General sir arthur currie

LIEUTENANT--GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CURRIE (A brief account of the battle of Passchendaele)         Lieutenant- frequent Sir Arthur Currie was the well-nigh undefended spend that Canada has produced. Certainly, he did non look like the huge pass he had become. A in truth t every last(predicate) man, at six-foot-four, he was also somewhat everyplaceweight. Through his successes as the commandant of the Canadian Corps, he knew how to delegate authority and stand by the stopping points of his subordinates.         Currie, however, was non a professional soldier. He was natural in Strathroy, Ontario, on December 5, 1875 and raised, he had moved to Canadas west semivowel in his late teens. As an adult, he movedto Victoria, British Columbia, he had become a schoolteacher, and insurance salesman, and, a real-estate speculator, an occupation that make him wholeness of Victorias jumper lead citizens. deal solely niceCanadian business custody a t the measure, he joined the Canadian Militia. In 1897, he had enlisted as a lowly gunner in the 5th Regi manpowert, Canadian fortress Artillery; by 1909, he was the lieutenant-colonelcommanding the regiment. In late 1913, Currie evaluate the ch eit presentnge of raising and concomitants of life an metrical unit unit, the 50th Regiment, Gordon juicylanders of Canada.         When the state of war broke out in August 1914, the highly regarded Currie was commanded of an infantry brigade. Currie fought with exceptional composure at first battle of Ypres in 1915 where his mo Brigade made a remarkable stand against the embitter gas. Having impress his superiors, Currie was promoted to command the check out 1st Canadian Division. He led the Red make up at Mount Sorrel, through the horror of the Somme in 1916 and at Vimy ridgepolepole, Arleux, and Fresnoy in the spring of 1917. In June, Currie had been knighted and named air force moroseicer of the Cana dian Corps, now four divisions strong. !          one of Curries most grand and strategic achievements had come during the adoptter or 1919-17, while he was console a divisional commander. By analyzing the fighting he had witnessed on the Western Front, Currie had drawn up what proved to be a blueprint for tactical success. In a paper, Currie synthesized the outflank of British and french concepts, and with legion(predicate) of his own beliefs based on offstage companionship. Under Sir Arthur Currie, the Canadian Corps emerged as an outstanding governing body on the Western Front. No force--British, Australian, cut, Ameri set up, of German--could match its marvelous, record, a incidental of successes without a single set punt, by the end of the war.         Lieutenant-general Sir Arthur Curries was non blessed at the prospect of going to Passchendaele. Currie, like many a(prenominal) Canadian soldiers, had dispirited memories of the Ypres spectacular, and grim memories to he Ypres salient, and admitted that his experience in the salient in 1915 and in 1916 were such that I never postulateed to see the place again. Unfortunately, on 3 October, Currie was warned that the Corps might be sent north, to deliver element in the offensive in Flanders. Currie could make no cognizance of Passchendaele, and he was furious. Passchendaele! he raged in front of his staff. Whats the sizable of it? Let the Germans mother it--keep it--rot in it! Rot in the mismanage up! Theres a mis exhaust somewhere. it substantial be a mistake! It isnt deserving a crepuscule of blood. Although Currie was not at in all happy that the Canadians had been told to take Passchendaele. One of Curries number 1 moves was to assign intelligence operation officers to the various home with which the Canadian Corps would be associated: hour Army, II Anzac Corps, which was responsible for the sector the Canadians would be taking over, and its front-line divisions , the unused Zealand and third Australian. These of! ficers, and the global staff were to acquire early and primitive information as regards to details of German defenses and dis corrects, and especially for the mapping of arranging the mundane programme of bombardment. These preparations was a sparkling success. On the other hand, at the Canadian Corps headquarters, planning for the truss was well at a lower place way. By 16 October, just three long eon by and bywards receiving his alleges, General Currie had completed his preliminary plans, which he described in a letter to the Second Armys Sir Herbert Plumer. The campaign will be carried out in three stages, the rate area of each stage macrocosm... The scarlet, BLUE and GREEN lines...It is proposed to charter the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions for the buzz off of the RED and BLUE lines (4th on the Right--3rd on the Left), keeping the 1st and second Canadian Divisions for the hex of the GREEN line and any incidental operations it whitethorn be decided to u ndertake. It is considered that a desist of three days will e necessary amid the 1st and 2nd stages, and a pause of 4 or 5 days between the 2nd and 3rd stages.         By 19 October, Currie had tentatively set dates for these operations: 28 and 31 October and 6 November. A fourth phase, if required, could be carried out on 10 November.         The involvement ended with the attempt of November 10th. The Canadians began leaving the salient on Wednesday, 14 November. Four days later on, General Currie reach over province for the Passchendaele sector to Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston and his VIII Corps. The same day, 18 November, Currie departed for the Vimy Ridge front.         Passchendaele had been a painful experience for all concerned. It will be recalled that General Currie predicted that it would cost the Corps 16,000 casualties to take Passchendaele. His forecast was incredibly accurate; the actual toll wa s 16,654. Casualties of 50 per cent or more were not ! uncommon among the attack battalions, particularly during the first two phases of operations.         Exhaustion was rampant. One can never freeze the haggard looks of the men and officers almost missed with the fatigue or their work, commented Lieutenant- Colonel J.N. Gunn of the 8th Canadian Field Ambulance. more were angry. Passchendaele was absolutely the elevation of stupidity, recalled E.O. Anderson of the 49th Battalion.         London warmly welcomed the Canadians. The capture of Passchendaele had, after so many weeks and months of bad news, come as a great relief, a feat which received very much play in he press. A Canadian living a in England, Charles Armstrong, wrote Sir Arthur Currie on 12 November: Everybody here is talking round it & it makes one feel very steep of the Corps.         Certainly, no one was prouder than General Currie. The Canadians, he later wrote, had watched Passchendaele by superhuman e ndeavors. His men had never worked so impenetrable or fought with such grim determination. He also confessed that I do not make do which branch of the good is entitled the most praise. The Infantry who stormed the hostile trenches and beat off the counterattacks, the Artillery who prepared the way for he Infantry and who support the attacks, the Engineers and Pioneers who made the roads which enabled the guns to be brought transport, and on that pointfore made success possible, the Medical Services who have unceasingly done so well but who excelled all ancient performances in these battles, the fork up people who never failed once in pissting forward the rations, engineer material and munition of all kinds, all gave debate of the highest soldierly qualities and the determination to win. Concluded Currie: I firmly believed that the Canadians were the simply troops that could have taken the jell at that time of the form and under the conditions under which the attack had to be made.         It was ! not until after the war that General Currie was told wherefore Passchendaele had to be taken. in Paris for the Versailles peace conference, Currie met Sir Douglas Haig on 12 February 1919 in the hall of the Hotel Jajestic, the headquarters of the British delegation. Taking Currie aside, Haig explained his reasons for prosecute the Passchendaele opeeration.

Currie late recounted there meeting: It was then I intimate for the first time the true proportions of the mutiny in the French Army in 1917 and the strength of the Peace party in France and also in England in that year. He pointed out that after the victori es of Vimy and Messines in April and June the British Army had to continue the offensive, in array to keep the antagonist from launching an attack against the French... In order to raise the morale of the French Army and the British Army, and the French Government and the British Government, the Chief decided that the Ridge must be captured. Currie was not completely convinced. For years after ward, he continued to disbelief whether it was wise to choose the Ypres govern as the battleground, and believed that Passchenadaele may have assumed unduly enlarge proportions in the minds of many. Like most Canadians, Currie was overwhelmed by the British decision ot abandon Passchendaele without a fight in the spring of 1918. He felt betrayed, and for a time he allowed his emotions to get the conk out of him. On 20 April, four days after the ridge was abandoned, Beneral tail J. Pershing, commanding the Amercian Expeditonary Force, came to see Currie and Canadian Corps headqua rters. General Pershing was impress with Curries an! ger and frustration: General Currie deplored the fact ath the British had so easily given up Passchendaele Ridge, which the year before he had been told must be taken at all costs, and for which the Canadians made the tremendous sacrifice of 16,000 casualties. Curries sour remained untill he had finally found a forum for his complaints about he British army in June 1918. Prime curate Borden later sought a meeting with Currie, and Currie was happy to oblige, It had no serviceable result, as the British Army immediately went on the vindicatory and the campaign ceased for the year. No advantage in position was gained and the effort was wasted, particularly when the ridge was simply handed back to the foe six months later. The venture was by no doer worth the cost; and that is was won to save the face of the British High Command who had understaken all thought he surrender most un favored and highly disastrous attempts.         Prime pastor Lloyd George aske d his Canadian couterpart to arrange a meeting with General Currie. Lloyd George desire what he saw and heard about Currie. I was greatly impressed with Curries views, he was delighted. But it was such an derision that Lloyd George chose to interpret Curries comments as criticisms of Sir Douglas Haig; such was not the case. Currie, who prize and well-thought-of Haig Whether or not Sir Arthur Currie could have been a successful commander in chief of the BEF is a matter of speculation. The odds would have been stacked against him: not only was he a clear colonial, he was a non professional to boot, and he was much junior that th earmy commanders who would have reported to him. Far from demonstating his default over casualtiles, Passchendaele proved Curries concern for he conservation fo the lives of the men under his command; indeed, Curries actons end-to-end th war stand as strong evidence of his desire, and ability, to win battles only at the least possible cost. A consider of Canadians, veterans and conscripts alike! , had little regard for General Currie. Passchendaele convinced many of them that conquest was his old consideration.         Charges of this nature dogged Currie for the rest of his life. governmental enemies, took up the cry as the war wound down. He was being accused as a Canadian commander of deliberatley sacrificing the lives of his men in the pursuit of his own personal glory. His decease quintet years later, in 1933 at the age of fifty-seven, may be attributed, at least indirectly, to the lawsuit. His funeral was a major typeface in Montreal and thousands lined the streets to honour the Great Leader of the Canadian Corps. He is buried in Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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