Arthur Currie
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.
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.
Arthur Currie was born in
Napperton, Ontario 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 militia and over the years prior to the Great War rose through the ranks to become his regiment's Commanding Officer.
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 an unexpected triumph by Canadian battalions at the
Battle of Vimy Ridge in April, 1917. One of the 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 organization 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 defenses all contributed to the effectiveness of the Canadian Corps at Vimy and for the rest of the War.
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 his troops to attack.
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 specialization of troops and formally organized battalions of combat engineers to move with the troops.
As the war neared its end, the Canadian Corps pressed on towards Germany, strengthening their 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 casualty and likely the last soldier to die in the
First World War, was killed by German
sniper fire under Currie's command at
Mons, at 10:58am just before the 11:00am
Armistice on
November 11,
1918.
Currie was respected by his soldiers as a competent general who would not waste their lives needlessly, but he was not well-liked as he was considered too arrogant. 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 in at Ypres in 1915. This also did not endear him to Garnet's father.
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.
Currie was also involved in a scandal stemming from his time in Victoria just before the war began. He defrauded his regiment of $10,000 to buy new uniforms, information which came to light in 1917. However
Prime Minister Sir Robert Laird Borden did not wish to disgrace a war hero and let the matter drop.
In
1927 the
Port Hope Evening Guide newspaper reported that Sam Hughes had accused Currie of being just as much of a "butcher" as General Haig. Currie sued the newspaper for libel and won the case in a trial held in
1928 in
Cobourg, Ontario.
*After the war, Currie became Chancellor of
McGill University in
Montreal in
1920. His legacy at the university remains in the
Currie Gym and the
Montreal Neurological Institute under
Wilder Penfield.
*At the
Royal Military College of Canada there is a building named for Currie as well as a memorial hall.
*In
Calgary until recently there were the Currie barracks.
*In
Richmond, BC,
General Currie Elementary School was built and named after him in 1919.
*At the
University of Victoria, an on-campus housing building is named Sir Arthur Currie.
*In his hometown of
Strathroy,
Ontario the local branch of the
Royal Canadian Legion bears his name.
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.
*The futuristic
Robert A. Heinlein novel
Starship Troopers features a fictional Camp Arthur Currie as an incredibly tough
boot camp for aspiring Mobile Infantry soldiers.
