The Life & Achievements Of Sir Arthur Currie

2009 Written & Illustrated by Sally Xie 03/01/09

[THE LIFE & CONTRIBUTIONS OF SIR ARTHUR CURRIE: A VISUAL TIMELINE] A biography and tribute to one of the greatest Canadian generals of WWI, who helped shape Canada into the nation it is today.

EARLY YEARS On December 5th, 1875 in the quaint town of Napperton, Arthur William Currie (formerly Curry) was born. A talented tactician and strategist, he was arguably the best Canadian general to ever fight on the battlefield. He had lived in his parents' family home with William Garner Curry and Jane Patterson, and the dwelling – albeit in dire need of repair –still stands to this day. Currie had been educated at various local public schools before enrolling in the Strathroy Collegiate Institute just east of his hometown, and for a brief while, even attended the University of Toronto.

LIFE BEFORE THE WAR In 1894, Currie moved to British Columbia and taught in public schools around Sidney and Victoria for five years. It was during this time that he changed the spelling of his surname to 'Currie'. He was twenty-two years of age when he enlisted in the nonpermanent army as a lowlyranked gunner in the fifth Regiment, Canadian Garrison Artillery. By 1900 (twenty-five years old) he had risen in rank to become

corporal, and was offered an officer's commission (a higher rank and better social standing within Victoria). Once he had been commissioned, Currie was expected to supply his own tailored uniforms and contribute part of his income to the officer's mess (a community residence where the soldiers socialized, ate, and sometimes lived). Currie knew he would not be able to afford all this on a teacher's salary, and decided to go into business. He became involved with insurance and invested heavily in the real estate market, until his mass investment went awry and he was severely bankrupt. Currie then transferred around $11,000 dollars from regimental funds into his personal bank account to pay off his debts, and was actually liable to be prosecuted until World War I broke out in 1914. He was sent to Europe in command of the second Brigade, and although Prime Minister Robert Borden eventually realized Currie should have went to court for embezzlement, he did nothing about it because he didn't want to bring his men home. In a sense, World War I actually saved Currie from his financial plight. CURRIE'S FIRST GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT IN WORLD WAR I Currie led his troops to France on February 19th, and they took control of a position in Ypres on April 17th. Five days later, for the very first time on the Western front – the Germans attacked with lethal gas. Faced with an unprecedented situation that ordinarily would have panicked commanders and troops alike, Currie did not falter; he threw the tactical rulebook out the window and came up with a strong defense and effective counterattack. After several days of standing their ground, the Canadians established a stable defense line, and emerged victorious. It was at the second battle of Ypres that Arthur Currie's tactical ability was finally recognized by his superiors. He was promoted to major-general and now had command of the entire First Canadian Division.

ARTHUR CURRIE, AS SEEN BY HIS TROOPS Currie had a nickname among his troops: "Guts and Gaiters". He was stern and aloof, but the Canadians knew he was good at what he did and could be trusted; unlike some of the other commanders (notably General Douglas Haig) who sent wave after wave of men charging across No Man's Land in certain death, Currie did not waste any soldiers' lives. He tried his best to win each battle with as few casualties as possible. VIMY RIDGE, 1916 In 1914, the Germans had captured the high ground of Vimy Ridge and completely fortified it. Both the French and the British had failed to take Vimy – and now, possibly because neither country wanted to lose any more of its men on Vimy, the Canadians were sent in to finish the job. Both Arthur Currie and Julian Byng valued their troops and knew they would not be able to take Vimy without a proper strategy. On January 20th, 1917, Currie began a series of lectures on what he believed would be the key to winning the battle: 

The Platoon System of Attack: instead of just sending waves of men over No Man's Land, the troops would charge at different times and cover each other's attacks; also, there were various specialists in each group

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The Creeping Barrage: done properly, it would allow soldiers to march across No Man's Land while artillery fire shielded them

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Intelligence: spotting and silencing enemy artillery

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Training: instead of sending the soldiers in blindly, each one had to be trained specifically for their role; all of them were given maps, and knew what to do in the event that their commander was killed in action With Currie's tactical research, the Canadians had succeeded where

both the British and the French failed: taking Vimy Ridge. PASSCHENDAELE, 1917 Before he sent his troops to the Third Battle of Ypres (also known as Passchendaele), Currie estimated a total casualty count of sixteen hundred casualties and insisted that taking Passchendaele would be strategically useless. However, Sir Douglas Haig ignored Currie's warnings and carried on with the attack. Currie, being of lower rank, could not do much. He insisted on taking his time with the preparations, and the Canadian offensive only began on October 20th of 1917. The Germans withdrew from battle on November 11th, but as Currie had predicted, there were nearly 16,000 casualties and the attack was entirely futile – it was the Germans' policy to always have a trench to fall back to, and after the Canadians left Passchendaele, they quickly took back what little ground the Corps gained. POST-WAR RECOGNITION & DEATH After the war ended, Currie had received various awards and honours for his compet-ence on the battlefield.

He was knighted in 1917 and was Mentioned in Despatches (if an officer performs a noteworthy act is included in an official report from a senior commander, the officer has been "Mentioned in Despatches") a total of nine times. Currie was also named companion to the Order of the Bath (British chivalry) following the Second Battle of Ypres, promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, welcomed into the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, joined the French Légion d'honneur and Croix de Guerre, the Order of the Crown, and received the US Distinguished Service Medal. Currie was Canada's first general. Even though Currie only received a secondary school diploma, he became the President and Vice Chancellor of McGill University in Montreal. General Currie died a few days after the fifteenth anniversary of Armistice (end of the war) on November 30th, 1933. He was fifty-eight years old when he passed away.

LEGACY How did Sir Arthur Currie become a crucial figure in the history of Canada? A tall, aloof, slightly opportunistic man doesn't exactly fit one's ideal image of a hero, especially someone who was liable to be prosecuted for embezzlement before war had been declared – but throughout the war, Currie had proven time and time again that he had not become commander of the Canadian corps through anything but sheer tactical ability.

Calm and quiet, Arthur Currie – with his vision on the battlefield, consideration for his soldiers and prudence in times of danger – had welded the Canadian Corps into an unparalleled military force that could achieve even the impossible.