A Century Ago Today

One hundred years ago today the Great War (before we knew better than to start numbering them) began.  Twenty-eighth day of July, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia after they only met 8 of the 10 demands of the "July Ultimatum". The first act of aggression that would plunge much of the world into one of the deadliest conflicts in history.

British MkI Tank

German Tri-plane

The powers involved, both Allied and Central, were approaching the war from their old tactical methodology. The huge advances in technology, such as the machine gun, the aircraft and later the tank and the U-boat submarine as well as advances in artillery turned the war into trench warfare. A long slow slug-fest that would drag on for four years and cost the lives of over nine million combatants and many more injured. It also saw the creation and use of chemical weapons. The affects of them were so horrible the use of them has be banned by almost every nation on earth since the end of the war.

Union Jack of the British Empire

The Red Ensign of The Dominion of Canada

From the Canadian perspective, we had really just been a British colony up till that point. "The Great War" gave us a chance to shine, an opportunity "to show our quality". It was during this conflict that Canada really came into its own and became a country unto itself and not just an extension of the British Empire. We sent almost half a million personnel to Europe, in defence of Britain and France. For a country of just over 7 million at the time that was around 14% of our population.

Canadian Fighter Ace, Billy Bishop

I used to know a gentleman who fought in this war (as well as the Boar War). His name was Bill Clayton, and was a close friend of my family. Truth is he was originally a friend of my Great Grandparents, and as he had no family here in Canada, he was adopted into our family, and was always a staple at Sunday dinners and all family events. I spent quite a few evenings in my teens talking about his experiences during the war for history papers. And my Great Uncle, Charles Morrison, also fought in the war as a signal-man. One of the most dangerous jobs, you would crawl into no-mans-land and listen for enemy preparations and signal back to your trenches about imminent attacks. Yet made it through the war only being wounded once and died a few years later in a accident on the family farm. When your time is up, it's up.

All the vets of this war have passed into memory. Yet we still remember the end of the war every year on Remembrance Day. The Great War ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, in the year of our lord one thousand nine hundred eighteen. It has defined so much of our history and who we are over the last century. The end of an era and the start of the modern age.