Canada

[PiobBear]

<---edited at the direction of the moderators--->

WW I
At Vimy Ridge on 9 April 1917 the Canadian Expeditionary Force captured more ground, more prisoners and more guns than any previous British offensive in two-and-a-half years of war, one of the most complete and decisive engagements of the First World War and the greatest Allied victory up to that time, at a cost of 3,598 Canadians killed and 7,104 wounded. It was the largest artillery barrage in history up to that point, and so loud it could be heard in London.
On 30 October 1917 at the Third Battle of Ypres, Canadian troops took the village of Passchendaele at a cost of 16,000 Canadian dead. Two Canadian divisions suffered 80% casualties. 4,250,000 artillery shells had been fired; an aerial photograph of the area showed 1,000,000 shell holes in 1 square mile.
During “Canada's Hundred Days”, the last 96 days of the war, the Canadian Corps' four divisions defeated or routed 47 German divisions, roughly one quarter of the German forces fighting on the Western Front.
From a nation of eight million people, a total of 619,636 men and women served in the Canadian forces in the First World War, and of these 66,655 were killed and another 172,950 were wounded; a casualty rate in relation to their population 10 times that of the United States.

WW II
Canadians played a leading role in the disastrous Dieppe Raid in August 1942, sustaining a casualty rate of nearly 75%.
Canadian forces played an important role in invasion of Sicily and the Italian Campaign, including the costly battles on the Moro River and at Ortona, perhaps the deadliest close quarter combat engagements of the entire war, where Canadians suffered 1374 dead, almost 25% of all Canadians killed during the whole Italian Campaign.
On 6 June 1944, the 3rd Canadian Division landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. The first Canadian assault waves sustained a 50% casualty rate (higher than the American's 41% at Omaha Beach), but by days end the Canadians had made the deepest penetrations inland of any of the five seaborne invasion forces.
One of the most important Canadian contributions to the war effort was in the Battle of the Scheldt, where First Canadian Army defeated an entrenched German force at great cost to help open Antwerp to Allied shipping. On 13 October 1944 in an assault near Hoogerheide during the Battle of the Scheldt the 1st Battalion Black Watch of Canada was nearly wiped out; all four company commanders were killed, and one company of 90 men was reduced to just four survivors.
Of a population approximately 11.5 million, 1.1 million Canadians served in the armed forces in the Second World War, and of these, 42,042 were killed and another 55,000 were wounded, a higher casualty rate (.40) than the United States (.32).

KOREA
In Korea, at the Battle of Kapyong, the 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry fought some of the bloodiest and most ferocious hand-to-hand fighting of the Korean War. They were completely surrounded, overwhelmingly outnumbered, and forced to call down artillery fire on their own positions several times to avoid being overrun. Their defense of Hill 677 not only enabled retreating United Nations troops to avoid capture and regroup, but also prevented the fall of Seoul. As a result they were awarded the US Presidential Unit Citation. Canada sent 26,791 troops to fight in Korea. There were 1,558 Canadian casualties, including 516 dead.

UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING
Canadian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lester B. Pearson is considered to be the father of modern United Nations Peacekeeping, and Canada has participated in every UN peacekeeping effort from their beginning until 1989 (when they started deploying with NATO), and has cumulatively committed more troops than any other country. As of 2006, Canada had the second-highest peacekeeping fatality in the world. More than 125,000 Canadians have served in some 50 UN peacekeeping missions since 1949, with 116 deaths.

Canada has been a significant contributor to peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina since their inception under the United Nations in 1992. More than 40,000 Canadians have served in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where 25 Canadians lost their lives.

Canada provided a leadership role in The Ottawa Process, which led to a comprehensive ban by 123 countries on anti-personnel mines by the Ottawa Convention in December of 1997. Canada has committed large amounts of resources to land mine clearance in every region of the world, including Nicaragua, Cambodia, Africa, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.

In 1999 Canada sent 18 combat aircraft and 1300 peacekeepers to Kosovo, as well as a forensic crime scene team from the RCMP to assist the International Criminal Tribunal in its investigation of crimes against humanity.

AFGHANISTAN
Canada's role in the invasion of Afghanistan as an active combatant in operations against the Taliban and Al Queda has produced the largest number of fatal casualties of any Canadian military mission since the Korean War. 47 Canadians have lost their lives to date, including 5 killed and 38 wounded by American friendly fire incidents, the highest KIA rate in Afghanistan, and three times that of the US forces in Iraq. The Canadian special operations unit, Joint Task Force 2, was awarded the US Presidential Unit Citation for their actions in Afghanistan.

The next time you overhear such B*S* in a pub, please remember some of the contributions Canadians have made and continue to make for peace and freedom around the world.

Emmet Bondurant, Piper, Post 144 Royal Canadian Legion

[MacHummel]

Thanks for that, it burns me when people get like that about us Canadians

[SoldierSpike]

I'm not even Canadian and I knew you had troops over there in support of OEF (Afghanistan) and from what I've heard they're doing a bang up job. Some people are just ignorant and should take pains to become knowledgeable or remove themselves from the gene pool.

Marc

[Colin]

Great Post PiobBear. I wasn't aware of some of that history and therefore found it very interesting. Thank You.

It's nice that our countries have been able to stand shoulder to shoulder so often.

[ccga3359]

PiobBear thank you.

[Splash_4]

who he called cowards for not falling in on command and goose-stepping behind George Bush into his unmitigated catastrophe of Iraq.

Whilst I appreciate the history lesson that you gave here, I would of preferred that the political rhetoric be left elsewhere. There is enough divisiveness in life without starting it her as well.

However, well done to the proud history of the Canadian armed forces! Anyone who voluntarily places themselves in harms way to preserve freedoms deserves respect and thanks!

[Dirk Skene]

The Canadians have been our friends since the start. Those folks are just too hard-line for 1 ideal.

[cessna152towser]

My wife Ann had a much older cousin whom she never knew as he was killed in action before she was born. (Her father was the youngest of a large family, and his mother one of the oldest). Tommy was a Canadian, living in Toronto with his parents, and he wanted to help Britain defend herself against the nazis because of his mother being Scottish. Against her wishes he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained as a pilot and got himself seconded to the RAF where he flew Hampdens. On the night of 12th July 1942 he took off from RAF Waddington on a dangerous mission to lay mines off Lorient, on the Normandy coast of occupied France. His aircraft was shot down and he and all his crew perished. Two of the bodies were washed up on the coast and buried in France but Tommy and the other crew member were never found. He was just 21. I get very angry at people who call Canadians cowards.

[Arlen]

Thanks for this. I have a friend in the Canadian army right now and it's nice to know that he has people like you backing him against some of the painful and ignorant comments I know he's had.

[Fearnest]

I worked with PPLCI a few times - superb soldiers!

PiobBear, before you tar us all with the same brush, just remember your first four words: "Some drunk ignorant nitwit..."