy to always have a trench
to fall back to, and after the Canadians left Passchendaele, they quickly took
back what little ground the Corps gained.

POST-WAR RECOGNITION & DEATH

After the war ended, Currie had received various awards and honours for his
compet-ence on the battlefield.
 He was knighted in 1917
and was Mentioned in
Despatches (if an officer
performs a noteworthy
act is included in an
official report from a
senior commander, the
officer has been
"Mentioned in
Despatches") a total of

nine times. Currie was

also named companion
to the Order of the Bath (British chivalry) following the Second Battle of
Ypres, promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, welcomed
into the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, joined
the French Légion d'honneur and Croix de Guerre, the Order of the Crown,
and received the US Distinguished Service Medal. Currie was Canada's first
general.

Even though Currie only received a secondary school diploma, he

became the President and Vice Chancellor of McGill University in Montreal.
General Currie died a few days after the fifteenth anniversary of Armistice
(end of the war) on November 30th, 1933. He was fifty-eight years old when
he passed away.

LEGACY

How did Sir Arthur Currie become a crucial figure in the history of
Canada? A tall, aloof, slightly opportunistic man doesn't exactly fit one's ideal
image of a hero, especially someone who was liable to be prosecuted for
embezzlement before war had been declared – but throughout the war, Currie
had proven time and time again that he had not become commander of the
Canadian corps through anything but sheer tactical ability.
 Calm and quiet, Arthur Currie – with his vision on the battlefield,
consideration for his soldiers and prudence in times of danger – had welded
the Canadian Corps into an unparalleled military force that could achieve
even the impossible.