History Channel - For King and Empire Canadas Soldiers in the Great War (2001) Part 5 Masters of War Canadians in the Last 100 Days - 1918

With military historian Norm Christie as our guide, we explore the battlefields, cemeteries and monuments of the First World War. The men who fought tell their stories, and we discover how the naive, amateur soldiers of 1914 became, by 1918, perhaps the most feared, efficient and deadly Allied fighting machine on the Western Front the “Canadian Corps.” FOR KING AND EMPIRE tells the stories of ordinary Canadians who fought extraordinary battles during the First World War. Six episodes represent a turning point in the Great War Ypres, the Somme, Vimy, Passchendaele, the Battles of the Last Hundred Days, and the Legacy of the War. By depicting walking tours of each battleground, For King and Empire explores the significance of the battle and what was at risk, the initial strategies and what actually transpired. In six harrowing hours rife with veteran testimonies and battlescarred films, Canadian historian Norm Christie tours WWI battlefields on foot, including Ypres, The Somme and the once blood-soaked Vimy Ridge to relive the horrors of what was known as The Great War. Canadian regiments played key roles in pivotal moments, and this well-researched series functions both to record the memories of the living and, perhaps, raise the ghosts of some of the ten million souls lost in the terrible trenches. Based on the series of books “For King and Empire” by Norm Christie.

A Breakthrough Entertainment Inc. Production in Association with History Television, Bell Broadcast, Knowledge Network and ACCESS - The Education Station.

Part 5 Masters of War Canadians in the Last 100 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. The victory over Russia in the East now allows the Germans to transfer thousands of troops to the Western Front. Masters of war shows how in March 1918, the Germans launch a great offensive in France and Belgium, sweeping aside British and French armies, and almost winning the war. In advancing, the Germans have avoided the Canadian Corps, viewed as perhaps the deadliest force on the Front. The Canadian commander, Arthur Currie, moves his 100,000 troops in secrecy to Amiens, where the Allies will stage their counteroffensive. On August 8, the Allies strike back, and the attack, spearheaded by the Canadian Corps, becomes the greatest British victory yet, reversing the tide of war. They secure major victories in battles on the 8th and 9th of August, and in the next 100 days, the Canadian Corps wins seemingly impossible victories at Arras, at the Canal du Nord, and at Cambrai, driving the Germans out of France to the Hindenburg Line. On the last day of the war, the Canadian Corps liberates the Belgian city of Mons, where British and German troops first fought in 1914. The armistice took effect the next day. By 1918, the Canadians have become the spearhead of victory, masters of war.

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