General 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 (Along with John Monash).
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.
Early life
Arthur Currie was born in Napperton, Ontario[1], and attended Strathroy Collegiate
Institute in Strathroy, Ontario. In 1894 he
moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where he first taught school and later
sold real estate. There, he joined the army military and over the years prior to the Great
War he rose through the ranks to become his regiment's Commanding Officer.
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 a brigade at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, and by 1917 he had been promoted to general, the first Canadian to receive this honour during the war.
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 introduced at this battle 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 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.
Other Battles
Currie and the Canadian Corps were successful again at Passchendaele (the Third Battle
of Ypres) in November, but at the cost of 16,000 men. Currie had accurately predicted these high
casualty figures when British General Douglas Haig ordered the troops to
attack.
When the German 1918 spring offensive was stalled, Currie took the Canadian Corps 100
miles south, in total secrecy, to the French town of Amiens, where his troops halted the German
offensive in the Battle of Amiens and began the drive to Germany (known as the
Canada's Hundred Days).
At the Battle of the Canal du Nord in September of 1918, Currie flatly refused to carry out Haig's orders to attack across a canal and into a fortified German trench.
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. Currie believed in the specialisation of
troops and formally organised battalions of combat engineers to move with the troops.
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.
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 later faced intense criticism for wasting lives in the last days of the war
because he had had forehand knowledge of the planned Armistice. This contradiction can be explained by the fact that Currie did
not support the Armistice agreement. He believed that unless the Allied forces pushed onward and completely destroyed the German
army, then they would have to come back and fight again in 25 years.
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. This also did not endear him to Garnet's father, who
constantly lobbied for his son's promotion and leveled personal attacks against Currie.
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.
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. 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. Currie successfully sued the newspaper for libel in 1928, during a trial held in Cobourg, Ontario.
Postwar career and honours
View of funeral procession of Arthur Currie showing horse drawn caisson as it moves along Park Avenue in Montreal, Quebec.
After the War, Currie became the President and Vice Chancellor of McGill University
in Montreal. Currie introduced a quota system designed to severely limit the number of Jewish students.[citation needed] 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.
Legacy
Arthur Currie statue at the Valiants Memorial in Ottawa
- 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 in 1914, first General in the Canadian Army; World War I
- 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.
- 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
In popular culture
- The comic book superhero Aquaman's secret human identity is Arthur Curry,
inspired by this general.
Quotes
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."
References
- ^ [1]
External links
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