Historian, Norm Christie, examines the old battlefields,
visiting the cemeteries and memorials that hold the secrets
to the legacy and sacrifices of the Canadians in the Great
War.
Episode 1: Baptism of Fire, The Gas Attack at Ypres,
1915
This episode follows the early development of the Canadians,
from enthusiastic volunteers in 1914, to their first taste
of battle, confronting the Germans and poison gas in front
of the ancient Belgian city of Ypres.
Episode 2: Slaughter and Sacrifice, The Somme, 1916
As more Canadians arrive on the Western Front, they are
sent to fight in one of the most blood-thirsty battles of
the Great War, The Battle of the Somme. In two months the
Canadians lose 24,000 men to gain 4 miles of destroyed French
farmland.
Episode 3: Storming the Ridge, Vimy Ridge, 1917
Moving north after the charnel house of the Somme, the Canadians
plan for their most difficult operation of the war to date;
the attack on the German fortress position of Vimy Ridge.
Thought to be impregnible, the Canadians would have to plan
and execute to perfection to snath this vital position from
the Germans. Nobody thought they could do it.
Episode 4: Slaughter in the Mud; Passchendaele, 1917
After gaining a reputation for excellence at Vimy, their
new battlefield, the sodden mud of Flanders, would be their
greatest challenge of the war. Attacking in deplorable conditions,
against a well-entrenched enemy, planning could only go
so far. At Passchendaele, only courage and tenacity could
win the day.
Episode 5: Masters of War, Canada's Hundred Days, 1918
After 18 months of great victories the Canadians would be
asked to break the back of the German Army. In three major
battles; Amiens, Arras and Cambrai, the Canadian Corps cracks
the German line, and forces the Germans back. On the run,
the Germans are forced to end the war, with the Canadians
hot on their heels. At Mons, where the war started for the
British Army in 1914, the upstart Canadians are the ones
to recapture the famous city on the last day of the War.
Episode 6: Shadows of the Great War
This episode looks at the aftermath of the war; the building
of the cemeteries, the unveiling of Vimy Ridge in 1936,
the plight of the returned veterans both in Canada and Germany,
and finally the most hideous legacy of the Great War, the
start of the Second World War, and the lessons of war must
be learned again.