Arthur Currie
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| Sir Arthur William Currie | |
|---|---|
| December 5, 1875 – November 30, 1933 | |
 General Sir Arthur William Currie |
|
| Place of birth | Strathroy, Ontario |
| Place of death | Montreal, Quebec |
| Allegiance |  Canada |
| Service/branch | Canadian Corps |
| Years of service | 1914 - 1918 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Canadian Corps |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Other work | President & Vice Chancellor of McGill University |
Sir Arthur William Currie, GCMG, KCB (December 5, 1875 – November 30, 1933) was the first Canadian commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (a corps of four divisions) on the Western Front during World War I. Currie was among the most successful generals of the war; he is still considered one of the finest commanders in Canadian military history, as well as one of the most capable commanders on the entire Western Front.
Under his capable leadership the Canadian Corps won a long series of battles, fighting as a unit for the first time in a major war. They soon earned a fierce reputation as some of the most effective troops on the Western Front, as they fought under Currie without losing a single battle. Currie was the master of the set-piece battle [1], which involves large formations moving according to a plan and responding to the opposing force also by plan. Currie was able to succeed and gain a great reputation from the war, when many other reputations were ruined, by teaching his troops to manoeuvre at all times possible, which led to his idea of using platoon tactics.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Strathroy, Ontario, the son of William Garner Currie and Jane Patterson, Currie was educated in the common schools and at the Strathroy District Collegiate Instutute. He lived just west of Strathroy in the hamlet of Napperton. The family home is still in existence although privately owned and is in a poor state of repair. He briefly attended the University of Toronto before moving to British Columbia in 1894. He taught at public schools in Sidney and Victoria. In 1900, he entered the life insurance business eventually becoming provincial manager of the National Life Assurance Company. He then formed a partnership with R. A. Power, called Currie & Power, dealing in insurance and real estate.[2] While in Victoria, he joined the army militia and over the years prior to the Great War he rose through the ranks to become his regiment's Commanding Officer. This was after he had served in the militia for 17 years, and he was appointed to a new regiment and promoted to colonel in 1914.[3] , which was as far as he could go in the pre-Great War militia.
[edit] World War I
With Garnet Hughes, son of the Canadian minister of militia, Sir Sam Hughes, he was sent to Europe upon the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. He commanded the Second Canadian Brigade at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, where the Canadians took a stand against the Germans after the Germans had used poison gas for the first time ever in a war. [4] Because of his coolness under pressure in this battle, he was promoted to major-general, commanding the First Canadian Division. In 1917, he had been promoted to lieutenant-general, and he commanded the Canadian Corps, following his successes at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
[edit] Battle of Vimy Ridge
Serving under General Sir Julian Byng, Currie was largely responsible for the tactics and careful planning that led to the unexpected triumph by Canadian battalions at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April, 1917. One of his most useful innovations used at this battle[citation needed] was the creeping barrage, which consisted of troops walking just behind an advancing line of shell fire from Canadian and British artillery, shielding soldiers as they approached the Germans. In addition, constant practice and new troop organisation in which each platoon member was trained to carry out all platoon responsibilities, briefing of the frontline troops, the abundant use of counter-battery fire measures and constant patrolling of the enemy defences all contributed to the effectiveness of the Canadian Corps at Vimy and for the rest of the War. Canadian Corps trained for 5 months in advance, and successfully captured Vimy Ridge within 3 days.
The engineers laid 45 miles of water pipes, 20 miles of railway track, 3 miles of plank road, and they also maintained and repaired 25 miles of local roads, which had been shelled heavily by the Germans in the previous battle at Vimy Ridge. In addition, the Corps signallers buried 21 miles of telephone cable and laid another 66 miles that were unburied, showing how much preparation everyone had done, so it was not just the troops who had to do all of the work. The counterbattery work at Vimy Ridge was brilliant, as the Canadian artillery were able to destroy 83% of the German guns before the battle started. [5]
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first time that all four divisions in the Canadian Corps attacked together at one time, with Currie's division having to make the largest advance, while the other divisions focused mainly on the strongpoints at Hill 145, the highest position, the Pimple, which was another German strongpoint[6], and a heavily fortified farm. During this battle, the attack was carried out almost perfectly, as the soldiers were able to take all of their objectives on time, but they took a total of 12 004 casualties, with 3978 deaths. [7]
[edit] Battle of Passchendaele
The Battle of Passchendaele (the Third Battle of Ypres) was the British's main effort in the fall of 1917, as soldiers from every corner of the Empire had been sent to fight, but they were all unable to capture the main objective of the battle, Passchendaele Ridge. This battle was ordered because British General Douglas Haig had thought that the British Army would be able to use the cavalry in masses after capturing Passchendaele Ridge, as the surrounding land was flat. The British soldiers had failed because it had rained heavily during October, which caused the battlefield to turn into muddy pools, which limited the soldiers' mobility [8], and it was very hard to evacuate the wounded, as a soldier would be tired after moving a few yards.
Currie and the Canadian Corps were successful again at the Battle of Passchendaele in November, but at the cost of 15,654 men, as the soldiers were routinely repulsed many times with the Germans, who were able to shoot down advancing Canadians, as they were holding the high ground. Currie had accurately predicted these high casualty figures when British General Douglas Haig ordered the Canadian Corps to move to the Ypres battlefront, to the chagrin of Currie, who thought that the battle was a waste of time and that the Germans should "rot in the mud" at Passchendaele. After they had captured the ridge, the Canadian Corps had to drive off great counterattacks by the Germans, as they were in a bad salient because the British soldiers to the sides of them had failed badly.
[edit] Hundred Days Offensive
The Germans had launched a great Spring Offensive in 1918, as Russia had dropped out of the conflict, due to the February Revolution, so the Germans were able to move all of the troops that they were using against Russia to the Western Front. During this time, the U.S had decided to join the conflict, because their ships were being sunk by the Germans and they were already giving aid to the British and the rest of the Entente. The Spring Offensive was a great success at the start, as they were able to smash Sir Hubert Gough's Fifth Army, on the right wing of the BEF, and then they were able to regain Passchendaele Ridge with an offensive in Flanders that was stopped by the British with heavy casualties.
After the Spring Offensive was stalled, Currie took the Canadian Corps 70 miles south, in total secrecy, to the French town of Amiens, where his troops began a new offensive that was extremely successful, gaining 8 miles on the first day [9]. The Battle of Amiens was a great success, as the Canadian Corps gained a total of 12 miles before they withdrew to the Arras sector. The withdrawal occurred because the Germans had sent reinforcements to try and stop the Allied advance, which had continued into a small part of Belgium. In Arras, the Canadians attacked eastward, smashing the outer defence lines near the powerful Drocourt-Queant line, which was connected to the Hindenburg line, along the Arras-Cambrai road. On 2 September 1918, the Canadian Corps, smashed the Drocourt-Queant line, and broke its main support position, taking 5622 casualties, which brought the total losses of the Arras-Cambrai operation up to 11,423 casualties.
At the Battle of the Canal du Nord, following up the breaking of the Hindenburg line, Currie refused to carry out Haig's orders to attack into a fortified trench, attacking along the side of the canal through a dry, unfinished section. With the support of General Byng, Currie had bridges quickly assembled, and crossed the canal at night, surprising the Germans with an attack in the morning. This proved the effectiveness of Canadian engineers, in constructing new roads to cross the canal efficiently, without the Germans noticing. Currie believed in the specialisation of troops and formally organised battalions of combat engineers to move with the troops, which was effective, allowing the soldiers to have some rest, instead of working every day that they were not attacking.
As the war neared its end, the Canadian Corps pressed on towards Germany, strengthening its reputation as one of the most feared and respected military formations of the war during Canada's Hundred Days, which included the Battle of Amiens from August 8–August 11, 1918. George Lawrence Price, the last Canadian to die and likely the third last allied soldier to die in the First World War, was under Currie's command at Mons, and was killed by German sniper fire at 10:58 am, just before the 11:00 am Armistice on November 11, 1918.
[edit] After the War
[edit] Regimental scandal and postwar libel suit
Before the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Currie was almost court-martialed for misappropriating $10,000 from a regiment in which he served to pay off a personal debt, as he had thought that Sam Hughes was looking after his financial affairs at home. However, Prime Minister Sir Robert Laird Borden did not wish to disgrace a war hero who had done so much for his country and let the matter drop. In 1927 the Port Hope Evening Guide newspaper reported that Sam Hughes had amazingly accused Currie of being just as much of a "butcher" as General Haig, and it also accused Currie of "wasting lives" at Mons. Currie successfully sued the newspaper for libel in 1928, during a trial held in Cobourg, Ontario [10], in which he had realised that Garnet Hughes and his other enemies were trying to ruin his reputation.
[edit] Postwar career and honours
After the War, Currie became the President and Vice Chancellor of McGill University in Montreal. His legacy at the university remains in the Currie Gym and the Montreal Neurological Institute under Wilder Penfield. Currie was knighted in 1917, and also honoured with the British Knight Commander Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, the French Légion d'honneur and Croix de Guerre, and the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal.
General Currie died soon after the 15th anniversary of the Armistice, on November 30, 1933. He is interred in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal, Quebec. Canadian historians including Pierre Berton and J.L. Granatstein have frequently described Currie as Canada's greatest military commander, as he was then promoted to full general, becoming the first Canadian to hold the rank of General [11]. Currie was respected by his men as an extremely capable general, who closely followed the progress of battles onsite, and who would not waste their lives needlessly.
Currie also refused to allow his former friend Garnet Hughes to serve under him, because of what Currie perceived to be incompetence he had witnessed when they fought together at Ypres in 1915, where the Canadians had taken enormous casualties. This also did not endear him to Garnet's father, who constantly lobbied for his son's promotion and leveled personal attacks against Currie, but nobody believed Sam Hughes, so the attacks did not do much damage. Currie, along with General John Monash of Australia, were both civilians prior to the war, who during the War rose to lead their respective armies, as Currie was a militia officer, commanding several hundred men before the war, and he commanded over a hundred thousand men three years later as Corps Commander.
[edit] Legacy
Sir Arthur William Currie was designated as a National Historic Person of Canada in 1934. This designation was plaqued in 1938 in recognition of his role as Commander of the Canadian Corps, the First Canadian Division, and the Second Brigade. The Currie Building and Currie Hall at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario were subsequently named in his honour. The Currie Barracks in Calgary, which opened in 1933, the year of his death, were named in his honour. In Richmond, BC, General Currie Elementary School was built and named after him in 1919. At the University of Victoria, an on-campus housing building is named Sir Arthur Currie.
In the Officer's Mess of the Canadian Scottish Regiment, the favourite chair of Sir Arthur Currie is reserved for the Commanding Officer of the Regiment to sit on. In his hometown of Strathroy, Ontario the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion bears his name. At McGill University, where he was the principal for 13 years, the gymnasium is named in his honour. A history room at his old high school, Strathroy District Collegiate Institute, has been named in his honour. [12] His grandson, Captain Arthur William Currie is a member of the Canadian Forces in the Cadet Instructors Cadre as the Commanding Officer of 2870 Cadet Corps in Ottawa, Ontario. Sir Arthur Currie donated a statue and war memorial to the city of Saint-Lambert, Quebec. The futuristic Robert A. Heinlein novel Starship Troopers features a fictional Camp Arthur Currie located in Western Canada as an incredibly tough boot camp for aspiring Mobile Infantry soldiers. The comic book superhero Aquaman's secret human identity is Arthur Curry, inspired by this general. In addition, Canada has honoured him as part of 14 valiant heroes in 2006, and he was one of five people who had a live-sized statue. [12]
[edit] Quotations
Currie wrote that the "spirit" of the Royal Military College of Canada's graduates, "no less than their military attainments, exercised a potent influence in fashioning a force which, in fighting efficiency, has never been excelled." Currie was a staunch believer in rigorous training as said in the following quote, "Thorough preparation must lead to success. Neglect nothing." [13]
[edit] Special Orders
Currie utilised special orders to try and get positive publicity for the Canadian Corps, while it was being successful in the Hundred Days' War. This was because the London press had ignored the Canadian contribution in their articles, but they had produced their casualty lists, and the Canadian papers simply republished the London articles, which caused thoughts that the casualties were unnecessarily heavy. In addition, Currie had also issued a special order to console himself when the Canadian Corps was being split up to help defend against the German Spring Offensive. In addition, the special order quoted below also inspired Douglas Haig to write his own order to try and inspire the troops.
"To those who fall I say; you will not die but step into immortality. Your mothers will not lament your fate, but will be proud to have bourne such sons. Your names will be revered for ever and ever by your grateful country, and God will take you unto himself. Canadians, in this fateful hour, I command you and I trust you to fight as you have never fought with all your strength, with all your determination, with all your tranquil courage. On many a hard fought field of battle you have overcome this enemy. With God's help you shall achieve victory once more." [14]
[edit] References
- ^ Battle Types.
- ^ (1914) British Columbia from the earliest times to the present, Vol. 4. Vancouver: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
- ^ Sir Arthur W. Currie.
- ^ Battles of Ypres.
- ^ (1985) Sir Arthur Currie: A Biography. Toronto: Methuen Pub. Co.
- ^ Vimy Ridge.
- ^ The Battle of Vimy Ridge.
- ^ The Canadians at Passchendaele.
- ^ Hundred Days Battle.
- ^ Port Hope Libel Case.
- ^ Sir Arthur William Currie Bio.
- ^ a b Remembering Arthur Currie: Canadian War Hero.
- ^ Bio: Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie.
- ^ Sir Arthur Currie on the Lys Offensive.
[edit] External links
- Arthur Currie at Find A Grave
- Arthur Currie at The Canadian Encyclopedia
- First World War.com
- Arthur Currie at Microsoft Encarta
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New Creation |
Commander of the Second Canadian Brigade 1914 – 1915 |
Succeeded by Louis Lipsett |
| Preceded by Sir Edwin Alderson |
Commander of the First Canadian Division 1915 - 1917 |
Succeeded by Archie Macdonell |
| Preceded by Sir Julian Byng |
Commander of the Canadian Corps 1917 – 1918 |
Succeeded by End of World War I |
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