losses, took Cambrai and made large captures of men and mate-
rial. In the final stage of the fighting Denain was taken by the
Canadians on Oct. 20, Valenciennes on Nov. 2, and Mons at
4 A.M. on Nov. n, the day on which the Armistice came into force at ii A.M. The Canadian troops captured 45,000 prisoners, 850 artillery guns, and 4,200 machine-guns, retook 130 towns and villages, liberated 310,000 French and Belgian civilians. Canadian units also served in Palestine, Macedonia and Russia.
The Canadian cavalry fought, for the most part, separately from the Canadian Army Corps. They distinguished themselves in March 1917 by the capture of six villages in two days, and in Dec. gave valuable help in the attack on Villers-Guislains. In the German offensive of March and April 1918 the Canadian Cavalry Brigade was actively engaged and suffered heavy casual- ties at Bois Moreuil, Rifle Wood and elsewhere. The brigade fought as part of the Canadian Corps in the second battle of Amiens, and, in the great advance at the end of the fighting, captured the town of Le Cateau on Oct. 9. Canadian railway units were attached to all the British armies; these troops were responsible for the whole of the construction of light railways and 60% of the standard-gauge railways in the area occupied by the British forces. In addition to the units of the Canadian Forestry Corps in France, a number of Canadians were engaged in Great Britain in cutting and milling timber.
During the war 1,617 medical officers, 2,002 nursing sisters and 12,382 other ranks of the Canadian Army Medical Corps went overseas from Canada. There were in Canada at the end of the war 913 medical officers, 527 nursing sisters, 182 V.A.D. nurses, and 4,oi 2 other ranks. The Medical Corps had in France 6 general hospitals, 6 stationary hospitals, 6 casualty clearing stations, and 13 field ambulances, and in England 9 active treatment hospitals,
5 special hospitals, 5 convalescent hospitals, and a special sanatorium. In Canada there were 65 military hospitals, with 11,786 beds. Some 22,300 patients were brought back to Canada in 1917 and 1918 on 35 passages of hospital ships. On 27 of these passages the C.A.M.C. provided the staffs of the ships. The " Llandovery Castle " was sunk by a submarine while returning from Canada to England.
About 12,000 troops were required in Canada for home defence as garrisons for fortresses and guards for internment camps, canals, etc. Canada also furnished a garrison for the important post of St. Luciainthe Westlndies. There were 12,902 Canadians in the Royal Air Force, and its predecessors the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps. In addition, a number of Americans were trained in Canada by the instructional staff of the Royal Air Force. Some 4,701 men were furnished from Canada for the Imperial Service known as the Inland Waterways and Docks. About 710 Canadians joined the Imperial Motor Transport Service, and several hundred Canadians, mostly from the universities, received commissions in the British army. Canada also furnished several hundred doctors and veterinarians and about 200 nurses to the British army. Some 200 Canadian officers were lent, as instructors, to the United States.
As regards the naval service, at the outbreak of the war in 1914 the Canadian Government possessed only two naval vessels the " Niobe," a cruiser of n,ooo-tons displacement, with a main armament of 16 6-in. guns, stationed at Halifax, and the " Rain- bow," a small cruiser of 3,6oo-tons displacement, armed with 2 6-in., 6 4-7-in. and 4 i2-pounder guns, stationed at Esquimalt, on the Pacific. The " Rainbow," which was ready for sea, pa- trolled, with other ships on the Pacific stations, as far south as Panama, and captured several ships carrying contraband of war. After the entry of the United States into the war she became dep6t- ship on the Pacific coast. The " Niobe " was made ready for sea in Sept. 1914 and remained in commission one year, during which she steamed over 30,000 m. on patrol duty. She afterwards became depot-ship at Halifax.
At the beginning of hostilities various small craft were taken over by the Naval Department from the Departments of Marine and of Customs, and were armed and manned by the R.C.N.V.R. for the performance of patrol duties off the Atlantic coast. Two submarines, which were bought just before the declaration of war
patrolled the approaches to Victoria and Vancouver and helped in keeping Adml. von Spec's squadron away from the Pacific ports. H.M. sloop " Shearwater " was taken into the Canadian service as mother-ship to these submarines and, in the summer of 1917, these three vessels went, by way of the Panama Canal, to Halifax. A patrol and mine-sweeping service was carried on after the outbreak of war. The vessels used at first were Govern- ment and privately owned vessels which were taken over and equipped for the purpose. Some of these were placed at the disposal of the Government free of charge. Early in 1917 the Department of Naval Service undertook to have 60 trawlers and 100 drifters built in Canada for the Imperial Government. These vessels were built at various places on the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, many of them were in service in Canadian and European waters in the year 1917 and all were in service in 1918. The area patrolled under the Department stretched from the Straits of Belle Isle to the Bay of Fundy, and from Quebec to east of the Virgin Rocks. Within this area the Department had con- trol of patrols, convoys, mine-sweeping, the protection of fishing fleets, etc. Only one large vessel was lost by enemy attack.
At the date of the Armistice the vessels in the Canadian naval service were as follows. In the Pacific: H.M.C.S. " Rainbow," depot and training ship; H.M.S. " Algerine," sloop; auxiliary- patrol ship " Malaspina "; several motor-launches for harbour defence. In the Atlantic: H.M.C.S. "Niobe, " depot and training ship; H.M.C.S. " Shearwater," submarine depot ship, and 2 sub- marines; H.M.C.S. " Grilse," torpedo-boat destroyer; 9 auxiliary patrol ships, 47 armed trawlers, 58 armed drifters, 1 1 armed mine- sweepers and tugs, and a large flotilla of motor-launches. The crews of these vessels consisted of men from all parts of Canada, principally members of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. At the date of the Armistice the personnel of the service was: officers and men of the Royal Canadian Navy, 749; officers and men of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, 4,374.
In addition to the men serving in Canadian vessels, over 1,700 men were recruited in Canada for the Imperial navy, 73 surgeon probationers and a number of hydrographic survey officers were sent from Canada and 580 Canadians enrolled as probationary flight lieutenants in the Royal Naval Air Service, before recruit- ing for the Royal Air Force began in Canada. More than 500 Canadians holding commissions in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve were in the British Auxiliary Patrol and similar services.
The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service was established in the summer of 1918, with stations at Halifax and North Sydney. It cooperated with the U.S. Naval Aviation Corps in patrolling the coast and escorting convoys through the danger zone.
The Canadian Radiotelegraph Service controlled about 200 stations ashore and afloat. Several new stations were erected or taken over by the Department of Naval Service, and there was an unbroken chain of radio communication from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Demerara. The Department opened a training school for wireless operators, from which about 200 men were sent out for service in all parts of the world.
Important refitting, repairing and supply work was done by the Canadian dockyards. Large refits of Imperial and other ships were made at Esquimalt, including H.M.S. " Kent " after the battle of the Falklandls., and the Japanese battleship " Asama," after grounding on the coast of Lower California. Several large cruisers were refitted at Halifax and Montreal. Other work in- cluded the defensive armament of merchant ships, the refitting of transports for troops, horses and special cargo, and the loading and securing on ships' decks of 600 large launches, tugs, etc.
The Canadian Naval Service provided supplies for the ships of the Royal Canadian Navy and for a number of Imperial and Allied ships in Canadian waters, as well as many of the require- ments of H.M. dockyards at Bermuda and Hong-Kong. Large supplies were shipped from Halifax dockyard for provisioning the fleets in European waters. A large coaling depot was established at Sydney for the use of patrolling vessels and of all convoys leaving the St. Lawrence.
In shipbuilding Canada had a splendid war record. Nearly 1,000 vessels of one kind or another were turned out for the van-
